Exactly what we need


I spent much of this past weekend and yesterday flat on my back in agony. Okay, maybe not quite agony. But I was in a whole lot of pain. Somehow, I threw out my back and gave myself a mini bout of sciatica all rolled into one (I blame the little kid I had to lift onto the bus in the sleet and ice on Friday). Talk about perfect timing, when I start my internship tomorrow.

Those of you who are health geeks like me, you know that sciatica is usually caused by stress. And I was under a lot of stress. I was (still am) nervous about going into a high school to try to help these kids who may have seen in their 14-18 years a lot more heartache and misery than I have. And I'm the adult, trying to help them, trying to guide them into good career paths and help them get through the daily grind and the breakups and the bad family situations, etc. etc. etc. How do I help kids going through things I’ve never faced? How can I show them I care, that God cares? I'm unsure how to help students struggling with issues such as homosexuality and teen pregnancy and birth control and abortion which I believe are wrong. But those will be my students, and I want to show them I care about them and want to help them even though their values go against my own. And then my university was having trouble confirming my school placements (one of them is still not confirmed) even though the district I'll be working with has it all set up like it is (oh and by the way, they told my university back in November it was all set up), and I still have work and I’m trying to eat right and workout and write and figure out Amazon's publishing system and take care of my pets...

Yeah, I spent some of this weekend split between whether I wanted to cry or throw a fit. I have a lot on my plate right now. I work, but I'm also a student who's trying to get a novel published. Not to mention everything else. I felt overwhelmed, like everything was going against me, and I was sick of it. And, unfortunately, life is like that a lot of times for all of us. We have never-ending to-do lists, oodles of commitments, so much to do.

When I went to have my devotions on Sunday, begging for help, when I was feeling downright miserable, the story I read talked about how God gives us exactly what we need. A village in Africa needed rain, and when the missionaries prayed to God, He opened the clouds and caused it to rain for a whole week, even though it was out of season.[1] He gave them exactly what they needed, when they needed it, not a moment too soon, not a moment too late.

Anyone else get a chill? God had it planned that I would read that devotional right when I needed it most. No matter what we're going through, He always gives us exactly what we need. He promises in Isaiah 65:24 that, "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear" (NKJV). God knows what we need, even better than we do. And He answers our prayers for wisdom, guidance, help even before we're finished asking for it.

I'll do my best to keep that in mind tomorrow and through the semester, as I counsel those kids.

Father, thank You for caring so much about us that You hear us and help us. In Jesus' Name, Amen.


[1] Moore, B. (2005). Voices of the faithful: With Beth Moore and friends who put their lives on the line for God. Brentwood, TN: Integrity Publishers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Feel free to share your opinions, however, please be aware that I moderate all comments, and will not approve any with vulgar, suggestive, or rude language (including those which make use of symbols [*%$] to take the place of letters to try to slide by). I also will not approve advertisement comments. Please use your voice to add to the conversation. You are free to agree or disagree, but please no trolling, flaming, or spamming. Thanks!

Popular posts from this blog

Freefalling

Image
Time for a Sunny Saga! Sunny: cheeky little bird If you read this post , you probably remember I have two pet birds. Today I'm going to tell you a little more about Sunny. Sunny is quite spunky. We found him one day inside the fence of the pool, crawling along on the stones and trying to eat grass seeds (by the way, stones are worthless for keeping weeds down). After a futile search for his owner, my parents let us keep him. He eventually became my bird and my responsibility (eventually my other bird came into the picture, but that wasn't until later). That was about sixteen years ago. He's still hopping along, being a regular nuisance. And since cockatiels can live to be thirty, he promises to be a pain-in-the-tail-feathers for quite a bit more (think carefully before you get a bird from the parrot family). The average age is fifteen years, so technically he's already pushing it. But for being an old dude, he's still rather sprightly. I take both birds ...
Read more

3 Things God Can't Do

I cringed writing this title. It just makes my skin crawl, the idea that God can't do something. Isn't that saying He's not all-powerful? But really, it's not a lessening of God's might that He can't/doesn't do these things, but rather a reassurance of the goodness and holiness of His character, and of just how powerful He is. 1. He can't lie "Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began" ~ Titus 1:1-2 NKJV Depending on the translation you use, this verse either says "cannot," doesn't," "can't," or some other variable of the same thing. The idea across them all is the same: lying is not something God does, it's not even in His nature.  Unlike us, who sometimes struggle to tell the truth, who find lying...
Read more

Meditation Monday: True riches

“ Better is a little with the fear of the Lord , Than great treasure with trouble.” ~ Proverbs 15:16 Celebrities have it all. Those big houses, fancy cars, amazing vacations, and hordes of admirers. Ever-expanding bank accounts, name-brand bags and designer shoes, perfume lines and make-up boutiques in their own homes. Not to mention closets with enough clothes to fill a small department store. And we can’t forget the messy public break-ups, the cameras flashing into every moment of their private lives, the unflattering photos paraded around by people consumed with jealousy… And the pain of an empty heart. Because when you watch these actresses, these socialites, these singers, parading themselves around as sex objects and letting their bodies be ravaged by men’s eyes, you have to wonder… How empty do they feel, not knowing there is a Savior Who loves them? Whose heart aches when He sees what they’re doing to themselves? Who longs for them to come to their...
Read more