Proverbs 3:5-6

I’m taking a new approach to titling my blog posts by going back to titling my blog posts. Why? Because I was browsing through the church bookstore last Wednesday when I came upon a little book about studying the Bible by John MacArthur, or it could have been something I read in a blog? It’s hard to say. I read good snippets from multiple sources almost everyday. Back to the point. This pastor said one should never come up with a great sermon and then try to fit a scripture into it that makes the point. Doing that is like proof texting. You can always find a scripture to back up the point you are trying to make. I found that little statement very profound and whole heartedly agree with whoever said it. That’s pretty much how I’ve been getting the titles of my blogs for over a year now. So now, I have the extra challenge of coming up with titles to my posts and centering my posts around the word of God because I love the word of God! With that being said, allow me to get to the point of this particular post.

I just want to express my thankfulness to the Lord today for helping me through a pretty huge crisis. My oldest got into trouble with the law yesterday. Forgive me for not going into the details.

He’s been my problem child since he was 14. He’s come along way since then. He is a good boy who makes wrong, foolish choices. Back in the day, when he was in trouble frequently, I couldn’t deal at all. I didn’t know the Lord then. I would cry for hours and hours. I would pace back and forth like a caged animal and just cry because I didn’t know what to do. I had nobody to turn to. I turned to alcohol. It was better to be drunk and numb than deal with the problems head on.

So when he came home and told me he was in trouble, I reacted in that old life way. But only for a moment in comparison to the old days. He asked me if I was mad. I said mad wasn’t exactly the way I was feeling. Then I laid down some serious new law.

The next thing I did was go into my room and cry to the Lord. Here is a list of the things I said: Why is he still like this? Why don’t I have the guts to lay down the law and enforce it? How can I keep allowing him to behave this way? Why won’t he go to the Lord? Why does he keep making bad choices? Why do I feel bad for his mistakes, for his sins? He’s a grown “man”! Why do I always feel like it’s my fault? Doesn’t the Lord love him? Does He even look at him and see his problems?

Then, like David, I switched my cries to praise, not the best of praise mind you, but I affirmed what I know to be true about God. I may not know what He’s doing, but He does. I know He has a plan. I know He will take care of this even if I can’t figure out what He’s doing. I know He moves each one of us the way He wants to. I know we are clay and He is the potter. I trust Him. I just have to.

And then it hit me. I was still crying like I did all those years ago, but now I have someone to cry to. He hears my cries. He’s watching and listening. He cares about my problems. He’s there! Then He spoke to me,

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

Then I was filled with peace. Its all about trust. I have to believe He knows what He’s doing. This morning, while I was still pretty sad, not wanting to leave the house, He said it again, trust in the Lord. I picked up Oswald Chambers and it said,

THE NOTION OF DIVINE CONTROL
“How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?” Matthew 7:11 Jesus is laying down rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit. By the simple argument of these verses He urges us to keep our minds filled with the notion of God’s control behind everything, which means that the disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek. Notion your mind with the idea that God is there. If once the mind is notioned along that line, then when you are in difficulties it is as easy as breathing to remember – Why, my Father knows all about it! It is not an effort, it comes naturally when perplexities press. Before, you used to go to this person and that, but now the notion of the Divine control is forming so powerfully in you that you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit, and it works on this principle – God is my Father, He loves me, I shall never think of anything He will forget, why should I worry? There are times, says Jesus, when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but trust Him. God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural Father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the notion of the mind of God behind all things strong and growing. Nothing happens in any particular unless God’s will is behind it, therefore you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but an attitude of mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it shall be given you.”

Finally, He said it to me again this afternoon, in a thank you note from a friend who encouraged me with Proverbs 3:5-6.

Isn’t our God supremely good and wonderful? Thank You Abba!

Forever His… Michelle

p.s. pray for my boy. pray for God to use this circumstance to open his eyes, to set him free from his self destruction.