Tweaking my prayer life
I asked God a question yesterday about my retirement. I'm really torn about which day to retire. My closest friend told me June 30. And I wonder if I'm a little afraid of that day. It'll be here before you know it. January is already just about gone and I have to decide soon because I have to start the paperwork.
It seems like things have been falling into place lately. My military deposit issue (you have to buy back your active duty time if you were on Leave Without Pay or it affects your credited time for retirement) is corrected. I have a life insurance issue I need to fix, too, and I got an e-mail about it earlier in the week. But the day has been kinda up in the air because July 31 falls on a Friday, and the last day of a pay period. It's only four more weeks. I could do that standing on my forehead. June 30 is a Tuesday and I won't get paid for the 4th of July and my last check won't be a full paycheck.
So I asked. And when I mentioned this morning at coffee, one of the guys pipes up and says June 30. He didn't even bat an eyelash. Turns out that his birthday is June 30 and that's why he said that.
It wouldn't be really germane to the story I'm telling, but before I had coffee, I read a devotional from "My Utmost for His Highest" someone shared on Facebook about letting God work. The idea is that we expect God to answer in specific ways and when we're looking for Him to answer in that specific way, we might miss something else that God is doing.
So, whether or not that was from Him, and it very well could be, I think the plan is to retire on June 30. And not just because my two friends voiced their opinions. The biggest part of it is that I asked God a while ago, if it was in His will, could I please retire before He asked me to do something else. In hindsight, I don't know if I would have asked Him that. And just because I've grown to understand that if He sends me someplace else, He will provide. I've seen Him do it in countless ways throughout the last decade. Be it a financial blessing, or an opportunity to work some overtime, or any number of things that have happened over the last 10 years, I understand that God provides, and not necessarily the way we think He should.
I'm mindful of that lesson today, because I've spent the better part of the last 5 years or so trying to wait on God to fix something I broke. It's a reminder that God's best often may not look like our first choice and sometimes we miss opportunities because we're not looking at what He's doing because we're expecting Him to bless what we want to do instead.
I have a for-instance. My pastor friend and I were looking for a ministry opportunity outside the walls of our church. He heard through some contacts he had about an opportunity to maybe be available to talk with young men who were about to be fathers and weren't married. I was kind of excited about that because I heard a man who does this in Reno speak at a conference. That opportunity didn't work out, but very soon after, one of the fellows in the New Life Program at the Ogden Rescue Mission asked my pastor to do a Bible study during the week. He asked me to join him and I reluctantly (at first) did. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but it was most certainly what I got to do for the Lord and some of you know the many ways God blessed that.
I am profoundly changed from that experience.
God moves very Providentially in my life. I had a chance to hear the Senate Chaplain's prayer this morning he invoked before the Senate began hearing from the President's lawyers and he reminded us through that prayer that God's providence is in play during this trial. I have no doubt He knows everything about all of this and what He will do. I don't need to spout out my thoughts on the matter. God's got it. He doesn't need me to help Him.
But sometimes, He asks us to join Him in what He's doing. I learned that, too. The thing is that if we're so wrapped up in us, we could miss those opportunities. I find these days that I'm listening more and more and talking less and less about things. I learned a ton at coffee today. I got reminded this morning about leaving room for God to work, and reminded that I do need to ask.
I think I mentioned something about asking. I don't like asking God for the thing most on my heart these days because I believe that's been answered and I feel like I need to just settle on that answer and wait to see what happens when the time comes. A couple of things yesterday got my attention and I asked God about a lot of things that were on my heart; what day to retire being among them. I find I need to remember to ask because I think I got out of the habit for a while.
But then, the things I were asking for were primarily to get me out of a bad situation I found myself in, and if God had said yes to even one of the things He said no to, I wonder if I'd be the guy I am now. I would like to say, I would have much preferred not going through a lot of what I have in the last few years with regard to relationships, but God had the plan lined out for me the very second I did what I wanted and expected Him to bless it.
The reminders today were timely. And I've tweaked my prayer life to include asking Him about things He'd have me do, about what He wants. I'm mindful to pray His word back and remember that if I do my part and trust Him, He'll make the paths straight. I pray Big, Bold prayers. Sometimes. And that's one thing I am going to start tweaking.
