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Change
by Lindy Black
My life has been one huge "change" since our oldest left for college three years ago. To quote Beth Moore, "Life involves change. Change involves loss. Loss involves death of one kind or another." As never before, I am having an opportunity to experience His resurrection power due to a variety of "deaths" taking place. Apart from death, there is no resurrection or new life. Change can bring pain, insecurity, a loss of identity, a loss of energy and joy, new opportunities, a chance to refocus, and dependency on Christ. All the change has provided me with a very good look at who I am, where my heart is, and what I live for. And as never before I see that Jesus Christ is the only One who never changes! He alone is an unchanging rock and fortress.
God's Way
By Doris Stephens
In a Bible study with staff, God impressed on our group that He was the one who did the ministry. Individually we need to be clean vessels for Him to use. The Holy Spirit began to burden me in a new way to spend more time in prayer.
As I began to devote myself to more prayer, the Holy Spirit began to show me I needed to take up the "shield of faith." I needed to believe God would work in all circumstances of life. Instead of being anxious, I needed to pray for concerns about my adult children or for people we were ministering to that had experienced all kinds of hurt in their lives. God is the one who can change people.
I have been privileged to see God use us in the lives of people and watch Him provide in supernatural ways. One of the things about everyday life is looking for those "God-touched moments" when God uses us in a special way. It may be a conversation in the local coffee shop, praying for change in our neighbors, asking God to bless us, or seeing Him work.
My great desire is to be walking so closely with the Lord that I don't miss any of those special moments ordained by God. "Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when He delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand" (Psalm 37:23-24).