The New Daisy

Good morning, at least it is where I'm sitting. I am now thinking about the word good. 7 days God saw and did what He deemed "good". Good is a word I use very often. He is good, good morning, good night. Glad is another word I often use. I'm so glad to hear that. I'm glad you liked the cake, I'm glad you are doing well. Or together! I'm so glad you are doing so good! 

Anyway, I asked God last night, well let me back track for a minute. Before I can get to the asking, here's why I'm asking. There has been a lot good and glad things, and very very tough things going on for awhile now. And I have thoughts and things to say, but haven't been able to really process them fully, but God is getting me there, for He is faithful. He keeps doing that work thang in me because I have asked and again He is faithful. 

So my question was last night, does He want me to share on here? If He does, give me the words and let them flow. Because it hasn't been a consistent flow when I write here, I have so many drafts and I haven't taken the time to finish the thoughts. 

My dog woke me up earlier then usual to walk her, which was fine because I wasn't tired and the sun was out, which I haven't seen in the morning so far this week, part of living by the bay. Summers in San Fran are pretty much the same as Fall or Winter. It's unpredictable whether it will be hot there or here, and it's been cold lately. Always dress in layers if you come here. But, I was "glad" to be in it's glow range this morning. Now I'm pausing, this probably wasn't what I wanted to talk about, was it?

Maybe it was, yes, yes it is. 

I'm reading and studying Gideon, you know (or maybe not) how Gideon was just working on that wheat of his in the wine press? Not just working, it was hard work because it wasn't exactly wine he was working with. Well, he was at work and God showed up to talk to him. 

Priscilla Shirer wrote, "God often comes to us in our "boring"days, veiled in the most ordinary of circumstances. In fact, "ordinary" is often the disguise of the divine. If we are constantly anticipating a grandiose event to accompany the times when we encounter Him or hear His voice, we will miss out on many intimate moments and a relationship with God. The mundane, the routine, the commonplace – these are often the contexts in which He will reveal Himself to humanity." 

So at the end of the lesson on that day, she asked me to pray and ask the Lord to make Himself visible to me just as He did to Gideon, that my spiritual eyes over the next 24 hours so I could see Him more clearly than ever before. 

So I did, in faith, in trust. I prayed exactly that. And within minutes I knew I had been ignoring something He had asked me to do last month. And I had been dismissing it thinking it wasn't a big issue. But to Him it was, because He knows what I need and what is right better, grandiose better than little ole Jules. Wow. I was glad I had studied James because in that moment I followed through with what should have been done last month. Talk about humility and pride crumbling. I felt the fear and the gentleness all at once! Sovereign Lord. He did not wait to tell me because I asked in faith at that moment. So, I put that on yet another prayer card (thankful for my cards!).

The other morning I was exercising on my elyptical and a particular workout I like is the reversal, when every five minutes after going forward I then motion my legs backwards to strengthen other muscles. Well, there are words that come up that say, "Prepare to Stop and Change direction" and I was trying to capture it on my phone camera for a photo I wanted to blend with. Every time it would come up on the screen I missed it, I would have my phone ready but somehow only managed to capture the end part "Change Direction". Trying to exercise and take a photo, seems easy enough. Again and again I missed it come up. I became so mindful of the timing that I took my hands off of the handles and just my lower section was getting an intense workout. I was sweating and tired and determined. It seemed like it was much longer than 5 minutes to see the "Prepare to Stop" part. But all through this I could see a picture of something, I saw how I was so willing to take the time and effort to wait for some words to show up, how I was willing to wait and see what I deemed important. I was preparing myself for the stopping and the changing. I was doing the mundane, a routine exercise and here I was getting a PING moment that I needed to hear. Taking the time to hear from God, being willing to wait if necessary, and sometimes in pain, and sometimes not. Just like Gideon, in the midst of normalcy, I heard and listened. 

So I'm glad the dog woke me up early, I'm glad for exercise, it does a body good and a mind. And yep, I did get the picture! And a bigger picture. I want to be prepared to change direction if I need to, and to take the time in the day to be listening and do quicker.