Welcome P31 readers! I am so glad you stopped by today.
Last week, God laid it on my heart to write two posts about embracing whatever God calls us to do, even if it is hard. Even if we do not like His plan. Even if we do not want to follow His call.
These two devotions are so applicable to todays devotion, that I decided to make them the focus today, instead of writing something new.
I want to first encourage you to read them below, and pray about what it is that God is calling you to do today, this week, this year, or with your life in general. Ask God for open spiritual ears to hear His voice clear as a bell this week, and to guide your thoughts to an understanding of what His will is for you. Also, before you say Amen, ask for the strength and peace to embrace His will, even if it seems outside of your capabilities, or way outside of your comfort zone.
Secondly, I want to encourage you to come back to my blog for the next five days and take the Faith Zone Challenge. I ran this challenge one year ago, and God used it so mightily in the lives of people who were serious about hearing Gods voice, seeking His face and His direction, and finding the courage that can only come through Him to step out in faith.
My prayer this week is that it will do the same for many of you, who may be in a place in life where you feel that something is missing; or you feel there has to be more to your faith than what you are living; or you feel that God has been pulling you into obedience, or calling you to a specific ministry or task that will glorify Him, but your fears have prevented you from taking that first step down the journey that He has destined specifically for you.
If you have ever thought any of those thoughts, or are simply looking for a closer relationship with the Savior that has promised you life, then I want to encourage you to get on board with this upcoming challenge.
I can already feel it - God is going to do great things in some hearts this week! I cant wait to see how God is going to move! As you participate in the challenge, it would bless me and the other readers to hear how God has spoken to you each day, so please share!
Be sure to come back and visit for the next five days! From everyone who comments each day, I will have a drawing over the weekend for a free copy of my book, Reinventing Your Rainbow. (A little incentive always helps doesnt it?!)
May God bless you as you draw closer to Him this week.
Last week, God laid it on my heart to write two posts about embracing whatever God calls us to do, even if it is hard. Even if we do not like His plan. Even if we do not want to follow His call.
These two devotions are so applicable to todays devotion, that I decided to make them the focus today, instead of writing something new.
I want to first encourage you to read them below, and pray about what it is that God is calling you to do today, this week, this year, or with your life in general. Ask God for open spiritual ears to hear His voice clear as a bell this week, and to guide your thoughts to an understanding of what His will is for you. Also, before you say Amen, ask for the strength and peace to embrace His will, even if it seems outside of your capabilities, or way outside of your comfort zone.
Secondly, I want to encourage you to come back to my blog for the next five days and take the Faith Zone Challenge. I ran this challenge one year ago, and God used it so mightily in the lives of people who were serious about hearing Gods voice, seeking His face and His direction, and finding the courage that can only come through Him to step out in faith.
My prayer this week is that it will do the same for many of you, who may be in a place in life where you feel that something is missing; or you feel there has to be more to your faith than what you are living; or you feel that God has been pulling you into obedience, or calling you to a specific ministry or task that will glorify Him, but your fears have prevented you from taking that first step down the journey that He has destined specifically for you.
If you have ever thought any of those thoughts, or are simply looking for a closer relationship with the Savior that has promised you life, then I want to encourage you to get on board with this upcoming challenge.
I can already feel it - God is going to do great things in some hearts this week! I cant wait to see how God is going to move! As you participate in the challenge, it would bless me and the other readers to hear how God has spoken to you each day, so please share!
Be sure to come back and visit for the next five days! From everyone who comments each day, I will have a drawing over the weekend for a free copy of my book, Reinventing Your Rainbow. (A little incentive always helps doesnt it?!)
May God bless you as you draw closer to Him this week.
36 comments:
God is still waiting for me to take the cotton out of my ears, remove the blindfold from my eyes, and let down my guard long enough to reveal His purpose for me . . . so I don't even know yet whether it's easy or hard or fun or scary or what! Come on rainbow! Thanks!
tammons at triad dot rr dot com
Thanks for todays devotion, I know I am right where God wants me to be at home with my boys :-)
I’ve been up since 2:30 am trying to see, hear, understand God’s plan. You see today my husband and I meet with a Neurosurgeon after three years of waiting and watching. Three years ago God forever changed my family’s life, most days I think for the better, other’s I’m so tired, I can’t see the blessings, only feel the pain. This is the only thing I know for sure, God is faithful. Part of my daily routine has become reading the daily devotionals on the Proverbs 31 website, not sure of where God was going to take me this morning but the verse Jeremiah 29:11 brought me to my knees. Before my husband and I were married, we thought it important to have a verse that would be a foundation of sorts for us and our marriage, you guessed it it’s Jeremiah 29:11, it’s engraved in our wedding bands. Just another amazing thing our God does, when we aren’t sure of what the day holds, he assures us He has it in His hands.
