Trials Archives – Facets of Faith

What Helps you Sing in April’s Showers?

04.04.2019 by Tracy Stella //

Welcome to Facets of Faith! We invite you to linger and let God’s love and leading speak to your heart. This month we talk about, What Helps you Sing in April’s Showers? What would God have us do in the midst of a storm? Stay awhile and read what He put on my (Tracy’s) heart and check back over the coming weeks to see what Jennifer & Kim have to say on this topic.

Let’s be singers in the rain as we explore God’s heart for us.

I’m sitting in a coffee shop on a rainy day listening to a conversation I’m trying not to hear. Damp. Grey. Language as angry as the clouds outside threatening storms.

Have you ever been there?

You intend to do your thing, but as you sit, minding your own business, the words, vocabulary, circumstances connect to your story. No longer just white noise to create atmosphere, you can’t help but tune in. The words too close to your story. Maybe one you wouldn’t write, but we don’t always get to choose the words written and the way our life will go.

Some things we have control of. Others we do not. Mostly we do not.

The conversation consists of things you are curious to learn more about. You silently listen, absorb, and process from a safe distance. They are not close to you, even as you are connected as human beings. But they are not your people, so you can listen from life’s sidelines. Listen and learn. (And weep a little inside.)

Your heart breaks for them and their struggle even as it breaks for yourself and those you love, who are in the midst of a similar storm of struggle and emotion.

This person’s story connects to mine. Indirectly. But still. I hear when I want to write. I guess that’s God’s plan. To write about this. I’ve never visited this coffee shop. Felt led to come this way, rather than that, so I know God’s intention was for me to hear it. Even when sometimes I just want to stop up my ears, to not hear.

When it hurts, and we know it, don’t we all want to turn the channel and listen to something else? A little more up tempo please. Change the channel from the angry metal or the melancholy blues. Something more like, Don’t Worry Be Happy. (Sorry if you whistle the tune for the rest of the day.)

I can’t unhear. I can’t disconnect. I can process my emotions. I can seek to understand. I can always love. Always. Because that’s what Jesus would do, and I want to be like Him, to love as He does.

The hardest times for me to love others well is when loving them seats itself right next to my own woundedness. A nerve touched, still at the surface. Maybe it should be gone. But it’s not. Some things take time. In my opinion too much, but God says, “Take the time you need.” Because He is good like that. So good to give us the time we need.

Some things fade but may never disappear. Fully.

Do you have those things too? Those subterranean wounds you’d rather leave well enough alone. You’ve dealt with them, mostly.

Honestly, I’m not sure my inner struggle will ever disappear. It’s there. Like Paul’s thorn that wounds, but also serves as a reminder he needs God’s grace and strength to see him through. I need those too. Strength and grace. Because sometimes when you bump into the thorn it penetrates. It reminds you the wound is still there, in need of God’s strength and grace. His mercy. His love. Desperate for it. We all are, whether we know it or not.

Avoiding pain is something we all do at times. Me? Sometimes, it’s my defense. I am not deaf to pain or fear or the noise our broken nature makes inside each of us. It makes a ruckus sometimes, reminding us we are alive, reminding us we need Jesus. Every day.

I just don’t always want to stare it down. I can’t even always bring myself to pray about and through it. Sometimes, I grow weary in the rainy season. It can get muddy and messy (and ruin all my favorite shoes)! I need to remember to grab my galoshes and splash through life’s seasons.

What helps me sing in April’s showers?

What, indeed?

What helps me sing in April’s showers?

Sometimes, I need to remind myself. Life can be hard sometimes. There can be seasons that feel harsh and dry, like a desert. Parched. Cracked. Almost dead. I’ve experienced those where it felt like I was on the brink and God brought me back. To Him. To Life. To the possibility of love and hope and joy.

Jubilant! The stuff that cause you to sing in the rain. Splash in the puddles. Have joy in spite of circumstances.

Christ’s death on the cross helps us to do just that.

I really think we have a choice. We get to make a conscious choice to sing even during April’s showers.

One effective strategy to help us sing in April’s showers is to choose joy.

