His Ways Are Not My Ways...

Well, last week I wrote of a door the Lord has recently opened in my life.
He has petitioned me to be a worship leader.
I look back at that post and kind-of chuckle.
Oh wise me---I asked the Lord to open a door, I knocked—and He answered.

What I didn’t realize or want to admit last week was that I had a grand picture of what it was going to look like on the other side of that door.

Then, He showed me His picture—and boy was it different than mine.

And then He reminded me that He had been the one that placed this gift inside me.
And He is the one that gave me the spirit of leadership many, many years ago.
And He is the one that placed the desire in my heart to lead worship.

Now I was to do it His way.

His thoughts are not my thoughts.
His timing is not my timing.
His ways are not my ways.
And as the good Pastor Osteen would say, “The enemy fights you the hardest when God has something great in store for you…”

And in the midst of my frustration last week, because He knew I would not be reminded of these things on my own, He sent my many wonderful sisters in Christ to remind me of these things He placed in my heart—and to not be weary.

All of you know who you are, and once again, I feel blessed that He has placed all of you amazing women of God in my life.

One of my sisters said something like, “If He showed you the end of this hallway behind His door right now, you would never take one step through the door. Because what He has in store for you is beyond your thinking, and if you knew the details, you would be too scared to take the step.”

So I will trust that He has gone before me and prepared the way. He is lining up all of the hearts and spirits of people to receive the way He wants me to usher people into His presence.

His way, not mine.

So if you have a dream in your heart that you know He put there--- you must be willing to trust each and every step to Him.

And the only doors He will unlock are those that require you to lean your entire being on Him….

Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy.Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis. She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. She is also a contributing author at www.mommiesmagazine.com.Maria's first published work is in Jan Ross and Jeanice McDade's Women of Passion's anthology, "Ordinary Women Serving an Extraordinary God". Both Kim and Maria have been selected to have their work tentatively included in Lori Wagner's upcoming book, Quilting Patches of Life, Volume 2.