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Have you ever asked yourself, why don’t I just let God have control? Then a second later take matter “into your own hands”. I know I have!! Yet, when I do this I only bring pain upon myself because nothing seems to work out the way we want it to. We sit here trying our hardest to have the “perfect solution” to a conflict, relationship, marriage, or a simple conversation… But when does it ever turn out perfect? Never. And it never will. The only way that all of our pain, struggles, and conflicts can even remotely become bearable is if we allow ourselves to give power to the Lord and allow Him to do whatever He sees fit in our lives. If that means we must go through trials and He must create patience in our hearts… Then so be it! For He says: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:2-3 God is telling us that we must not only allow him to place these trials, struggles, and conflicts in our lives, but to rejoice at them! The reason He gives us is so we may have “steadfastness” or patience in our lives. This lets us take a step back from the troubling situation to actually take a breath and stop taking it into our own hands. God continues: “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:4 “LACKING IN NOTHING”. Our patience needs to continue throughout the ENTIRE trial or else it does not have “its full effect” in our lives. He promises that if we do this, in His sake and fully trust the situation in His hands, we will “be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” I have never had that type of result before when I decided what I was gonna do, instead of what He wanted me to do… [And by the way, a lot of the time God just wants you to sit back, continue your walk in faith growing closer to Him, and not do anything more concerning the situation.]
Lord, allow my heart to trust you in all situations and STOP me from trying to make my own situation as “perfect” as I think it should be, instead of how You think it should be. Do this in all of our lives. Amen. Are you ready to give control to Jesus Christ in your own life? I am. Will you continue to have situations turn out horrible by your own “solutions” that may only work for a temporary time or crash and burn from the beginning? I won’t. In His Love Always, The Hopeful Woman In Christ Samantha Medina
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Allow your wonderful and perfect Father to speak to you right now. Now that you have allowed your loving Jesus to speak these true words to your heart, believe them. As women God has an overwhelming soft spot in His hearts for our gentleness. Be encouraged that women play such a massive role in showing Christ’s love for others. Your soft persona around everyone will be noticed, your smile towards the stranger that no one talks to is felt and appreciated, your invitation to a gathering of believers to someone in need will have great impact. Understanding that being a woman has a huge job description, allows you to begin to take your “job” more seriously. There are a few main points a woman must grasp on as truth in her life for her to begin her official duties. These truths from God will allow you to feel more at peace about many things which will aid in helping and loving others: “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.” 1 Timothy 2:8-10 Let’s break down what our Father is instructing us to do. I wanted to include the entire passage so we could see that God first instructs men not to be angry. Now for us ladies is the next part! God knew that women were going to be bombarded with images of what “beauty” is and get confused about what God says beauty actually is. That is why He is saying this to us, dress in “respectable apparel, with modesty”, He understands that because of the worlds standard of women we would need reminding of the Truth. Do not misread this passage, God wants us to love people and allow them to get close to us. Knowing this, we must not think we have to wear an outfit from the 1800’s. But God IS DEFINITELY instructing women to cover themselves, and not be an enabler for people to look at them and lust after them because of their clothes! “Every day when I get dressed, I look at myself through the eyes of an unsaved man. I think to myself: Is this too low, are my pants too tight, would this cause him to lust? Then I look at myself through the eyes of God. This is where I ask more questions, specifically about my character: Am I brave enough to look different from most women, do I feel confident in who I am to get attention by my behavior and not my appearance, do I love God with all my heart and do I truly only want to impress Him?” -Samantha The last set of questions are the hardest. Any woman can pick out a “modest outfit” but then to consider if the outfit introduces God before your adorable figure… Please note that I am not suggesting we should not wear bright colors, that has nothing to do with it. (I wore hot pink last night!) If we as women love God and want to show others His love for them as well, we do these things for God’s glory and hopefully other people who may possibly benefit ETERNALLY! Adding on to the character questions I ask about myself, the end of verse 10 says: “but with what is proper for women who profess godliness”. (This is not being self-righteous unless you feel smug and better than other people for dressing modestly.) This has everything to do with who you are in God. I would say this verse is talking to different women in different situations. One woman who is struggling with self image and feels the need to get men’s attention throughout the day by wearing something too tight. Maybe you are dressed modestly, but there is something the world has called beautiful about yourself so you go out of your way to show it off. God does not want this. He wants our full attention on Him, always. Isn’t is fair: He has His full attention on us always… Why are we not returning the favor?
I will continue to discuss how as strong and beautiful women in Christ, we must treat others and ourselves to show Christ in this dark world. Continue to be encouraged in Christ. In His Love Always, The Hopeful Woman In Christ The car ride to the adoption agency where I was placing my son for adoption was the most difficult hour I have ever endured. As I weeped aloud the entire time, looking at Samuel while my pointer finger was being grasped by his tiny hand, I spoke to God in my heart and quietly. I repeated Jesus’ prayer most of the way in a begging manner: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” [Matthew 26:39] God has already told me His will, so He felt no need to answer my prayers. Now was His time to stay silent and see if I am faithful. It hurt that He did not “let the cup pass”, but I know His ways are much higher than mine: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” [Isaiah 55:9] Last night was the first night I questioned God on the death of my Husband Benjamin. I began to weep and ask God why He took my Husband: Were we not doing His will? Were we fighting too much? Did I not show godly marital wife characteristics? The Holy Spirit was not silent this time. “It was My will” He said replying to my questions about why he died. I ignored that answer and got the urge to open my Bible. It was dark, I was tired, yet I knew all the times I ignored the Spirit when I wanted to sleep and He wanted me to read His word, now was not one of those times to ignore Him. I reached my arm over, grabbed my Bible, and my phone flashlight app, and remembered a funny joke my Pastor said last Sunday about opening your Bible to a random spot, so I did… My eyes looked down to see Matthew 26:36 and on. I read. The answer I ignored at first was spoken to me again, “It is My will”. Now all I strive to do is live as my Husband told me to if he were to pass away: “With complete faith in God”. -Benjamin Borick, 20 years old 2012 (1 month before he died) In His Love Always, The Hopeful Woman In Christ Samantha Medina Leave a comment:
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