God Prepares the Way

A couple of things happened this week that started me thinking about how God prepares the way for you if you let Him. Many times, we try to do things all by ourselves: since I always wanted to be in control, for most of my life that was my pattern. Before I accepted Christ as my Savior, I didn't realize that the Holy Spirit is with me always, helping me and leading me. This week I realized how God had gone before me to set me up for success.

First, I listened to a Joel Olsteen sermon. He was sharing several examples from his life of how God prepared the way for him and his church. Sometimes when things seemed to be going wrong, it was just a case of God waiting for the right time and the right people to be in place to fulfill His best for Joel and his church.

Then a friend of mine, who had worked for me when I had a retail business selling large pretzels, sent me a short article about pretzels. In the article, it talked about "its origins in Christianity and the Catholic Church. They believe the pretzel shape represents the Holy Trinity, the three holes representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Soft pretzels, using a simple recipe of only flour, water and salt were used during Lent when Christians were not permitted to eat eggs, lard, or any dairy products. It eventually became a tradition on Easter morning to hide pretzels for the children in a pretzel hunt, instead of eggs for an Easter egg hunt like we do today. As a result, pretzels have become heavily associated with both Lent and Easter."

This starting me thinking. My husband had always told me that I might be the only Jesus my customers might see. I took that to heart. Consequently, my customers became like family: we cared about each other and supported each other. During the time I had the business, God's presence was felt mightily. Reading about the history of pretzels, I wondered if God had encouraged me to pick selling pretzels as my business rather than anything else, because in His subtle way, He knew that He was preparing me, like the pretzels, to represent the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

He prepared the way for me to even be in the mall. New managers had taken over and were revamping the mall. Even though I had no retail experience, they decided to take a chance on me. Having my business in the mall prepared the way for my miracle wedding, eight years later (you can listen to Mall Order Bride, A True Cinderella Story on the podcast on this website). Just before the wedding, the Lord moved the manager and promotions person out and put two new people in those positions, who were then inspired to promote what they called "The Wedding of the Year". The more I thought about the Lord working on my behalf in my life, the more I saw and was amazed.

I would like to encourage all of you to take some time to reflect on how the Lord has worked in your lives. If, for some reason, you do not see that pattern in your life, I recommend that you begin to put God first in your life. In Matthew 6:33. Scripture says, "Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."

Reflections of the Past Year

As we come to the close of 2022, I think it is important to look at how God has helped us through all our trials.

I live in Florida and many of my friends have had devastating things happen to them because of the hurricanes. What has been impressive to me, is that all my friends who have a strong belief in God have peace in the midst of some of them losing their homes or being displaced. Others have had health issues. Again, they have peace in the midst of their battles to regain their health.

I am still seeking the Lord for my direction as I navigate a new life without my beloved husband. Sometimes I feel lost, lonely, or sad, but I always have God's peace. I am so grateful for His peace. I am grateful for all the people God has put in my life and those He has inspired them to help me. As I reflect on the past year, I want to share some Scriptures that have encouraged me. I hope they do the same for you.

Psalm 94:18-19 (NIV) "When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' Your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought me joy."

Psalm 18:1 (NIV) "I love You, Lord, my strength."

Joshua 1:9 (NIV) "Be strong and courageous. do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

James 4:7 (NIV) "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Proverbs 3:6 (NLT) "Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

Psalm 37:4 (NKJV) "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

Ephesians 3:20 (NLT) "Now all glory to God, Who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."

John 16:33 (NKJV) "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Psalm 103:2 (NLT) "Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me."

If you have some Scriptures that have helped you through times of trial and would like to share them, please add them in the comment section below.

One day, early in my relationship with the Lord, I said to Him, "God, you have done so much for me and my children, what could I ever give you in gratitude? You are the creator of everything. What can I ever give you?" In response, I felt as if He said, "All I want is you." I thought that was the greatest trade ever: I gave God myself, with all my shortcomings, and He gave me everything I would ever need. One of the gifts from Him that I cherish the most is His peace.

If you need the peace of God that goes beyond understanding, please choose to seek Him with all your heart and mind and soul. Realize that you are a sinner like all the rest of us and that you need a savior. Repent of your sins and ask Jesus to be your Savior. He came and died for us so that we could have a relationship with God, our Father. Jesus left to intercede for us always at the right hand of our Father and sent the Holy Spirit to lead us in all the truth.

God bless you.

You'll Never Walk Alone Song

It seems that throughout my life, music has touched me in some way. When I was young, I heard this song and it was always an encouragement to me. As a youngster, I didn't understand why it was so meaningful to me. As an adult who yearns for a closer relationship with the Lord, I realize that as a young girl, the song touched me spiritually, even though I didn't comprehend that at the time.

Now I realize that as I have gone through storms in my life, I have never been alone. God has been with me in every circumstance, helping me as much as I would allow Him to. I know now that no matter what the storm, most recently it has been the death of my husband, I can, as the songs says, "hold my head up high and walk on even though my dreams have been tossed and blown" because I always have God by my side. In the Bible, in John 16, Jesus talks about the necessity of Him leaving so that He can send the Holy Spirit to be our comfort and our guide, to lead us in all the truth. Thank you Holy Spirit for being my comfort and guide as I walk through this storm.

As I said, this song has encouraged me, I hope it does the same for you. God bless.

You'll Never Walk Alone Lyrics When you walk Through a storm Hold your head Hold it up high And don't Don't you be afraid Of the dark For at the end At the end of the storm There is a golden A golden sky And sweet Silver song Of the lark Walk on Walk on through the wind Get your courage together Yeah, and walk on Walk on through the rain Although your dreams be tossed I know sometimes they get tossed and they get blown What you gotta do is walk on That sounds mighty mighty good to me right now, walk on With just a little bit of hope (Right on, right on) Right on, right on (Right on, right on) With just a little bit of hope in your heart And you'll never, you won't never, I will never I know that He will never let you walk alone You'll never walk alone (Angels to guide you) He'll put two angels on your side Oh, yes He will (He'll walk beside you) He'll put all of His angels beside you, yeah Yes He will And you won't ever walk You won't walk alone You'll never walk He won't let you walk alone (You will never walk alone) Not alone, not alone