Obedience and Praise!

I am in awe at how incredible God is!

God gave me a vehicle today! I paid nothing for it...

My church family paid for this vehicle...

and delivered it to my driveway...

plus put gas in it and gave me a gas card on top of it...

It's the nicest vehicle I've ever had.

with more buttons and gadgets inside than I've ever seen before...

My key chain unlocks and locks my door... I guess they call it keyless entry:)

I have never had this before, or anything as nice...

My kids think it's cool (That's huge for a 12 year old boy! He thinks mom is cool now)

When the car was delivered to me, my mouth dropped. When I sat inside of it, my heart was overwhelmed. God knew I needed a vehicle as mine died 2 weeks ago, but He went above and beyond anything I could have EVER imagined.

Isaiah 55:9
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

I have been on quite a journey with trusting God and having faith that He really does know what He's doing. With letting my husband go and filing for a divorce, I questioned over and over and sought the Lord over and over on the way He wanted me to go. When I was overwhelmed with my child and clueless how to help him, I had to choose to give him grace over judgement. When my other son was recently having problems in school, I had to choose to go in a direction I really didn't want to go, but chose to trust God despite my feelings. When a vehicle I was really hoping to get on Friday didn't come through, I said, "o-kay God, I need a vehicle. I put it in your hands."

I chose to trust...

and God came through in EVERY situation!

The vehicle didn't come through on Friday because God had a better one to give me on Sunday. He wanted to spoil me. If you don't believe that God spoils His children and delights to pour out His blessings upon them, then you need to spend a week in my shoes.

Our blessings aren't always material, but He is always pouring out blessings to those who He calls His children. When my kids are obedient and generous with their stuff or even themselves, I love to bless them. If my child whines and complains about things and chooses to be ungrateful for the things they have, the last thing I want to do for them is to bless them with a treat.

I believe God is the same way. If we aren't responsible enough to have something, He is not going to give it to us. If we whine and complain about our life and how unfair it is, why would He want to bless us?

Living in an attitude of praise is hard. Especially when life doesn't go the way you hoped it would. It's hard when you are stressed and hurting. It's hard when you have to parent by yourself (with or without a spouse), It's hard when you are in physical pain and nothing seems to take the edge off. It's hard when your checkbook gets slammed shut by a quickly falling economy. It's hard when you see life through the depression that tries to suffocate you. It's hard when people you love get sick and die. It's hard when a child or a loved one suffers innocently through a cruel and unjust act. It's hard when there is no food in the cupboards and you have to choose between grocery shopping or paying your mortgage. It is hard to praise when life is hard...

But God requires it...

AND He honors it!!!

God inhabits our praises, and He multiplies the praise we give Him, and lavishes it back onto our lives.

Even after all God has done for me to show His faithfulness and provisions, you would think that I would find it easy to praise. But I, too, struggle, during the hard times, to give God praise. At first it's easy too, but after time when relief still doesn't come, it is more difficult. That is when we have to push praise even more because our breakthrough is just around the corner!

I had a chance even on Saturday to buy a vehicle out of desperation. God quietly whispered "no". I went to bed discouraged, but chose to trust and wait upon the Lord. I woke up (late) this morning, still discouraged, and even thought about not going to church. But I chose to be obedient and go anyway...

I could have missed out on God's gift to me if:

1. I stayed home from church to wallow in my self-pity.
2. I had jumped to buy the vehicle on Saturday.
3. I was not disciplined with my finances a week earlier. (God's been speaking to me about being disciplined in this area)
4. I chose to fall into temptation with a reoccurring sin also on Saturday. (I believe God was blessing my obedience).
5. I hadn't been training my mind to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

I truly believe there were many "tests" I passed these last two weeks that God wanted to bless me for. Praising in the midst of the storm was one of those tests. Being obedient despite my feelings was another.

God honors the praise we give Him. Some days, I could only muster up a little praise. Other days, I had a lot. God honors that! He sees your heart, just as He saw mine. He sees how hard you are trying to live for Him, and He wants to bless you. Are your hands open to receive? Is your heart prepared to obey? Is your soul ready to praise in this storm of your life? GOD IS Faithful! ALWAYS...

Do your part, so that God can do His! Don't give up! Your breakthrough is just around the corner! That thing that God is trying to birth in you is almost here! Praise Him with everything in you! Push on and press through your circumstance! Seek His face, turn towards Him! And EXPECT God to come through for you!!! The "waiting upon the Lord" is for His glory, so that His perfect timing and His perfect plan can shine through to you and everyone else around you!

When God asks you to lay down something, it's only because He has something better for you to hold in your heart and in your hands! Let go of that dream that has died, He has a better one for you! Let God blow your socks off and overwhelm your heart with His goodness and faithfulness!!!

Isaiah 55:9
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.


Blessings!!!
Heaven