A New Pair of Shoes.

I recently found myself reflecting upon a simple yet significant moment I witnessed over the summer break earlier this year. I spent a lot of this break at the beach; there is nothing quite like watching the waves roll to shore for a bit of serenity! As I watched all the people that were gathered there, I was taken by the child debating to step his feet into the water. He would creep closer to the water as the wave rolled out and then run as fast as his feet would allow to keep him from having the water from the next wave rush over his feet.

This had me thinking.

How often do we debate about stepping out of our comfort zone to experience the new? How often do we slip on a ‘comfortable pair of shoes’ to avoid the uncomfortable need for change? My biggest question was why are we so afraid to trust God with the parts of our story that are not yet clear to us?

The intricate plan that God has woven into our tapestries goes far and beyond what we can even begin to imagine or comprehend. But how do we learn to trust God with the unknown and trust Him we he is calling us to do something out of our comfort zone?

I’ll be sharing a bit from the book Isaiah through this post and I am going to start with this verse.  Isaiah 46:9-10

“For I am God – I alone! I am God and there is no one else like me. Only I can tell you what is going to happen even before it happens. Everything I plan will come to pass.”

This verse says to me – God has you and I covered. He knows what is planned for us, He knows the people, circumstances and the experiences He is going to give us, and He knows how we will handle it. He promises us that He will equip us with what we need to be able to go forth into all He has called us to do ( Hebrews 13:20-21).

Sometimes we like to remain comfortable (like wearing an old comfy pair of shoes) and just go about our day to day lives. However sometimes after being in the ‘comfortable zone’ for a while, we sometimes need to be stretched to ‘wear in’ a new pair of shoes. Have you been like the child at the beach racing towards the water? Then somewhere between running and hitting the water something clicks in your head going ‘No! I’m going to get wet and that water might be cold’ or ‘I better not do that, because I might not like it’.

I have. For me it has mostly been in the form of conversations. We have those moments where we don’t want to have that tough conversation with someone or lack the courage to start a conversation that God may be pressing on our hearts to pursue. Remember that He equips us with everything that we need to accomplish all He has called us to do. Is God calling you to wear in a new pair of shoes?

How do we know when we are meant to put on the new pair of shoes?  Or run towards that water?

Isaiah 48:17 Says

“ The LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, who says: I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is good and leads you along the paths you should follow”.

I believe in order to do this we need to be still and trust. Be still and know He is God .

He is God above the noise, above the desires, above the fears, above the doubt, above the lonely hearts, above the brokenness, above the finances and above the unexpected. When we place God at the centre and take our hands ‘off the steering wheel’ rest assured that He has taken over.

Are you walking down the road in that old pair of shoes because it is comfortable?

Letting go of that steering wheel is hard when you are on a road that you are certain you are meant to be on, especially when it seems comfortable. Realising that it is not what God has planned is sometimes a difficult realisation.

I have been there. I have been on that road where I could see things falling into place and pre-empted what God was doing. To find out that I had taken the steering wheel and started driving down the road I was sure God was calling me down.

Do you know how I realised this wasn’t the path I was meant to go down?

I lacked peace.

I was so consumed with the direction I was heading that I didn’t take the moment to be still long enough to assess my peace. I was comfortable but deep down lacked peace.  God used that experience to grow me, show me the concept of grace and strengthen me for the new season He was about to call me into.

Once you have let go of that steering wheel and surrendered it to God you are filled with peace. Yes, things around you may still be chaotic and crazy but you have peace flowing through you (peace like a river actually, as it says in Isaiah).

When you take a step back and don’t have your hands on that steering wheel you can see God working in little but significant ways.  There is such a freedom in knowing that He goes before us in everything and God is never early, never late – always on time.