God is so good!
It seems like things have been falling into place lately. My military deposit issue (you have to buy back your active duty time if you were on Leave Without Pay or it affects your credited time for retirement) is corrected. I have a life insurance issue I need to fix, too, and I got an e-mail about it earlier in the week. But the day has been kinda up in the air because July 31 falls on a Friday, and the last day of a pay period. It's only four more weeks. I could do that standing on my forehead. June 30 is a Tuesday and I won't get paid for the 4th of July and my last check won't be a full paycheck.
So I asked. And when I mentioned this morning at coffee, one of the guys pipes up and says June 30. He didn't even bat an eyelash. Turns out that his birthday is June 30 and that's why he said that.
It wouldn't be really germane to the story I'm telling, but before I had coffee, I read a devotional from "My Utmost for His Highest" someone shared on Facebook about letting God work. The idea is that we expect God to answer in specific ways and when we're looking for Him to answer in that specific way, we might miss something else that God is doing.
So, whether or not that was from Him, and it very well could be, I think the plan is to retire on June 30. And not just because my two friends voiced their opinions. The biggest part of it is that I asked God a while ago, if it was in His will, could I please retire before He asked me to do something else. In hindsight, I don't know if I would have asked Him that. And just because I've grown to understand that if He sends me someplace else, He will provide. I've seen Him do it in countless ways throughout the last decade. Be it a financial blessing, or an opportunity to work some overtime, or any number of things that have happened over the last 10 years, I understand that God provides, and not necessarily the way we think He should.
I'm mindful of that lesson today, because I've spent the better part of the last 5 years or so trying to wait on God to fix something I broke. It's a reminder that God's best often may not look like our first choice and sometimes we miss opportunities because we're not looking at what He's doing because we're expecting Him to bless what we want to do instead.
I have a for-instance. My pastor friend and I were looking for a ministry opportunity outside the walls of our church. He heard through some contacts he had about an opportunity to maybe be available to talk with young men who were about to be fathers and weren't married. I was kind of excited about that because I heard a man who does this in Reno speak at a conference. That opportunity didn't work out, but very soon after, one of the fellows in the New Life Program at the Ogden Rescue Mission asked my pastor to do a Bible study during the week. He asked me to join him and I reluctantly (at first) did. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but it was most certainly what I got to do for the Lord and some of you know the many ways God blessed that.
I am profoundly changed from that experience.
God moves very Providentially in my life. I had a chance to hear the Senate Chaplain's prayer this morning he invoked before the Senate began hearing from the President's lawyers and he reminded us through that prayer that God's providence is in play during this trial. I have no doubt He knows everything about all of this and what He will do. I don't need to spout out my thoughts on the matter. God's got it. He doesn't need me to help Him.
But sometimes, He asks us to join Him in what He's doing. I learned that, too. The thing is that if we're so wrapped up in us, we could miss those opportunities. I find these days that I'm listening more and more and talking less and less about things. I learned a ton at coffee today. I got reminded this morning about leaving room for God to work, and reminded that I do need to ask.
I think I mentioned something about asking. I don't like asking God for the thing most on my heart these days because I believe that's been answered and I feel like I need to just settle on that answer and wait to see what happens when the time comes. A couple of things yesterday got my attention and I asked God about a lot of things that were on my heart; what day to retire being among them. I find I need to remember to ask because I think I got out of the habit for a while.
But then, the things I were asking for were primarily to get me out of a bad situation I found myself in, and if God had said yes to even one of the things He said no to, I wonder if I'd be the guy I am now. I would like to say, I would have much preferred not going through a lot of what I have in the last few years with regard to relationships, but God had the plan lined out for me the very second I did what I wanted and expected Him to bless it.
The reminders today were timely. And I've tweaked my prayer life to include asking Him about things He'd have me do, about what He wants. I'm mindful to pray His word back and remember that if I do my part and trust Him, He'll make the paths straight. I pray Big, Bold prayers. Sometimes. And that's one thing I am going to start tweaking.
God is so good!
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