Putting God In A Box - A Heart Like His

Today is Darryl's birthday and because we are still adrift in a sea of boxes we won't be doing anything special.  I do plan to go out later today to buy a balloon and a cupcake for his birthday, 

As I mentioned the other day in addition to doing this David - A Heart Like His Bible study, Darryl and I are doing the Love Dare.  Yesterday's dare was to buy your spouse something that says, "I was thinking of you today."

We both agreed that the sum of $1 should be the largest amount that either of us spend.  This amount would be a token and not a full representation of the love we share.  By agreeing on the amount we would not be in competition as to who got the nicer gift and who spent more. 

I bought Darryl a Mega Millions Lottery ticket and told him that he was one in 176 million (the odds of winning) and that I prized his love far above the value of the $28 million jackpot because he is priceless. 

In keeping with the $1 limit I also snagged him a half gallon of International Delight ice coffee which I had won from a Facebook contest so it was FREE.

In return I received an ice cream cone from Burger King.  We had heard an advertisement on the radio the other night saying that all summer long you could get a cone from Burger King for only 50 cents.  Well that was wrong because we were told that cones were $1 at our local Burger King.  Perhaps it was only valid at some locations.  Anway I really appreciated and enjoyed my cone so on to today's challenge.

Today's love dare is to contact your spouse sometime during the business day and ask how are they doing and if there is anything you can do for them.  I've sent Darryl several emails related to his birthday which is today.  I'm getting ready to send him an email asking if there is anything I can do for him.

Now on to Beth Moore's David - 90 Days With A Heart Like His.

“Take the ark of the LORD, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects in a box beside it, which you’re sending him as a guilt offering.  Send it off and let it go its way.” (1 Samuel 6:8)

What are some of your hardest questions when it comes to discerning God’s will?  In fact is there something that’s presenting a huge mystery to you right now?

When you are used to calling ALL the shots it can be hard to pause to listen for God’s direction. It is easy to misuse the free will that GOD gave us and slip into the pattern of thinking “My will be done.”  How can I know that I am truly following God’s will and not my own?  This question can be difficult when the only voice you are used to following is your own. 

Saint Augustine said "Love God and [then] do what you will." In other words, if you truly love God and his will, then doing what you will, will, in fact, be doing what God wills.  This means that we should allow God to write the story of our lives with the pen strokes of our own free choices.

The Bible is full of stories in which God’s guidance comes, not by word or vision, but through circumstances. We often don’t realize the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit until we look back in retrospect. But, later on, we see how God wove events together to accomplish his will in our lives. 

I've wanted to be a stay-at-home wife for so long and now I have the opportunity to do just that.  I wonder if I've dug my heels in for so long that I wonder if I've convinced myself that was what I truly want and not what God requires of me.  I feel that God wants me back in the classroom.  I felt my heart tug when I went passed a local high school for vocational students.  I haven't said anything to my husband yet but I am thinking about taking the test to get a license.

What are one or two things you’ve learned about getting direction from God?

 When you use your free will apart from God you rely on your own limited ability to gather the information, to consider the options and make your best guess at the outcomes. In a real sense, it is just that, a guess. For no one can know future or all the factors that will matter.

When you trust God, it involves less deciding and more following – following the one who is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful.

Will you trust yourself and what you can discern and achieve (despite your obvious limitations)? Or, will you trust God for all that he has for you, with his infinite love and wisdom?