When thunderous clouds threaten to overtake our world, we can let them. Or we can choose otherwise. We can choose to lament, or we can choose joy. We can break open fresh gifts of grace that give us access to God’s joy.

Joy is a weapon that helps me sing.

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la….

Joy sitting in the midst of a storm? We all can do it, in Christ’s power. In our own strength joy is sometimes downright impossible. Let’s face it. Life can be overwhelming.

We can choose to sit in the overwhelm or we can choose joy.

Joy is the best choice. It’s the choice that lets us live life instead of succumbing to what the enemy would want for us─languishing. The enemy would rather we lay like the person in need of healing for 38 years, when all we need to do is crawl to the healing pond of Christ’s love and joy.

Choosing joy takes energy. We have to move toward it.

You want to know what’s pretty amazing?

Even if we only have enough energy to lean a little toward it, God’s grace pulls us closer into His joy. Just lean, sweet ones. Lean in.

Another effective strategy to help us sing in April’s showers is to choose prayer in the middle of an anxious, angry storm.

It’s not about Don’t Worry Be Happy, it’s about be anxious about nothing and through prayer and petition let God’s peace consume us. God’s peace as a guard for our hearts and minds.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.─Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

Let your requests be made known to God.

Even as I sit here (still listening) I seek God. I could let the circumstances of this scene overwhelm me with anxiety or I can pray. I can pray some more. And pray some more.

Any “normal” person would feel anxiety at an overwhelming circumstance that hits a little too close to home. I wonder, “Why am I here? What does God have for me in this? What does God have for the ones He has me in the midst of hearing right now?”

This isn’t just about me. It never is just about us. We’re included, for sure. But especially if we are His children, this is always about others as well. The light within us He wants to reach out to others, even if it makes us a little anxious.

I felt the anxiety as I got up to go to the bathroom. Quietly, in my head, “God, how do You want me to respond in this?”

In effect, what do you want me to do with this? There IS a reason I am here. Right now. Listening. Lamenting. Choosing joy. Trying to focus on the written word as I hash this out.

I can feel my adrenaline kick in. What to do? What to do?

Choosing love. But what does that look like in this situation?

I have NO IDEA!

Guess what? I pray some more to let my adrenaline slow so I can hear God. Anxiety clouds our thinking more than just about anything else. And we definitely need clear heads to make wise decisions, especially in an emotional storm.

Another effective strategy to help us sing in April’s showers is to choose courage in the middle of a tsunami.

I reflect on Pastor Scott’s sermon about adventure as a believer and whom Jesus dined with. He didn’t sit with all the prim and proper. He sat with those who needed Him most and were most receptive to Him and His love, because the depths of their need for Him was great.

Let’s face it. None of us is really all that prim and proper. We are works in progress each and every one of us. We all need His love. None of us has it fully together. Aren’t we all just figuring it out as we go?

I know I am!

So I mustered up the courage to approach their table, the wounded broken ones who were courageous enough to speak of these things aloud. (Tears now, because once you push through the anxiety and pray, relief floods.)

I walked up to these two who need Jesus’ love just like I do. I briefly shared how I connect with their story, handed my business card (the only thing I had handy), with handwritten scribbles “The Chapel, Grayslake”. An invitation to come and see.

Someone gave me that once, an invitation. And look at how my life has changed for the good. So grateful! So blessed! Even as my life isn’t perfect, I recognize it as good.

Sometimes we have to face down our own personal fear and anxiety so someone else can know God’s goodness. Today, I’m feeling brave. And my prayer is that someone else will grow to know God’s goodness because God drew me here.

As Pastor Scott reminded us in his sermon, we ARE God’s plan. I’m grateful for his reminder. It gave me the gumption to step into my own personal scary place, to push past my personal fear, and to invite them into God’s peace and love.

And now I can exhale.

THEY are why I came here. He sent me. He had me search my reservoir of emotions. He knew I would be sensitive to their story because it bumped up against mine. It was hard, a spiritual hurdle, because their brokenness brushes up against mine.

The enemy would want shame and fear, but Christ’s plan for us is courage and life. Every ounce of good we give to the world helps evil shrink. Darkness recedes because it cannot coexist with light and love.

