"SundayReflection"
28th January 2024
'Wendy Pope shares'
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"For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God's holy people."
1 Corinthians 14:33 (NLB)
A life of balance; a life of peace; a life of order; do those phrases stir a longing deep inside you?
Have you gotten to the point that your to-do lists have lists?
Then to make matters even more frustrating you can't find your list.
I heard it put this way by one of my favourite pastors, do you feel like you are stuck in a cul-de-sac and can't get out?
Oh yes, I have been there... stuck in the cul-de-sac going nowhere.
I became so tired of going in circles and getting nowhere that I was desperate enough to ask God for help.
Today's verse reminds us that disorder or confusion is not of God.
Our God is a God of peace and order.
As I began to seek God's help in taking a hard right out of the cul-de-sac of nowhere,
I realised that I can enjoy the peace and balance God intends for me to have by choosing His plans for me over the world's demands of me.
The world's demands of me include:
Well-mannered and clean children: A clean house
A well manicured yard: An updated and stylish wardrobe topped off with perfect nails and teeth
Perfect church attendance... committee attendance... game attendance...
The absence of any turmoil or distraction
I discovered that a booming career, is not God's definition of balance.
Prayerfully, through today's devotion, you can glean from my experience and with God's help, take the first sharp right turn to escape from the cul-de-sac to nowhere.
The first step in getting out of the cul-de-sac to nowhere, is not a very popular one among busy women.
It requires you to get out of bed and give up well-deserved and much-needed sleep!
It is: Say "yes" to a daily prayer time each morning before you meet your family or leave for work.
Throughout the Psalms are references of meeting the Lord in the morning.
Sacrificing sleep was not at all what I wanted to do.
It wasn't that I didn't want to meet with the Lord each day.
I just really loved to sleep.
However, this has been the best thing for me and provides the most effective tool I have in bringing balance to my life.
To put my mind at ease with the sacrifice He was calling me to make, God let the truth of Psalm 127:2 settle in my heart:
"He gives sleep to those He loves."
Let it settle in your heart and life too.
Rest assured that He loves you.
Remember He sent His Son to die so you would have eternal life.
With that same love He will bless you with sleep even when you give it up for Him.
Try it!
He will amaze you!
Dear Lord, You are the Creator God.
You created the world in perfect order
and so is Your design for my life.
I have gotten off track.
My desire is to align my life with Your principles and yes to You today.
Help me get up each day to spend time with You.
I trust You to return back to me that which I give up:
sleep.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
At Proverbs 31 Ministries
our deepest desire is to connect women all over the world with Truth.
We offer a wide variety of online resources to meet the needs of women - women who sometimes feel alone.
Women who are trying to figure out how to align their lives with the truth of God's Word.
What began in 1992 as a monthly newsletter has grown into a multifaceted ministry that touches and transforms the lives of women around the world.
Through God's direction, Proverbs 31 Ministries has gone from a couple of volunteers folding newsletters in a garage to an international women's ministry reaching hundreds of thousands of women every day with the hope of Jesus Christ.
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