Encouragement often comes from unexpected places\u2014even my own random ramblings! Skimming old journal notes, I found my faith bolstered and my Christ-perspective strengthened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lord, my life is in your hands. King David\ngot it right. \u201cIn thine hand is power and might, and in thine hand it is to\nmake great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank\nthee and praise thy glorious name\u201d (See 1 Chronicles 29:10-13).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything God designs for my life is for a purpose. Knowing\nthat, I can keep my joy, no matter the circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n I awoke this morning feeling stressed and anxious. It seemed\nthe enemy had invaded my dreams, leaving me with an unsettling darkness. Assorted\nconcerns started to bombard my thinking. Shaking off the fogginess of sleep, I\nremembered I\u2019d put all my worries in God\u2019s hands\u2026because my hands are tied. I\ncan\u2019t do anything but pray. And pray I will!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Out of my feeble\nhands, Lord, and into your almighty hands. I will trust you, remembering that whatever\ncomes today, I can use it to display your glory and declare your praise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The feeling of heaviness lifted, replaced by joy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note on my desk: \u201cI have set the Lord always before me: because\nhe is at my right hand, I shall not be moved\u201d (Psalm 16:8 KJV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord, I only desire\nthat you fulfill your purpose in me. It is because of you that I keep\npersevering. I don\u2019t want to waste my life. I surrender everything and everyone\nI love to you. I will praise, trust, and obey!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just read Psalm 113:7-8 (NIV). \u201cHe raises the poor from the\ndust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with\nthe princes of their people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re never without a plan, Lord. What do you have for me this day?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re never without a plan, Lord. What do you have for me this day? <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n * * *<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord, let me hear your voice!<\/em> After I\nprayed, my eyes fell on this note to self: \u201cyou whom I have upheld since you\nwere conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray\nhairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry\nyou. I will sustain you and I will rescue you\u201d (Isaiah 46:3b-4 NIV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n God’s voice!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another\nverse lay before me, one I\u2019d read without paying much attention. \u201cBut he who\npractices truth [who does what is right] comes out into the Light; so that his\nworks may be plainly shown to be what they are\u2014wrought with God [divinely\nprompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him]\u201d (John 3:21 Amplified).<\/p>\n\n\n\n God’s voice!<\/p>\n\n\n\n * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feeling like\na failure today. Reminding self God is faithful even when I’m not. Read this in\nmy daily devotional, Streams in the\nDesert<\/em>. “The Lord, when He hath given great faith, hath been known to\ntry it by long delayings.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another\nbirthday has come and gone, and I\u2019m still in the same place. Have I made any\nprogress in my Christian walk? Found this by Bill Bright in The Journey Home<\/em>. \u201cListen for God’s\nideas and ask Him to show you how to implement them. Don’t look at the clock or\nthe calendar, but look upon our all-powerful God\u201d (page 162).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before his\ndeath, he was working on eighty projects!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord, I only desire that my life count for\nyou…to finish the work you have given me. You know the number of my days. Let\nme spend them wisely. I surrender and rest.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n * * *<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n With a heavy\nheart I came into his presence and began reading where I’d left off, Exodus 13 in\nthe Amplified Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy strength of hand the Lord brought you out\u201d (see verses\n3, 9, 14, 16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen the Lord brings you into the land\u201d (see 5, 11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd when, in time to come, your son asks you, What does this mean? You shall say to him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage and bondmen\u201d (verse 14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the Lord is doing it (directing my life) and I have\nnothing to do with it (his strong hand is capable), why is my heart heavy?\nPraise him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Leviticus I found this if-you-will-I-will promise. \u201cIf you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them...I will be leaning toward you with favor and regard for you, rendering you fruitful...\u201d (26:3, 9 Amplified). <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n In Leviticus I found this if-you-will-I-will promise. \u201cIf you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them…I will be leaning toward you with favor and regard for you, rendering you fruitful…\u201d (26:3, 9 Amplified).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd I will walk in and with and among you and will be your\nGod and you shall be my people\u201d (26:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am the Lord your God, Who brought you forth out of the\nland of Egypt, that you should no more be slaves; and I have broken the bars of\nyour yoke and made you walk erect [as free men]. (26:13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes! No longer enslaved…walking erect in freedom!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord, you\u2014and only you\u2014deserve\nmy allegiance. I\u2019m yours. Let my life bring you glory.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n I found encouragement in my own random ramblings. Hope you\ndid as well. Tell me about a time the Lord brought encouragement from an unexpected\nplace. And please share this with your friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Encouragement often comes from unexpected places\u2014even my own random ramblings! Skimming old journal notes, I found my faith bolstered and my Christ-perspective strengthened. Lord, my life is in your hands. King David got it right. \u201cIn thine hand is power and might, and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,443,446,17,445],"class_list":["post-1184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-dianne-barker","tag-encouragement-from-my-own-random-ramblings","tag-feeling-like-a-failure","tag-gods-purpose","tag-stressed"],"yoast_head":"\n