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.─Philippians 1:20-21 NIV

I eagerly expect. Isn’t that great?

We can eagerly expect Christ to show up with courage and bring life to us and others. I was dying a bit inside with the angst of this situation, of what I was hearing. Of what their story was stirring up in mine. But God. But God gave me an eager expectation and hope that He has a plan. For me. For those precious two He sent me to hear, for them to feel seen and heard (literally), and receive an invitation and hug from God through my arms.

This was for me too. I know that full well. Another level of freedom. No shame. Only love. And waves of grace.

Maybe not fully free, but a little freer today for having faced down fear. Courage sufficient for this day to help me sing in the rain.

Another effective strategy to help us sing in April’s showers is to remember facing our storms with strength and joy reveal God’s glory.

This life is not our own. We are God’s children left here for a reason. People see and know God, in part, when they see and know God through us, through our story, through the way we receive them, through the way we love. We are so flawed and imperfect, yet God dwells within us as believers. He guides our steps. He uses us to impact others.

He shows Himself real, manifesting ever-so-powerfully when we walk through a storm well. Never alone. Like Peter when He calls us out of the boat, God helps us walk on water. We may freak out and start to sink, but all we need to do is look up and let Him lift us as He speaks to the storm and calms it.

When you find yourself holding your breath, as I often do when I feel stressed, breathe Christ in. Breathe deeply. Slowly. Let Him calm your nerves and guide your steps.

He tells us the way to go. And we are never alone in the going.

For all the gods of the nations are idols,

but the LORD made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

─1 Chronicles 16:26-28 NIV

When we do the brave thing and take courage? God’s glory is revealed.

And in that a rainbow of promise, because color emerges bright and vibrant after a grey storm recedes.

How is God speaking to you in this? What song does He wish for you to sing?

Sing to the LORD a new song;

sing to the LORD, all the earth.

Sing to the LORD, praise his name;

proclaim his salvation day after day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous deeds among the peoples.

─Psalm 96:1-3 NIV

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Do You See What I See?

12.05.2017 by Tracy Stella //

Welcome to FACETS of Faith. Merry Christmas! I (Tracy) pray you see Christ in meaningful fashion as you read each of our perspectives this month. It’s a sweet season. Slow down. Savor Him. Look for Him with intention. Lord, help Your precious children see You for all You are to them and others. Reveal Yourself in this season where hearts are open in a special, tender way. In Jesus’ name, amen.

When you consider Christ, what do you see?

I see what I need depending upon what season I am in. I’m not talking about Christmas, Easter, winter or spring. I’m referring to my state of mind. Where am I at in life? How am I feeling about that? What are my present needs? Hopes? Hurts? Aspirations?

Do you see what I see?

What I see is who I need Jesus to be in that very moment.

I’m a woman. My needs fluctuate. You too? I can be on top of a mountain and want to twirl with Jesus like Julie Andrews singing, The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music. The hills alive, because I feel alive. Fresh, green, vibrant as the landscape echoing songs of jubilation back to me. You’re alive! Doesn’t if feel fabulous to breathe deep and take it all in? The score dramatic as my life and music create a crescendo, a beautiful chorus where people want to join in. In these moments, I see my need for a Dance Partner to twirl with me.

Not every day is a Julie Andrews kind of day. Sometimes it’s more like Alanas Morissette. I hate the world today. Angsty. Angry. Grrr. You wake up scrubbing sleep from your eyes, realize you are out of coffee, stub your toe on the sharp edges of your coffee table, creating the need to hop out your pain. All the while you think, Maybe I should go back to bed and toss the covers over my head, darkness beneath the blankets matching bleakness of this day. In these moments, I see my need for an Encourager to move me from sulking to singing.

Perhaps the darkness is more serious than a minor toe-stubbing nuisance. A diagnosis that feels gloomy. A marriage in disrepair. A dream dead. Loved ones lost, not knowing a Savior. In times of lament, I see Him as my greatest Comfort, the One I cannot do without.

That’s life, right? Ups AND downs. How do we deal with all that? We don’t get to pluck the good out and leave behind the things we’d rather not have. That’s not how life works, unfortunately. God said, in this life we would have trouble (John 16:33). Sometimes, that’s what we have.

But we also have hope. And we have a Savior. We have salvation for our souls when we say “yes” to Jesus and surrender our lives to Him. We have salvation for each and every day. The hard days when we want to sit in a puddle and fling mud all over ourselves to match our mood. The good days when our hearts are bursting full of joy, and we get to celebrate with the Only One who really knows what it took to get to the top of life’s mountains.

Do you see what I see?

I see a God who sees me and you.

We could try to explain to others every step that stretched us out of our comfort zone as we climbed that mountain. But we don’t need to explain to God. He gets it. Because He gets us. It is glorious that He gets us.

The fact that He gets me, gets me through.

He’s also the first One I want to run to when I’ve got good news. He is my Confidant. I can confide in Him about ANYTHING. He is trustworthy. If you don’t know that, I pray you come to know it. If you do, I pray He gives you fresh revelation of that truth today.

Do you see what I see?

I see a trustworthy God.

Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Luke 1:42 NKJV

Above are the words Elizabeth spoke to her pregnant cousin Mary─Mary, the one who needed to trust God with her reputation and her future.

I love that Elizabeth didn’t use her inside voice. She proclaimed in a loud voice words to the effect of, Mary, do you realize how blessed you are? You carry the Christ! Who get’s to do that? You are carrying THE Blessing! Can you believe how blessed you are?

Elizabeth saw the blessing before Christ was born. Her attentive eyes of faith saw the beauty Mary carried in her. She saw Christ, our blessing.

Do you see what I see?

I see Christ our blessing. Do you see it too? Do you see Him as a blessing? Do you see that sweet precious baby born to a virgin as a blessing? He is you know. Even if you know Him and you love Him, do you really understand the depth of His blessing as He came through the womb of an innocent, pure, normal-until-that-day young woman?

It makes me wonder what Jesus saw in Mary that He would give her that kind of trust.

Mary faced hard circumstances. Judgement, I’m sure, from people who didn’t understand her situation. It was rather unbelievable, like many things of faith. God isn’t logical, practical, or fully comprehensible. It’s what makes Him God and requires our faith.

Do you see what I see?

I see a God who sees beyond who we are to whom we will become.

God saw a young woman whom He knew with His help would be strong enough to carry Him and care for Him in spite of what others might think. He gave her a close confidant in Joseph. God knew she’d need him to help her fulfill her calling. Angels were sent to Joseph too. He knew what God asked of him as well. Sacrifice. They both sacrificed much so that one day their precious baby boy could become our Sacrifice, the Sacrifice that saved the world —including you and me.

Do you see what I see?

Baby born to save the world through every day people.

Without the courage, trust, and belief of Mary and Joseph, we wouldn’t have our Christ. (Admittedly, God would have used someone else to deliver us. But because they were courageous, He didn’t have to.) What courage, trust, and belief is God calling you to? What won’t the world have if you don’t step into it?

“But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Luke 1:43 NKJV

Do you see what I see?

I see our Lord.

Like Elizabeth, we were given a Lord. He’s ahead of us in this matter. Waiting in the wings for each of us to say yes to Him as Leader of our lives. He wants to be, if we’ll let Him. We get choice. We get to choose Him as Lord (or not).

He’ll meet us on our most difficult days, like He ended up doing for his precious mama the day she looked on and saw her son, the Son, hanging on a cross willing to die for you and me. Before He did so, Jesus made sure His mama would be well-cared for by His closest companion, John, the disciple whom He loved. My friend, John, the one I love. I need you to love my mama. I know you will. I trust you to care for her. You’ve learned from me. Now take care of her. She’s going to need you. And I know you won’t let me down. That is a dark, desperate mama day. Literally, at Jesus’ death the skies turned dark (Mark 15:33). Mary’s Lord made sure she wasn’t left alone.

When Mary sat in Elizabeth’s kitchen (where I visualize her because that’s where good conversation often takes place) and heard these words, I don’t think she could have imagined that dark day.

“For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for these will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Luke 1:44-45 NKJV

Do you see what I see?

I see blessing born from belief.

Mary was told she would have a child, and He would save the world. He did. And He does. Jesus saves.

