The Journey begins - The Burning Bush

November 16, 2014

Today we listened to a pastor speak at our revival service. What a great message! “Have you had your burning bush experience?” Why, yes, yes I have. God has brought me from a marriage that was full of adultery, from both my husband and I, to a place where we are ready to live our life for Jesus.

It’s kind of a long story as to how and why we got to the point that we were at. But today, I’m going to focus on the burning bush part of it. So as I was listening to him talk this morning about the burning bush, I thought when did I actually have that experience? My “coming to Jesus” and my husbands’ seem to have happened very differently. I know that his was almost instantaneously. He went to the altar completely broken, asked for forgiveness and changed his life almost immediately. While he was dealing with all of that, I was busy dealing with my own issues. I wonder how many times God has shook his head and said, “Girl, what are you thinking?”

Ok, so back to the burning bush. I feel like for me this has all been a long process. Yes, I did go to the altar completely broken and asked for forgiveness, I’ve asked for Jesus to come into my heart, many, many times. That complete brokenness is still in me. But now I know that I can get through it because I have Jesus on my side. But it’s just been a slow long process to get to the point I’m at. I’ve had to relearn how to live. I’ve had to learn how to live for Jesus, not for myself and for my own ways, but His ways. So my question that I’ve had for a few weeks now is, now that I have asked God for forgiveness, now what? My Pastor and great friend says; pray (& listen), read, & fellowship.

Praying is easy. I pray all the time, on my own. But, it’s harder to do with my husband, or with our kids, or in front of groups. I get so scared and that’s not what it should be about. Prayer is about your conversation with God. It doesn't have to be eloquent; it’s just a conversation between you and God. So this is a constant struggle for me. So my goal this week is to pray with my husband nightly. I’m hoping just by starting there that this will help with my anxiety. Listening, another quality that I have a hard time doing. Listening, making sure it’s all quiet, speaking and listening. How do you listen? Are you going to hear God’s voice through your thoughts? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s different for many people.  This week I will wake up, read my bible, pray and just listen, even if I only listen for a few minutes. (I always have to start out small and build up.)

So the second item is read. Read your bible. Study your bible. Pray that God shows you what he means and how it relates to your life. In all honesty, I can read the bible, and even study the bible. But, how does it relate to my life, that’s the hardest one yet. Why do I have problems with this? I don’t know. So, again, I’m going to start small. So goal for this week, study the scriptures that are in my book Mended.  Most of this book relates to me so much, it’s almost like the author is following me around and telling me what I need to focus on!

Last, but not least, fellowship. This is one that I cannot live without! I have been going to church at my new church since August. I walked in the door and now every time it’s open I’m there. I have also become great friends with my pastor and his wife. His wife and I walk together a lot. She is the most caring person that I've ever known. She constantly reminds me of the path I want to be on. I believe God sent her to me! If it wasn't for her and her husband, I would be in the same path to destruction I have been on for 6 years. Surrounding myself with people that stand up for God, and live their lives for Jesus, has been such a strong criteria for me starting to live my life for Jesus. 

So, what does this have to do with my burning bush? Everything always comes back around fully. If it wasn't for all of these things that my Pastor has taught me, I wouldn't have seen that my burning bush was right there talking to me all the time. 

July 24, 2015
So, I just re-read this blog from November. Sometimes I think this journey should be easy, that things should happen with the snap of a finger. Then on the other hand, it's a good thing I'm not right. Think of it like this...........I've seen some teenagers that are given their first car, and it's usually a nice one that their parents were super excited to give them, thinking that their child will be so excited and take awesome care of it. That child did nothing to "earn" the car, did not put in any money, it was a gift. How many times have you seen a child that this has happened to and they end up wrecking it in the first few months? When you don't put the work into something, you tend not to respect it. So, now, that I've put the "work" into my relationship with Christ.......... 

The struggles are always going to be there. It's how I handle those struggles that will make me a Christ follower!