Timing is Everything.

I love how some things come into your life at the exact time you need to see them, hear them, read them, or live them.

After my post the other day about my discouragement of my diet and exercise routine, I read something that I really need to retain.  I'm currently reading this book called "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillows.  These are a couple excerpts of what I needed to learn:

"Isn't it comforting to know that God knew each of us before He created us?  He planned what each of us would look like, who are parents would be, if and who we would marry, and how many children we would have."

"Perhaps you think other female tapestry is beautiful, but not yours.  'I don't like my nose, my hips, my breasts.  In fact I really don't like much about me.'  All of us could list things we'd like changed about ourselves.  But if we are displeased with our physical form, we're really arguing with God.  He is responsible for the color of our hair and the size of our nose and whether we have cellulite.
  I'm not surprised that so many women struggle over their personal appearance.  The values of our American culture are warped.  We're constantly bombarded with pressure created by the media to have a "prefect" body.  This emphasis is wrong and unbiblical.  As Christian women, we know this perspective is twisted, yet how easy it is to get caught up in the deadly disease of comparison."

I do find it comforting to know God has it all planned out.  He knows best for me.  I know that, but why is it so hard to not question His plan?  There is so much I am thankful for, and perhaps I don't give thanks enough.  It is easier to dwell on the have nots than to dwell on the positives.  I assume that is just human nature.

The phrase "But if we are displeased with our physical form, we're really arguing with God" really struck out to me.  I am arguing with God on so many different levels!  Not only with my physical form, but my emotional state.  I am lonely, confused.  I feel misguided and lost.  I'm unsure of my purpose and plan.  Where is my faith in His plan and His guidance?

I couldn't help but be a little disappointed in myself after realizing my fault.  Who am I to question God? It seems like such a foolish question.  I am no one to question God.  He is God after all!  Yet that doesn't stop me from doing it, often, frequently, daily!

I am built the way God created me.  I am not handicapped in any way.  I am healthy and strong.  I am capable of anything I set my mind to.  I have no setbacks.  I need to stop being so discouraged of everything I am not, because I am so much of everything else!  My body may not be exactly the way that I hoped, but there will always be things I don't like about it.  It's pretty good the way it is.  Be thankful!  My life may not be where I thought I would be at this point of my life, but it's all a part of His plan.  Have more faith!  I may not be sure of where my future is going, but He does.  Instill more trust in Him!



**Thanks Erin for your kind comment.  I <3 you!  By the way, I think you would really like this book!

Better than me.

Lately I've been finding myself so concerned with others.  What they have that I don't.  Where their lives are going opposed to my own.  What they do or say that supposedly makes them better than me.  What qualities make them more approachable.  I know these thoughts are no good, and they've just been bringing me down, way down.

I try to give myself a little prep talk, think it through, remind myself of how great I am, what a good person I am, the talents and values I have, etc.  This is only works so much, so often.  And I've had to reassure myself with these good thoughts more often than I'd like to admit.

But last night I was reading this book, and the author was telling a little story.  One phrase in particular really caught me eye.  "But I entrust my tree to its God.  He who made it knows better what it needs than a man like me.  I laid no condition.  I fixed not ways or means.  'Lord, send what it needs,' I prayed, 'storm or sunshine, wind, rain, or frost.  Thou has made it and Thou dost know.'"  (I believe this came from Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman).

This is exactly what I need to do, put more of my faith back in the Lord.  I have been given a path.  It has gotten me to where I am and will get me to where I'm supposed to go.  I need to focus less on what others have that I do not.  They were given a different path that leads them in a different direction.  I need to remember to be patient.  Question less and be thankful more.

Of all things, He is better than me.  He provides for me, cares for me, guides me and loves me unconditionally.  I shouldn't question the things He has put in my life.  There is a reason.  He created me.  He knows what's best for me, and He will lead me.