Weekday Devotionals
Devotional Written By Brenda Nidiffer
Trust the Author of Your Story
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”Hebrews 12:2 NASB1995
It’s a brand new year, with a blank slate of possibilities on the horizon! Our hearts tend to be full of new hopes, new goals, new vision and dreams for what lies ahead. The story of our lives will continue to unfold with each passing day. Each new chapter will be filled with twists, turns, victories and defeats. So as we fill our calendars, set our goals and lay out our “agenda” for the year ahead, we usually fall into one of three areas. There are those who have their new planners purchased and filled out before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. For others, resolutions are made and broken within the first few days of the year. Then there are those who fall somewhere in the middle. I’m one who finds myself in the middle this year. My planner is ordered, but shipping is delayed with no definitive delivery date. Part of me has been frustrated I wasn’t proactive enough to have it here by January 1st. In the midst of waiting, trying not to get discouraged or defeated at the onset of a new year, God gently nudged me to use the “delay” for good. This “delay” has allowed me time for reflection, time to pause and sincerely ask God how he wants me to fill the pages of my new year, the continuation of the story he is writing through my life. If I had the planner on time, I would have moved right ahead with filling the pages, but in having this time to pause, God has continued to nudge my heart to fully surrender my plans and fully embrace his agenda for my life in the year ahead.
God is the perfect author of our life story, but it can be a struggle at times to fully trust He knows what’s best for us. As we dove into the One Year Bible this past Sunday, we read in Genesis about what happened when Eve was tempted to go against God’s instructions by eating fruit from a tree God specifically told them not to. (Genesis 3:1-6) Eve gives into the doubt the serpent fills her mind and heart with and eats the fruit. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Eve would have fully trusted and obeyed God in this matter? Have you had moments in your life where it’s been difficult to trust God with aspects of your life? The timing, the details, the unknown. It is so hard to not want to take matters into our own hands and push things forward in our own strength or with our own resources. I have been there many times, done it and have the t-shirt and baggage to prove it. If only Eve would have just stayed strong and not given into the doubt she was missing out on something. But what we now understand is by doubting and taking matters into her own hands it ultimately caused her & Adam to miss out on God’s best. How often do we settle for less than God’s best? Take a detour to living in His perfect plan because we doubt? What if instead we took the opportunity to pray through the doubt, the questions, the struggles and fully trust the author and perfect plan writer of our lives?
So how do we do this? We pause before acting, pray before pushing ahead, table our agendas for His. While we wait, we spend our time getting to know the Author, our Heavenly Father. Because the more we know Him, the more we can trust Him and have the faith it takes to let Him fill our “planners” and write His story through our lives.
What better way to do this for the year ahead than by spending this week as a church fasting, praying and asking God how He wants us to spend the year ahead. What is He calling us to individually and as a faith family this year? Of course we all have our plans and goals. There is nothing wrong with this, let’s just be sure we are allowing room in our hearts and lives for God to rearrange our plans, birth new passions & desires and trust Him enough to let Him be the ultimate author in the story of our life!
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”Proverbs 16:9 NIV
Praying Along Side You,
Brenda Nidiffer
Trust the Author of Your Story
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”Hebrews 12:2 NASB1995
It’s a brand new year, with a blank slate of possibilities on the horizon! Our hearts tend to be full of new hopes, new goals, new vision and dreams for what lies ahead. The story of our lives will continue to unfold with each passing day. Each new chapter will be filled with twists, turns, victories and defeats. So as we fill our calendars, set our goals and lay out our “agenda” for the year ahead, we usually fall into one of three areas. There are those who have their new planners purchased and filled out before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. For others, resolutions are made and broken within the first few days of the year. Then there are those who fall somewhere in the middle. I’m one who finds myself in the middle this year. My planner is ordered, but shipping is delayed with no definitive delivery date. Part of me has been frustrated I wasn’t proactive enough to have it here by January 1st. In the midst of waiting, trying not to get discouraged or defeated at the onset of a new year, God gently nudged me to use the “delay” for good. This “delay” has allowed me time for reflection, time to pause and sincerely ask God how he wants me to fill the pages of my new year, the continuation of the story he is writing through my life. If I had the planner on time, I would have moved right ahead with filling the pages, but in having this time to pause, God has continued to nudge my heart to fully surrender my plans and fully embrace his agenda for my life in the year ahead.
God is the perfect author of our life story, but it can be a struggle at times to fully trust He knows what’s best for us. As we dove into the One Year Bible this past Sunday, we read in Genesis about what happened when Eve was tempted to go against God’s instructions by eating fruit from a tree God specifically told them not to. (Genesis 3:1-6) Eve gives into the doubt the serpent fills her mind and heart with and eats the fruit. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Eve would have fully trusted and obeyed God in this matter? Have you had moments in your life where it’s been difficult to trust God with aspects of your life? The timing, the details, the unknown. It is so hard to not want to take matters into our own hands and push things forward in our own strength or with our own resources. I have been there many times, done it and have the t-shirt and baggage to prove it. If only Eve would have just stayed strong and not given into the doubt she was missing out on something. But what we now understand is by doubting and taking matters into her own hands it ultimately caused her & Adam to miss out on God’s best. How often do we settle for less than God’s best? Take a detour to living in His perfect plan because we doubt? What if instead we took the opportunity to pray through the doubt, the questions, the struggles and fully trust the author and perfect plan writer of our lives?
So how do we do this? We pause before acting, pray before pushing ahead, table our agendas for His. While we wait, we spend our time getting to know the Author, our Heavenly Father. Because the more we know Him, the more we can trust Him and have the faith it takes to let Him fill our “planners” and write His story through our lives.
What better way to do this for the year ahead than by spending this week as a church fasting, praying and asking God how He wants us to spend the year ahead. What is He calling us to individually and as a faith family this year? Of course we all have our plans and goals. There is nothing wrong with this, let’s just be sure we are allowing room in our hearts and lives for God to rearrange our plans, birth new passions & desires and trust Him enough to let Him be the ultimate author in the story of our life!
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”Proverbs 16:9 NIV
Praying Along Side You,
Brenda Nidiffer
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