Finding God's Presence ~ When Life Doesn't Make Sense

By Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

Guest blogger, Karen Friday   @FridayKaren

 
It is an honor to introduce my guest, Karen Friday, to you. Karen and I met on Twitter and quickly discovered kindred spirits. Karen is a pastor's wife, author and speaker, and has a heart for those seeking to know the Lord more. Together we are praying for you, our reader, that the words of her heart will resonate deep within and draw you closer to the One who loves you. 

Welcome Karen!
  
I found you.

Secret places lingered in my mind. Childhood memories of hide-and-seek in a park or neighborhood. The dynamic of playing the game outdoors was thrilling.

Hiders scattered with high hopes of the perfect spot. Stumbling upon a nook or refuge offering the ultimate in concealment were rare treasures. It brought a calm assurance. A certainty to be declared the hide-and-seek winner. To make it safely back to home base.

As the seeker came near, I made efforts to curtail my breathing, not moving a single muscle as if frozen in place.

Come out. You’ve been found. I see you. You can’t hide from me.

Frozen in place, my emotions and heart felt tender as the hard parts of life found me again and again. A job was lost bringing financial stress. Church ministry was in a difficult season. Loved ones were going through illness, suffering, heartbreaks, or tough times.

Good things in life weren’t searching for me. Aspirations and dreams glittered for others. My spirit careened toward discouragement.

I wanted to hide and never be found. But hardships swaggered upon each hiding place as unwelcome guests.

Frustration filled my mind as I questioned the Lord during the brokenness:

God, where are You? Must my heart be shattered again? I’m weary. Disappointment is surrounding me on every side with no where to run and no safe place to hide.

I’ve often wondered if frustration is allowed with God. Should I raise my hand in Spiritual school and question the Administrator’s guidelines or perceived silence on a matter?

Humans aren’t puppets, or at best, robotic beings never to express real and raw emotions before God of the universe. I discovered He desires intimate relationship.

God wants me to come to Him. To lay the tough questions before Him. I’m learning to listen. His word has a lot to say about His hide-and-seek guidelines:

You are a hiding place for me;

you preserve me from trouble;

you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Psalm 32:7 ESV

Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6 ESV

Seek the Lord and His strength;

Seek His face continually. Psalm 105:4 NASB

Life will continue to smirk, "Ready or not, here I come.” I may not always understand the circumstances and sometimes life won’t make sense. But I have stumbled upon a refuge offering the ultimate concealment in the midst of life’s hurts.

It’s the perfect spot for hiders. The highest hope in this life. The Lord. He surrounds me with shouts of deliverance:

I’m here. Your shelter and Your strength. Seek Me and find Me.

Secret places bringing calm assurance of a rare treasure—“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. O what a foretaste of glory divine.” (Blessed Assurance by Fanny J. Crosby.)

He will bring me back to home base as I seek His face and my heart cries out to Him, I found you.

A Tweetable to Encourage Others

How do I find God's Presence? Guest @FridayKaren will help you via @NanJonesAuthor (Click to Tweet)

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Meet Karen:

Karen Friday is a pastor’s wife and lover of words through writing, blogging, and speaking. For over a decade, she has balanced the busy life of church ministry with working from her home office in marketing. Karen earned a communications degree and has experience in a broad spectrum of business services where she is frequently referred to as Girl Friday. A blogger, Karen ‘Girl’ Friday engages a community every week, Hope is Among Us, expressing scriptural truths as life happens. She has published a number of articles and devotions in both print and online media. An inspirational speaker, Karen addresses a wide variety of audiences. She is passionate about mentoring women and discipling followers of Christ to live with authentic faith. Karen and Mike Friday reside in East Tennessee and have two grown children. The entire family is fond of the expression, “TGIF: Thank God it’s Friday!” They owe Monday an apology.

Visit Karen’s blog, Hope is Among Us, at www.KarenGirlFriday.com.  

Hope is Among Us Facebook community can be found at www.facebook.com/karengirlfriday. 

Contact Karen by email at KarenTFriday@gmail.com.

