Who do you look to for guidance and help?

Or, are you trying to do life all alone? On your own?

When was the last time you took the time to listen to God?

When someone guides you, or gives you guidance, it implies an offer to help or suggestions about how to do something or deal with personal problems. God’s guidance goes further, into the mind, but also to the depths of the heart and soul.

The Word of God, or the things God has said, “is a real substance that nourishes our body and soul. Jesus Christ is the Living Word and the Bible is the Word of God in its unique written form” (Dallas Willard). The Written Word shows God's character and provides God's revelation of Himself to His people. God's holy, unchanging, faithful, gracious, and loving character is seen throughout the Bible.

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” ~ Hebrews 4:12

The Word of God is alive . . . God is alive. Through prayer, listening, waiting, and watching a living, breathing relationship with Him is available for everyone.

God, through Christ and the Holy Spirit, knows it all, and He is there to listen, guide, care, love, forgive, grant grace, give mercy, and more . . . He is there through it all with you—you can depend on it!

Talk with God . . .

PAUSE . . . for just a moment try to listen beyond the demanding world around you.

It is hard to listen to God, pray, or even sit still, with anger, hurt, chaos, sorrow, distractions blaring in the heart, mind, and soul . . . Think about it . . . each of these is just one of the devil’s many tools of agitation and distraction, making you doubt yourself, feel isolated, and creating chaos in the mind.

Is “life” creating a wall of inaccessibility between you and God?

Is the “noise” around you too loud, disruptive, frustrating?

Is the clock ticking too fast for you to find time for you and God?

“May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.” ~ 2 Peter 1:2

Rethink & Consider . . .

Write down one or two things that are part of the “bricks” in the wall preventing you from getting to the One who can help you . . . Think about it . . . can you say “no” or “stop” to just one thing? . . . one part of one little thing? . . . in order to create a few moments with God . . . in order to begin to break down the wall.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” ~ Psalm 119:105 

Trust and believe that God will supply you with the strength you need when you need it. Just ask. Read a scripture, pick up a Bible, listen to a soul-reaching song, step outside and feel the wind on your face . . . God’s there.

Imagine . . .

Imagine turning your palms upward and reaching toward the sky . . . reaching to the Light. Sometimes you just need to reach out and upward to refocus your mind and open your heart to let God in.

See the hands of God reaching out to you. Feel His hand in yours.

Take a deep breath and feel a sense of calm overflow your body and soul. Take a few more breaths until you feel the calm reaching inside your heart.

Where do you find peace? What do you focus on to “take you away” and help you regroup in a crazy world?

Life can be weird and awkward sometimes . . . you feel out of place, you don’t fit in, you feel like you are on the outside looking in . . . But take another look and know you always have your support group with you . . . Father God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. They will meet in that “place of peace.”

Reflect & Pray . . .

Again, where do you find peace? In nature—flowing water, whispering wind, ocean waves on the sand, birds and butterflies, a sunset, crackling fire? In life—a newborn baby, a child’s laugh, a sleeping puppy, a hug, a smile, tears of release? Do you find peace in the silence . . . or in the noise?

If you are praying about it . . . God is working on it . . . in His time and what He sees best for you . . . you are not alone.

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ “~ John 14:6

Are you truly “listening” for God, and “listening” to God? Listening means to give full  attention to someone or something in order to hear him, her, or it.

Prayerfully ask God to meet you in “your peace place” and to help you listen for His guidance, to recognize when He is speaking to you, and to help you find the words you need to hear.

Look Ahead/In the Moment/Today/Tomorrow . . .

Dr. Craig D. Lounsbrown writes, “Why is it that we don’t worry about a compass until we’re lost in a wilderness of our own making?”

It also could be said, “Why is it we don’t worry about spending time with God, in His Word, seeking His guidance until we are off course or bewildered?”

Hold onto this image . . .
As you move into the next moment, the next day, and beyond . . . think this whenever you see a needle and thread. Each has small uses—for little things—but when you put the two together, greater things can be accomplished. With God as the needle, or weaver, and you as the thread, when you work together with God in your life, an amazing tapestry can be woven . . . your life story.

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” ~ Matthew 19:26

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A Focus for Walking the Labyrinth . . .

Become quiet, slow down, and intentionally take a journey that leaves the world behind, attends to God, and then returns to the world fortified with the presence of Christ.

The Serenity Prayer is one of many prayers one can use on the labyrinth. It is attributed mostly to Reinhold Niebuhr as far back as the 1930’s. The Serenity Prayer is a petition to God asking for calmness and peace in all matters of life, letting go of situations beyond one’s control, asking for strength and courage in dealing with things within one’s control, and for wisdom and acceptance in matters which cannot be changed. It is a valuable focus for self-examination when walking with God.

The Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time.

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, the sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with Him forever.

BELIEVE IN GOD ~ FOLLOW CHRIST ~ LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT