“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
My Dearest MacKynzie,
We recently went on a road trip around Tennessee. All throughout the trip, navigation was the key to getting us from point A to point B . Even if we knew our destination, we would never have made it without the subtle voice in the background guiding us turn by turn. No matter how lost we got, all we had to do was open up the navigation and within seconds, we were no longer lost. We never doubted its accuracy. We relied on the fact that turn by turn, we would eventually get where we wanted to go.
This is a great description of how God wants to help us navigate through life. He puts aspirations in our head, desired destinations for all aspects of our existence… family, career, friendships, serving, financial, etc. Then he will quietly whisper to us how to get there, turn by turn. If we are not hearing God’s voice, his availability is not the problem. The problem is that we try to get there on our own or we have the radio so loud that we can’t hear.
My loving advice to you. Even though we can’t see the entire map and how all of the turns lead us to where we want to be, we must trust that if we listen to his voice, we will eventually get there. We came across many unexpected obstacles while we were traveling. That quiet voice helped us navigate through traffic, detours and accidents ahead. We did not know at the beginning of our trip what we would encounter but we knew that we would eventually run into something that would slow us down. James says ‘Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness’. When (not if) you run into road blocks or construction, the voice is always there to guide you through. It doesn’t help the situation to sit there and cuss or throw a temper tantrum. Enjoy the ride and have joy the entire trip, even through the inconveniences.
My love to you and my prayer for an amazing life! Live to inspire <3 to create!
The purpose of this letter is to inspire my daughter MacKynzie to live a prosperous, God loving, joyful, legacy building life. Who knows, it may help you too. Please ‘like’ if you found this letter useful and please ‘share’ if you want to help inspire others. You never know who is watching ;)