“Oh, how I long for the good old days, when God took such very good care of me. He always held a lamp before me and I walked through the dark by its light. Oh, how I miss those golden years when God’s friendship graced my home, When the Mighty One was still by my side and my children were all around me, When everything was going my way, and nothing seemed too difficult.”
Do you find yourself saying something similar in the days of late? Are you longing for the days when life seemed easier? I have. Reality, though, is this; those days had their own problems, but with that said, there is more “hate” these days and “perverted lifestyles” right in front of our faces.
Another reality is this; God hasn’t changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It may seem harder to detect his presence, see the path He wants us to walk, but He is still there. He still graces our homes.
Maybe things in life aren’t going “your” way, but they very well could be going “God’s” way.
Though the days may be different, God is the same, so we need to trust in him the way we did back in the “good old days”. We need to remember not to look, or focus on the lives of those around us, or the hate being spewed by hurt people, but to keep our gaze on him, who is, and will forever be in control of all things, and know this; God is still by your side!
The above quote was spoken by Job in Job 29:1-6 (MSG)
You really can “walk with God”. It’s not a clique only found in the Bible at all, but something you can ask for, something you can expect, count on, and do.
Leviticus 26:12 “And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”
Each morning my wife and I join hands to pray over our breakfast. We include the words, “and God lead us this day. Guide our steps. Direct us to those who we need to spend time with and when there give us your words to speak to them.” It’s not something we have memorized, so the actual words may come out different each time, but that keeps it fresh.
I knew of a child and when called upon to pray over their evening meal she said the same thing every night. It got to be kind of a joke to the whole family. In fact, it didn’t take long for it to get the nickname, “Prayer number 505.” The family got seated each night for dinner and settled by 5:05 PM.
I know God has guided my steps for most of my life. After all, He has lead me to my wife April, and I am now experiencing the fullness of what it means to be married, at least how God intends a marriage to be. But it seems as if in the last month his direction has been every day, and in the last week especially.
God has lead us to the right people, at the right time, to have the right conversations. A big blessing this past week has been putting together our new room, “The Conference Room”, as my wife labeled it, because it is there we meet with God. We dedicate that room for time with God, whether in his word, or in conversations with him, as we pray for friends, family and others around the world. Or perhaps we will just sit and wait for God to provide wisdom, understanding and direction for a particular need.
The original idea for this room only came about Sunday just over a week ago, and before a week could go by, the room has taken shape, and is only in need of a few final pieces, like photos hung on the wall of those we pray for. The room came about so quickly because we wrote out a list of what we wanted and we prayed over it. Then, early in the week, I told a friend of what we wanted. He mentioned, the next day, seeing a chair for our room at a new discount store where the proceeds go to build housing for those in need. A cause I can get behind and support, by shopping at the store.
So needless to say we visited the store and bought the majority of the pieces we desired from that store and the bookshelf came from a curbside, discard pile of a homeowner’s furniture. The bookshelf just needed a little cleaning up and some minor repairs. There have been times in my life when I may have been discarded, thrown out of someone else’s life and Jesus looked at me and said, “He just needs a little cleaning up and some minor repairs.”
My wife’s and mine first action in our new room was to pray, and dedicate it to God. For his purposes, to his Glory, and to advance his kingdom. This blog post was also written there, so from “The Conference Room” to your heart comes a message from God to you.
Dream with God. Ask him to make it happen. Write it down. Doing so will increase your faith. It will help you start seeing it even though it is not there. Then, ask God to lead you and guide you to the right places, at the right time, to have the right conversations. That is walking with God.
brady, mark a. 