January Faithbooking Lesson

This lesson was written on the heels of some very stressful "things" taking place in my life... the sort of stuff that knocks the wind right out of you. It happens to all of us at one time or another - you're cruising along at a smooth pace and WHAM!, you hit a pothole. The road of life is full of uncertainties, though we may not understand all of its twists and turns one thing is sure: God is in control.

I was reminded of this as I sat at my computer, gathering notes and numbers for an important telephone call. A dreaded telephone call. An email popped up on my screen entitled, "Waiting for God's Answer."

It couldn't have arrived at a better time. Here is an excerpt:

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. - Romans 5:3-5

The Christian life would be easy if the space in time was small between when you first believe God's promises and when you receive what He promised. If you could read about it one day and get it the next, wow - wouldn't that be great!?

But life's not like that.

The hard part is in the waiting between God's promise and His answer; and even harder, when the waiting comes with uncertainties. We all have areas of uncertainty where we need to hold tightly onto what God has said while we wait for Him to work. I couldn't go forward another day if I didn't believe what He told me. So here's what we each must do: We must review His promises all the time. We must remind ourselves that our faith is in God and not in what He does for us. He knows what He has promised, He can't lie, and He can't forget. He will deliver on time, all the time.

God knows that it's hard for us to walk by faith. So He assures us, I'm not going to leave you wondering what I'm going to do. I don't want you to be overcome by fear. So I'm going to make some promises to you so that you can get through the difficult days. You don't have to take your view of life only from what you can see happening right in front of you. You're not imprisoned by the crazy talk someone is putting into your head that you know isn't true. Hang onto the things that I told you.

And while we wait, God builds our faith. ~ by James MacDonald

It was meant for me, of this I have no doubt. As I made my way through the day, through the difficult phone call and the many more that followed, things looked bleak. But I continued to remind myself of His well-timed message and the one thing I am certain of: God is in control.

This lesson isn't, of course, about making real predictions about the road ahead (God is the only one with that information). It is, however, a great way to put your hopes and dreams for the year ahead on paper.

• Where do you hope to see yourself a year from now in regards to your home, job, and/or relationships?
• In what ways would you like to see yourself grow?
• Do you have any unfinished projects looming? If so, list them on your page.
• Are any of you facing difficult circumstances that you would like to see resolved by this time next year? If so, add them to your scrapbooking page.

For more journaling ideas, just click on the lesson to enlarge. My page is below (the design came from THIS BOOK):