In going through some random things recently, I found several note cards my mom had given me years ago. I'm so glad I kept them. She gave them to me, one to read each week. We used to live in separate states and that was at a time I needed some encouragement. Each one had a verse. Each verse I found on these cards spoke to my heart yet again. Partly because it was as if mom were sitting next to me, reminding me these things this very day. Partly because they are reminders I needed from the Lord this week even. Mom's life was lived out in faith. Every day. Now that I am older and better understand many of the events that went on in my household while I was younger, mom's faith and joy take on even more depth. She had every reason to be a worrier or a complainer, but she never was either. She always relied on God. Here are the verses she had left me on note cards years ago.
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all you anxiety on Him because He cares for you." (Hmmm...coincidence that I've had anxiety lately and found mom's/God's words? I think not)
Isaiah 41:10 "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. "
Psalm 121:1-3 "I lift my eyes up to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip-He who watches over you will not slumber."
Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus"
1 John 4:10 "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
Psalm 23:1 "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
and mom's life verse, the one she clung to and whispered all her life ....
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make your paths straight."
That's the verse I want to most break down this morning. Mom taught us that verse all our lives. And while to some it can become a cliche verse, to me it was lived out truth in our home. Mom took that verse and really applied it. She didn't just quote it, she taught it.
Trust in the Lord: do not trust in man
do not trust in yourself
do not trust your emotions or your mind's voices
do not always trust opinions or advice (she didn't say never, she just say not always.....)
TRUST IN THE LORD
With all your heart: Not part of my heart. Not a piece of me. ALL of my heart.
Lean not on your own understanding: do not lean into what I know or what my mind can grasp. God is so much bigger than what my understanding of life or a situation is. Do not lean into what I think I have understood...God desires bigger for me, and thus it will likely be beyond my understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him: This means ALL. I can't put Him in the midst of one of my decisions or one of my problems and not in another. He needs to be in All my ways!! Every day.
And He will make your paths straight: He won't just "make the paths straight" it says, when in all my ways I acknowledge Him he will make my paths straight. This means I must place Him first in all that I do and He will make the way clear for me. And if it's not totally clear, He will clear it as I walk along it and trust Him each step of the way.
That was mom's favorite verse. Honestly, I saw her live it out. She taught me to trust in God. Did I go my own way at times? Yes, I did . It wasn't until recent years that I have totally embraced the depth of meaning in this verse. And when I did, boy did He make my paths straight. And then I understood even deeper why this verse meant so much to my mom. All of God's Word did. When mom was dying and spent many days in the hospital or when she became bedridden, one thing she wanted often was God's Word read to her. Oh, how I cling to those memories and the lessons she taught me even in wanting that in her last days.
And so, I remember and dwell on these verses mom left me. And I will cling to her life lesson of trusting in the Lord. One day at a time.
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