Blessed

Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in obedience to him.” Psalm 128:1 (NIV) "What kind of foolish do you want to be? It’s a question I’ve started asking myself. When I hear the word “foolish,” I’m drawn to the story of Noah, a man passionate about the pursuit of obedience, despite looking like a fool. In Genesis 6, God speaks to Noah about the greatest flood that would ever occur (6:17). He instructed Noah to build a massive ark (6:14-16) and to bring his family (6:18) and two of every creature (6:19-20) on board. People thought Noah had lost his mind. What kind of a fool would build a giant boat and load it with smelly animals? All while there was not a raindrop in sight. I imagine the mockery he endured from those in his community was painful for Noah. Yes, Noah appeared awfully foolish. Until… those dark clouds rolled in. Until… it rained and rained and rained. Until… water covered the entire earth. Noah as a person inspires me, but his obedience challenges me. A few years ago I listened to an author share a story about a book she had written. Sales took off quickly. A few weeks after the release of the book, another author wrote her an honest email. This woman said she knew she was supposed to write a book with the same message as the best-selling one. God had given her identical verses and points to make. Yet she’d disobeyed Him and put off writing that book; she felt the Lord had given the other author the message instead. The regret from disobedience of not writing that book made her feel foolish. Hearing this story, I thought of all the opportunities of God’s plans I had missed because of disobedience. In my own regrets, I too felt foolish. Truthfully, God does not need us to accomplish anything. He’s God—sovereign, powerful and mighty—with or without us. But, He wants to use us. He’s given gifts, talents and great purpose in Him to each person. The painful reality is, if we don’t obey God, we will miss out. The pursuit of obedience can be hard. Along the way we may lose friends, be mocked or called crazy. But ultimately, we have a choice: obedience that may look foolish to others or regrets that will make us feel foolish later on. What kind of foolish do you want to be? Dear Lord, thank You so much for always giving us another chance to pursue the purpose You have for our lives. May today be a day we begin living out the promises and plans You have for us more than ever. In Jesus’ Name, Amen." -Nicki Koziarz, Proverbs31 Ministries This is such a poignant message to me. With everything that God has shown me.. a lot of times I really do feel like Noah... that everyone (the few people) that I share things with, feels like I'm just a nutcase.., But no matter how much I seek God's face in prayer about these things, I keep getting the same answer... that these things will come to pass, that I just have to believe, and so here I am resting and believing that God will accomplish the work that He started. There are many lyrics that I have written in my journal that some months later I hear on the radio--- a new song--- just coming out from some Christian artist.... I don't want to be the person that misses out on what God desires to do through me. I don't want the songs and words that He desires to be spoken to be spoken through someone else ... I want to speak them... I want to be a voice for this generation!!