****UPDATE: Hey Siestas! Our blog maintenance has been moved and will actually happen tomorrow, Friday, March 25 at 8:30AM. Thank you for your patience!
****QUICK HEADS UP: Thursday AM, March 24 (tomorrow) at 8:30, our LPM blog will be shut down for what we anticipate being only a couple of hours. (Hopefully at most.) We are remaining right here on WordPress and right here at exactly this same address but we are switching servers to better accommodate our high volume of activity and comments. SO, if you try to get on after 8:30 AM Thursday morning and can’t connect to the page, you’ll know why. Sometimes the transition can take even a day or two but they are not anticipating that length of time. One thing is for sure, we’ll be back the moment we’re up. Until then and after then, go right ahead with your rich comments to this post!
OK, Siestas! It’s time for a pop quiz! We haven’t had one in a while. This quiz is for those of you who read many of the comments from our previous post about the moment or season of your life when you had your biggest “HE IS REAL” revelation. (The post is named “For Real” just so you can be sure you’re reading the comments to the right one.) The question conveyed on the post was about the time when you moved from believing God exists (Hebrews 11:6) to knowing (2 Timothy 1:12).
Here are the instructions for the comments to this post for those who want to participate in our pop quiz: (No other comments besides these please on this one post. This is a test. Grin.)
Write 2 observations you find yourself making based on all the testimonies you read under the post called “For Real.” There is no right or wrong answer. No pass or fail. You’re just simply saying, after reading so many of those comments, these two things seem clear to me. I’m asking for 2 observations. Not 1. Not 3. But 2. (Can you hear the classroom teacher in me coming out to play?) Testimonies are powerful things. We’re meant to be effected by what we read. So, how were you effected?
NOW, here is the very important catch: YOU MAY NOT READ ANYBODY ELSE’S OBSERVATIONS BEFORE YOU WRITE YOURS. In other words, don’t look at the comments to this post until after you’ve written your own answers. These are meant to be your observations and no one else’s. Your reflections. Your take on those testimonies. Not another Siesta’s. You are all great thinkers. Think for yourself.
I absolutely love this community. Go at it, Girls! Students, come forth!
1) It seems to be through our hard times – the toughest times that we would like to skip over in our lives (illness, divorce, death of loved ones) – that we come to realize HE IS REAL. Where He manifests Himself so great to us that our faith in Him becomes firmly grounded.
2) Our faith that He is Real grows over time. Through our walk with Him in numerous stuggles and difficulties in lives, our faith builds like a staircase. It grows one step at a time as we see Him in different ways and as we spend more and more time with Him. Many times there is a big moment but that big moment is not always the defining moment. It is because of all the other moments that surround that big moment that He becomes real to us. And many times we have to step out in faith first and then He is faithful to reveal Himself to us.
I just keep thinking two things:
1. God is there when NO ONE else is-He is in the midst of all things ugly and painful-the eye in the storm.
2. That God works for the good of those who love Him. Even when you think there’s no way He can possibly work out your mess for His glory, He can…and He does when we allow Him to. I am SO glad my Father knows how to right the messes I make. (Romans 8:28)
Oh, I forgot to add that Amy Grant has this amazing song that’s fairly new…Better Than a Hallelujah. That song really touches me because it reminds me that God loves us no matter where we are…
God loves a lullaby
In a mother’s tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes
God loves the drunkard’s cry
The soldier’s plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
The woman holding on for life
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what’s been done
The silence when the words won’t come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
great song thanks for sharing.
1.) Our God makes Himself real in both big and small ways
2.) God is BIG — I’ve always known He’s powerful, but reading through some of those testimonies made me see just how BIG He is.
1.When Christians are seeking for more of God, He makes Himself known to them in many varied ways.
2. Many times it is in the low points in our lives where God becomes real to us.
Dee Zeeland, MI
1) I’m totally and completely stunned by God everyday;
2) I can’t praise God enough for all He has done for every one of us.
1. It is never too late to abandon unbelief. Our faith may cycle, but God is faithful and loves us always.
2. God is always reaching out to us and we don’t know what or whom He might use in our lives to lead us back to Him.
1) God uses the darkest times in our lives to draw us close to Him…to make Himself known to us.
2) His Presence is rarely felt stronger than in the PAIN!
Thing 1: God is sooooo BIG! Fear, death, relationships, life, He is right in the middle of it all.
Thing 2: My eyes must be open to see Him at work. It’s so easy to forget that He’s the one who makes it happen, NOT me!
Dr. Seuess??
