Oh wow, I have had one of those “teaching” weeks, I wrote my blog early thinking I was so efficient, little did I know that it really was a pre-test and that it was more for training purposes…
I also have one of those sentences, the kind that does not leave, circling around in my mind causing me to process it over and over. Here is the sentence:
“Don’t let your days determine your life. Let your life determine your days.” Day 5, The Book of Mysteries, Jonathan Cahn.
The whole description before this line is about praying for your days to come, the future. I have never prayed for the days to come. I have prayed for things to happen, and people, but to pray for my actual future “days”, no, I cannot say I ever have. Unless it was simply for God to bless them.
I rise in the morning, oh, I might have a tentative plan and the day gets going and we are off and running. I mean for me now, there are ducks to visit, water and feed. Maybe they eventually will lay an egg or two. I have been so frustrated that they have not laid one egg since we got them. Yesterday in my frustration I even mentioned the word “freezer” to them in hopes to scare out an egg…… (not my best duck behaviour I know).
What this quote is saying is to prepare myself and my days by praying for them ahead of time. Pray what?
According to the Bible we all, each of us, only have a set number of days on this earth, our days are literally numbered (see Job 14:5 and Psalm 139:16). God has given us things to do, tasks to do for His kingdom. In order to live our days fulfilling God’s plans, we are to pray, appoint and ask God to bless our remaining days to let us fulfill His plans through us. This would mean not living out “my” plans, rather asking God in advance to Bless us with His plans and ask Him to allow us to carry His plans out.
“Many people today are pouring their lives out and working for Jesus Christ, but are not really walking with Him.” Oswald Chambers March 9
Quite the shift in thinking because I know that I often think I am working for God and doing His work, but did I come up with the idea or did He? I do not stop to ask this question and off I go thinking I am doing it right.
Last weeks blog talked about the lilies and the birds, they toil not or spin. They are not going around crazy busy, saying they do not have enough time. They accomplish what God set them out to do – be ducks, and in return God clothes and feeds them.
If I take the time to stop and ponder the days that I think are so rich and rewarding they are the ones that I let happen, not the ones I planned into being. When I get to pray for someone that I randomly ran into, or the people that God said go back and talk to, even when, especially when, it was not in my daily plan or time frame, those are the best!
For instance, I had run to Dawson Creek and had completed my couple of errands. I had my Timmys tea and was about to head home. Brian called and asked if I would stop in at the farm store and pick up something. I groaned, out loud, because my plan was to head home.
But off I went to the Coop farm store and bought the items he requested. While at the counter I started chatting with a gal about my chaga balm. I had a couple samples and offered her one, well she was excited and called the manager who wants me to put a proposal forth for possibly selling them for me. By the time I left – 4 gals had headed over to see what was happening and all wanted to try the balm! Wow! I was super pumped and I was not even wanting to go in there.
Then I stopped in at the post office and the lady there helped me figure out shipping costs so graciously, so I offered her a balm too. She has a real problem with scents but I assured her there is no fragrance, or any smell added. She was so excited to give it a try, I was Blessed and so was she.
My day went not according to my plan, but what a great day it turned out to be!
There was another day this week, I had spent the night before, though the night with a “neuralgia” pain in my head, I have had these a couple times before. These are quite similar to the pain from Shingles, it is usually an inflamed nerve and it shoots electrical type shocks through your head. It is very debilitating, and the shocks come as often as every 5-10 seconds. I got up on Tuesday, my Gr. Prairie, Bible study, Prayer room day and the shocks continued to come. I went back to bed and woke up at 9:30 feeling much better. I got up tentatively and realized that the shocks seemed to have stopped.
It was too late to head for the Bible study but I could possibly make the Prayer room. I got ready and was in the car heading to Gr. Prairie when I sensed that something was off. I pulled into a truck stop and talked to God. He told me I was going the wrong way, I was baffled and it certainly was not my plan. I happened to know that my oldest son Glen was in Dawson for the day and that was the other direction. I went back on the highway and headed to Dawson.
Glen and I had a great visit over a cup of tea and were able to encourage each other. I got back into the car, it was now time when I would have been at the Prayer Room normally. I got a text message from someone who was in need of a listening ear. I sat in a parking lot for quite a while chatting. I realized that if I had been in the Prayer room I would not have been available to answer, since I do not bring my phone with me.
My day turned out totally different that I could have ever planned it and I am so glad it did!
The lesson for the person in training (me) was that God should be able to help Himself to my day when ever He wishes. I have started to pray for my “future days” that I would be available to be used by God. It is up to me to not get frustrated and annoyed when things do not turn out the way I had originally planned and to “go with the flow” (of the Spirit).
I came home and decided to try out my new little quad snow blade that Brian and a friend installed on it. Off I went plowing the snow on our driveway. For a little blade that thing can move snow and if you know of or about our driveway that is a huge deal! It is not going to do the job of a large blade or a tractor but I have cleared paths around the house, cleared the driveway and the approach at the bottom which prevented you from getting a good “run” at it, plus I had a lot of fun.
Well, I am off to go greet the ducks and I will probably look around and see if they have left me an egg or two while I am down there. I will pray that God keeps my mouth zipped so no “freezer” word slips out.
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