“I alone am God, the first and the last”
(Isaiah 48:12 )

Blessings,
Madeline x

The Song of the Soul

I began playing the violin when I was just three years old. I remember looking at the instrument

A picture around the time I began learning the Violin.

thinking how beautiful it was and how uniquely it had been crafted. That moment of a violin in hand has continued on all these years later and I am still absolutely awestruck about this beautiful instrument. My love of music continues and encompasses various other instruments including my voice.

You may have heard the description that ‘music is the universal language?’ I believe it is. Music has the capacity to unlock worlds within us and speak sometimes when words fail.

For me, music and in particular singing is my default. When I am happy I sing and sad I sing. Maybe not always out loud with the words but certainly in my heart. The Bible is my guidebook and also my song book (and I love that). It is this incredible thing called music that allows me to grow deeper in my relationship with God. You may be different and worship God in others ways and that is awesome! For the remainder of this posting I am going to discuss why I worship and praise in the form of song/music, explore why it is important to me and how it has strengthened my relationship with my heavenly father.

 

I sing because the Bible says so.

“Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy” (Psalm 100:2).
“Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19)

This means that I will sing, play or listen to whatever is on my heart and allow the phrases from various songs and scripture to soften my attitude around certain circumstances. I find that this is my way of expressing my thanks to God for going before me in everything and for sending His son Jesus to pave the way for us to live a fulfilling life.

 

I sing because he is faithful in everything.

“God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

As my previous post mentioned, God gives us seasons in our lives for reasons. Sometimes they do not make sense to us and that’s ok. Singing of His goodness and His provision brings me strength and enables me to keep walking, even when it feels more than I can bear. He has been faithful in the past and I know He will be faithful in the future. He promises us that. #greatisthyfaithfulness

 

I sing because He gives me peace.

“God makes His people strong.  God gives His people peace.” (Psalm 29:11)

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33)

Whenever I am feeling anxious or upset about something that has happened or happening in my life, singing about His protection, knowing God will never leave me or forsake me, knowing He gives me strength to keep going and that He declares me not to worry are enough for me to trust Him.

 

I sing because I am filled with joy.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11)

This is the equation faith + peace = joy.

However you worship God, this is my encouragement for you. Keep reminding yourself that He is for you and not against you. Keep believing great things are coming! Remember that God is faithful always. Keep choosing Him even when it doesn’t make sense (this is hard) and know that faith produces peace which gives you joy.

God is our path to joy and who doesn’t want to be happy?

Have a great weekend.

Blessings,

Madeline x

---

Ps check out this song by Bryan and Katie Torwalt ‘I breathe you in, God’ especially at 3:05

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G0gVR7Ldu0

How do you cope with seasons?

Tasmania is amazing for a number of reasons, however I love that we have four very distinct seasons! While I am definitely a summer, surf and sun kind of girl I do appreciate the other seasons for their variety in colour, temperature and life in general.

As June begins, so does Winter. The cold days, crisp breeze and delicate snowflakes are wonderful parts of winter, but after a while you begin to feel numb (literally!!). Remembering what lies ahead is also a little numb; three months of de-frosting the car before work, rain and chopping wood to keep the house warm and toasty.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love sitting in front of a blazing fire with a pot of tea listening to the rain, but the preparation and maintenance for these things after the first week or so can become draining.

Central Highlands snow in Tasmania

It is in these moments we can slip into the mindset of I wish. In my case it was I wish it was summer already.

Upon having a few of these I wish moments, I quickly realised how I wanted to be taken out of the season. I thought about all the benefits for me not being here for winter and where I could escape.

I believe life is like this also. God gives us seasons in our lives where sometimes we just want to pack up and leave. Times where we just want to know all the answers. Seasons of life where we just cannot understand or comprehend what is going on, or where the road is going. This brings me to the question

How do you cope with seasons?

I myself have been pondering this question for a while now and it seems to be a common theme in my life at the moment. I have had some wonderful seasons recently and am so thankful for opportunities that God has given me. As well as good seasons we also have challenging ones. These challenging seasons often leave me questioning

What is coming next?
Can I fast forward so I know what I am in for?
Is it good or bad?

