So...My Bible study group and I have been into our study on David for about four weeks now. It is truly changing my life. First off, I am so thankful for the opportunity to sit in the living room with Christian women studying God's word and learning from each other without the fear of someone bursting down our door and harming us. We take so much for granted!
Second, I am blessed beyond measure by these women each week. I honestly believe that God has placed each of them in my life for a reason. One year ago Ashley and I began a study together that brought us closer together as friends and closer to God, through that, the door opened for our group to grow and for God to work. There came a time in my life when I felt like I was completely drying up spiritually and God showed me that we cannot depend on others to do the feeding. Tonight, on our Bible study video, Beth Moore said, "What are you going to do, when it's only you?" I was to a point, it was only me. I had the option of caving into it, crawling under a rock, and waiting...or to take the situation into my own hands, start working on my relationship with Christ and asking for his will again.
Third, and most importantly, I can feel God drawing me closer to Him on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong, I still have my days when I have to fight the Devil away (he sure does turn it up a notch when he realizes your fire has grown). Each Bible study that Ashley and I have done together (I say that because we are now on number four, with five additional friends), we talk about how perfect the timing is...Once again, that holds true with David.
So, with all of that being said, here is where I am at...
- I must continue to seek God and stop trying to please people - you can't do both.
- Sometimes God requires you to come to him with a group of people, and sometimes he wants only you.
- Sometimes God is silent but still working.
- When we are convicted about something, and get it out of our lives, this clears the way for God to make his next move.
- Sometimes...God has to completely break your heart, in order to heal it and make his will known.
- You can find a great church, you can listen to the right radio station, you can pick all the right friends...but unless you have a personal relationship and time with God on a regular basis, you'll never experience fully what he has in store for you. You must seek him at home, at work, at play...All throughout your day!
I'm so excited about what he has in store for my future. I know that he has a lot of work left to do with me, but I am finally feeling ready for it. This Bible study is pulling up feelings and experiences that I've kept deep inside, some of them tragic...But as they come to the surface it's almost like peeling off layers finding who I truly am. God never promised us a bed of roses, but he did promise to stand beside us during the storms.
