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What If It’s God and Not Coincidence?

A Mini-Minute with Pam: What If It’s God and Not Coincidence?

Man and son walking on path - coincidence

When crises arise…

20/20 Hindsight teaches me that God uses those times to get my attention, so He can bless me with an awareness of His involvement in my life. He walks alongside me and you, through it all, hand-in-hand. He reminds me that I am NOT on my own. He is always at my side, guiding, directing, loving, disciplining when needed. All because of His deep abiding love. I forget that sometimes.

Pushing through vs. stopping and seeking

I’m thinking of the times I have pushed through—rather than stopping to worship—while I try to figure out what God might want me to do. Are you like me? I can get into a “zone”. So busy working out the details in my own mind, blocking out everything! Even God!

He sees. He hears. He knows what we need.

GRATEFULLY, He always manages to get my attention and remind me that there is a God and it is not me. Here’s an example of how deeply He is involved with the details of our lives.

This one day, as I waited for a landline call that never came

I’d been stuck and unable to write a letter I needed to write. Suddenly – in that time of waiting – I created the perfect piece for the need. Then my cell phone rang. That friend informed me that my landline wasn’t working. Coincidence? God? You decide.

And then there are the times when

I am on my way out and something delays me. I might even be frustrated that I am delayed. But then, GOD happens. When I do leave to go out, I run into someone that desperately needs a word of encouragement. Or maybe they just need to know someone cares enough to listen. And sometimes I hear about a need I can meet. Coincidence? God? You decide.

Sometimes life is a painful uphill battle

In 2 Chronicles 10, the people were asking the king for mercy. Their burden was difficult. The king consulted with the elders that had advised his father, and the elders advice was: (v. 7) “If you will be kind to this people, and please them and speak good words to them then they will be your servants forever.”

But the king didn’t value the counsel of the elders which they had given him. He then consulted with the strong men who grew up with him and served him.

The young men’s counsel was to be harsher than his father had been with the people. To be tough. And the new young king took his young friends’ advice.

Was that a coincidence? God?

The thing is that all of this, as odd as it seems, was all part of God’s plan: “So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of events from God that the LORD might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.” – 2 Chronicles 10:15

Related Post: What If Suffering Has A Purpose

Who was in control?

The king thought he and his young friends were in control. But God is the Blessed Controller of all things. The people rebelled.

The stories of the Kings

I don’t know about you, but all the stories of all the kings in the Old Testament can be very confusing for me. The part of the story I want to bring out is that EVERYONE in the story had a choice to make. Who to believe. Who to follow. What to do and when to do it. It is the same for you and me.

The best place to go

When your sinful nature threatens to drain the life out of you, look to the source of your salvation, Jesus, and be strengthened by the power of His Spirit.

Our Daily Bread (6/19/19)

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness” and “intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

Romans 8:26-27

God’s design

The funny thing is that we are all created different by God’s design. And some things might be difficult for you but not for someone else…like waiting, or asking advice, or trusting someone else (or God), or wanting the approval of friends, or wanting to grab the bull by the horns and just get ‘er done.

It’s a tough truth, but sometimes friends just don’t “get” us. Or maybe they just don’t want things to change.

Learning to trust God’s gentle nudgings.

This OBEYING GOD THING…and surrendering to Him as the Commander in the battle of life can be a challenge when you don’t know and embrace how the Creator designed you to be. It’s easy to condemn ourselves because of our immediate thoughts and feelings. Try to remember that God CONVICTS us but He does NOT CONDEMN us. He loves us and has our best in mind.

It can be difficult to walk through the “battle” without support.

What if it’s God and Not Coincidence? What if we grasp that God’s “got” us covered? We learn a wonderful lesson—that He has a plan and it is always GOOD! Then, we can know in our knower that it is actually possible to walk through life joyfully, fulfilled, & at peace—inside–where it counts! To God be the glory!

Until next time…

Do you need encouragement in your walk with God?

I offer one-on-one coaching and would love to come alongside you to help you become the woman God created you to be.

Let's Connect!
Awaiting His shout,
pam_signature-c49a6c

Christian Life Coach
Leading from Your Strengths Mentor
www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

Filed under: Christian Life Coaching,Mini-Minute with Pam — Tags: , , , , , — Pam Taylor @ 7:00 am

What If You Let Go Of It?

