Skip to main content

Follow Me on Facebook

Gretchen Mure Rodriguez

Pondering - to encourage you!

Today's blog may be a bit different than my usual, but I pray my candid pondering will encourage you! 

The other day I was told that a friend of mine met someone who read my blog (whom I have never met) and how the Lord ministered to her through it. Hearing about the situation made my day! It is one thing to journey through life's trials and triumphs with the Lord, but it's entirely different when we go beyond ourselves and minister the revelations we've received to others. I've found that many times I don't realize how much I have learned in a particular season until I use the truths I've "owned" to minister life and encouragement to others. When I say "owned", I am referring to when we go past head knowledge of the Word and experience it for ourselves. (See "Experiencing the Word", blog below)

It's like we get tunnel vision in the midst of the things we go through and though we are doing our best to keep our hearts and minds on the Lord, sometimes we just feel stuck, with no natural knowledge of how or when things will change. But then, in the midst of our trials... our discouragement, sickness, failing hope, our deserts...our CRUD...whatever you want to call it, HE COMES! Sometimes He comes with nothing more than His overwhelming love, but that alone has the strength we need to take a deep breath and face another day. Somewhere in the midst of a glory encounter, we get our fight back. It isn't that we are looking to always fight the enemy, but the INNER fight we need to shake off self-pity, fear, worry, or whatever we deal with, and say, I WILL BLESS THE LORD AT ALL TIMES, HIS PRAISE SHALL CONTINUALLY BE IN MY MOUTH! (Psalm 34:1) Faith and hope rise as we remind ourselves of His love, His faithfulness, and His Word. As we continue to encourage ourselves and set our mind on things above (Col 3:2), something changes within us and ultimately, around us.

We were created to BELIEVE! That's why we are called "Believers", not doubters! 
James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." Sometimes He comes and surprises us with His love and strength, but USUALLY the awareness of His presence comes because WE are purposely focusing on Him, drawing near to Him. We purify our hearts by choosing to be single-minded; deciding to believe regardless of what we see or feel in the natural and shaking off the double-mindedness. Without faith we aren't pleasing Him (Hebrews 11:6). You cannot mix faith and doubt - it just doesn't work. Sometimes our greatest battles are not the ones we have with the enemy, but with ourselves. We must CHOOSE to believe!

After hearing about someone who "stumbled" across my blog and encountering the Lord, I was so encouraged. Not only does the Lord see when we live as "laid down lovers" (those who have surrendered all), but the world sees as well. Be encouraged that what you do in secret is having an affect on people even when you are not aware of it!!

I want to encourage you today that regardless of what you are going through, regardless of how long you have gone through it, He holds the answer. We access the answer first by faith. We choose to believe. We choose to thank Him in advance. We choose to worship Him and bring Him love even when we don't understand. When we do these things, we choose well. 
If you are doing these things, YOU have chosen well. 

The Lord has told my family that we are moving to the States. We chose to believe that we are moving BEFORE we could see any evidence in the natural. Now, as people are being moved on by the Lord to sow into us, we are starting to see the manifestation of what He said. But, it isn't fully there. HOWEVER, in our hearts, we are convinced this move will happen and SOON & we are beginning to pack. YOU have promises from the Lord too! Begin to praise Him for the answer and if there are steps you can take in the natural to step into the answer, do so as He leads. 

Remember, your current trial is your future strength that will be used to minister to many!!


Comments

  1. Debbi D9/04/2012

    Great post, thanks for sharing, and thanks for letting us know about your blog.

    Debbi

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Parenting Messes & Victories- No Domestic Foo Fooey'ness Included!

We've been looking at different ways we encounter God. Today however, I want to talk about parenting. (You know, when I think about it, God actually has used my daughters many times to speak to me and to teach me a great deal about His love. I have encountered Him through my kids countless times!) A few weeks ago I met one of the leaders at the Youth group in which two of my girls attend. She asked me what I did to raise girls so in love with the Lord and told me I should write a book about it. I smiled, but thought, "Oh if you only knew! It hasn't been me, it's been all God." No false humility about it. I'm as shocked as anyone. Our daughters are 20, 18, and 15, and while I am incredibly amazed by their relationship with the Lord, I have no thoughts of writing a book on parenting. Today I only want to offer you my testimony. No sugar coating, no stories of home baked cookies, and domestic foo fooey'ness, but just a very candid look at our journey and...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day #1 - Embracing The New

I've been pondering the many ways we spend time with the Lord. While I firmly believe that communing with Him throughout our days is indispensable, set apart time is equally important. A marriage that didn't have time exclusively set apart for the husband and wife to be alone, would suffer greatly. The same is true in our relationship with the Lord - there must be time to be with Him, and Him alone. Many of you know that since our move back to the States from Puerto Rico, our lives have changed drastically. In my season of adjusting to this incredible new life, I began to wonder if I was doing something wrong because my time with Him had changed quite a bit. I have found that we tend to become so accustomed to the "normal" way the Lord encounters us, that we downplay noticeable shifts, especially when the "norm" has been outrageously good. Too often we want to camp at specific encounters not wanting the present glory to lift or change. But He has promis...
1 comment
Read more

A Journey Into Identity

In all of the years I’ve been dancing, I have never had a season where I have learned more about dance and myself in it, than this last year. Unfortunately, it has come out of a season of injury. This has been a difficult season to navigate through in the natural, but what the enemy has tried to steal, kill, and destroy, God has turned into a time of great discovery.  I have danced since I was 4 years old. I have no memories of a life without dance (except when having babies). As a result of a life woven into a beautiful tapestry of dance, my identity has been intertwined with dance as well. When I cannot dance, I feel incomplete. However, what I’ve recently been processing with the Lord is that my identity is not that of a dancer. When God looks at me, the most significant thing He sees is not that I am a dancer. The most significant thing to Him, is that I am His child.  I am much more than dance. Within me is the convergence of two realms – Heaven and earth con...
Post a Comment
Read more