God's Intervention and Our Heart

I didn't have time to write something yesterday, but something has really been on my heart and mind and was brought to the forefront, so I thought I should write about it.  It's about God giving people over to their desires.  I have been praying for God's intervention in some particular areas, like He did for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.  I have been praying specifically for His deliverance, but if not, praising Him for still being in control.  

Wouldn't it be nice if God would intervene every time I asked Him to?  Wouldn't it be nice if we could save someone from a mistake?  Jordan is always telling me to stop "mommying" my sisters and I always say, "yeah, but if they would just listen then...." or "didn't I say this was going to happen, if they would have just listened to me then...." 

Now I'm not talking about my sisters, specifically, right now.  But if God could intervene, why doesn't He all the time?  Sometimes it's so that we grow and learn from our experience.  Sometimes God knows that He could use our hurt or misfortune to further His kingdom.  However, there are other times it's because He gives us over to our own desires.  

My Psalm said this, "So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices" (Psalm 81:12). Wow.  Or read Romans 1:26.  It says the same thing.  Verses 13 and 14 continue, though, "Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!  I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries."  God wants to intervene, but sometimes He gives us the things that we want over what He actually wants.  But, He is ever present, waiting for us to turn back to Him.  

So how do we make sure that we are following His will?  One way is to surround ourselves with wise and Godly counsel.  If the majority of people in your life are telling your to hold off or back away, then maybe you should take a second look and see if you are doing God's will or what you want.  The Proverb I read yesterday also spoke to this.  It said, "He who trusts his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered" (Proverbs 28:26).  We can walk wisely by surrounding ourselves with people who want to honor God and will help us see His will.  The Proverb literally says that the opposite of being wise is to listen to our heart. 

But what does our culture have to say about this?  

In our culture many will say, "Listen to your heart," or "What is your heart telling you?" or something of the like.  To do something based on just your heart is to be a fool, because the heart not only can be, but is deceitful! (Jeremiah 17:9).  That's why it is so important to surround ourselves with Godly counsel!  People who fear God help us to figure out what God wants us to do.  Sometimes this might hurt because it goes against what our heart wants, but eventually we will see it as a blessing.  

I have often prayed for God to intervene, to show me the way, to appear.  Perhaps His intervention isn't appearing as a burning bush or as the Angel of the LORD as I'm fearing for my life about to be burned to death.  Perhaps His intervention is in the form of the people He has placed in my life.  The people who I know are praying for me, have my best interest at heart, and whose opinion I trust.  

I guess He does intervene every day, I just need to be wise enough to perceive it.  

Unseen footprints

It has been a long couple of weeks for me and I have had a lot on my mind.  The three of us have had all sorts of ailments that has caused some stress, each in it's own way.  Then there is my thesis that needs to get finished, but going a couple of hours away, staying a few days, and going to a major university's library with a toddler is overwhelming.  Kaia is also growing up so quickly.  She's nearly a year and a half.  Though I enjoy playing with her, I think it's about time to start thinking about growing our family.  But it's not as simple as deciding whether or not to get pregnant.  Since I was 16 and went on my first trip to Thailand I have wanted to adopt from there.  Adopting seems like it could be put on the back burner for now, except Thailand has some pretty strict rules for adopting, like they only want up to one child in the adopters' house at the time of adoption.  There are some exceptions to the rule, but I'd like not to push it.  It also takes a few years to adopt and I don't want Kaia to get too used to being an only child while we are going through the process.  And there are grant requests, fundraising, home studies, etc. that go into adopting.  But we are eligible to start next month when Kaia is a year and a half, so it is time to start thinking about growing our family.  Jordan's school has just begun again.  Once again he's got a lot on his plate between working at a church and going to school, so I want to make sure that I'm being as helpful as I can, but sometimes mom exhaustion sets in.

This just seems like the cap of everything that I have been thinking about lately and it is overwhelming.  Sleeping hasn't been coming easily to me most nights.  I'm trying to search for God's will and I have mixed thoughts.  It seems like one moment I feel one thing and then the next I feel something else.  So how will I know?  I feel like I'm sinking into the mire.  But this is not the end.

Jordan took Kaia with him to do visitations this afternoon along with the diaper bag.  In the diaper bag is my Bible.  So instead of continuing my readings I decided to turn to a random Psalm and read it.  The Psalm I turned to was Paslm 77.  This Psalm is about finding comfort by recalling the mighty things that God has done in Israel's history.  This whole Psalm was packed with comfort, but one verse in particular stuck out to me.

"Your way went through the sea, and Your path through the great waters, but Your footprints were unseen." (Psalm 77:19)

I feel like what I'm going through, or perhaps even just entered, are great waters, but when I think about the fact that God literally moved these for Israel, I know that He is working in my life.  His footprints maybe unseen, but He is working and moving.  It's all a matter of perspective.  My prayer for today is that I stop looking at the ground for God's footprints, but rather look up and see the waters that He is moving around me.