God Keeps Leading

Waiting For the Frog to Emerge

As I was praying this morning I felt that something inside my spirit is about to re-emerge, something that has been dormant for a while.  As I was pondering this feeling of anticipation for what God is about to do, I remembered reading about this frog that can survive in a state of torpor for months or even years.

(Picture and article quote below are from http://www.livescience.com/)

"One species of burrowing frogs can survive for years buried in mud without food and water. New research has figured out how the frog and other 'super-sleeper' animals do it.

Many species of animals go through a period of torpor to conserve energy when resources are scarce. The champion in energy-saving mode is the burrowing frog (Cyclorana alboguttata).

A team of scientists at the University of Queensland discovered that the metabolism of these frogs' cells changes radically during the dormancy period allowing maximized use of limited energy resources without ever running on empty."

I had previously been thinking that the "desert" time I have gone through for the last 5 years or so had left me feeling extremely dry and nearly empty.  I decided to look up the frog to read about it again, and as I read I was encouraged.  I realized I had been listening to a lie, and now I felt like God was saying, "Look back at all that you have walked through in these last 5 years.  Look at what I have accomplished in and through you. Though you felt like you were in a dry and bleak place, I put you there and I was there with you.  I protected you and provided for you by how I created you, like that frog, giving you energy to get you through that time so you could re-emerge still very full of life."

I am excited to see the plans God has for me in the coming season of life.  I do see that his presence has certainly not been withdrawn, but that he has walked by my side every day.  I know I have grown in so many ways these last 5 years - that my cells have been forever altered by my time in seminary, and that I do not need to fear running out of energy, for he will continue to sustain me.

Nehemiah 9:20-21: "You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen."

Psalm 130

Here is a song for your enjoyment.

I am a PREPARE/ENRICH certified Facilitator

What is this thing called PREPARE/ENRICH?  It is premarital and marital counseling materials.  Watch this video to learn more...

Wandering....

I was just reading through some of my older blog posts.  On June 10, 2009 I wrote, "And - I was just recalling how fairly recently I felt like there was 'an exodus' coming. (I think I even declared so on facebook.) Not really sure what it meant, but I was very excited about it. I thought at the time it might mean an exodus from my dry 'desert' time, but now I'm thinking maybe it wasn't an exodus from the desert, but rather from Egypt into the desert. If I spend 40 years here I will truly die."  All I have to say today is... 4 years down, 36 to go.

Patience

I am, once again, being taught lessons on patience, contentment, trust, and peace.  God uses little things, such as a job search, to impart more of his character in my life.  All I can do is fold my hands and wait patiently.  This is also what I do when I'm waiting to be called in to an interview - I sit with my hands folded and breath.  I pay attention to my breathing, I let go of tension, and I sit patiently.

This has been an intense and emotionally draining time, but it has also been an exhilarating and life-giving time for me.  I am learning more about myself as I work to listen quietly to that still small voice that speaks peace and patience to me.  And I sit, and I fold my hands, and I rest in who I know God is and how I know has a plan for me.  After all, it is all in his hands, not mine.

I'm trying to make sense of it

Someone posted this picture on a social site to show what rained down on them during a church service.  People were responding with how they wanted some of that too.  One person said she had gold dust on her all night but wished she could have a pretty purple gem to go with that gold dust.

Okay....
Here is my question: Did anyone take those gems and sell them so they could feed the poor?

I'm sorry if that was judgmental, I just don't get it.  I never will.  What is the fruit of that?  Just joy for joy's sake?  I am truly attempting to understand.  I am not posting this to make negative comments about any persons.  Please forgive me if I have offended anyone.