Friday, July 3, 2015

Walking on the Water- A Shift in Focus

Peter; doubter, denier, disciple.  Do you ever have Peter days?  To be honest, there are times I doubt God's plan.  I don't trust him the way I should. I don't keep my eyes on Jesus.  There are days I am confronted with issues and challenges in conversation that should be biblically addressed, however I remain silent.  There are days I feel close to God, like his best friend. 

Last week was a Peter week. However, just as Jesus lifted Peter from the waves of doubt, forgave his denial and blessed him, God refreshed me.  

Last Saturday night all the interns and their mentors came together and had a painting party.  I would be the first to say that my preferred art form is drawing stick figures but God used the calmness and slow pace of painting to get me thinking. 

As I painted an African sunset I was reminded that even though our lives may look like they're out of control, God is ultimately in control of the situation and makes it into something beautiful.

The paint we see on the palette runs together and gets very messy. The paint is not in control, the painter is.  God is painting beautiful pictures of our life but we miss it when our focus is on the palette instead of God. 

We may never see the canvas until the painting is finished but when we look at God he tells us about each little thing that he is adding to our life and we can trust that the finished product is better than we can imagine.  
  
Below is the finished painting. Mungu Anatawala is Swahili for "God He rules".  God is ruler over all the earth and is control of everything. 



The next morning  a few of us went to the beach and had an individual time of devotions.  As I read through Scripture and thought about all that I had been learning that week I realized that I was allowing the business of life to take away from what God was trying to teach me.

God brought everything together with a thunderstorm.  As I sat on the beach a storm began rolling in over the coast.  Dark clouds, lightning  and thunder where visible in the distance, the wind picked up and the waves became stronger. 

However, blue sky and white clouds graced the sky.  The contrast was  quite obvious. We had to leave the beach but God allowed me to see how this was a picture of my life.  At first something was missing from the scene but God told me exactly what I needed to do.



"Be still and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth"  -  Psalm 46:10




The following song filled my heart as I walked away from a rough week  but moved on in God's grace.
  

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