Posts Tagged ‘trusting God’

How to Trust God to Meet Your Needs as a Single Woman

TRUSTING GOD IN SINGLENESS I sat with a friend as she cried and poured out her heart, “How can I believe that God loves me and will meet my needs? I’ve been single for years. I want to be loved, accepted and valued by a man.”

My friend is not alone in her thoughts. Many young women struggle with singleness and trusting God during this life stage. I believe the root heart issue to my friend’s questions is trust. My friend is not trusting God to meet her needs and satisfy her longings. My friend is not trusting that God’s love is enough. My friend is not trusting that God loves her, accepts her and values her, more than any human man ever will.

How often do you feel like my friend? For me, I know those thoughts seep into my heart and mind almost every day. I’ve discovered that spending time with God, in His word, is the answer to most of our problems, especially our trust issues. I realized that the days I struggle trusting God most are the days I don’t spend time with him.

Do you trust in God’s plan for your life? Do you spend time with God on a regular basis through reading the Bible or praying? (more…)

Worried You’ll Miss “The One”?

Worried You'll Miss out on the one? Are you worried that you will miss out on God’s plan, specifically by missing out on “The One”?

Guess what – you can not screw up God’s plan for your life.

Early in college, I dated a guy who was a Christian, but was not running after Jesus. I was afraid to break up with him because I thought, “What if I mess up God’s plan? What if this is the guy I’m supposed to marry?” Throughout the relationship, the Holy Spirit kept showing me that I should break up with him. If he was “Mr. Right”, there would not have been so many red flags. (more…)

15 Bible Verses on Goals

Goals We are now 18 days into the new year! How are you doing with your goals? Maybe you feel like I do – stressed with deadlines, busy with to-do lists, and countless e-mails that need replies. Are you as overwhelmed as I am? Some days it is hard to believe my 2015 goals are even possible.

If you are already feeling defeated  – you are not alone. Just because you are struggling does not mean you should give up. For some reason you decided to create these goals for yourself. Together, we need to turn to scripture to see what God says about setting goals and sticking to them. Together we can achieve our goals.

Here are 15 Bible verses about goals. (All passages are from the ESV Bible.)

  1. “But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.” – 2 Chronicles 15:7. Don’t give up on your goals!
  2. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:1-2. We must always keep our eyes on Jesus. When we are struggling reaching our goals – focus on Jesus. When we are succeeding in reaching our goals – focus on Jesus.
  3. “May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!” – Psalm 20:4.
  4.  “He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” – Mathew 17:20.
  5. “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” – Luke 14:28. Make sure your goals are challenging, yet realistic. God can move mountains (See Mathew 17:20 above), but we still have a part to play.
  6. “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.” – Psalm 33:11. Make God the center of your plans.
  7. “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” – John 6:27. When setting and sticking to goals, keep your eyes focused on your eternal rewards.
  8. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” – Psalm 37:4-5.
  9. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” – Philippians 4:8. Make your goals have each of these character traits.
  10. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13.
  11. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” – Hebrews 10:35-36. 
  12. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2. For each of your goals – ask yourself, “Is this goal good, pleasing and God’s will for my life?”
  13. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” – Jeremiah 17:7. Pray that you would begin to trust that God can reach your goals. 
  14. “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9. You may have one plan, but God may have another. Don’t be afraid to change your goals if God leads you in a new direction.
  15. “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” – James 4:13-15. Friends, our lives are fleeting mist. Make sure your goals matter, because we have a limited time on this earth.

My hope and prayer is that these verses will provide encouragement to you this year as you keep pursuing your goals. Comment below with tips or encouragement that has helped you succeed in reaching goals. Feel free to share the photo below on Pinterest or social media. =] Goals

 

7 Ways to Know God’s Will

How to know God's Will _ JoyPedrow.com Have you ever found yourself between two choices and said, “God, which one do you want me to pick?” Many days I have longed to know God’s will. I believe this is a question many ladies have for different situations. We want to know: is he the one, what is my next step, should I take this job, should I live with them, am I doing what God wants…etc

Guess what friend, God’s will can be known!

