EQUIPPED

Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood– may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

My blog has remained quiet for the past few weeks. There hasn’t been a peep out of me. Oh, I’ve wanted to sit down and pour out my heart sharing my deepest thoughts, but I’ve been otherwise engaged. I’ve been hard at work completing another project.

I’m not really a procrastinator by nature, but I have procrastinated on this project. It is something I have wanted to complete for quite a while, but I knew that it was going to take an exorbitant about of time. Spare time, my friends, is something I seem to have very little of. So….I procrastinated. BUT when I finally made myself start on the project, there was no stopping. That’s how I roll. If I start on something, I can’t stop until the task at hand is completed.

What was this time consuming project? I’m happy to announce that I have completed my fourth book. Over the past year or so, I’ve written daily devotionals. The words were God inspired, and I give Him all the glory. Each day before I wrote, I prayed, “Give me a word, Lord,” and He graciously did. A topical word would come to mind, I would research the word, dig into scripture, and from that, a devotional poured out. After completing 365 days, I knew that a devotional book was the next step. I felt this within the core of my being. I knew that it was what i was supposed to do next, but your girl was busy! God put it on my heart, and although I procrastinated and made a lot of excuses, my heart could NOT rest. For you see, if God puts something on your heart, it is going to stay on your heart until you give in and follow through. There will be no rest. The Holy Spirit will continue to tug at your heart strings, and the urgency will remain in your heart and on your mind.

So, I finally pulled out the laptop and began. Over the past few weeks, I’ve spent every waking minute, outside of my job and home chores, copying, pasting, editing, printing, re-editing, and finally, submitting my manuscript for “Calm in the Chaos, More Inspirations from the Funny Farm”. I grew weary. There were moments of frustration. I almost gave up. I thought that maybe I couldn’t complete a 365 day devotional book, but then I remembered that the devil is a liar! God placed this task on my heart, and therefore, I knew I had to finish.

Why am I sharing this? Because I think that possibly we can all relate. You may not be trying to write a book for the glory of God, but I am certain that there is a project that God has placed on your heart. There is a recurring idea and urge to do something. Our human nature allows the busyness of life consume us. Life frequently gets in the way of our time with Jesus. Yet, Jesus ia always more important. The heart tug we feel may be a desire to spend more time in His Word. It may be a need to start journaling. Perhaps, you feel a calling to do mission work. Maybe, there is a strong inclination to share the gospel. Whatever the desire is that God has placed on heart, must not procrastinate. Maybe, just maybe, you keep getting an overwhelming feeling that you need to merely walk next door and tell your neighbor about Jesus. Those urges and feelings are heart whispers from the Holy Spirit, and they can not be satisfied or quenched until we act.

What task has been on your heart lately? The good Lord is calling. You may not feel equipped, but have no fear. God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called. He equipped this old gal from Mississippi, and it is only through Him that I can accomplish any of the things I accomplish. If He is calling you, all you must do is answer the call. He will handle the details!