 

 

Finding God's Presence ~ Somewhere Over the Rainbow

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

"Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby..."

The angelic voice streamed through the microphone adding radiance to the starlit night. I had just clocked out at the restaurant and stepped onto the rocker-lined porch to listen to our guest musicians.

"Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true..."

I stopped and grasped the back of a rocker as lyrics mingled with the tears spilling onto my cheeks. Stunned by my reaction, I stood still and let the words wash over me.

"Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops that's where you'll find me..."

Deep within my spirit I felt a stirring. A knowing. It was the realization that God was bringing me through the storm that almost destroyed me. 

The rainbow of His promises arched above the dark clouds of anguish, bridging the gap into the blue of a new horizon. My dreams that I hold so dear - the dreams that my broken heart could scarcely sustain - were still within reach. God's grace would give me the courage - the strength - to continue the journey.

King David said it best:

"Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca (weeping) they make it a spring; the rain also covers the valley with pools of blessings." ~ Psalm 84:5-7

My pilgrimage will lead to somewhere over the rainbow where the clouds are far behind me. I'm sure of it because my God is faithful. Though my tears cover the valley floor, time and time again, God's grace has poured from the heavens, mingling with the tears and creating pools of blessing too great to contain.

And just as the darkness of the storm clouds shrouded my life for much too long, I realize it is the darkness of the storm that undergirds the brilliance of the rainbow. 

And it is the rainbow that reminds me I find my hope in God. 

A Tweetable to Encourage Others

Where is God when I've lost hope? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (Click to Tweet)




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What others are saying about my book, The Perils of a Pastor's Wife: 

"The Perils of a Pastor's Wife SHOULD end up on a best seller list! Nan Jones has a powerful gift of putting words together in a compelling and engaging way; and her heart is revealed and exposed throughout this amazing book. I pushed aside some of my "daily" tasks in order to read this book all the way through in one day. After meeting Nan at a conference last summer, I had a very nominal sense of the gist of this book and, honestly, I really wondered how someone could write with painful honesty and still maintain an appropriateness that was God honoring. Well, Nan (along with God's guidance) blessed the world with a book full of truth and love. I am not a pastor's wife but so much of her encouragement and her focus on God is easily transferable to my life issues. I will be purchasing more copies to give as gifts. What a blessing!"
Judy Vader, speaker, blogger, mentor 

To purchase The Perils of a Pastor's Wife, please visit Amazon. 

Where is God? Sunday Glimpses

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

Father, I sense Your Spirit stirring within me. Open my ears to hear Your bidding, Your instruction. Awaken my heart to love You more. I am so thankful that You taught me to take You out of the box. You are too grand to contain, too magnificent to comprehend, yet You share rich fellowship with us. Thank You for pursuing us, for desiring that we know You. 

You are Faithful and True, Lord. You. Are. Truth. And nothing or no one can take that away from me or from any of Your children who believe. How amazing is that? What a miracle that we can walk hand in hand with the Creator of the Universe! I love You Lord. I ask that You help each of us walk through this world with intentions of shining Your light into its darkness, of overflowing with Your love into the lives of others. I ask that You give us courage to do so. Open the eyes of our understanding to realize that it's not by our might, nor by our power, but by Your Spirit that we can do this for You. 

Create in us clean hearts O God. Return to us the joy of our salvation. Help us to dance in the rain, to run outside to see the rainbow upclose and personal. Help us quickly drop to our knees in our time of need to seek You, the Lover of our souls. You are an amazing God. There are days when I am dumbfounded by the depth of Your love. Thank You so much. I praise You Lord, and I worship Your holy Name.

A Tweetable to Encourage Others

Where is God? SUNDAY GLIMPSES by @NanJonesAuthor. Helping you find God's Presence. (Click to Tweet)

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Do you need someone to pray for you? I would be honored. You may contact me directly at nan@jubilantlight.com  

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Are you going through a difficult time? Are you searching for the nearness of God ... the reassurance that He is with You? I've created a facebook community page to help each of us during these moments. Seeing Beyond the Veil is a quiet space to listen to worship videos, read scriptures, encouraging quotes, testimonies and prayer requests. I would love for you to stop by. 