Seuss
Two things stood out clearly about the testimonies:
(1) Most experienced a desperate need and suffering, to which God revealed Himself to them.
(2) Once they recognized that God is real, they would not go back to the doubt or unbelief mode.
EXACTLY !!!!
1.It is often in the little things that we see that God is real.~Almost like His voice from heaven saying, “I see you, I am here.”
2. He brings hope where there was no hope.”Nothing is impossible for God”
1. God is unfailing.
2. God loves to bless us with the details.
Kimberly
1. How personal our God is – how He works so specifically in each of our needs as if we were His only child. Our God is magnificent beyond any words!!!
2. How He doesn’t force relationship on us – how in nearly every case He allows us to go our own way until we get to the point where we know He is it. Nothing else can replace Him. He is the answer to every single one of our needs. And He’ll do what He needs to to get us to see that until we say, “Okay – It’s You I want.” There was a choice each person had to make – it’s astonishing that He allows us to participate in choosing to have a relationship with HIm on His terms.
Gretchen
Thousand Oaks
1) God shows up in a “tangible way” when we need Him the most
2) God uses these times to grow our faith and bring us to a deeper understanding of Him.
1. Life is HARD!
2. God is with us – Emmanuel. Hallelujah!
Amen.
Pat
Valley Center,Ks
“after reading so many of those comments, these two things seem clear to me”:
1. God shows Himself through painful events in our lives
2. He often uses His Word to bring clarity
1. God works and shows Himself in painful circumstances. The amount of pain that has been experienced in the lives of those who posted is pretty incredible. Yet through all that pain and suffering these girls praise God for showing them His realness.
2. I don’t want to be deceived about the hard circumstances I find myself in. It is easy to think that this time in my life is some cruel test to see how much I can take. Instead I hope and pray to see God’s truth and realness in the midst of trials.
This is probably the best prepared I’ve ever been for a “Pop Quiz” haha.
My observation on the last post here at Siestaville….
1) Our Lord has been Faithful to all His daughters. He has not failed any of us!AMEN
2)Hardly any of us could keep our testimonies short.haha We love to talk about our Lord!
Extra Credit: I am so grateful to our Lord for this blog!!
This scripture kept coming to my mind while reading so many hard life-heart wrenching situations where our siestas “knew” God was present & on the scene.
Lamentations 3:19-24 (Message)
“I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—the feeling of hitting the bottom. But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope: God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, His merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great Your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.”
1. He is with me
2. I will trust Him
I love that verse!!!!
In every post I read I heard two strong messages about God being real
God is alive and working in all of our lives in small and big ways
God loves us and reveals Himself to us by drawing us to Him when our faith feels weak.
1. He shows Himself very clearly to us when we are at our most desperate lows–when we realize that there’s no way we are capable of fixing whatever situation or circumstance we happen to be in.
2. He shows us His realness with love–not wrath, not persecution……LOVE.
AMEN to that! He is a LOVING God- ALWAYS! 🙂
I read several of those wonderful comments, choosing randomly which ones to read. Obviously it was not random and I was lead to the posts I read. I consistently saw two very clear messages.
1. Many were very clearly sensing God’s presence in very difficult moments, and were at peace.
2. Many others were feeling God’s urging to draw closer to Him again after they had walked away from their faith, after they had backslidden into old sins, or when they were living through dark periods filled with doubt.
1. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
2. God’s timing is perfect.
1. God reveals just how real he is to us when we (at times) are most desperate.
2. His love is REAL – faithful and unfailing.
My two observations on “He’s Real” are encapsulated in Isaiah 30:19(b)-21 (KJV):
“He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy Teacher be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy Teacher. And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”
1. The Lord often utilizes difficult, painful, confusing experiences in life to reveal Himself to us in the most tangible, ascertainable ways (becoming “REAL” to us).
2. We often do not get to the point of calling out to Him or fully availing ourselves to Him UNTIL we are in the midst of such circumstances.
Observation #1 How BIG GOD really is and so trustworthy!
Observation #2 How much GOD really loves us, to meet so many people needs and provide hope. It brings me to my knees! How it blesses me!
1. God’s revealing of His realness seems to have no bearing on our failing or passing as humans or as His children as much as it does with our desire to know Him and/or His desire to Know us.
2. Our willingness to stand “naked” or even in our undergarments before others at the right God time not only brings Him glory but binds us together as sisters and brothers-(such a gift to see glimpses of Jesus in all the lives/stories)
Ps not that we should be standing naked before our brothers—but I figure you all r tracking with me ……(c:
OOPS just posted on the “FOR REAL” blog. duh. Here’s my re-post.
