Seems like that's all I'm getting from God lately. It's so easy to read in the Bible, to tell others, to write in a blog post. Doing it right now is hard; like I have to wrench trust out of myself. Why should it be so difficult? Considering the countless times that God has proven Himself trustworthy. And considering the countless times when I've tried to fix situations and things with my own incapable hands, and trainwrecked big-time. Will I ever learn?
God is so gentle and patient. He's constantly sending me reminders. Proverbs 3 is a familiar one: "Trust in the Lord with
all thine heart, and
lean not unto
thine own understanding. In
all thy ways acknowledge Him," then the awesome promise, "and He
shall direct thy paths." "For the Lord shall be thy
confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken."
Unaware, Mum directed me to Isaiah 30 this morning, God bless her. "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of Me ... That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion ... Therefore have I cried concerning this,
Their strength is to sit still." So goes against human nature. At least for me. It reminded me of a song. The only part that I can remember right now is:
"When the enemy surrounds you, and the walls are closing in,
When the tide is swiftly rising, and you wonder where He's been;
Friend, there never was a moment when His arms weren't reaching out.
You can rest assured, and be secure, that God is moving RIGHT NOW." (wow!)
"Stand still, and let God move.
Standing still is hard to do.
When you feel that you have reached the end, He'll make a way for you.
Stand still, and let God move."
Anyways, back to Isaiah. :) "For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.
And ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift." The very things that Israel relied on would prove to be their downfall. Basically, the course of action that made sense to them was the dumbest thing that they could've possibly done.
Further on, "Blessed are all they that wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shallt weep no more: He will be very gracious unto thee
at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee. " Wow! God as my own personal SuperHero! How unfathomably cool is that?
"And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way; walk ye in it: when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold ... THEN shall He give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous." When they turned back to God, and forsook the things that they trusted in before, God blessed them.
So. To trust, to
really trust in God is to cling to Him fully, to throw my whole weight onto Him. Not hanging onto Him with one hand and dangling from what-makes-sense-to-put-my-trust-in with the other hand. It is to look back on past circumstances where He has gloriously ridden in at the perfect moment--not early, but never late-- and done something so amazing that I could've never imagined it. (1 Cor. 2:9; Jer. 33:2-3) It is to have faith in Him and His promises, even when everything seems to point in the opposite direction.
"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about." And because of that, "Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous! And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart!" :D
Hope this helps you like it helped me.
Encouraged,
Jenn
Jenn couldn't wait to wear her green sandles and necklace for spring, so on St. Patrick's Day, it actually got up to about 50 F, and she grabbed the opportunity. I was so thrilled about how pretty she looked that I took an impromtu photo shoot. That's MY sis. 
Some of Uncle Dave's cows ~ LOVE this photo! 
John, Liz and Sarah heading out 
Jenn looking for pictures 
Liz squeezing through a gate 
Sadly deserted farm buildings 
Desolate estate with so much potential 
Family History 
St. Helen and the Church of the Holy Cross ~ Church of England 
Molly investigating 
Looking into the church. I loved wandering around looking at the old burial vaults and enclosed pews. They had a special table for the upcoming Harvest Festival. We had to keep an eye on Molly to make sure she didn't get hungry. :) 
With Molly by the church gate.
Castle ruins in the background 
The Post Office that Grandpa used to own and operate 
A closer look 
Jenn, Liz and Sarah with Molly being uncooperative 
Liz, Sarah and John 
Castle ruins that Dad used to climb as a boy 
Sarah recrossing the fields 
Jenn enjoying her ramble 
Jenn climbing a stile 
Park Farm from the back 
Mike, Uncle Dave's brother
Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bryan.
Jenn, Aunt Margaret, Uncle Bryan and Sarah 
Uncle Dave, John and Aunt Sheila
Uncle Dave fiddling with his lollipop 
Jenn, Sarah, Uncle Dave and Aunt Sheila
