Great to be Back!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 4:34AM 
Hi Everyone!
I've missed connecting with you all.
A big THANKS to my wonderful author friends who posted in my place. Bless you, big time!
And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way.
Before I get into my topic, I want to mention that I will be giving away a $10.00 Caribou gift card to one of you in January. Like coffee, smoothies, green tea? Post a time or two this month and share what God is doing in your life! Your name might be drawn for a sweet treat!
When my boys were young and adventurous, they wanted to try every adrenaline sport available. From skateboarding to snowboarding, from bike jumping to cliff jumping; I prayed for their safety and worked to keep healthy boundaries in place while allowing them to take a few risks once in a while.
During one of their outings, I looked around at the kids who were "regulars" to a particular sport. I watched how they talked with their friends, how they responded when someone got hurt, and how they treated the newbies.
It didn't take long for me to decided that this was not going to be a mainstay for my kids. They loved this particular sport, but they loved a lot of other experiences too.
So with prayerful wisdom, and unbeknownst to them, I gently steered them away from one activity and provided a way for them to actively pursue a different one that I knew they were equipped to handle.
I think God does the same thing for us.
He knows how transient we are. He understands the areas of our lives that are weak and still in need of maturity, and He guides us in the best path for us.
So when I'm tempted to worry about my own weaknesses or areas of vulnerabilities, I must remember that just as I, with understanding love, guided my boys to places where I knew they were equipped to stand, God does the same for us, and so much more besides.
I don't know if you ever do this, but I often fret over my own character flaws. More than anything I don't want others to stumble over my weaknesses. I don't want to dishonor the Lord because of my own foibles.
One particular day during prayer, God whispered to my heart, "Fear is the weakness; worry is the weakness; much more than the yet-to-be-developed areas in your character, the choice to worry about such things is the very thing that leaves you vulnerable to the wiles of the enemy..."
As the Lord calls us higher to new places of promise, the enemy will taunt us to look down, and to see just how far we have to fall.
In fact it's that very thing that keeps most people from daring to scale the heights God intended for them.
The tricky thing is that in order for us to climb high, jump high, and go places beyond our comfort zones, God has to show us our weakness so we will remember how much we need Him.
When we know we need Him, we'll stay close to Him. When we stay close to Him, we hear what He says, we do what He tells us to, and we remember that He is the one who qualifies us for the climb.
But the knowledge of our weaknesses shouldn't cause us despair or angst. On the contrary, the knowledge of our need should cause us great relief because we have a place to go with our need! God is intent on our victory and abundance. No one wants us to succeed like God does!
And He guides us with a strong hand and a heart bursting with love. He corrects us when we are wrong and yet He never condemns us. He forgives us when we sin and then He cleanses us. He wisely guides us away from battles we cannot win, and lovingly leads us to places that strengthen us for our next place of promise.
Graham Cooke once wrote, "God is not disillusioned with you. He never had any illusions about you in the first place!"
It's good to remember that fear is the weakness.
Jesus loves us and He is well aware of our vulnerabilities that still need to be protected. And if we walk closely enough with Him, we'll hear His voice in our ear saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it."
He protects us where we are vulnerable. He strengthens us where we are weak. We are in process and He knows that.
It's when we embrace fear or worry or doubt that we open the door for the enemy and give him access to leverage our vulnerabilities to his advantage.
Jesus is the One who is able to keep us from falling; to present us before God's glorious presence, without fault and with great joy (see the book of Joel).
What a concept!
It's not your yet-to-be-developed character that puts you at risk nearly as much as it is your choice to fear, or doubt, or worry.
Perfect love casts out fear.
Fear is the weakness.
Love covers a multitude of sins.
Worry is the weakness.
Faith fills every gap.
Doubt is the weakness.
Anything is possible for the Believer.
Walk in this truth today.
Drop me a note and tell me what God is doing in your life!
Sign up for my Ezine! (the next issue comes out January 15th)
Reader Comments (12)
Thas same morning I heard these words from a man I greatly respect. "If you had a dream, goal or vision for your life and your were guranteed not to fail and if worry, doubt, and fear were non existant, how big would that dream or vision be? Dream that big, write it down and then watch as God makes it happen.
I was able to share these words with my daughter. I told her if you were guranteed not to fail and there were no chance for fear, worry, or doubt, than sweet child dream that big.
She looked at me with sleepy eyes and said, "mommy, I am dreaming that I am giving God a super big hug right now." Tears welled in my eyes.
I want to dream that big and with God on my side I am guranteed nothing is impossible!!!!!
Isn't it absolutely amazing how we fall for that stuff hook, line, and sinker?If God is moving in and doing some character cleansing, that's because HE is getting ready to promote you! How typical of the enemy to leverage this vulnerable time to make you look down when you should be looking up.Keep me posted on things!
I love it, I love it!One thing my sons have said to me over and over again is, "Thanks, Mom, for making me feel that anything is possible when we believe."What a sweet portrayal of your time with your little one.Thanks so much for sharing.
So what's God been doing in my life? Well, I've started a new business that's branched into a new ministry at www.InnerBeuatyGirlz.blogspot.com and I'm working on a class for our homeschool co-op on teaching children to write for publication - check that out at http://mineralz.blogspot.com/2008/01/published-authors-under-18-years-old.html and if you have ANY suggestions of ideas to share, I would love to hear from you on that!
Blessings!Jenni Saakeauthor, Hannah's Hope: Seeking God's Heart in the Midst of Infertility, Miscarriage & Adoption Loss
Sounds like you've been busy!Thanks for stopping by!