Leave it to God

Leave it to God

Leave it to God to bring you peace while you are down. Leave it to God to bring words of encouragement when you need them. Leave it to God when you'd rather worry yourself to death over things He already has control over. Just leave it to God.

I don't know when I am going to learn not to allow myself to get so down during an adoption process. I KNOW that He has it all under control. I KNOW there is no need to worry. I KNOW I should focus on all of the joy and good things in my life. And yet this worldly body of mind wants to continually try to control things that are completely and utterly beyond my control.

Here are some words that came to me this week (just when I needed them) and brought me back up from my recent "downness." Hope they bless you.

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1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all
circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus

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Hebrews 10:35-36

VERSE:
Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God,
you will receive what he has promised.
-- Hebrews 10:35-36

THOUGHT:
There are some tough times that go with living. They're
inescapable. That's when our confidence in the Lord's salvation and
our relationship with him get tested! It is one thing to sing "it
is well with my soul" at the end of a peel-the-paint and
raise-the-roof worship service, but it is quite another to be able
to sing it when they auction your house off at the courthouse
steps, you are told you have a long-term debilitating illness, or
you lose a child to death. Faith can't take a holiday when we
travel through the suburbs of hell or we'll never find our way out.
So don't throw it away. Persevere! Keep putting one foot in front
of the other trusting that God will give you the strength for the
next step. No matter how hard it is at the moment, don’t give up to
despair. Be like Job or Jeremiah who both argued and complained to

God, but never let go of God. Don't quit. Christ is coming for you
with grace and in glory. His return is just around the bend and
could break into our world at any time.

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Proverbs 21:30

There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against
the LORD.

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Romans 5:3-4

VERSE:
We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that
suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and
character, hope.
-- Romans 5:3-4

THOUGHT:
I remember the old Corrie ten Boom phrase, "Thank God for the
fleas." The fleas kept the German soldiers out of the barracks in
the Jewish concentration camp where she was imprisoned. This
allowed her to minister and visit with those who were being
persecuted. There she could show and share Jesus. Even in the worst
of suffering, God can bring blessings through those who know that
life's goal is character, not comfort.

PRAYER:
Mighty God, I confess that I get impatient and frustrated with
difficulty, pain, and suffering. Please give me more compassion and
better listening skills to hear, so that I may bless those who need
your love and grace. Give me the strength to find joy in the
difficulties of breaking through the barriers Satan places in the
way to keep others from Jesus. In the Savior's name I pray. Amen

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Isaiah 30:18

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you
compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all
who wait for him!

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Isaiah 46:4 (Instead of "you" read the verse with "Bright")

VERSE:
[The Lord says,] "Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am he,
I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

THOUGHT:
God will not forget us when we're in trouble or when we are old.
We may outlive our friends and be forgotten by those who know us,
but God will never leave us or forsake us. He will sustain, carry,
protect, and rescue us.

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Psalms 46: 1-3, 10-11

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

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There's no way I can say it better than God! If you are a fellow waiting adoptive parent reading this just hold on to these words. He truly does have all of our children in the palm of His hands. He loves them even more than we love them. And I know that if God loves my sweet baby Bright more than I do He must love him a tremendous amount! What alternative is there to having hope? None...for me.

Love,
Anita