Stewardship

Today I came across an interesting link posted by Dave Ramsey. It's a great resource for church leaders and pastors on stewardship. I decided to check it out. The video it brings up is pretty short, but powerful. It talks about how everything belongs to God. Then it says, "If you don't own it, then that makes you a manager." That makes you a manager... over something that belongs to God. That really struck a chord with me.

I've never done an in-depth study on stewardship and the different areas that it can apply, but I've heard the occasional sermon on being a good steward with finances and being a good steward with talents or skills. For me this needs to apply to another area in my life...my time. God's been trying to get this message through to me for a while now, but I've just kept pushing it back. My time is not my own. It never has been, and it never will be. The time I have belongs to God, and he expects me to make good use of it.

I'm convicted.

Lord, forgive me. I've wasted YOUR time on things that don't matter. I've made my conveniences a priority over your work. I can't get back the time that I've wasted, but God I need your guidance and wisdom over how I use my time from here on out. Help me to be a good steward over all that you've given me. Keep me accountable to you. Let how I spend that time honor you. Amen.

~Melanie Lynn~

 

Peace

This has been a really difficult year for my family. We've been hurt, discouraged and shell-shocked at some of what we've been through. I know the bigger picture of where we want to be. I know how much it takes to recover financially, and what needs to happen to heal spiritually. But the big picture is overwhelming. I get tired just thinking about everything that we have on our plates.

So I've decided to change my mindset. I'm just going to take it a day at a time. I want to start each day in prayer and give it my best. Will there still be struggles? Of course. I'm not naive enough to think this is a cure all. But by facing each day head on, I'm slowly chipping away at the bigger picture. I'm one step closer. And through God, I can not only succeed, but I can overcome all of it.

A friend said this the other day and it really spoke to me... "My Lord, don't move my mountain, but give me the strength to climb. And Lord don't take away my stumbling blocks, but lead me all around." This is my prayer right now: Don't fix this for me, but help me get through it. Let me learn from it, but also remind me of where my help comes from.

No matter how big the problem is or how alone I may feel at times, I know that God is with me. He brings me peace. He brings me strength. He brings me joy. With this kind of support, life is not so overwhelming after all.

Melanie