unclenching your fists

Things are starting to look up, y'all... The hubby had an interview for a great job yesterday and GOT IT! So, now the crazy hectic stuff all feels more temporary! He starts next week. It's so exciting. But now, I will have to do most of the packing of the house alone, because he will be working A LOT. My mom works for the same company and she works 10-12 hour days, 5 days a week... and sometimes Saturday on top of that. So... great pay, but he will be so busy. Still, he is very excited and I am so proud of him!!

The reading for today's lent plan was in Psalm 22, and it mostly talks about how everyone is out to get you. I'm in too good of a mood for all that... So I went ahead and skipped to the next one, which you've all heard I'm sure:

Psalm 23
1The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell[a] in the house of the Lord
Forever.

A little more uplifting, yeah?  Thank you Jesus. Verse 2 is important here... He makes me rest. Literally makes me chill out. (This is a common theme in my life... needing to chill out...)
Verse 3. He restores my soul. Who doesn't need a little soul restoring? Goodness. V. 5, He anoints me, and pours out blessings. V 6, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life...
It doesn't always feel like that but if you can take a step back out of your circumstances, that's really what is happening.

Sometimes we get so caught up in what's going wrong that we can't see God's hand. We wonder "why me?" "What else can go wrong?" "Why????" But what we're not seeing behind the scenes is that He is saving us from something worse. Did you lose your job or your home unexpectedly? Or both? Maybe He was removing you from a bad situation to bring you out of it and into something better... but I have to tell you, He can't hand you something, some new blessing, if you're fighting and clenching and holding on to the old crap. You have to give it up and trust that Jesus knows whats best for you, and He can see things you can not see.

If you can find a way to let go of your own expectations and wishes and disappointments, He will be able to hand you new dreams and new blessings. Try to see past the hurt and setbacks, and trust that He has your best interests in mind. I'm still in that transition phase that I talked about at the beginning of this blogging thing. But we are getting towards the end of the transition and it looks like blessings are coming. I'm thankful for this season, but I think I will be more thankful to get out of it. I'm excited to see what is next.

Praying that God will give you eyes to see His Heart and understanding in difficult situations. Until tomorrow....