Free Failling...Fear or Faith?

From an excerpt of the book The Ways of God (Finding Purpose Through Your Pain)

By Cherie Hill

“We made plans for our lives, but He’s determining our steps and taking us to places we never wanted to go.”

“Proverbs 16:9 NLT ..We can make plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”

“We find ourselves taking the very next step in front of us, only to find our feet knocked out from under us.  How can we trust a God that is constantly bringing us to our knees in helpless desperation?  We decide to take the journey of life with Him and He brings us to the edge of a cliff.  We find ourselves at the edge, consumed with fear, and God seems to push us right off; we’re helpless and hopeless and free falling into the abyss of darkness.  What kind of loving God does this?”

{Laura(me):  Cherie wrote the book that I am planning to write! I love her words and the truth that comes with it.  This passage stood off the page and made me say Wow!

I have a friend who loves birds.  She photographs them all of the time.  To her there is something majestic there. For me, I would agree.  There is something different about the life of a bird than from any other creature.  They trust God every day for providing the needs they have that very day and they soar in the faith of their wings like the rest of us only dream of.  But as I read this passage and related so much to the imagery of fear and pain that comes with God pushing you further and further past your “breaking point”, I saw the safe cliff that we stand on as believers.  Our trust is in it more so than in God.  Our trust is in where our feet are planted.

What is this abyss?  It is the realization that the cliff we clung to is more our death than the fall we have faced that has just set us free.  God wants us to see that we can “fly” in the “bosoms of His breast”.  He is the one that truly provides everything we need or desire, everything!  He has given us life. He is in the end the one that will take our life and He determines the steps in between.

We have no reason to live in fear.  Like the small bird pushed from the nest by its very own loving mother. We can embrace that “fall” knowing in full faith that our Father in Heaven has us.}

…So, what kind of loving God does this?... "Evidently one that’s teaching us to trust Him.”

Word for the Year

A moment ago, I was prompted to give my choice of a WORD that I wanted to be my word for 2013. 

This word was to be a word of emphasis, focus, clarity, reflection and even direction for me through out 2013.  So many had already chosen their words, words like impact, go, humility, courage and uniquely – margin.  But what was my word?  So many words could fit to be my focus for the year and for my life; so many areas to choose from to impact how I choose to live my life everyday.

As I read through the post that brought all of this to mind, an image of a dictionary stared at me from the corner of the page.  The WORD in it that was highlighted was CHOICE.  That was my word. 

The whole last part of 2012 I have thought and whined about how what I really want to do is be married and have a baby, and how I wish school was over so that I could live my life the way that I really wanted to.  I have been living in discontentment.

None of us are intended to live in discontentment.  God has given us way too much, to choose to look at it with the wrong perspective. 

That was my problem. I chose the wrong perspective.  When I thought about all that I had in my life and all that I wanted thrown out onto the table like cards to choose from, I realized I am right where I need to be.  Sure I want to be married and sure I want to have a baby, but those “cards” do not fit in the game just yet.  I also want to be a nurse. I also want to finish my degree and be settled in a job with a decent income so that when that husband and baby come along, I can actually spend time with them.

Sometimes our lives seem disappointing because we choose to let them.  Sometimes, if we really think about it, we will find that we are right where we need or want to be. 

So my challenge to you: what is your WORD for the year?  What is the one thing that you want to think upon or act in?