God is a Good Leader

I understand what David meant when he said, “My heart overflows with a good theme concerning my king…” This morning my heart overflows with gratitude toward the Lord.
When you look back at your life and see where you have been and how far you have come, you become appreciative of the way the Lord leads. Most of the time, it doesn’t make sense, but when you see the big picture in hindsight, it makes you fall in love with the Lord all over again.

He really is Good. The enemy tries to distort that fact of His nature and make us think that God hates us or that He is angry with us, but the truth is that God is good and His gentleness makes us great.

Life is one long conversation with God, and it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Life is about relationship with God—communing with the One who made the garden as a place of encounter.

If we can only see the temporal, we lose hope in the midst of dark circumstances. If we place our success in what we do, we will be in constant cycles of failure and pride. If we look forward to eternity, while enjoying the comfort of the Holy Spirit and our present journey with God, we will be sustained in the darkest of circumstances and grounded in the greatest of achievements.

God is a good leader. He really does know how to run our lives. We have to trust Him and live in full surrender. The foundation for this lifestyle is to believe that God is Good and He is who He says He is.

Thankful for the Lord's Leadership

I am so thankful for how God leads us, even if it doesn't make sense most of the time. It is amazing how much you grow in appreciation for the little things when the little things are taken from you. I am so grateful to the Lord for friends, family, and for His presence. I am thankful for the ability to walk and to do my own laundry. I am thankful for people who speak into my life even when what they are saying is hard for me to hear. Life isn't about the destination, it's about the journey, and God doesn't care how fast we get there, He only cares what state we're in when we arrive. When I get there someday, I hope that I hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of Your Lord." I am thankful that He is so gentle and patient with us and He doesn't mind if we fumble around to get our footing sometimes. Ultimately, we come up leaning on Him.

It is amazing how many times when you prophesy over people, the Lord takes the opportunity to give a word to you through the Holy Spirit who teaches all things. That happened to me the other night. I gave a word to this guy about racing cars and how the pit stop was just as important in the race as the actual time on the track. The mechanics have to change the tires, align them, tune the motor, fill up with gas, check the oil, etc. Time is the essence even in the pit stop. It's not a break from the race--it's still the race itself.

I used the think that any time I was hindered from doing, that I was being "benched"--out on injury, but if we find our identity in being, then we are not merely "benchwarming" when we're not doing. I hate benchwarming. I always want to be a starter in the game, but sometimes God shakes your foundations to bring refocus and realignment to your life.

No matter what season of life you are in, or what you are capable of doing, you can always pray. A friend of mine Jeff always says, "Life is one long conversation with God." Sometimes seasons don't allow for us to be in the prayer room, but every season allows for us to pray. You can always talk to God, and you can always "be" in His presence. It's a hard lesson to learn sometimes, but it is so valuable. God cares more about our character than what we can do for Him. It's amazing when you see the true heart of the Father and how affectionate He is even in his correction. The Father disciplines those He loves, and yet He is so gentle and meek when He does it. His gentleness makes us great.

It's been 3 months since my back injury, and I am still recovering, but I am so grateful to the Lord for everything He has done in my life. My heart is so tender right now. Sometimes life can be a pressure cooker, but as my dad Mike says, "Pressure cookers make you tender."

The Lord is teaching me to give to subtle cues of the bit, just like a powerful racehorse that has to shut-down and turn at the drop of a hat. We have to learn to give to subtle cues if we want to win the race. Another friend of mine, Bev challenged me one time, "Do you want to be a wild stallion or do you want to be a horse the King can ride on?" I definitely want to be the latter. I want to be a horse the King of Glory can ride on.