1) I see a child in need and undone.
2) I see a Father who can’t wait to rescue, restore and redeem.
2 Observations:
1. We all doubt God sometime in our lives and He is always faithful and does WOW things that only he could orchestrate. He is ALWAYS there!
2. It’s in the trials and struggles in our lives that He shows his miracles, blessings and mercies the best. This is what makes our faith and belief stronger. When we rely on Him. You know like that new song “What if your blessings come through hurting what if your healing comes through tears…and to know that He is near.
1. There was a desperate situation.
2. God came through with power, love and an amazing solution and/or grace and strength to overcome.
Laura, Burbank
1.)Our trials bring about a heart knowledge of God that could probably not be experienced in any other way.
2.)God is faithful-He does not abandon us, but rather He grows us
1) We often find God to be the most “real” in the midst of our trials, but only because in the trial is often when we most honestly seek Him. When we seek we WILL find. God will be just as real in the joy as the pain, if we will only seek Him no matter what -but there’s something about trial/tribulation/pain that drives us back to desperately seeking Him.
2) One real true encouter with the one true God marks our lives forever – one personal glimpse of our Savior is all it takes to KNOW that we know.
1. Many women know God is real because of His powerful answer to their needs.
2. How many of us know God is real when there is no answer?
1. Desperately seeking God
2. In the midst of pain
Much love!
1. I observe there is a time of trouble in the life of the Siesta.
2. I observe that God shows up with an answer or way out.
1. God is God and there is no one like Him. He is there in the pain, the hardships and the joy. He will never leave us.
2. Once I truly understand who God is, and I begin to comprehend His love for me, I can never be the same. I will never be the same.
1) God loves us-sometimes more than makes sense.
2) He is ALWAYS faithful.
1. We know God is real because we can see Him in nature… in the wonder of His creation and in the small things such as the wind, etc. We all feel that no matter where we are.
2. It’s clear to me that many of us in Siestaville have seen the realness of God at our lowest points… when we felt like giving up, He was there to lift us up. His presence gives us sustaining power.
Love you, Siesta Mama… even if I don’t like pop quizzes =)
1) God willingly meets you over and over again anywhere.
2) Knowing God enables you to find joy, peace, and healing when the world would tell you it’s not possible.
observations
1) God is real
2) God loves us with an unfailing love
1-God’s love is not limited to time, space or circumstances, situations, persons or patterns – just awesome
2- Thank God that the God I love is more merciful, less judgmental and infinitely more loving than me
1. God is creative, meeting our unique needs uniquely!
2. God is right THERE, at the hour of our deepest need.
1. God makes his presence most real to us in the midst of our pain and anguish. Growth happens when we hurt. That’s the bold, hard truth.
2. Our prayers to him are always so PUNY compared to what he does for us and in us to accomplish his purpose and to show his glory, yet with a gentleness and compassion that we never expect. (How often we still see God as the “great policeman in the sky” instead of our loving Creator?).
1. God is personal
2. He doesn’t do the same thing the same way or even how we expect him to do. But He does it the best way
Amen
What I feel from what I read on the other pages comments is God meets us exactly where we are. He gets us through and he works all things together for good. He is a great God and I give him all the praise and glory!
1) Typically arduous difficult events of life bring about the realization of God being real in our lives.
2) Major praise and thanksgiving follow the REALization.
Observation #1…..I realized that I am not the same person that I was and that really helped me seeing others post that!!
Observation #2…..I learned that alot of us have struggled with faith and it has been a process for most women.
1. God reveals himself completely differently to reach each individual – and many times uses various methods at different times for the same person! Sometimes it’s through pain, sometimes through dreams, sometimes through the written Word, sometimes through nature, sometimes through another person, etc…sometimes the Lord shows us from all kinds of angles using all kinds of means all at once. He is so personal and reaches each one as she needs. Amen!!!
2. Often, the sweetest times of “knowing” are during (or after in reflection upon) crisis, pain, or hardship! That’s not always the case, but it’s such a divine paradox that it’s through the fellowship of suffering that we truly come to KNOW Christ in more fullness. Praise His Name!!!
1. Despite the decline I see in our culture and wondering does anyone follow hard after Jesus, It is clear to me now there are really women out there who do and they are seeing the difference He makes!!
2. We need Jesus every waking hour…through all the pain, suffering, disappointments and in the joy (mountain tops)…we just plain need Him. He is the way!!
Thanks Beth for making us think…I love that about you!