Letting go and letting God work

I BELIEVE IN GOD

I Believe in God even tho’ I can’t see Him,
Even when He is silent, I know He is there,
I know if I wait on the Lord and will listen
In a still small voice He speaks to me here.

I believe in God and I know that I shall see Him
Some day in Heaven upon His great throne.
I believe in God and I know He is with me,
Will be with me here, ‘til I enter my Home.

I believe that the sun even when I can’t see it,
Is there when the clouds keep it hidden from view;
I know it will shine once again in its splendor
When the clouds break away and let it shine thro’.

I believe in God and I know that I shall see Him
Some day in Heaven upon His great throne.
I believe in God and I know He is with me,
Will be with me here, ‘til I enter my Home.

I believe in a love that is true and tender,
For God in His love sent it down from above,
I believe in a love even when I can’t feel it
In this cold empty world, where few know His love.

I believe in God and I know that I shall see Him
Some day in Heaven upon His great throne.
I believe in God and I know He is with me,
Will be with me here, ‘til I enter my Home.

Sometimes God appears silent. Sometimes when I feel my worst it seems like He's not there. I know that it is not God being silent but me refusing to feel Him. My heart is closed to Him.

"For HE has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither has He hidden His face from him, but when he cried to Him, He heard." Psalm 24

I read today in 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves [not Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus is in you - unless you are [counterfeits]disapproved on trial and rejected?" AMP

Back in 12:9 Paul says "And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

"When I am weak, then am I strong."

I am not feeling strong right now. I think I am in the crash mode. For so long I had to be strong, I had to keep up the pace for my little baby and my family. I know that God carried me and gave me a tremendous amount of grace and strength during this time (my ever increasing experience). I never felt as tired then as I do right now.
Now is the time I need to seek hard after God. I need to look to Him to find my strength. I know that prayer had a lot to do with it. So it is not so much God being far away. Like Paul wrote, Jesus is in me.

John 15:2-4 "Every branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Pruning time?

I know that God is patient, yet I know that in the hard times He still expects the fruit. And in these hard times it is pruning time, it is a time to examine my faith and look close to see who I am leaning on (me or Him?). When I lean on Him I give it all up to Him and let Him carry my burden with me. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt but it does mean that I am abiding in Him so that He can shoulder my burden to make it lighter, more manageable. Sometimes I just need to let Him work in my life. I just need to let go. Not of Elijah or my experience but of my emotions, my anger and my attitudes. Then be renewed, restored and revitalized by the power of Christ!

It's not easy, but with Christ, it is possible.

Lori