The Shift

Did you feel the earth shift a little bit this morning? Did the world seem a little clearer? Brighter? Well, if so, that was my paradigm shifting from God's clarification this morning.

My life has taken such a drastic change over the last six months. It has been as if the earth has continually shifted under my feet over and over again. Just when I feel as though my feet are firmly planted in one area, the earth shifts and I find myself standing in another area. God is keeping me on my toes, for sure!

I realized this week that I am SOOOO incredibly blessed! I have some of the most amazing friends and family. They love the kids and I...they are part of our lives...we are living life together...loving on each other..listening...talking...loving. I can't even express this point as much as I'd like to. Even with friends and family that I have intermittent communication with, there is still this sense of a bond that goes beyond the drifting. I am thankful for each person...

There are "regulars" in my life now that should be winning some type of an award or something. By regulars I mean that they put up with me on a regular basis...over coffee each week, in the office, via email, at church...and I'm pretty sure I should have taken some stock out for Panera and Espresso because I'm betting that we are solely the reason they are still in business.

Early this morning (much earlier than right now) my morning started off with a text message to and from one of my favorite people who is helping keep me accountable. I am serious when I say that God meets us every morning and this morning especially, put on the most amazing concert for just us with beautiful sounds of the birds. While most of the people in the area slept, we were awake and hyper sensitive to God's presence and love. How amazing is that?!

In reading my devotion this morning, along with sipping on a large cup of yummy coffee, and after God primed me with the concert, my paradigm shifted. You see, I've been complaining or going on with my friends about the challenges of life. A few in particular. And in one particular situation, I had almost completely given up and resigned myself to a fate that was awful - one that I never should have thought about or considered. But this morning, God orchestrated something very different. Here is an excerpt:

"Do we complain about our hardships? If so, we have forgotten that the universe is meant to glorify God, not us. Consider how His power might be made known in our trials. Redirect your prayers not to improve your situation but to have your situation demonstrate His glory. Thank Him for making Himself known."

I have been doing nothing but complaining about my situations and believe me, I have been praying for God to improve them...under my terms...with MY definition of what that meant. But when you really think about this point from the devotion, the possibilities are literally endless on how God could use our situations in a way that will glorify Him. My way? Or His way? I choose His way. I may not know what that is yet...and there may be this control-freak part of me that wants to know now what that will look like...or determine the outcome, but in the end, I want it to be HIS way, not mine. He is way more creative than me! :-)

And so when I think about how the Israelites were kept as slaves in Egypt so that God could be glorified as their deliverer in Exodus 11:9, and then I read on further that he purposely led them into what could have been (and rightfully should have been) a fatal situation in Exodus 14:4 but turned that situation into one of many that led people to realize who God was when he parted the sea, and when the blind man was blind all his life until Jesus allowed him to see in John 9:1-7, again, giving glory to God...I realize that my situations, as dismal as some of them may seem, will be, at some point, used to glorify God in His way, His timing, is...well...exciting!

Did you feel the shift?