A Mini-Minute with Pam: Decluttering -What If You Let Go Of It?

Cluttered room
What popped into your mind when you read the title? What “it” can you let go of? HOLD that thought.

Maybe your first thought was that you need to let go of a grudge. Maybe it’s a toxic relationship. Maybe it’s a job. Maybe it’s an heirloom locked away unseen in the attic.

Is it time to purge?

In this post, I am going to focus in on physical STUFF that seems to end up as clutter in our homes. It seems like everyone I talk to wants to be better organized. What if lack of organization isn’t the root of the problem? Why do we hold on to stuff we are not even using? For years! Maybe we don’t need to organize it. Maybe we need to declutter instead.

I am guilty

I moved from a 3 bedroom apartment into this one bedroom apartment more than a dozen years ago. The move was a rush and so things were just dumped wherever my friends could find a spot. And, unfortunately, many of the things have remained unused in that same spot for all this more than 12 years. There are even boxes and storage bins unopened in the storage space. Or hiding under the bed or behind closed closet doors. I wanted to deal with it and let it go, but I just couldn’t seem to get motivated. And the “memories” connected with the “stuff” held me back. I want you to know, God has now shown me how to let go of it.

The Great Decluttering Challenge

Yup! That’s what I have been doing this week Decluttering. Sarah Mueller is an amazing woman. She is leading the the way. My place is pretty organized but my problem is hanging onto things for “sentimental reasons” or I might need it “some day”. Sarah suggests just focus on small areas tat a time to declutter, rather than tackling a whole room. She empowers and nurtures us in this challenge group. And it has been great!

My first challenge

My wedding dress. It had hung wrapped in a plastic zippered bag in my closets for over 50 years. Neither of my kids wanted it, so it hung there, taking up space; and it was a constant reminder of a failed marriage. Yesterday, it went to the resale store. I feel like celebrating a major victory. I was finally able to let it go! And Now someone else will feel beautiful in it on her wedding day. And I am moving on…

Language

Instead of saying, “I’m too sentimental”; (An excuse. Or is it really that we refuse to let things go?) It’s a choice. We can change our feelings when we change your language to something like this: “I can let things go, even though it is hard.” God is so clear in His word how very important our language is.

What else?

My next project was: I’d had numerous pairs of shoes I’ve not worn for many years, gathering dust in the bottom of that same closet. I had felt I couldn’t get rid of them because “what if I need them later?” and “But they were expensive.” Rather, I thought, “I can let them go. ”

My unused shoes went downstairs to the “share” area of my building and right away, one of my dear neighbors was delighted to find two pairs that fit her and she loves them. How about that? I got to witness someone being blessed by my decluttering.

Decluttering Decisions

Sarah reminds us how important it is to choose to make decisions, and how to start and then keep going, in addition to remembering how important it is to control our language.

Over-cluttered homes

They drain our energy. And, just like anything else, we can choose NOT to be victims of our over-cluttered homes. We can decide to CHOOSE how we want to THINK about decluttering. You know, God warns us that : as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So we KNOW our thoughts are important.
What if we choose to change the way we think about stuff?

Are you ready to take up the challenge? Pick your target and zoom in. And Finish! You can do that if you don’t make it a BIG target. Don’t tackle a whole room. Rather, it can be just clearing the bathroom counter. Or the kitchen table. Or decluttering the pots and pans cabinet in your kitchen. Or it can be decluttering the floor of your closet.

It is important to be sure to FINISH.  So, toss out the trash, wipe down the counter, put away the stuff you decided to keep. That feeling of completion, no matter how small the project, is amazing! Get it on your calendar and just do it! You will be glad you did.

There is so much more that I will be learning. That is only the first couple days training. It feels so great, I just wanted to share it with you.

So…what if you just DECIDE to let go of it. If I can do this, so can you! Let me know what will be your first decluttering choice? Leave a comment so I can celebrate with you!

Ready? Set…GO!!!

God bless you bunches!

Until next time…

Do you need encouragement in your walk with God?

I offer one-on-one coaching and would love to come alongside you to help you become the woman God created you to be.

Let's Connect!
Awaiting His shout,
pam_signature-c49a6c

Christian Life Coach
Leading from Your Strengths Mentor
www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

Filed under: Mini-Minute with Pam,Strengths Mentor Coach — Tags: , , , , , , , — Pam Taylor @ 7:00 am