#namesofGod2014//post 2

Hello from Starbucks again, my friends!  It seems as though this has become my only place to sneak in some blogging time as Jon and I are moving.  We officially leave post today, will stay the weekend with my family, and report to our next duty station on Monday.  So exciting!  Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers during Jon's deployment, and now as we experience our first PCS together.  It has been wonderful catching up with friends in the area over the past two weeks that Jon and I have had here.

Anyway, enough of that for now. :) I am so thankful for the study Rachel and Nicole are leading/hosting in our sweet blogging community.  Even if you ladies haven't had the chance to follow along this go round, I highly recommend it.  If you are going through the study with us, I sure hope you'll join us for the link-up that they're hosting today.  Just like some of you have said, I am a few days behind in the study as well, and I love that that's okay.  The point is not the speed at which we get through the study, but what the Lord is teaching us in the midst of it.  I am so thankful that He gives us freedom from the crazy timelines of this world.

A couple of days ago, I was reading through the section that talks about God as our El Roi, the God who sees.  Upon first glance, this didn't seem like any new, mind-blowing thing for me.  That is, until God breathed some major truth my way.  In studying our El Roi, Arthur had us look at the story of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar, particularly through the eyes of Hagar.  Now, I've definitely never been in a position like Hagar's, but we all have experienced what it's like to feel unheard or unseen despite our desperate attempts to be heard and seen.  Ah, sweet sisters, how this spoke to my heart.  

^"So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me." --Genesis 16:13

Oh my goodness, what a sweet message of promise this story offers us.  How desperate and deep the longing is in each of us to be heard and seen.  I'm so thankful to the Lord for unveiling the gravity of a longing I quickly overlook or don't understand. We are designed to desire this, but specifically desire it with our Father.  I can't quite describe with words the natural temptation to seek fulfillment in being completely heard and seen by my husband, my friends, my coworkers, my family.  While I am totally blessed with an amazing husband, friends, and family, they, like me, are sinners.  How wrong I am to seek or expect to constantly be fully heard, seen and understood by anyone or anything other than my mighty Creator.  Praise God for breathing truth that this desire is real and that it can only be fulfilled in Him.  How precious. How real. How faithful He is.

Just as Hagar was freed from her attitude of contempt toward Sarai because of what God revealed in Himself, I am so thankful for the freedom that God offers us as our El Roi.  Although the enemy, along with our flesh, will always attempt to deceive us, we are completely set free from the frustrations of ever feeling unseen.  What beautiful rest He offers us in the comfort of knowing that He sees.  We need not ever fight to be heard or seen, sweet Sisters.  He always sees us exactly where we are.

#namesofGod2014

Hey there, Sweet Sisters!  I'm sorry it's been so long since the last post!  I'm definitely not professional enough to have planned posts ahead in my absence.  However, I have been quite occupied with Jon RETURNING from deployment and all!:) Praise God!  I promise to post more on that in the near future.  Our schedule is crazy right now, with me snagging time in coffee shops to read and write as we move over the next week.  I love you guys, and even though I'm not always a faithful blogger I appreciate you following along on this little adventure.

One thing I have managed to make time for is the amazing Bible study I'm doing with Rachel and Nicole.  They are two outstanding women of God, and it has been so encouraging to see the Lord moving in their lives.  Right now they've invited everyone to join in reading Kay Arthur's Lord, I Want to Know You.  I hope y'all are reading through with us.:)  

Although I haven't had the opportunity to post on the study yet, reading along with you ladies has been such a tremendous blessing to my heart.  I have no particular structure to posting on this study, so I'm just going to go with it.  Arthur reminds us in her introduction that "What you have learned, God intends for you to share."  This was such a great reminder to me that anything I learn in this study isn't just for my own knowledge or growth, but to be shared.  It seems so simple, but the hard reality is that I probably don't share half of what I learn from the Lord.  I'm so hopeful that God will enable us to learn, grow and share with each other in this study.

She also makes the point that "to boast in" also means "to trust in".  How many times in fellowship do we encourage each other to boast in the Lord?  This is so much easier said than done for me.  It also caused me to revisit "boast" as a parallel to "trust".  It's crazy to me that I have somehow developed a way to openly tell others about the Lord, all while the actions of my life fail to display trust in Him.  Praise God for revealing this to me. 

Arthur reminds us that in biblical times a person's name  represented their character.  In this study we are focusing on the names of God not just to know His many names, but to know Him.  How wonderful and merciful He is to give us the gift of knowing Himself.  This is the only place where true peace, rest and delight are found, and I thank Him so much for opening our eyes to this truth. "Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God." --Isaiah 50:10

One of the names of God we have studied is El Elyon, the Most High.  This is the name that designates God as sovereign.  The sweet reminders of God's sovereignty could not have come at a better time as Jon and I are making the next big move and transition in our lives.  It's so so easy for me to get wrapped up in the lists the world helps to create for us, and to feel God's sovereignty in it all is the largest blessing that I do not deserve.

I hope He's using this study to encourage each of you where you are.