John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb for joy at the encounter with Christ. The stirring inside Elizabeth revealed to her Mary carried the Savior of the world.

Mary was given the immense privilege to care for the long-awaited Promise. Scripture fulfilled because she said “yes”.

Do you see what I see?

I see Jesus, our source of joy.

When we recognize Jesus, we see our source of all joy. Even a babe in a womb recognized it and leaped. Nothing else can bring joy like Jesus. The world will present all sorts of false narratives about what brings joy: buy me, try me, play me, let me play with you, idolatry.

Make no mistake. Joy to the world comes only through Christ.

When I look at Christ, I see joy. I see Him look upon us, me, with adoration in spite of my messy, muddled up attempts at living life for Him. I imagine His eyes twinkling as He looks upon me. She’s mine. That one with the freckles. She makes me smile. Knowing He delights in me in spite of my sin (not because of it, in spite of it) brings me joy. He loves you in spite of your sin too; I hope you bask in great joy over that truth.

What struck me today as I wondered about what I see when I look at Christ is how He chose to introduce Himself to you and me. A baby. A baby born to a previously unknown, unpretentious, betrothed woman who the town probably thought of as tainted trash, because they couldn’t see the truth. A baby born to a virgin.

Jesus could have chosen any way to come. He chose this one. I believe He really wants us to notice how He came.

Do you see what I see?

I see a Savior who made Himself vulnerable and humble. That’s how He came.

Not a warrior. Not a knight. Not a king the way we’d expect THE King. When I look at Christ as a baby born to brave, young Mary I see Him as vulnerable and humble.

I don’t want to move on from that. I think that’s His main point to this piece.

He came in vulnerability and humility.

He is our model. He is our ultimate Mentor. He wants me and you to live vulnerable and humble too. It’s how people will see Him.

Vulnerability and humility are not in vogue. That’s okay. The things of Christ aren’t necessarily in vogue with society. The Pharisees couldn’t see Christ because He came in such a vulnerable, humble way. They expected some grand entrance, or at least a grand gesture. Can we have a little fan-fare please?

That wasn’t the way of Christ.

He chose a different fashion to reveal Himself to us. He expects us to do life different too.

When I look at Christ today, I see vulnerability and humility and the blueprint on how to live my life for Him. Christmas, Easter, and every seeming insignificant day. Maybe it’s in the seeming insignificant days we reflect Him most.

This Christmas, I pray we respond like Mary when He calls us to Him and His purposes. I pray we see Him and we help others see Him too.

And Mary said,

I’m bursting with God-news;

I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.

God took one good look at me, and look what happened─

I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!

What God has done for me will never be forgotten,

the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.

His mercy flows in wave after wave

on those who are in awe before him.

He bared his arm and showed his strength,

scattered the bluffing braggarts.

He knocked tyrants off their high horses,

pulled victims out of the mud.

The starving poor sat down to a banquet;

the callous rich were left out in the cold.

He embraced his chosen child, Israel;

he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.

It’s exactly what he promised,

beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

─Luke 1:46-55 The Message

What do you see this Christmas as you look toward Christ?

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Do You Need a Do Over?

01.03.2017 by Tracy Stella //

Let me (Tracy) be one of the first to wish you a Happy New Year! In the season of resolutions we may keep ─or not─ we wondered if any of you might be looking for a do over. Will 2017 be the year that helps you live differently than you did before? Will THIS be the year that thing you’ve always done becomes something you never do again?

At the core of things, isn’t that what a New Year’s resolution is? I desire to do something better, perhaps to BE better in some way. The whole idea of a do over, or even a New Year’s resolution, seems to be rooted in regret. If only.

If only I could lose that last ten pounds.

If only I could carry out my calling without wanting to check out when it gets too hard.

If only I could hold my tongue when it wants to wag faster than a dog’s tail.

If only I could forget the hurtful words said to me, expunge them from my brain forever.

If only they’d never been said in the first place.

Maybe if only I’d never said them to someone else.

If only that goal I’ve longed to achieve was finally met.

If only the goal didn’t matter so much.

If only I’d never stumble again in the stinky, miry mess of my sin.