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Finding God's Presence ~ How Can We Bloom When We're in A Dark Place?

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

Guest Blogger, Kelli Hughett   @KelliHughett

I love red geraniums so I bought one for my kitchen island when I purchased some for my outside planters this spring. The geraniums outside are loaded with showy blooms, but the one in my kitchen is leggy and hasn’t bloomed all summer. I realized the geranium in the kitchen isn’t getting enough direct sunlight to bloom. It’s in too dark a place to bloom.

Do you ever feel like you’re in such a dark place that you can’t bloom? Life has valleys where the sun doesn’t seem to shine. There are mornings when the sun won’t come out from behind the clouds, even days when the sun doesn’t shine at all.

Like my geranium, it’s hard to bloom when we’re in a dark place. It’s at these times, we tend to peek into other people’s gardens. Their lives appear a bower of showy annuals, all blooming as if it’s the last day of summer. Discouraging, isn’t it?

But there’s hope in the dark valley. Here are eight ways to bloom when we find ourselves in a dark place.

       Keep watering. A healthy plant will be ready to bloom when the sun comes out. Prayer and positive thinking sprinkle water on your heart, keeping it healthy. Spend a few moments in prayer at the beginning of the day. Make a list of positive thoughts and repeat them to yourself throughout the day. 

 

       Fertilize. Exposure to the word of God is the only way a heart truly experiences growth. Find a few scriptures that speak to you or offer special comfort. Write these on notecards and place in your car, on your bathroom mirrors, or put them around your work space.

       Plant shade loving plants. There are times in life that the darkness is likely to hang around for a while. I know people who’ve experienced the death of a child and while there are bright days in their future, the current days are likely to be the darkest of their existence. Instead of lamenting over the lack of blooms on your light-loving plant, choose a plant that thrives in shade. I have a beautiful lavender blooming hosta that shrivels in full sun. Give yourself some slack during the hard, dark times. You may not be able to handle all you’ve juggled in the past. Don’t take on more than you can handle. Ask for help. Delegate some jobs. Accept less than perfection.

       Prune. Dark times are a good time to cut off old or unnecessary growth. My annuals can’t continue to bloom unless I shed the spent blossoms. Consider letting go of past successes and failures. Cut off your expectations and failures and give them to God in prayer. Have your own mistakes in life added to the darkness of your valley? Consider pruning bad habits and sin from your heart to encourage new growth.

       Re-pot. Sometimes, my houseplants cease growth because their roots are so tightly bound in the pot that they can’t absorb nutrients. I have to choose a larger pot and add new potting soil so the plant can keep growing and blooming. The sameness of our lives can keep us from growth. Change your scenery. Go for a walk in a new park or cross a new scenic bridge. Change your routine so you pass a beautiful vista on the way to work. Read outside your normal genre. Learn a new skill or take a class. These activities in a dark time can help increase how much nutrients the plant is getting and increase the chances of blooming when the sun comes out.

       Kill the weeds. Are negative influences adding misery to your dark time? Surround yourself with people who desire growth and freely give grace. Ban negative thinking from your garden which eats on your mind like weeds choke a blooming plant.

       Watch out for disease. Fungus and mildew can kill a plant or stop the blooming process. Satan wants to disease your mind with lies like “You can’t find happiness. You’re never going to get through this. Nothing is worth this level of suffering. I deserve better than this.” Ward off the fungus of Satan by surrounding yourself with God’s people. Get to church regularly. Get Christian counsel, whether professional or from a local minister. Test everything you tell yourself against scripture. God’s truth rises above the lies of Satan and rids your plant of disease that can stunt and kill your heart.

       Turn to the Light of the world. Life’s dark valleys don’t have to be dark. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. He is there in the darkest valley, offering light. You can blossom in the darkest places when you turn to Christ. Make Him the light of your life and revel in the eternal sunshine of His face. 