Thank you so much for today's devotion. I am in the midst of a decision and am trying to clearly descerne God's desires for me and my family.
Tracie, I enjoyed your devo today and look forward to your blog in the week ahead. It seems God revealed some things and confirmed others at She Speaks, but now doubt is resurfacing so I look forward to getting back on track. Thanks for letting HIm speak thru you, JIll
I am so glad I came over from Crosswalk. Having just had to close a business and decide whether to pursue working from home or try to get a mon-fri 8-5 job is a little overwhelming. When I think of the office job, my gut tightens and it doesn't seem right. The work from home just concerns me over finances and making enough to pay off the failed business debt. Wow, I guess too much info :)
I look forward to the challenge - thank you much!!
I know what your Optimist Challenge did for me, by bringing up a realization of something that has brought me to where I am now.
I can't wait to see how the Faith Zone Challenge is going to impact my life.
I'm ready for the challenge and to take another step out of my comfort zone!
I love how God shows us the things we need-Right now, our family has just weathered my husbands unemployment since December. He finally got a good job, but we need to move from the house we managed to hold on to...all in two weeks, when I begin homeschooling and some of my kids go to public school, etc...I thought we were meant to stay here. My kids are happy, we have a great church, etc. I trust God, I just have no idea what to expect next. I have 5 kids and deep down, I feel that our next home could not possibly be as good as here. I need a faith challenge:) lol
I enjoyed reading today's devotion and your blog post. I have issues with letting go and hearing God's will. I look forward to taking part in the faith challenge.
Tracie,
Thank you so much for your P31 post today. I am visiting your blog for the first time today. I have felt God calling me into an area of ministry I never dreamed I was capable of. Your statement from yesterdays post "Something that calls us so far out of our comfort zone that we feel as if we are hanging off of a steep cliff, with only one tiny, flimsy branch keeping us from falling to a canyon of fear" sums up exactly what I have been feeling. Thank you for the encouragement.
Nerrie
I am at that stage in my life where i feel like i am all stagnant, God seems too quite for me. If i could go to Him, i would ask Him about this long silence. However i believe He is working something very big for me and no wonder it is taking forever. i am believing God for a good job. I will be sure to share whenthis silence has been broken.I love my God and He has never failed me.
Prayers for "Pinkbuttons" for encouraging news from the neurosurgeon, and prayers for Heather and her family in transition. My prayer is that for all of us, we can rest in the assurance that we are right where God wants us to be. And also rest assured, that if change is needed, He'll surely let us know. We just have to keep our hearts open to see and hear his "nudgings" as He gently tries to steer us in the right direction. Looking forward to the faith challenge!
Have a blessed day!
I just signed up for the P31 emails last week...wow, I really needed today's along with your blog. I'm not a crier but I sobbed last night b/c life is so hard. I do think it is warfare. Know a change is coming - but I don't know what the next step is.
Today's devotion sounded very familiar to me, it seems no matter where I go I end up with hurting or searching people in my office. Recently I felt the Lord gave me permission to leave my present job, I'm not sure where He's leading me next... I'm stepping out in faith, and waiting expectantly for whatever's next.
Tracy, I enjoyed meeting you and your mom at She Speaks. My daughter is getting married this Saturday, so I've been camping in the Psalms this past couple of weeks.
One verse particularly stood out to me: Psalm 4.5 Offer *right sacrifices* and trust in the Lord. When I do what I'm supposed to do, I can rest is trusting Him for all the rest.
THanks for you post today...right where I am!
(My daughter, Rachael, had a blast with the NG girls!)
Tracie, thank you for your blog. I have started receiving the Prov 31 devotionals and was nudged by God to read your blog today. It was exactly what I needed! I have felt God wanting me to "serve" Him in some way but have no clue in what! I've been reading Elizabeth George's "Loving God with All you Mind" and one of her comments was "just DO SOMETHING!" Fear and uncertainty has been preventing me from stepping out in faith. I look forward to your challenge and plan on participating in it! God Bless you and your ministry.
Pam Swope....Morgantown WV
I'm in a time of transition...my firstborn starting kindergarten next week, buckling down on my work-from-home job after summer break, needing to start an early a.m. exercise program, serving in a new ministry position soon too. And yet I need to find something creative to feed my spirit. I just started writing again, but I wonder if that's ALL God wants me to do...perhaps this challenge will enlighten me on God's plan for my creative gifts.
