I can do this!

I have been learning some amazing things in my quiet time this week.  As you may remember I am working through a book by Debbie Alsdorf.  The book is titled He Is My Freedom.

This devotional uses scriptures I know and concepts I already get to reach deeper into my soul and imprint them there.  God wants me to do more than just know what His word says ... He wants me to feel it and live it.  (That is something I struggle with - do you?)

This morning I studied a small section from the story of Moses and Joshua.  The focus was the mesage God gave to each of them on separate occasions.  It is the continuation of a promise.

"I will be with you.  And this will serve as proof ..."  Exodus 3:12 

"For I will be with you as I was with Moses.  I will not fail you or abandon you."  Joshua 1:5   

I am reassured that this promise continues on to this day.  For I feel like Moses did (afraid, doubtful and unworthy) sometimes.  I also need the message God gave to Joshua (be strong and courageous) from time to time.  Both of these ordinary men felt inadequate for the job they had been assigned by the Most High.

THEY WERE INADEQUATE.  And so am I.

Debbie Alsdorf says, "But God did not ask them to work alone or in their own strength.  Just as God gave them power, so He gives us power to do His work." (page 115)

"I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need."  Phil 4:13

The key to make this an everyday reality is to rest in God.  To abide in Him.  To listen for Him.  To follow His leading.  The rest of the work is HIS!  "The outcome totally rests on God's power, not on my performance." (page 116)  Look up the Philippians 4:13 verse in the message.  Then memorize it ... it is powerful.

Did you need to hear that today ... just like me and my friends, Moses and Joshua?

I'm tired of living life a fool ...

My heart is so full today.  The Lord is stretching my heart past its edges these days.  It hurts.

But today I say to my God and to you ... I surrender.

I give to Him, the Maker of all that I am and ever hope to be, all the "junk"  I am holding onto.  Maybe it isn't junk in His eyes. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise, a treasure worth a thousand fold, or the one thorn that will bring me closer to him.  To me it feels like a heavy weight, a burden I would like to pass on, a heart-renching pain I would rather be without.

I touched on this in a blog post last month - praying for the courage to follow God's lead - no matter where it takes us.  How can I find courage when I feel anything but strong enough?  Wasn't that Joshua's hearts cry?  Courage seems to be one of those things, like trust, that you have to act on it before you feel it.  God wants us to just trust Him enough to be willing to walk the path we wants us to.

I saw the movie Courageous last week.  It was amazing!  And an amazing roller coaster of emotions too.  We went from fear to sorrow to laughing so hard we could hardly sit in our seats and then back again.  The message is powerful and UNMISTAKEABLE. God is the only answer.

So if God is the only answer for them, I have to trust that He is the only answer for me.  God is the only one capable of getting me through the maze of my 'junk'.