It's God!!

I'm beginning to find some humor in how the Lord works. How he specifically works in my life. I haven't always been aware of this...maybe it has always been the case, I just haven't "tuned in" correctly. Never-the-less, He is redirecting my actions, putting me in places and in moments when He can talk to me and give me what is needed to strengthen my faith! I'm thankful for these moments...it provides assurance that the Lord is undeniably active in our lives if we invite Him to be. We must also start opening our eyes to little things that He just might be using to teach us His ways! I know this post is a little long...hang in there with me on this...It might be worth it.

On Friday night I attended a concert with some ladies from my church...didn't get home until 12:30 midnight!! Ugh...for those of you who know me...this would be WAY past my bedtime!! I had planned on running Friday night, had to post pone that for this concert (small sacrifice, I know)...I was also then too tired to run Saturday morning...so I had kinda planned to see how I felt Saturday night and would maybe try to sneak in a short run! Around 6:30 pm, we started grilling corn and hot dogs...I started eating...which usually means that running could be questionable!! I don't run well if I have eaten! My neighbors came over and we just sat around talking...taking it easy! I was getting tired and was now full and very comfortable in my lawn chair! No chance of running at this point! I decided that I would just run on Sunday...not going to sweat the lower miles for this week...after all, I'm not really locked into a training schedule until August! At 7:45pm, I had put the baby in her bed and was on my way back outside to continue my vegetative state in the lawn chair. I don't really remember what happened in the next minute, but suddenly I looked down and realized that I had put on my running clothes (shoes and all)...apparently I was going running! Dan looked at me funny when I walked out of the house fully dressed..."I thought you weren't running today"..."ya me neither"...he gave me this "boy things change with the wind around here" kinda look and told me to have fun!

I had my ipod with me...pushed play, started running and began to feel frustrated! You know that feeling of trying to talk on the phone, your other phone is ringing, all your kids are talking at once and you just hear nothing but a bunch of noise? That's what I was hearing...but all that was playing was some praise songs from my ipod. I hit pause and quickly realized that I had the words to a song I sang many years ago running through my head. My ipod was creating too much noise for me to "hear my own head".

I started to choke as I realized that the Lord needed to talk to me. I needed to listen. "I'll give you peace when the wind starts blowing...Peace, whenever you call me I'll give you peace, when the storms blow on....". 3 miles later, I was fully at peace, drenched in sweat and home again! My heart was satisfied, my fears relieved and Satan was gone! Many things happened on that run, but the long and short of it was this: Satan was using my yearning for "rich soil" and playing mind games with it! (See "rain and rich soil" post a week or so ago if your lost) I saw it so clearly and knew that peace was mine for the taking...and I took it! I went to bed later that night and slept better than I had in days!


The other thing here is this...I know that the Lord distracted me from my plans and redirected my actions for HIS plans! He took me on that run...He had something to say...and I needed to hear it... without my ipod!!

How can my praise music be so uplifting one day...and just noise the next??
It's God.
How can I suddenly be dressed to run when I planned to go back outside and visit with friends??
It's God.
How can 30 simple minutes provide enough peace over a struggle that has burdened my heart for days/weeks??
It's God.
How can every word from a song that I haven't sang or even thought about in more than 6-7 years suddenly be so loud in my head??
It's God.

What I know for sure is this...Satan is alive...he's here to destroy us...he is the one who causes the rain. The storms that I've been afraid of but felt I needed to welcome...they only come from Satan! God is not the giver of pain or evil. I now know that God brought me to pray for rich soil, not because He was going to bring rain in my life. But because He knows that Satan will and God wants me to learn to lean on Him. ONLY GOD has the power to take those very storms and use to grow us up! ONLY GOD has the power to change the storm and make rainbows of miracles!! On Saturday night, I became aware that Satan is the one who killed Jesus, not God...yes, God allowed it to happen...but only because He had a greater plan in store...to raise HIM from the dead and bring Jesus into Heaven!! The very act needed so that we might have forgiveness and live in eternity with our Lord!
The cross was about turning "rain into rich soil"!!
Now how cool is that??
It's God!!