August 28, 2016
Turn the Page…
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
In order to experience God’s Best for my life and for my precious ones, I must allow Him to turn the page…
I love books…I love to begin a new book, to journey with the characters, to experience new territory, to live with them for awhile, and then to reach the destination of their journey. I remember the day that I lost a book I was reading and the frustration I felt because I had only two chapters left to read. And of course, I did exactly what any devoted reader would do, (no, I did not download it)… I rushed out to purchase another copy that very day, because I could not wait to hold the book, to feel the pages, to turn the pages…to reach the destination the author had assigned to the characters, but I had to be able to turn the pages…
MY FAVORITE THINGS…
One of my favorite things is the time I spend reading books to my grands. I love the way it feels to have them piled into my lap, the wiggles and the giggles, and a book anchored in my hands. When it is a ‘favorite’ book, I seldom have time to read the words on the page before they are reciting the narrative by memory, page by page…eager to turn the page…and are delighted to arrive at the next. Then, I love the moments when there is a favorite page, and with their chubby little fingers, they point and squeal over the pictures…repeating the words over and over and over and over…and over. I try to progress, in order to finish the journey on which we have embarked, the completion of the book…I try to turn the page, without rushing them, but being assured that I must turn the pages, so that we reach our destination and finish the book…they reluctantly allow me to turn the page.
GOD’s BEST…
I know that there is not one of us who does not crave God’s Best. GOD’s BEST is the ONE-size fits all; it is the perfect fit, the perfect place, the perfect pick, the perfect peace… Joshua was given the charge by the LORD to carry the mantle which HE had given to Moses to lead the people into the perfect place for them, the perfect peace for them…His Perfect Promise, the Promised Land. The Israelites were in a transition time. They were being led, and commanded to go into a land to take possession of the promise the LORD had given to them through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… Moses, and now Joshua. They were entering a new chapter in their lives and they had to allow the LORD to turn the page in order for them to reach their destination…GOD’s BEST for them…
And, yes, it was terrifying for them as they entered an unknown chapter of life. They had heard about the giants, about the armies who could come against them. I know, I understand that turning pages of life is hard, it is terrifying, and sometimes I just want to camp out on the same page for a long, long time…Sometimes, like my grands, I just love that page, that chapter…the pictures on the page and what my life looks like at that very moment…
I am uncertain of what the next page, the next chapter holds…so I hesitate…and sometimes I try to refuse to turn the page of transition, of life, and I wrestle with God…not yielding to His Mighty Hand as He reaches to turn the page of my life, to move me along in this life. Oh yes, then, I remember…
In order to experience God’s Best for my life and for my precious ones, I must allow Him to turn the page…
Other times, I want to rush through the page, refusing to read all of the words, trying to skim the page, because I don’t like what I am reading…sometimes, I feel as though I cannot bear the page in my life…it just hurts too much, it appears to be too hard…too challenging…maybe even impossible…And then, I remember…
In order to experience God’s Best for my life and for my precious ones, I must allow Him to turn the page…
Just as we enjoy and cherish those moments when we read books to our precious ones…when they want to hurry along to the next page without reading the words, or when they want to tarry and camp put for a while…we adore the times when we can hold them…and we treasure doing life with them, turning the pages of life together.
I must allow Him to turn the page…in His perfect time…
Dear friends, as you face transitions in life, as it is time to turn a page, to move along to a new chapter in life, may I encourage you to sit and be still with your Father God. Allow Him to reach His Mighty hand down to turn the page. He has only the very BEST intention for you, and with His BEST attention, He moves you along in this gift of life, in His perfect timing. He understands when you love the page of today…and when you would prefer to skip that page…but He knows that your todays and your tomorrows hold a portion of His BEST for you as He leads you to the destination He has for you. I have learned that He is worthy of our trust…He is faithful to lead us to His Promise, sometimes through valleys, over mountains, around and through obstacles, but always …to His BEST…ALWAYS…
May we allow our LORD to turn the page…
“…Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
In order to experience God’s Best for my life and for my precious ones, I must allow Him to turn the page…in His perfect time…
Abundant joy and blessing,
