I’ve been told that MADNESS is continuing to do something over and over, and over again even though it has produced nothing good!

Just look at this dedicated basketball fan as he proudly wears his team’s shirt during the infamous MARCH MADNESS college basketball tournament.

Did his team make it to the finals? Did they even make it to the “Sweet Sixteen” round where the final top 16 College basketball teams play to make it to the finals?

NO, they did not! But does that mean that his commitment and faithfulness to his hometown team equate to MADNESS? NO, it does not!
He will fold the shirt and put it away in a drawer until next year when he will pull it out again and faithfully cheer his team on!
He will trust that the team will work hard in the off season toward the goal of not only making it to the “SWEET SIXTEEN” next year, but all the way to the finals. Does the team or this enthusiastic fan have a guarantee that they will make it next season? NO, they do not, but they will still condition themselves, discipline their exercise and eating habits, work out individually and together as a team, listen to the coaches and their instruction, and once again play their hardest and best to make it to MARCH MADNESS!

What about us? What about you? What about me?

Do you find yourself during this month of MADNESS, in-between the cold weather we are leaving in our rear view mirrors, and the warm weather of Spring that beckons us to show our bear, pale arms again, doing the same thing over and over again with no good coming from it?
Or are you ready to take the steps necessary to walk this life with faithfulness and perseverance? Even when the steps seem repetitive and like they’re going no where or going much too slowly!

“Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He WILL make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

in another version it says;

“Trust in The Lord with ALL of your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His Will in ALL you do, and He WILL show you which path to take.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

Then I love the way the Message puts it next…

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in EVERYTHING you do, EVERYWHERE you go; He’s The One who will keep you on track.” Proverbs 3:5-6 Message
Don’t assume that you know it all!

Seriously, if that doesn’t hit you right between the eyes then nothing will!

It may be a familiar verse to some of us, but I believe it is one we more easily take a “nod” at, rather than absorb the whole TRUTH that lies within it!

I do not know about you, but I have been in a tough season these past 14 months. Most specifically, I have been putting one foot in front of the other each and every day for the past 4 months, not knowing where I am stepping, but trusting that God does!

God called us to a new ministry 4 months ago. It is in Northern California and we have lived the better part of our 33 plus years of marriage in Southern California. The packing, the moving and the leaving were hard. The leaving and saying goodbye to family and friends was more than I thought I could take at times. But God’s call was clear and we were headed to a beautiful, committed family of faith at the new church God had called us to!
We also believed we were headed to a beautiful new house that He had provided for us. However, that house was not meant to be, even though I had moved into it and made it our HOME. Three escrows later on our house in Southern California and our new house here in Sonoma County, I still find myself writing to you without a clear, concise picture of where my feet will step tomorrow.
It is looking more clear each day as God parts the clouds and rays of sunshine peak through. But it has been a consistent, step by step, daily walk of faith, trusting not in what we see or even hear, but in our GOD ALONE!

I will be the first to tell you that this kind of faith walk is NOT EASY! It causes you to doubt yourself and others around you at times. It causes you to lose trust in others and their words. It also causes you to lose heart and you continuously ask “WHY ME?”
BUT, it also causes wonderful happenings in your life if you allow it to! If you take the words of this verse to heart, and trust God to give you the strength and courage to live them out, then it can cause you to soar to greater heights with God than you ever dreamed possible. It causes your relationships with those you love and rely on for prayer support to grow deeper that you ever thought possible! It causes you to focus your eyes and steps on what God has truly called you to do and to not become obsessed with what you cannot control!

Living out THE TRUTH of PROVERBS 3:5-6, is not an easy life, but it is the only life that truly leads to peace and trust in the one who penned the words and stands behind them with His very life!
“TRUST IN ME, JESUS is saying, If I am the Lord of your life, than prove it by trusting in me every day even when you do not see the steps to take. Do not trust in what you can understand, because your understanding is limited, MINE IS NOT! In EVERYTHING you do, and in EVERY STEP YOU TAKE, acknowledge ME, AND I WILL DIRECT EVERY STEP AND SHOW YOU WHERE TO GO!”

TRUTH BOMB

STEPPING IN GOD’S DIRECTION IS ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD.

I AM NOT MAKING LIGHT OF THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD OR THE SERIOUSNESS OF IT! I am sincerely and truly putting into words what God has spoken to me and demonstrated to me about the living TRUTH of Proverbs 3:5-6.

This life you and I are living makes only false promises of what it will deliver: Fame, fortune, happiness, peace etc…

But God delivers on His promises each and every time! Trust Him as you take your steps each and every day.
“HE’S GOT THIS!”
“HE’S GOT YOU!”

Speak Truth Love