"But you are a chosen generation, 

a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 

His own special people, 

that you may proclaim the praises of Him

 who called you out of darkness 

into His marvelous light." 

~ 1 Peter 2:9

A Tweetable to Encourage Others 

How can I find God in my dark place? Guest @KelliHughett shares via @NanJonesAuthor. (Click to Tweet) 

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 Meet Kelli

   Kelli Hughett holds a degree in Women’s Ministry from 
Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. In addition to teaching women, Kelli is a fiction writer and homeschool mom. She and her husband, Kirt, work with the church in Windsor, Colorado where they’re raising their three kids. Kelli loves agricultural landscapes, the Broncos, and reading the classics. 

  Her latest suspense novel, Red Zone, is available on Amazon.

        To purchase Red Zone, please visit Amazon. 

 

Finding God's Presence ~ Reflective Basking

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

Queen Anne's Lace swayed in the gentle breeze crossing the meadow. Delicate petals bowed to their Creator as His voice whispered in the wind. I watched a small butterfly settle upon the gossamer flower. Wings opened and closed while it drank of the sweet nectar. 

And then it rested, its wings laying against the bed of gossamer lace.

The butterfly. 
Such an iconic image of our faith. 

Did you know that the butterfly uses solar energy to fly? It rests in the sunlight to heat up its flight muscles before it can go fluttering around. On cloudy days the butterfly has to rest a little longer to absorb the benefit of the sunlight. 

Scientists call this reflective basking.

Reflective basking...I like that.

How often do we need to bask in the Light of the Lord a little longer on cloudy days? In His Presence our faith muscles absorb strength. In His Presence weariness of soul departs.

Without the energy gained from the sun, the butterfly cannot fly.

Without resting in the Light of the Lord our strength will wane; fulfilling His purposes in our lives will be difficult.

The Lord exhorts us to be still - cease striving - and remember that He is God. 

A Tweetable to Encourage Others

Where is God when I'm weak? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (Click to Tweet)

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Are you a pastor's wife or is there a pastor's wife in your neck of the woods that you love? My book, The Perils of a Pastor's Wife, offers a journey to healing, aha moments of insight, and a smattering of giggles here and there.

Most important of all, the pastor's wife will know that somewhere, somehow, somebody knows. She is not alone.

You may purchase The Perils of a Pastor's Wife on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. 

Where is God? Sunday Glimpses

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

Father, I desire to be set apart for You. I know that's a tall order and not one I make lightly. I'm not even sure if I know what that means - to be set apart, consecrated to You. 

What I do know is that I desire for You to be my first love. I desire for my life to reflect Your righteousness - to be a light in the darkness around me. Mold me Lord. Melt me, and transform me into Your likeness for Your glory. I find my completeness in You and You alone. You are everything to me. 

Thank You for making Yourself known to me - not only me, but all of those who seek You. You promise that when we seek You we will be found by You...by YOU Lord! That still amazes me. Thank You for pursuing us with Your love. 

I pray for my friends who feel that same restlessness in their spirits - that feeling that there is more. We desire to walk in the full understanding of who You are. Help us understand Your mysteries. Enlighten the eyes of our heart to grasp Your Truth. Give us courage and fortitude to seek You with our whole hearts - no holding back, no agendas, no lukewarmness in any areas of our lives. We desire to know You fully. 

May our praise be a sweet aroma to You for You are our God and we are Your people. We love You Lord. Together we exalt Your holy Name.

A Tweetable to Encourage Others

What does it mean to be set apart for God? @NanJonesAuthor prays for understanding. (Click to Tweet)

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Did you enjoy this post? I would love for you to sign up for updates. You'll find the subscribe button in the upper right corner beneath my photo. 

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Is life coming at you hard? Do you need an opportunity to step away and focus on the Lord? I've created a facebook community page for that purpose. Seeing Beyond the Veil is a place of refuge where you can leave the chaos behind for a few minutes. You'll find worship music videos, scriptures, encouraging quotes, and prayer. I'd love for you to stop by.