A Weekend of Promise

This past weekend I went on a girls' trip out of town. Our purpose was relaxation, bonding and getting closer to God. Two of the main activities on the trip were seeing an outdoor play about the life of Christ called "The Promise" & hiking up to an overlook in the Dinosaur Valley State Park to get inspired by having a time of worship & communion with God in nature.

It was a great trip!! The forecast the whole week predicted RAIN but we (and I'm sure others) were praying diligently and God answered with favor. I don't think I even felt a drop of rain. Although we did get to see a rainbow up in the clouds while at The Promise. 

As you probably know, the symbol of the rainbow is God's promise to us and the reminder of the covenant He made to never flood the entire earth again. (Genesis 9:9-17) It was moving to see the rainbow at The Promise because we were about to watch the story of Christ and be reminded of the promise God fulfilled in Jesus! One of the lyrical lines from a song in the play says, "God is a God of promise. His promises ring true. His words can all be trusted. What God has said...He'll do!"

I've been reflecting a lot on the words of God and have been asking myself..."Are you living like you trust these words and are you believing that what God has said, He will do?" This has been so helpful in my life at this moment to reconfirm and take God at his word! 

Doubt can jump into my thoughts quickly about all kinds of things. Recently, doubt says to me, "Can you really take on children as a single woman? These kids are very tramatized. You could ruin your life forever." or "You don't have that much support...the number of people that have even checked on you concerning the adoption can be counted on one hand with fingers left over!" 

My friends, I'm not naturally negative and I know those thoughts are not from God... so where do they suddenly come from?

Well, in the play, you can often see the actor of satan chill'n in most scenes. In a spotlighted scene of Peter & Jesus, when Jesus shares that he will be betrayed, killed and then rise again, Peter gets upset and says that he will not let those things happen to Jesus. Just then the spotlight widens and you see that satan is beside Peter. To which, Jesus then speaks the famous words of rebuke, "Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's." (Matthew 16:23) 

So over the past week what I realized is that those doubt filled thoughts are from a human point of view and not from God's! They are a dangerous trap. I'm certain evil would love me to give up on adoption! My life will not be ruined...I'm following God's heart, His will. I'm striving for a life of love and of course satan wants me to focus on my comfort and on how "hard" it is to follow in the steps of Christ.
 
The evil one has no new tactics...just his old tricks as a tempter. He tried to mess with Jesus so of course he's going to try to mess with little ole me so I the answer for me has been to reconfirm truths from God like Jesus did in Matthew 4 by answering with scriptures - aloud. I've been encouraging other also to speak God's words aloud to fight off temptation & doubts. There are many examples of this in the bible. I hope you research it! 

"It is written: 'I believed; therefore I have spoken.' Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak..." 2 Corinthians 4:13

I'm trusting God at his word. I know that the God of Promise will bring good to those who follow Him whether the good is in this life or the next and so will hold unswervingly to the hope I profess, for He who Promised me, Is Faithful! Heb. 10:23