"Gentler Nudges"

Bright, morning sunlight woke me from my winter's nap. Taking a moment to return to reality from my untitled dream, I finally remembered it was the first day of 2009. A new day, a new year yet to be filled with life's experiences and memories. Laying in bed, enjoying the sunshine, my mind scanned through the days of 2008 and I concluded, it had been a great year.

I'd been healed from concussive headaches in February. My first granddaughter, Dakota was born to my son and his wife in May. My daughter graduated highschool in June. She met a wonderful Christian man and was engaged in July. God gave me the gift of a phenominal sea life pre-show and a clear, summer sunrise at the shore of Eastport, Maine in July (where it's always foggy...not that day!). I wrote my first children's book, also in July. The Field family announcement of expecting a new"great" baby was made in August. God gave my husband a deer his first day of bow hunting season in September. Halo Publishing Int'l accepted my manuscript for publishing in October. We found a new Spirit-filled church family to worship with in November. My daughter and her fiance signed up for a Ugandan missions trip in November (a 2 year prayer request for my daughter). The announcement of another new "great" baby to the Field family was made in December.

The year was not void of crises. It was not void of needs or cries to God for help. But, amidst those crises I was lavished with gifts from the Creator. I do not welcome crises more than any other human. I'd rather a life filled with opportunity, prosperity and blessings over trials. Trials are uncomfortable, irritating, inconvenient and sometimes sad and heart-wrenching. No one I know bids them come voluntarily. Yet, it is usually through crises that we are more likely to take a long hard look at our hearts and motives; to reevaluate our priorities; to change our courses; to beckon God's direction and listen to His voice.

I was reminded of this today when I opened Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost For His Highest" and read these words, "...before we choose to follow God's will, a crisis must develop in our lives... This happens because we tend to ignore God's gentler nudges." I'll not argue if God is the creator of crises (good or bad). That's not the point. What is the point is that we tend to either be ignorant of God's voice or ignore God's voice when He speaks His will into our lives. His will may seem ridiculous, irrational, unobtainable to our human selves. So, if we follow logic, it must not be God's will and therefore we go forward in our own will.

The Bible tells us that His ways are not our ways and that in our weaknesses, Christ becomes our strength. It's all about abiding and submitting to Christ. If we abide with Christ (spend time in relationship with him through reading his Word, listening to his word spoken through the Holy Spirit, praying to/with him) we will get to know him. We will get to know God. In knowing God we will know His love for us and our hearts will then align with His desires for us; His will for us. We will then be able to respond more quickly to His "gentler nudges" instead of enduring more crises from time to time.