Day 10

I drink a large amount of water everyday... Well over the recommended 8-10 cups. I drink probably close to 15-20 cups of water a day. I guess I started drinking so much water because it kept me from mindlessly eating and kept my brain hydrated so that I could focus on school. Whatever the reason, I am never satisfied... I always need more water. It's this insatiable thirst. That's what the Word is for me. The more of it I take in--the more worship, the more sermons I listen to, the more praise I give, the more I pray, the more I read... The more I want. It keeps me full, it keeps my mind from wandering, and it keeps me hydrated and focused on the different purposes in my life!

Today, one of the verses I'm committing to memory is from Proverbs 3:5-6- "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." I don't know if y'all are Type A control freaks like I am, but submitting everything, relinquishing control, and having faith in God's plan is a tough tough task.

Today's reading was a reflection of trust, and faith (well, isn't the whole Bible?). Abraham trusted his servant, Abraham trusted that the Lord would bring the right young lady into the servant's path for Isaac. If only our parents still arranged relationships, life would be a lot less complicated! But the servant made a commitment, and before he chose just any woman, he prayed to the Lord. He let the Lord guide him and set up standards for the woman destined for Isaac. Although, I do find it a little bit disturbing how it was Abraham's great-niece who was meant for Isaac, but I guess the pickin's were slim...

Rebekah was truly a woman of the Lord. She not only gave a drink to the servant, but she let all of the camels drink their fill as well. I just know from all of my years in school that camels drink an awful lot.. They store it in their humps so they can last for extended periods without water in the desert. And she not only gave water to the camels, she RAN back and forth from the well. She served out of love for the Lord and her desire to be a light not hidden under a bushel. Because the servant could see in her heart the desire to serve, he knew this was the one the Lord had for Isaac. The family went above and beyond in hospitality and exemplified the love for others we should ALL have. They trusted in the Lord and let HIM guide their path, not taking life into their own hands.

In Matthew, the Roman soldier who came to Jesus for the healing of his servant, didn't even need to SEE Jesus do a miracle to know that his servant would be healed. He told Jesus that he had faith that if Jesus only said the words, his servant would be healed. What a statement of faith! Jesus sure thought so... That was only a precursor to what our walk with Jesus is like... We just have to trust that Jesus will say his will and it will be done. We can see the miracles ONLY when we trust in him and have complete faith.

What I look at my life, everyday I see Jesus' hand in an event or something... But I trust Jesus. When I wasn't fully committed to Christ, I didn't even notice the little ordinary things that are miracles. I just passed them by as "life." But let me tell you, Jesus is life. If we put our trust in him in ALL aspects of our lives, we will notice how good he is. Seeing these everyday miracles like rain, just reaffirms my faith and strengthens my desires to trust in him. Yes, it's hard in areas where I want control, areas where I want to dictate what happens. But, from experience, unless everything I do is centered around God, unless I seek first the Kingdom of God, then it will never work. Remember, not MY will, but THY will.

I think it's funny how deceiving looks can be. I mean, when we go to a restaurant and on the menu is a picture of a dish that looks delectable and delicious, you want your food to reflect that. I know though that sometimes, the dish and the picture do not look alike, and a lot of the time it doesn't taste as good as it looks. The pictures are too good to be true! When I took Coco on a walk this morning, it had been POURING rain yesterday, but the roads and sidewalks were mostly dry, but when I stepped into a pile of leaves on the sidewalk, my foot sank a little bit and it was wet and muddy. I was deceived by the soft pallet of the leaves. I was distracted with my surroundings and wasn't careful about the potential to sink into a pile of mud, even though I should have been warned because it rained yesterday.

I think today, many Christians are just a picture, a fake facade trying to pass along the image of being godly for appearances. But we shouldn't care about what people think of us, we should be caring about what our Heavenly Father thinks about us. When people see me, I want them to see an amazing picture of God's love, I want them to KNOW I'm a follow of our Lord and Savior, and when they get to actually know me, they know my heart reflects my picture. I don't want my taste to be mediocre and my inner appearance to look disheveled like you get in restaurants. I don't want people to get to know me and sink into yuckiness. I want to be a servant from the inside-out and shine for the Lord in faith, trust, and purity--just like Rebekah.

God Bless,
Lauren