13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.” -Genesis 22:13-14
Yahweh Yireh is Hebrew for "The LORD will provide." And that is exactly what He has done. He has showed me so much recently about His provision and sovereignty in my life. Even just my being here this summer is His great provision. He knew what I stood in need of long before I existed. He orchestrated this summer perfectly. One magnificent way that He has provided for me this summer is the amazing people I am blessed to work with every day. Especially two particular young women.
Not only has He blessed me tremendously with new friends, but he has put in my life two incredible women of God that have already worked hard to challenge me, encourage me, and show me what a life after Christ's looks like. These young ladies are really living it. They love Jesus. They follow Him. Their lives reflect the love they have been given. And that is really refreshing.
I know you're thinking "isn't that what all your Christian friends do?" Well, I'd like to say so, but I certainly know I don't live my life that way all the time. I know that there are times (more frequent than I'd like to admit) that my life is consumed with the cares of this world, worries for the future, or just my own petty desires. So I know that if I don't take up my cross daily and follow Him and live a life like His, I'm certainly not inspiring others to do the same.
I'm not saying they're perfect. Because no one is. And I don't want to praise them above Christ, for I know that their lives are inspiring because they reflect His. But these women have definitely done a lot (more than they know, I'm sure) to disciple me and show me that it's possible. It is possible to live your life in a way that glorifies God. It is possible to be a young woman with a heart after God. It is possible. And they encourage me in that. And I praise God for their presence in my life. He has truly blessed me. He knew what I needed and gave it to me in the form of these two mentors. My prayer is that I may live a life that does the same for others.
And I have to say what an inspiration YOU are to ME. I actually did my nightly devotion last night - and was reading the daily snippet from an online resource called "The Upper Room." (We get print copies of it at Church, but I like to save a tree and read it online...) It was referring to 1 Corinthians 11:1, where Paul said Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." It kind of falls within the same realm. If you try your best to live like and be influenced by others who are Christlike and Godly, then you shall also be closer to being of Christ yourself. I try SO hard to do this... to surround myself with Christ-minded people as much as possible, and I can definitely tell a difference when I am not exposed to them as much. I begin to resort back to selfish thinking and trying to plan my own path and life - when I should be asking the Lord for guidance and wisdom (and patience!) What's the old saying? "We make plans and God simply laughs..." Yeah. It never works out as well when you leave Him out of the planning process.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post, kiddo! It was a blessing to me. (and so are you!)