Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying a beautiful weekend. We are leaving early today to go to Starbuck for the funeral of a dear friend. Ann is going with us as Jackie was her godmother.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I think all of us have had times when we are up against a wall and we decide whether or not we will go through the wall or if we will delay and refuse to grow towards maturity. Yes, we may start out well, beginning our relationship with the Lord and not only learning His ways but also actively serving Him. But then we hit the wall which could be any crisis that changes our world, like the death of a family member, a divorce, job loss or maybe dryness as we wonder where the Lord is. It is at that point we have to make a decision. Do I want to go through the wall and let the Lord deal with those things deep within or will I reject God’s intervention in my life?

Some people refuse to move ahead with the Lord and trust Him since they don’t know how He will work in their lives. They may get bitter and refuse to trust the Lord altogether. Others may experience the dark night when they can’t sense God’s presence and feel dry, yet trust that God is doing a work in them. But if we let the Lord lead us through the wall, we will feel more certain of God’s love and discover who we really are as we can lay aside the opinions of others. We will wonderfully experience a cleansing of our inner being.

But remember: God is the One in charge and moves us through the wall. We need to trust Him, wait on Him, obey Him and stick with Him even though we may want to quit. But all the while, He is in the business of transforming His nature within us. It may be seen in us as a humbleness and brokenness, for we are being stripped of our pride. We no longer judge others and realize instead how needy we are. I often pray the Jesus Prayer from Luke 18:38, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” We are the needy ones and though we don’t always know what God is doing in us, we learn to trust, give up our attachments and wait.

Challenge for today: Dare to ask the Lord to take you through your wall and as you surrender, know that He is trustworthy and will do a beautiful work within you.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy