Time and Time Again God is Faithful

About 2am Monday night/Tuesday morning when I was working some accounting problems--yes, I am very much a night owl--I was suddenly so overwhelmed with God's faithfulness. Crazy how the combination of so many small things can make a tremendous impact on you.


This week before spring break was pretty crazy, full of multiple things due for classes every day, assignments, papers, quizzes, exams. I had a group project/paper due Tuesday, a pretty big finance exam (7 chapters!) scheduled for Wednesday, and an accounting paper due Thursday. Planning out my schedule for the week, I had no idea when I was going to get that paper written. Already getting by on very little sleep, I literally did not know when I would have time to write that paper.


I was praying on my walk to accounting Tuesday morning, and I prayed that I could somehow get an extension on the paper due Thursday. At the end of class the professor said, "As you all know, the paper is due Thursday, but I've gotten some emails saying that somewhere online it says it is due March 24, and someplace else it says it's due the 15th. Since there's some confusion about this, just turn it in sometime before you leave for spring break. I guess that means if you're not leaving for spring break at all you have a really long extension" Wow! Hello, answered prayer! That extension was just what I needed! I was able to focus on studying for my finance exam the first half of the week and then wrote the paper after the exam.


Spring break was wonderful--a much needed breather from deadlines. I went home to Illinois for the week and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. The week definitely flew by much faster than I would have liked!


You might expect that the week after spring break wouldn't be too hectic after the prior week of midterms, and surely there wouldn't be too many exams... This was not the case for me. I had an auditing exam scheduled for Monday night, and an accounting assignment, paper, and exam Wednesday. I did do some studying over spring break, but I was feeling pretty overwhelmed Sunday afternoon on my drive back to Des Moines.


While I was studying Sunday night I got a text from my Mom, "Sending prayers to help you get through the week. You are smart, I love you, and I am proud of the lovely person you have become."


My mom also told me that my little sister Rachel had prayed for me before bed Saturday night.


I woke up Monday morning to a text from my friend Lindsay, "Praying for you this morning! I know how busy your Mondays are. Love you!!"


I went to my accounting class and my professor gave an extension on the paper. Instead of being due Wednesday, it was now due the following Monday!


I took my auditing exam in my night class, and by the grace of God, I had studied and retained the right material.


After Bible study, my friend Ellie gave me a note, expanding Galatians 2:20: My old self [of finding my identity in performance, of independence from God, of stress and anxiety!] has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by TRUSTING in the Son of God, who LOVED me and gave Himself for me.


Maybe all of those things seem small and insignificant, but to me they weren't insignificant at all. The perfect combination of them caused me to remember how deeply God cares for each of us and knows our specific needs, and how He shows us His love through His people. I am so thankful that God is continually teaching me how to trust in Him and rely on His strength! I am nowhere near perfect at this, but He isn't finished with me yet. He is faithful! Always!


2 Thessalonians 3:16 [NLT] ~  Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.

Look To You

Love finding sweet OT stuff :) I really like King Jehoshaphat's prayer in 2 Chronicles 20...

2 Chronicles 20:6-12 [NLT] ~ He [King Jehoshaphat] prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’
 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”

What a sweet, honest prayer, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." [ESV]. Totally trusting that God has a plan and God will deliver them... Where is my focus, especially when there are problems in my life and I don't know what to do? Is it on me, thinking my own strength will be the solution? Is my focus on the ground, on what's in front of me right now, instead of on God--who He is, what He has done, His promises? Do I believe the lie that my problems are too big for God? Too big for a God who created everything, who loves me beyond anything I can imagine? When my focus is on myself, rather than trusting God, this essentially is what I am saying.

This reminds me of one of my favorite passages... Hebrews 12:1-3 [NIV] ~ "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." 


2 Corinthians 4:18 [NIV] ~ "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."


Back to 2 Chronicles 15-17 [ESV] ~ Thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel.  You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you."


"See the salvation of the Lord on your behalf." I love this... In this passage, it is talking about the specific battle that Judah was fighting, but I think it also applies when thinking about the salvation we have through Christ Jesus. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross paid it all. He paid the price I could never pay. My assurance in Christ is not about what I have done, it is solely about what Christ did for me. On my behalf.


Hebrews 7:25 [NLT] ~ "Therefore He [Jesus] is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf."