It had been one of the longest trials of my life and I was wondering if it was ever going to end. I was asking God to just change the circumstance and to please just fix it the way I thought it should be fixed. But nothing changed. And then one day God spoke to my heart and I realized that I had a pre-determined expectation of what I thought the outcome should be. I needed to loosen the grip once again and learn to rely on God completely. It really came down to “Thy Will Be Done” and not “My Will Be Done.”

What I truly learned and continue to learn is that I need to get my eyes off myself and my circumstance and focus my thoughts on Christ in every season with an eternal perspective. As you and I continue to do this in our journey, here are three things to prepare and proclaim in the process.

1. Trust God in the Gaps~This is truly living in between God’s promises and the reality of your current circumstance. It’s believing that God is who He says He is. Putting the focus on the eternal and not the earthly moment by moment. (Mark 9:24b~I believe; help me with my unbelief!”)
2. Invite God In~Simply put this means surrendering to God daily and letting go. But it also means spending time studying God’s Word, in prayer and speaking out His promises.
3. Open Hands and an Open Heart~God loves to be trusted and He loves when we trust Him. When we can loosen our grip and release the control of our circumstance over to Him, it builds our faith and once again says “I trust you God…have your way.” We are reminded in Joshua 1:9 of the command “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The prepared pilgrim will understand that ‘Jesus Loves Me’ in every season, yes even the most painful. James explains in the Bible that trials are going to happen in our lives and we get to make a choice how we are going to go through those trials. When we walk in step WITH CHRIST we will see that through it all the keeper of our heart is truly the protector of our heart as our God sees the big picture.

May we choose to trust God with the eternal perspective as we continue to prepare in the journey!

Last week I had the privilege of being on the podcast “The Christian Perspective” with host Owen Hemsath. If you have never had a chance to check out the show or even if you have I want to encourage you to pop on over on Tuesdays at 4:30pm. Owen does a fantastic job of bringing different topics weekly so check it out and be sure to be an active participant in the show as well by calling or leaving your comments in the feed.

The title of last weeks show was “What do you do when you’ve lost everything?” What do you do when you find yourself paralyzed by a situation in your life that leaves you hopeless? Have you ever been there? I know I have. In 2003 I found myself in the midst of a divorce after 15 years of marriage. As we stood in front of the judge, his decision was that only one parent could have guardianship of our three children and that guardianship was given to my former husband.

Because I went for ten years without seeing my kids I had lost HOPE. I talk about this in Chapter 7 of my book, Big Girls DO Cry. I questioned if I was even a “Mom” to my three children until one day God spoke to my heart and reminded me that man can never take away something that God has given. My HOPE was renewed. I knew God had blessed us with these three gifts and I started praying for HIS redemption story that would take place. Because the truth is every single one of us has a redemption story as we look to the cross.

A few months ago, I got a call from my kids step mom saying that she would like to have open communication with me. I was elated. She went on to share with me that she was sorry for all the years that I had not seen the kids and she felt they had made the wrong decision. I in return could apologize to her for the things that were not honoring before the Lord years ago because I wanted to see my kids and acted in my flesh. This was God’s heart. Two women sharing with the kids best interest at heart. After I hung up the phone I realized that God had answered a 10 year prayer request that many people had been praying. I was humbled, thankful and in awe and overwhelmed by God’s love.

Since that phone call, my relationship with my children has been restored and it is wonderful being together again. I am so proud of my kids, how they have had an open heart and for their step mom placing a call to me a few months ago. In the midst of trusting God I received an unexpected burst of new HOPE!

May you too trust God with all of your unknowns and know HE is the original promise keeper!

“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for!”~Job 6:8

The Christian Perspective@TCP Show