Tracie, I have never been to your blog before today. I believe that the Lord has divinely lead me here because your words today are exactly where I am right now. I am looking forward to this challenge in a major way. I want to soar with the Lord. I believe the time has come. Rest knowing that your obedience is already producing results. God bless you my sister!
Sincerely,
Melissa (New Jersey)
Tracie -
I am so sorry I did not intentionally come up to you at meet you at She Speaks! So I am sending you a hug and thanks through your blog!
Thank you so much for today's P31 Devotion and your blog. I will join you on your Faith Zone.
I too left corporate America to stay at home. I was re-called back into the ministry. I have friends that say all the time God did not have me leave my job because of my kids - He had me leave my job so He could finally get me where He wanted. My kids are a bonus! I knew from the time I was 16 that God had set me apart for full time ministry. Went to Bible College and looking back I had my plans that I wanted God to bless. Long story short, $$ became my focus and materialism entered in and I found myself in jobs that were never fulfilling! Even with company cars and traveling all over the US. It wasn't until I said YES Lord - I trust You and Your plans that I can honestly say I found a sweet sweet peace and rest.
For the last several months I have been learning and teaching on Hearing God's Voice. I am currently facilitating a small group of women in Priscilla Shirer's Discerning the Voice of God. Through her book and through gals like Renee Swope, I am resting in Seek Him not the plan!
Thanks Tracie and I am so excited about your Faith Zone Challenge!
i want to thank-you so much for this because when something devisating happens in ones life...i myself tend to think it is just me and i should just get on with life and be happy and why am i not victorious...my marriage once again has fallen apart and he has someone new....same old problem but this time i am not the same....i saw different things happen along the way until the day came that he did not come home....but i did not fall apart like before...i did cry and still do but i was able to get up and move on....i even took a step of faith and applied to volunteer at youth for christ....because young people are my hearts cry....so yes it is hard and i am really happy to know that He is able and I will survive this and come out the other side...thanks for sharing your testimony because i cried like a baby because this is new for me and i felt so lost in the new stuff and some what confused as well....so i still can keep my focus on Christ and let him have the wheel....
Praise God, for He is good to us!!! I left my management position back in May of this year. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I knew that my God would take care of me and my family. I took a leap of faith and put myself and family in his hands. He has opened so many doors for me! I'm soon to open a cake shop which has been a long long dream or desire of mine!!! God is good! All the time!
This was just what The "Doctor" ordered for me today...."the Doctor being the Great Physician...the All Knowing One! Thanks for your upcoming challenge! I am curious to see how He reveals His plan to me. God bless you for allowing Him to speak through you to all of us!
This was just what The "Doctor" ordered for me today...."the Doctor being the Great Physician...the All Knowing One! Thanks for your upcoming challenge! I am curious to see how He reveals His plan to me. God bless you for allowing Him to speak through you to all of us!
I made a decision last week to resign from my job and start something new. I felt at peace after the decision was told to my supervisor and co-workers. I now am excited about my new leap, but my neck(I have DDD) still causes me pain. I will be praying for relief of the pain in my neck(haha) as this is my weak area of my body. God has given me the strength to move forward and now I need to take care of myself during this transition. Thank you for your words.
Thank you for being obedient to deliver today's message. My husband lost his job earlier this year and God was faithful to provide a new job a few months later. We had to agree to sell our home and move closer to his workplace and leave behind our family, friends and familar surroundings. We are in the process of selling our home and looking for a new one. I am trusting God to provide a buyer for our home and help us find ... just the right place to live. Trusting and waiting don't come easy to me, but I am determined to find God's will in this journey. I feel as if we are standing on the edge of a cliff and all avenues are closed and the only way forward is to take the leap of faith ... off the cliff. It's scary and exciting at the same time for I can't see where we will land once we leave the relative safety of the cliff. I understand that when my actions, attitudes and behaviors line up with what I profess, then the Word moves from my head to my heart and becomes a part of who I am. Faith becomes reality when I trust God to orchestra the details of my life.
Let me tell you that this is a timely word and right now I have tears in my eyes because I know that God had to get this to me and many others out there. God called me to begin a ministry last year "Rest Assured Ministries" for young girls. I have been planning a conference for upcoming labor day weekend and have requested other churches to join in but very few seem to care because it is not THEIR Church. I am an Instructor @ a community college and God has been shifting some things around for me here (ie. no stable position). I have been honored to help fill in for some coworkers who have been afflicted with various illnesses but I know that God is doing something bigger that I am unable to see @ this time. To God be ALL of the Glory for things that He is doing in the Body in these last days. In God's Love
Tracie-
I was working at getting my inbox to zero and was about to delete the devotions I hadn't had time to read because I am facing a presentation deadline at work. God reminded me how He had used P31 in the past to confirm important decisions in my life, so I opened today's devotion.