You see, wondering what is coming next is not a bad thing; but becomes an unhealthy decision to repeatedly keep looking for the next thing in life. We worry, stress and angst; by doing this we miss the here and the now. We miss why we are called to this season we find ourselves in.

The conclusion I have come to is, not knowing grows our faith. Numerous times I have found myself sitting rock bottom going God, I cannot figure this out or know what I am meant to do here.

This is the phrase that God keeps bringing to my attention. Madeline, you do not need to know; trust me.

To be perfectly honest I struggle with this but I have learnt to pass the steering wheel of my life over to someone who knows the road I am heading on. I know that God’s plan for me exceeds my understanding and have enough faith to believe that this season is for His glory and to enhance His kingdom. As Proverbs 3:5-6 reads

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

While I won’t understand all things that happen in my life, I know they are a season. A season that leads into Gods will, His good pleasing and perfect will.

So for me even though it is winter here in Tasmania, I’ll be sticking around to see what God teaches me in this time.

Blessings,
Madeline x

 

Woven into the Tapestry

You may be wondering what this blog is all about and why it has been given the name ‘Woven into the Tapestry’. It came to me when I was reflecting on how God uses our circumstances to allow us to trust Him with the ‘Grand Design’ of our tapestry. Many times I have felt as though circumstances in my life could not possibly be used for any good in enhancing God’s kingdom or be beautiful enough for a work of art. I thought that these times of hardship should not be included on my tapestry, as I felt it would take away from how wonderful the creator is.

However, I have learnt something very valuable in the last twelve months of life and that is God has a plan. A ‘Grand Design’ for our lives. Without the moulding and shaping of our faith in these hard times, the tapestry will never be complete. You see I believe that this tapestry is not meant to just be a reflection of our good times but also when the ‘chips are down’. It is when the ‘chips are down’ that God uses us to draw closer to Him, not further away.

This is where the challenge lies.

He sees our short comings and our failings, but yet He creates a wonderful masterpiece out of our situations. It’s the way we choose to view our situations and the attitude in which we approach them that makes the difference. We can say “God, why have you let this happen to me” or we can say “God this is hard and not easy but I know you have a plan”. Now let me be the first to say that the second option is hard; but this is where the true essence of what I have to say comes from. When we grasp the concept that God has our lives under control, it makes getting through the situation better than taking the attitude of blaming God for putting us in the situation.

By blaming God we become bitter and self-focused on fixing the things in our life the way we would like them to go – rather than choosing to look for the opportunity God is giving us to weave on our tapestry.

Each stitch that is woven onto our unique tapestry has been mapped out for us carefully by God our Master in order to create His Masterpiece in your life and in the lives of others. But these designs will represent the times when life has been tough, when life has been too hard to face and they will represent the time of joy and happiness that God brings when we have the faith to trust Him with the ‘tough stuff’.

(http://shopatsullivan.com/anne-of-green-gables-woven-tapestry-blanket.html)

This blog is based on Colossians 2:2-6 where it reads

2 I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focussed on Christ, God’s great mystery. 3 All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we’ve been shown the mystery! 4 I’m telling you this because I don’t want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or “the Secret.” 5 I’m a long way off, true, and you may never lay eyes on me, but believe me, I’m on your side, right beside you. I am delighted to hear of the careful and orderly ways you conduct your affairs, and impressed with the solid substance of your faith in Christ. 6 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. (The Message)

The thoughts posted on this blog will be my growing experience of my faith in this amazing God in whom we trust. To know that God is on our side through the good and the bad makes me rest assured that He knows what He is doing – as He is the Master of the ‘Grand Design’. Our unique tapestries will each reflect different paths our lives have taken, but yet how wonderful is it that God has created you and your story to be featured as a masterpiece in His Grand Design.

Blessings, Madeline x