Finding God's Presence ~ Do You Ever Feel Like Giving Up?

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

The Lord encouraged me this morning. 

Sometimes I find myself just wanting to be a grandma and spend the afternoon baking chocolate chip cookies with my grandson. I want to spend a couple hours working in my flower garden ... just because I can. I just want to relax. And rest. And let the world pass me by.

But I can't do that and really, deep down inside, I don't want to.

The world I want to pass me by is the very world the Lord has called me to bring His love to. It's the same world where countless women struggle with their faith because life has become so hard. It's the same world where bad things happen to good people and we want to know why the Lord has abandoned us.

Those are the answers the Lord has given me to share with others.

He has taught me to open my eyes to find Him in my pain and frustration. He has taught me to open my ears to hear His sweet whispers of assurance when the world is screaming at me to give up.

And that's what He wants me to teach others.

But sometimes I just. Get. Tired.

Please forgive me for putting myself before your needs. With the Lord's help, His strength, His vision, I will press on. I will press on because to find my life again I  must lose it. To walk in the fullness of His joy, I must give it away. Please pray for me as I pray for you. We are all called to be ministers of reconciliation - we are called to comfort others with the comfort we have received. We are called to lead others to the foot of the cross where they too can receive forgiveness, redemption, restoration. 

Where they too can receive His peace.

Can there be any greater joy in life?

"One thing I do, 

forgetting those things which are behind 

and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize 

of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." 

~ Philippians 3:13b-14 

A Tweetable to Encourage Others

Where is God when I want to give up? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (tweet this!)

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I know the perfect gift for your pastor's wife! It's my book, The Perils of a Pastor's Wife. Within its pages your pastor's wife will find strength for the journey, renewed confidence in her calling alongside her husband and, most important of all, she will realize that somewhere, somehow, someone knows what she's going through and she is not alone. 

The Perils of a Pastor's Wife is available on Amazon

Message me at nan@jubilantlight.com if you prefer an autographed copy.