When Life Suddenly Makes Sense

"We live life forward, but understand it backward."   --- Joyce Meyer

"... the Holy Spirit will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."   ---John 16:13

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My longtime readers might recall when Tom lost his job in 2010. He and 3 other guys were downsized and yeah, not a good day.

But you know? Earlier, the Holy Spirit kept leading me to folks online who told me, "Store extra food!" "Replace worn-out items while you can!" "Save-up 6 months' worth of paychecks!"

Did I do that? Er, only kinda sorta, in spurts and starts and -- well, mostly, no. It's like, where was the writing in the sky or angels with scrolls appearing at the front door?  

Oh, the regret.

And even though God proved amazingly merciful over those next 22 months, I felt both gratitude and sorry for not listening to that still, small voice of warning. For not acting upon what, yeah, I did feel deep, deep inside (if we're being honest).

Well, we all experience life-altering, face-splashing stuff like that, right? And because we serve a forgiving God, He doesn't rub our nose in past mistakes, but teaches our humbler selves specific ways to do better next time.

So today I would say if you keep running across videos/books/conversations about certain, specific topics like--

prepping for emergencies

overcoming offenses

gardening

forgiveness

low-cost cooking

moving past guilt

decluttering

spiritual warfare

discovering daily joy

mind rest

health/sleep/exercise

releasing worry, fear, anger

giving to others

becoming strong in the Lord

craving wisdom

letting go 

---it could be because God makes Himself obvious in non-obvious ways, often while we're waiting for loud trumpet blasts that never come. 

God knows what's ahead, all the hard stuff.  We don't, so His warnings can be confusing and that's why we need to walk that (sometimes scary) tightrope of trust. 

He longs to ready and strengthen us for anything up the road.

If we proceed only after (thinking) we understand all the details, oh dear. We'll often be running late, struggling and limping without Grace. 

Always, Grace cooperates with God's time schedule--and we can, also.

"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."   --- 1 Peter 1:13

 "But the Holy Spirit ... will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."   --- John 14:26, 27

Always whatever God asks of us, He equips us to do. (So technically, no excuses are truthful. Yikes.)  It's better to long to obey God out of love than to figure everything out before we take a step.

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If one of your latest convictions is to learn to make low-cost meals, you may want to check out The Simplified Saver. Her meals are easy, as well (my favorite part.)  ツ

Oh, and for my fellow bird lovers, here's a gift for you.

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We're not waiting to go to Heaven to have victory--there's victory now!"   ---  Jim Hodges

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Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. 

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 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15