If only.

Right about now you may be wondering, what’s so happy about this post ushering in the new year. Hang in there. We’ll circle around like the second hand of a clock clicking around close to midnight. Time will usher in the HAPPY of this message about needing a do over.

Here’s the thing. We all make mistakes. The key is not to live in them, or let them limit the way we live. Each of us has a high calling. We’re called to glorify God, and we can’t do that if we are plunked down in a sea of regret longing for a do over.

When we don’t get it right (and we won’t always), we repent. We turn from sin and turn to our Daddy who loves us in spite of our sinful nature.

We accept God’s forgiveness and we move forward. Because that’s what He wants us to do. He’s a God who gives us chances. Lots and lots of chances, because He knows He’s in the process of changing us at His pace and through His grace.

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and STRAINING toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.─Philippians 3:13-15 NIV (capitalization emphasis mine)

The Greek word for straining is epekteinō which means to extend, to stretch forward, reaching forward.₁

We’re not called to reach back and take hold. We’re called to forget about those regrets, to forget about the sin (ours and others) that wants to entangle us. Instead, we’re commanded to stretch forward as if we’re a third basemen trying to get the game winning out. Reach for it. Because it matters.

We’re called to reach forward, because that’s where the prize is located. Our view as mature believers in Christ should be that facing forward gaze that looks to where our Heavenly Father is guiding us. Where we are going. Not where we have gone.

At some point, we need to think differently than the world. The promise in Scripture: God will make it clear to us. He’ll show us the view, the vantage point, He wants us to gaze at a thing from.

What if God is using our lack to show us things about ourselves? What if God is using our lack to show us things about Himself? On both accounts, He is.

What if our desire for a do over is really pointing to something God wants to help us deal with?

I’ll let you sit with that question for a minute.

What if our desire for a do over is really pointing to something God wants to help us deal with?

The song “Blessings” is playing right now in my earphones. What if the trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

What if.

Sometimes, if you’re anything like me, it takes a bit to understand a reaction. Why did that bother me so? Why is that thing (or that person) hitting a nerve? What is it about that proverbial last straw that says, I can’t take another thing? It’s not the last straw that set you on edge. It’s everything that has led up to that, layer by layer, until there’s a signal God allows through that says enough is enough.

Sometimes, He’s showing us a need not being met in our desire for a do over.

Certainly, our need for Him in all things. Like King David, we cry out to the Lord.

Hear me, LORD, and answer me,

for I am poor and needy.

Guard my life for I am faithful to you;

save your servant who trusts in you.

You are my God; have mercy on me, Lord,

for I call to you all day long.

─Psalm 86:1-3 NIV

Every day would be a day I’d regret if I didn’t have God and didn’t know I could call out to Him in my need. I have great need for His mercy, grateful His mercies are new every day (Lamentations 3:22-23)─and that I don’t have to wait for a new year to roll around for them to come again.

I love King David and his example. He gives me hope. Even in his sin, he called himself a faithful servant of the Lord. A servant who trusted God. Even in my sin, I can call myself a faithful servant of the Lord. A servant who trusted God. So can you. More of God’s mercy dispensed to His kids who want to do well, but don’t always.

Even while we are meeting the needs of others (perhaps more so) God wants to make sure our needs are being met. If we ignore the signals, He’ll allow them to get louder. It’s part of His merciful plan to turn up the volume.

That’s not My best for you.

That’s NOT My best for you!

THAT’S NOT MY BEST FOR YOU!

My best for you looks like boundaries and margin. Not doing more, but less.

The boundaries and the margin are for me, needs God wants to meet in my life. Maybe that’s not your issue, the thing God is trying to give you His best in.

But what is His best for you this new merciful day early in 2017? What is He revealing He wants you to possess, so you can be your best? Remember our high calling as believers? We are to reveal His glory. Embracing His goodness, letting Him fill us with His love when we are empty, allowing Him to lead and guide our life─really, fully, all the way … even when it’s hard.

What is God showing you in your need for a do over? What good does He want to bring forth like the rising of the sun on a fresh, new day as He helps you elevate higher?

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₁Thomas, R. L. (1998). New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : updated edition. Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.