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I came across this article written by Mary Elder-Criss, and it brought to memory a time when my own unfulfilled expectations of what I felt God should do for me, did cause me to turn away from Him,  perhaps someone else is in a place where this message will remind  you to trust the One Who Is, and is a rewarder of those who will place their faith in Him...


He Is, I'm Not

I recently saw a Christian witness shirt that made me chuckle. In bold letters at the top, it proclaimed "THERE IS A GOD" and underneath it in smaller type, it said, "and You're not Him."

I want to buy that shirt for myself. Sometimes I think that God's purpose in choosing the name "I AM" to give to Moses, when Moses asked Him who he should say sent him, was simply to remind us of that very fact. I AM God... you are not.

Many times we have unfulfilled expectations. Just recently I lived through a disappointment that had me reeling in shock, because God didn't move like I expected Him to. My feeling at that moment, when He denied my prayer?

Crushing disappointment. Shock. A weight that settled on my chest, so that I couldn't seem to breathe. Amazement. I was actually speechless.

I was heading out the door to do some errands when the news came, so it didn't register that what I had expected from God was unapproved. On the way home, it hit me. I suddenly realized that God had refused to answer my prayer in the way I had been so sure He would. My mindset? He had let me down. Then I got angry. Not just a little upset, mind you... I'm talking anger. Real, honest to goodness, balling up my fist and waving it at God... in His face anger. I cried, I screamed, I raged, I yelled. I asked Him "WHY????? Why did You allow this to happen, God? Why wouldn't You let me have this God? Why do I continue to serve You, God, when all my Christian walk seems to encompass is one MAJOR disappointment after another??"

Oh I was full of it, alright. Full of anger, full of pain, full of disappointment, discouragement, hurt... but mostly, I was full of self.

Despair and discouragement turns our eyes inward, so that our focus is no longer on Christ, but on ourself. My unfulfilled expectations of what I felt God should do for me, almost caused me to turn away from Him.

"What I felt God should do for me..."

As if He hadn't already done enough, by dying on the cross. I was wallowing in self pity and misery, and I just could not find any reason to continue having faith. And then? Then He spoke. He penetrated the wall of anger, the discouragement, the disappointment, the pain, the wall of SELF, and He spoke, and I listened.

He said, "I AM God, and YOU are not." He reminded me that He is still in control. That He sees the whole picture, that life's disappointments and setbacks and mishaps, and tragedies are not enough of a reason to quit. For HE IS, HE ALWAYS HAS BEEN, and HE ALWAYS WILL BE. Just because my ideas, my expectations, and His do not line up, is not a reason to bail out. It's not a reason to give up hope, and it's not a reason to give up on Him.

I am not the first person to suffer disappointment or weep. Thankfully, I serve an infinite God, and One who is much wiser than me. He met me at my point of pain, and instead of giving up on ME, He reminded me of His infinite Love and His infinite plan. He reminded me: He is God, and I am not.

Charles Spurgeon was a great preacher - a man of God who used stories to illustrate Biblical truths. One story that he told was about a weather vane.

Once, as Reverend Spurgeon was traveling, he saw an old barn with a weather vane turning in the wind. That's what a weather vane does, of course - it turns in the wind.

A weather vane is shaped like an arrow and sits high on a rooftop. When the wind blows, the arrow turns in such a way that the observer can tell from what direction the wind is blowing.

Charles Spurgeon noticed that there were words written on the side of the barn, just under where the weather vane was attached to the roof. He stopped to look closer and read, "God is love." This made Reverend Spurgeon curious. Did the person who wrote those words think that God's love changed as much as the wind? He decided he would stop and ask.

It didn't take long for the reverend to find the farmer who owned the barn. Charles Spurgeon wasn't one to avoid a point. "What do you mean by the words written on the barn?" Reverend Spurgeon immediately asked.

The farmer smiled. Then he slowly and deliberately answered, "The words simply mean that no matter how softly or how hard the wind blows, God is love. And no matter the direction of the wind, God will still be love."

Jeremiah 31:3a reads, "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying 'Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.'"

Life can sometimes be like a warm breeze, full of sunshine and happiness. How easy during these times to believe that God is love. But other times, life can be like the cold winds that leave ice on the weather vane and on our hearts, leaving us sad and lonely. It may be hard to see, but guess what? God is love. God never changes. His love is everlasting.

Sunshine or ice, good times or bad, God's love is constant. No matter what happens - no matter what we do or where we go - we can count on God's love.

As Christians, we cannot be swayed by the turn of the weather vane. The wind may shift and circumstances may cause us to shiver in the shadows. But we can stand on what we know to be truth - God's love never changes.


- Elaine Ernst Schneider


Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

It seems the story of the weathervane also implies that, while we can't see the wind, we know where its going because the arrow points the way. From this illustration, one could assume that the arrow is us, when we "reveal the full counsel of God" as Paul did; or Holy Spirit, who reminds us of the words of Jesus and shows us God's will.

AMEN! Shylynne and Willowbirch!

Psalms 105:4  Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

Psalms 105:7  He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth.

Psalms 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Love In Christ,
Tom

I am not the first person to suffer disappointment or weep. Thankfully, I serve an infinite God, and One who is much wiser than me. He met me at my point of pain, and instead of giving up on ME, He reminded me of His infinite Love and His infinite plan. He reminded me: He is God, and I am not.

Amen!!  :D

For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song."
-Zephaniah 3:17

;D I love it

Your brother and friend in Christ
DW