Have you ever had times when God is trying to talk to you and you hear it but you don’t quite hear it? Then he tells you the same thing from several different directions and you still don’t quite hear it. This has been me lately.
A couple weeks ago my church was finishing up a series on the Beatitudes and the message was on Matthew 5:10-12, persecution. It was a reminder to me of what my God-given mission is for my business and I can say “no”. Not everyone will be happy or pleased. This is a hard pill to swallow when you’re a people-pleaser. Thankfully I haven’t come across persecution… yet! It still made me think about standing firm in my beliefs and goal and mission and be ready for any persecution that comes my way.
Then I was going through the Illustrated Faith “Be Brave” Devotional by Emily and on day five she talks about Moses and being a “mouthpiece for bravery”. Exodus 14: 13-14 – “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only be still.” This gave me the courage I needed to stand firm and let God take care of it.
Both those messages were telling me to “stand firm”. OK God, I hear you now.
Lord, I pray that I will always think of these two passages when I start to question my God-given ability again or fear persecution. When the demands of life come at me and I want to please everyone, I pray that I will stand firm and know that you are right there with me. Help me to be BRAVE and STAND FIRM, heavenly Father! Amen!
ILLUSTRATED FAITH IS A PARTICIPANT IN THE AMAZON SERVICES LLC ASSOCIATES PROGRAM, AN AFFILIATE ADVERTISING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A MEANS FOR SITES TO EARN ADVERTISING FEES BY ADVERTISING AND LINKING TO AMAZON.COM.
SUPPLIES: Illustrated Faith Genesis Kit by Bella Blvd | Illustrated Faith Be Brave Kit | Faber-Castell Big Brush Markers
LOVE!!! Everything you say here is perfect and your art is amazing as always! :)
Love your page and everything you said…it really hit home with me!!! Thanks, Heather!!
Thank you for sharing! I’ve often wondered what it means when it says in Psalms 27.14 to wait on the Lord, bravely and courageously! The verse from Exodus has been stretching me lately, though. I keep hearing it and taken in its own it’s very encouraging, and not bad theology. But in context it’s just Moses telling the Israelites to stop complaining, and in the next verse the Lord actually asks Moses why they’re still crying out to Him, and to step forward. It’s true that we need to do our best and leave the rest in His hands, because obviously we don’t have the big picture and can’t do anything about it anyway! But it was a good reminder to me to keep things in context.