Shatter-Proof Glass

Have you ever dropped a glass in the sink or on the floor and it didn't break? Or maybe you were holding a glass and it *just* bumped against something and it shattered right in your hand? I have been thinking lately about how something like glass can be both strong enough to withstand weather and heat but fragile enough to break if you just tap it. 

It's because every piece of glass has a weak spot. The weakest areas are usually around the edges. Often weak spots are created by dirt or chemical changes or anomalies created during the glass making process. I remember seeing a demonstration at the Corning Museum of Glass where the exhibit encourages you to bang metal against glass to see if it would break. Of course the metal was hitting where the glass was the strongest so it wouldn't break. 

Like glass, most of us are pretty strong. We are made of tough stuff and our relationship with Christ tends to illuminate that because we believe that our strength comes from Him. In Him we are strong. He is our source of strength, and this allows us to deal with all that life throws at us on a day to day basis.  

But like glass we also have weak spots. Small areas of imperfection, that if hit just right, can break us. These areas are where we sit in self-condemnation, where we let the enemy remind of us our past, where we let other people define us, or areas of hurt and pain that never healed. It is these places that we need ask God to work on, to encircle us, heal us and protect us from outside influence. 

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. 

Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ” 2 Corinthians 12:9. 

"I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Psalm 118:5-6

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Romans 8:26

Lord, show us our weak places so that we will know the areas in which we are vulnerable. Expose the places where we are hurt and broken and begin the process of healing us. Father, open our eyes to see, our ears to hear and our heart to receive the Holy Spirit in our journey of healing. Send your angels and lift a hedge of protection around our weaknesses that make us susceptible to attack, whether from ourselves, from the enemy or from people. We ask in your Holy name. Amen. 

In love, 

Mona

I Have Dreamed a Dream

In Daniel 2 "And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams." 

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that kept him up at night. He was so disturbed by it that he called on the magicians and astrologers for its meaning. They said "tell us the dream and we'll tell you what it means. He told them no, he couldn't remember it. They had to both tell him the dream AND interpret it! And if they couldn't, he would destroy them all.

And important thing to note here is that people dream all the time and we mostly forget our dreams. But this dream mattered, and Nebuchadnezzar knew it mattered, that's why it bothered him so much that he couldn't remember it. 
 
Kind of sounds like me. God gave me a dream and I didn't understand it (or didn't want to). It kept me up at night. I called on God to help me. I also told God "not only must you tell me the dream, but you have to interpret it for me. You have to also show me exactly how to make the dream come true; where must I go and what must I do. Take my hand and walk me step by step through bringing this dream to life! And if you don't, I'm going to leave it sitting right here."

How arrogant of me. First, to tell God what He's gonna do! But secondly, to assume that God wouldn't equip me for the dream in the first place. 

The dreams God gives us matter. We know they matter and that's what terrifies us so much. We don't want to get it wrong, or disappoint God or, worse yet, fail. That's me. I don't want to fail. I don't want to step out on something that God gave me and then totally bungle it up. 

But God is God. He doesn't make mistakes. He wouldn't ask me to do something that He hasn't equipped me for. But that means I must take advantage of the equipment (the Word, Study, Prayer, Worship, my faith, His strength, etc.) that He provides for me. 

And then I just have to do it.  

Trust the dream that God has given you. Trust that He has provided you all you need to accomplish it. Trust in him and then just do it. And watch God work.

In love, 
Mona

Remembering What I Learned

Today at church was the kind of day where I was reminded of who God says I am. I know that I've heard it many times before, but each time I somehow manage to talk myself out of it. I find a way to say that I am not good enough, not holy enough, not worthy enough to be that person. But somehow He taps me on the shoulder and says "REMEMBER". 

During the long journey towards who God is making me to be, I have learned a few things.

I have learned that God does not lie. "God is not a man, that He should lie. Nor a son of man that He should repent. Has he said, and will he not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" Numbers 23:19. Everything He has told me is true, whether or not I accept it, walk it out or even believe it. It is still true. 

I have learned that God is sovereign. "Whatever the Lord pleases he does, in Heaven and in Earth, in the seas and in all deep places." Psalms 135:6 God is going to do whatever He wants to do, whether or not I participate. So I might as well get on board. 

I have learned that God has a plan for me. "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 Purpose is the reason for which something is created or why it exists. Hope is a feeling of expectation and a desire for something to happen. God says there is a reason I exist and there is a desire for something to happen. Something that I make happen. 

Basically, whatever God has spoken to you and about you is truth. It cannot be erased or denied because He cannot lie. He has every intention of seeing that thing come to pass because it is what He wants to happen. And He has purposed YOU for it. He will give you everything you need to get it done.

For me, I need to move out of my own way and let God do what He is going to do. I have to lean on Him, let His words flow and let the Holy Spirit guide. 

I need to remember and never again forget. 

In love, 
Mona