A little background - Last night my husband sat down and shared with me that he felt the Lord prompting him to make some changes. I have worked the entire 19 years of our marriage, often times as the lead provider. This came with much sacrifice, no time for my husband, spiritual deprivation, inability to keep up my household responsibilities, you get the idea. God has revealed to my husband through Bible study, that he is to be to me, like Christ is to the Church. He apologized last night for sacrificing me to keep things he wanted - our standard of living, extra land, vacations, etc. God has so moved in his heart that he is calling me home in the toughest economic times since the Great Depression. Since he works in the building industry on a 100% commission basis, this is truly a faith leap!
Your devotion today has served once again as one of the spiritual mile markers in my life. The kind where God delivers, straight into my in-box, a message that says, "I see you girl, I know it's scary, but I love you and I've got it all under control".
Like you, I will be walking away from a career. But I will be walking straight towards God and what better direction could there be?
So glad I found your site! One thing that you said that stuck out to me was that God's plan is not always the easiest, most comfortable, etc. I want to stretch beyond my comfort zone and do great things from HIM! I am so ready to participate in the challenge. He is up to BIG things...I can feel it!
this is such perfect timing for me!!!! thank you!
Tracie,
I am so happy I found your blog through the Prov31 devotion. I will be coming back to do the Faith challenge this week.
My husband and I are in full time ministry. After attending SheSpeaks last week, I know that He is calling me to prepare for new opportunities to be used by Him. But fear grabs hold of me when I consider what those opportunities could mean. Your quote about ministry...It means willing allowing God to change us, so we can help others change...is what I needed to hear. I want to allow God to change me so He can reach out to others through me.
Thanks! I look forward to this week!
Tracie - It always amazes me how a devotion will speak directly to me. I have been uncomfortable and restless in my place lately. This journey sounds made just for me! Thank you.
Thank you Tracie for you Devotional. I agree with Terry. I am in the process to take the cotton out!!! I am not afraid anymore. I am preparing myself to listen. The rainbow has many color, as well the life. I am more with expectationes what God wants me to work for HIM.
Wow, I love how so many women are connected from this devotional and from our shared belief in a Great God. Looking forward to the next 5 days!
This devotion today is most definitely God speaking to me - this has been my prayer for the last couple weeks - Thank You Lord - I am in for the challenge! Just this morning I asked God to open my heart, mind, and ears to know the direction and purpose He has for me - usually i read the P31 devotion in the morning, but i didn't go in til now - Keep talking Lord! Thanks for P31 - it is God working through you ladies! Praying for you all - Sherry
sherryhallauer@neb.rr.com
Just yesterday as I was driving to my first, ever, counceling session, God was showing me how fear has a hold on my life. I don't drive anywhere far on my own... I can't remember when that started, but it locked gazes with me yesterday. Now, I know Greenville SC is only an hour away from me, but with the heat, with cars speeding over 70 miles per hour, and only being so far on 85S before, it truly shocked me to see inside myself.
1 Timothy 1:7 is a scripture verse I had my daughter memorize a couple years ago because she fears bugs and all things that fly and creep. Which, I can totally relate to... maybe not in fear, but at least in disguist. But yesterday, I saw that she isn't the only one that needs to quote that scripture verse. I need it in my own life.
I need control of situations and when I don't have it, I start to get frazzled and fray at the edges. It's not a comfortable place to be, but over time God has been working on me... and obviously yesterday was another peek into something that we are going to be working on.
I am looking forward to this faith challenge. I want deep conviction in knowing the things I can't see... God can. There isn't anything in my life that happens without first being sifted through His capable and mighty hands.
Thanks you for this! I pray God would richly bless each and every one of us through this.
Your devotional was so perfect today. I have applied for a job that would be a step back for me and would be the perfect hours (I work 3rd shift)on day shift, relatively no weekends, less responsibility, etc. And I would be pretty much guaranteed to get it. Except He has put me in a leadership role for His purpose, to encourage and be different supervisor than most of my employees have encountered. So what seems perfect, I know in my heart is the wrong step. God really had to work on me for a week or so to give up what I wanted and thought was best. Now I continue to wait on the Lord and rejoice in His faithfulness for always knowing what is best. God Bless!
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