Okay... I just read a really cool book that encouraged me and opened my eyes to a lot of things in my life that I NEEDED to see :) It's called "The Thomas Factor" by Winkie Pratney--- (need I say more? :)

*How many of you are going, or have gone through a time of darkness??? A time of feeling like God is light years away and that you are all alone??? A time where you have no idea what in the world you have done wrong so you search your heart and pray and pray and pray, then read and read and read... but still, there is darkness... no revelation, no sense of God's sweet presence, only silence.

* I HAVE GOOD NEWS!!!! YOU ARE NOT ALONE :)

*Here are some things from the book that I related to... and maybe you will benefit from as well...

"Darkness often follows great light. The darkness of God often comes immediately after some of the best teaching and deepest revelation you have ever had." W. Pratney

*hmmm... darkness comes to both the good and the bad... not all darkness is because of sin... sometimes God lets the darkness surround those he loves. He does it to teach us, he does it to grow us, because He loves us.

In Isaiah 45:3 the Word says, "I will give you the treasures of darkness." What??? The treasures of darkness???

*hmmm... darkness can be a treasure because it draws us nearer to God and makes us realize how much we really need Him... hmmm... when we pray to be closer to God, do we realize that we may be asking for darkness?

"When the darkness has finished its work in you, everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and only what is firm, real and solid shall remain." W. Pratney

Whew.... We pray and cry out to be firm, real and solid... how can we ask God these things and expect to never have hard times?... to never "feel" forsaken... to never doubt or wonder what truth really is? to never ask the question "My God,Why have you forsaken me?" Even our Savior asked that question.

* We will be shaken, we will go through darkness, we will feel lonliness, we will wonder about truth, we will hurt... but those with true faith will stand when shaken, will seek the light, will rely on God's faithfulness, and will believe against all odds the truth of the Word of God.

*Will you stand in the dark?
                                                                               


     P.S. Read this book!                                               Trusting... standing... believing,
                                                                                                        Pants

James 1:25
 "But if you keep looking steadily into God's perfect law – the law that sets you free – and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."

Some things that stuck out to me...

1.Keep looking steadily into the Word
2.Do what it says
3.Don't forget what you heard

1+2+3 = God's blessing... Himself.

*Soooooo Good! Pants

Here are some thoughts and questions I had this morning...

Have you ever been on a high with God?... You know, where nothing and no one can bring you down. Where God "feels" soooo close you can almost see Him, every time you open the Word it is like you are reading it for the first time... you cant stop smiling... you want to pray all the time and your favorite thing in the world is people.

or

Have you ever been the lowest of lows?... You feel like the world is crashing down around you, nothing makes sense... God "feels" a million miles away, prayer is hard... you open the Word and the silence is killing you, you can barely force a smile and the last thing you want to do in the world is be around people.

or

Have you ever been on the middle ground?... Where you are neither high nor low... you dont "feel" ecstatic about life, but you dont "feel" horrified by it either. You know your in God's will... doing what you are called to do and you enjoy it. You are joyful but not over the top happy, you enjoy being around people but its not always your favorite thing in the world. Prayer is good, the Word is good, God is good.... but you often wonder... what happened to my high?


So my question.... what do we do in the middle ground or in our lows?
Answer: The same friggin' thing we do in our highs.... LOVE THAT JESUS!!!!!!! Feelings are nothing, God is everything, his truth is real. We will have highs and we will have lows... and we will have middle grounds.... but God is the same through them all. Keep seeking, keep reading, keep loving. Just keep moving!