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” –Psalm 32:8

How often do you question is this God’s will? Here are 7 ways to know God’s will:

  1. Spend time daily with God in the word. The only way to understand and know a person is to spend time with them.
  2. Journal. Write down how God speaks to you during your quiet times. Journaling is a great tool, here is why: why journal?
  3. Seek God’s will and do it. “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” James 4:17.
  4. Do not conform to the world.I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.Romans 12:1-2.
  5. Confess your sin and repent. If you are living in sin your heart could mishear God’s voice, or to even hear it at all. Read 1 john 1:9 and Proverbs 28:13
  6. Pray. Pray that God’s decision would be your desires. Pray for the specific things. Read Psalm 37:4, Philippians 2:13, James 1:5-7, and Mark 10:51-52.
  7. Process. Ask yourself these questions to better understand if God’s will:
  • What do you want to do?
  • Why do you want to do it?
  • What are your motives? Read Proverbs 21:2.
  • Is it going to benefit you spiritually? Emotionally? Physically? Socially?
  • Will it bring God glory? Read 1 Corinthians 10:31.
  • Will it cause another to stumble?

I hope these 7 ways help you better understand God’s will for your life. If you still have no idea what to do with certain decisions, remember that our God has a perfect plan for your life. God has this covered, so begin to trust him. When we have no idea what to do, it is easier to turn to our friends and loved ones for advice, instead of talking to God about it. Go to God first, others second. God’s opinion matters most.

JoyPedrow.com

In the Middle, You Find Jesus | Charlotte Gambill Book Review

I recently went to a women’s conference called Dare To Be by Natalie Grant and Charlotte Gambill. Natalie led worship and then Charlotte led the teaching. It was very inspiring and impacting! Charlotte opened my eyes to something in scripture I had never before thought about – the middle. Charlotte also wrote a book about this called The Miracle in the Middle: Finding God’s Voice in the Void. This is a fabulous book that I would recommend with you! Because I loved the conference and book so much, I want to share her message and expand on the topic.

In Mark 6:45-52, the story is shared where Jesus walks on water towards his disciples. In these verses, the men were in the middle of the trip between the land where Jesus was and the land on the other side. The boat was in the middle of the lake, far away from Jesus. I want to focus on the word- middle. This is pulled directly from verse 47, “Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.”

How would you define the middle? For the disciples, they were literally in the middle of the water, but the middle can look different for everyone. Maybe you are in the middle of waiting for something, middle of a struggle, middle of a breakup, middle of singleness, middle of a conflict, there are lots of middles in our lives. Right now I am in the middle of trying to figure out what career to work towards. I would love to be at the end and know exactly what God wants me to do, but right now I am where God wants me, in the middle.

Being in the middle may not be comfortable, but it requires trusting that God will get you to the other side.

The disciples would have felt more comfortable if they would have been on land next to Jesus, and maybe they thought about turning around and going back to where they came from. Right now I am in the life stage of singleness. I have to choose daily to trust that God knows what he is doing. Some days I may want to run back to my old lifestyle of dating who I wanted instead of waiting for a Godly man. I want to run back to what I know is comfortable, but I don’t because I am trusting that God will use this middle to glorify himself.

The middle may not be comfortable, but it does have an end.

The enemy knows when we are in the middle. Because each step we take gets us closer to the other side and closer to a break through. Every middle is equal distance both ways, so sometime it would require the same amount of work to go back to the beginning as the end.

As humans, we don’t want the journey, we want the results. We want to get to the end. We want to know what decisions to make, be married, get past the conflicts, and get out of the boat!

In the middle is when you put to practice all that you say and believe. It may be easy on the shore to say that you believe God is good and that his plans are perfect, but how you live out your life in the middle is the proof.

In the middle you see the miracle. Jesus walks on water and comes to you. When you are thinking how will I ever make it to the other side, Jesus performs a miracle.

In the middle,  you find Jesus.

The greek word used for middle, mesos, in this passage is also found in another passage in the Bible. John 19:18,  “There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

So where was Jesus? In the middle. He was in the middle of dying a painful death for you and I. He was in the middle of saving us from the pain of our own sinful choices. He was in the middle of saving us from the hurt this world causes us. Jesus was in the middle!

When you are in the middle of your struggles, waiting for hope, or  just want to get to the other side, remember that Jesus is in the middle.

I hope this post has been encouraging! Be sure to add me on social media and share my blog with your friends! Thanks!

                       

Save