"Striving to be good enough" is one of the first phrases I highlighted on the second page of this chapter; it summarizes how I was trying to live my life, and it ended up being a "peaceless" experience. It was mostly peaceless because no matter what I did, I never felt like it was enough for God, regardless of my attending Bible Studies, going to Church, reading the Bible, praying & all. So that whole paragraph just reminded me that, although it is impossible to be good enough for God, it is still possible to draw near to Him as He is drawing close to me, and "letting all of His goodness be in me." My prayer is that, instead of trying to fix myself to be good enough for God, I pray that He uses my imperfection to make me whole, as a result of my walk with Him.
For the prayer at the end of the chapter, I especially want to know God as a FRIEND: I believe that He can be the bestest friend I could ever have, for He knows me more than I know myself. I just want to be able to cry out to Him, to run to Him first (before running to anyone else) during my lonely moments, to depend on Him during my desperate times, to stand on the rock that He is when my ground is shaky, to give me Peace when all around me is screaming war, etc ...
What do you need to know Him as? and why?
I use the study guide for this book and it asks the questions above and to "write out a prayer telling God why you need to know Him in this way, thank Him for promising to be that to you and to include Psalm 20:7 in your prayer." I invite you all to write your prayer and to share your thoughts, and experiences on this particular chapter. Remember this is a learning experience, which can only be accomplished through sharing :)
I use the study guide for this book and it asks the questions above and to "write out a prayer telling God why you need to know Him in this way, thank Him for promising to be that to you and to include Psalm 20:7 in your prayer." I invite you all to write your prayer and to share your thoughts, and experiences on this particular chapter. Remember this is a learning experience, which can only be accomplished through sharing :)
Love you all,
V.
In the section "I Know What You Want" the part that really resonated with me, that I identified with is when the author writes "you long for the closeness, the connection, the affirmation that who you are Is good and desirable". I always tell me self that I am not one that looks to others for acceptance but many times I catch myself wanting that affirmation that who I am Is good and desirable and unfortunately Instead of looking to God for this affirmation, so many times I have turned to man. What I have found Is that It leaves me constantly going back to be reassured and also unfortunate Is that so many times this can put us In compromising situations. But with God we get this assurance and confirmation every time through our relationship with Him without ever having to compromise who we are and what we stand for.
ReplyDeleteI also need to recognize God as my friend In my everyday life because so many times In life I find myself feeling alone like I have no one to talk to and even getting mad at the people In my life for not always being there or not knowing what I am feeling without me having to share It. Some things I want to share with the people closest to me but that would require me sharing with them parts of me that I hide from the world. Instead of going through this I find It Is a lot easier to just talk to the person who knows all of me even better than I know myself.
Though I need God to be my friend daily, this week I need Him very much to be my hope, encouragement and helper.
Abbie, I am with you regarding the "I know what you want" section! My #1 Desire has always been to have a deep, intimate relationship with God and to feel the affirmation that who I am is good and desirable. Stormie Omartian made it plain that since that is what I want, I MUST spend more time with God, no "ifs, ands, or buts" about it. No excuse is valid! So as for the HW that she gave us, I will spend time with God every morning at 6am and also during my lunchtime at 12pm.
ReplyDeleteThese days I need God as my Helper. There are many things about me that need to change! And I realize that I can't undo 26 years of stuff by myself, but I need His help. I need Him as my Strength and my Reminder-er (made up that word).
Thanks for sharing the study guide question Vanessa!