I used to crave leadership to teach me the Lord’s ways, to speak into my life. I heard from God through my pastors only. In junior high and high school, I looked up to my youth pastors. Then they died unexpectedly in a plane crash. For the first time in my life, I felt betrayed by the Lord. How could he let this happen? I didn’t understand, and for years I felt lost. But somehow I knew He still loved me. By His grace for my angry, sad heart, I still wanted to serve Him, even though I didn’t truly know Him yet. In that season, I honestly didn’t read my Bible very often or seek Him. I sought my own way. My prayers were focused around what I wanted, not what He wanted for me.

Now is the time, more than ever, to seek Him. Love your pastors, pray for them, head their words, because the Lord has placed them in your life for a reason. Don’t, however, replace God with them.

All the Lord wants from us is to walk close to Him, so He Himself can teach us, love us, correct us, and bless us like we do for our own children. (I could list scripture after scripture to prove this, so if you’re curious, please send me a message and we can chat.)

You might be thinking to yourself, how can the invisible God walk with me, teach me, correct me, and bless me? I used to wonder the same. Then I began seeking Him, talking to Him as if He stood right in front of me. I would ask Him what to read in the Bible, and a reference would pop in my head. Ninety-nine percent of the time what I read was exactly what I needed to read. This is how He mainly speaks to me, but I know He speaks differently to others. Not everyone hears from Him the same way. Over time I’ve learned to trust the way He speaks. He has always been gracious to confirm what He says, too, through a friend, Sunday message, my husband, or a random “coincidence.”

We are living in crazy times, and the only way any of us will have peace is by sticking close to Him and walking in His ways.

Remember, “He will keep those in perfect peace whose mind is stayed (rested upon, leaned against, supported, sustained) on Him: because we trust in Him.” Isaiah 26:3

Notice that He is the one handing out the peace. All we have to do is keep our minds focused on Him, and the peace comes. That means time with Him is critical (ie: walking with Him). This is where our minds are truly at rest (See what Dr. Caroline Leaf has to say about this in her research on the brain.) No matter what comes, keep your time with Him sacred. The enemy makes it difficult to keep with the hustle and bustle and sickness and too many distractions to count, but time with Him is everything.

Be encouraged. The best is yet to come. The Lord loves to do the unexpected, (Red Sea, Walls of Jericho, Noah’s boat, Jesus’ death and resurrection. I could go on and on.)

He always wins the war.

He>COVID19

He>politics

He>social media

He=Everything

Love,

Cristy