A Friend's Encouragement

          "It is a hard decision because you have to really pray and figure out if this is something you want or God wants. That is the hardest part f this whole thing is putting you thoughts and feelings aside and only hearing God. God is always growing us and changing us, and it is good not to be comfortable, because if you are comfortable you are not open to the change God is making in you.
After I left I thought I would miss it, but I was really at peace, God put me at peace. God just sightly changed the path He wanted me to walk down.
I know people hear this a lot but you must pray. Sometimes we want an answer so fast that we forget who to ask the question to. Pray for this and have others pray for you too. For guidance and wisdom and for His Will to be done.
I hope God puts the answers on your heart........all in His Timing of course."

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            This is a letter I got along time ago from a friend that I have messed up with a lot especially in the past few years. Even though I have messed up with that friend, this is the letter that I always go back to even in my hardest times. I can't start to tell you how many times I have gone back and reread this letter because I needed that kind of encouragement and reminder. A copy of that letter has been in the Bible that I had in college for years and still is in that same Bible and I barely take it out because I know where it is when I need it. My life hasn't been easy and it won't get that way as I get older either. This time that I looked at it, though, it really hit me and I don't know why. Maybe it is because of what is going on in my life right now? Maybe it is because of my age? I don't know but I do know that that letter never gets old.
           It is like a new letter every time I look at it. I will say that this past week was probably the first time I looked at it since things have changed in my life and I am not just meaning my career/job. Even though that is what made me look at it, it was a hard decision that I had to make because of money and other things but it wasn't the hardest one I had to make yet. The hardest one that I had to make happened 5 months ago. I am not going to go into details because I am not ready to write that down and not everyone knows what happened but I will say that that was the hardest decision in my life to this point of it. Even though, I thought about it as it goes to my career, it goes with my friendships too.
             What good does it do to rush them? What good does it do to totally give up on them and not support your friends? What good does it do when you don't pray? What good does it do when you stop trying to get to know people closest to them? It does no good. Not saying that I am doing what I am doing on purpose but there are a lot of things I can't explain. When it seems like I am trying to run away, God just puts something or someone else in my path. All of this is something that needs to be God's wanting, not mine and it needs to be in His Timing too. The last line is my favorite of the whole letter because it just reminds me that God will put the answers on my heart but in His Timing. Like God did with this job I have now. It is fun and exciting but doesn't have all I need or should have and that is okay too.
            I had to put my feelings and thoughts aside for this job situation and listen to/hear God. It is the same with a friendship. God is always growing and changing us into the women or men He wants us to be. God is not friendly when it comes with being comfortable. That is not a thing of God. I will say that I thought I wouldn't be at peace today and that today would be a hard time for me because I can't do something that I have done every year but I am at peace. Yes, I still think about my friend and I did a lot today but that is all I did for reasons only God would understand. I know I am not getting an answer to this prayer fast because I have been praying for years and still not like how I want it but I know God is working it out in His Way. I think it is fair enough to say that we are both pretty stubborn and stuck in our own ways so it is hard to move out of them when we need to.
              If I am wrong, I will probably hear about it and if I do that is fine. I just know that is me for sure. It HAS NOT been an easy road to walk down but then when something is worth it, is it ever easy? Just sayin'. To be honest too, this is the first time I have put this letter out in public so I hope I did an okay job writing about it. I will say, though, looking back at what the letter was really about to where we both are now, is kind of funny on my part. That problem that I thought was a big problem wasn't a big problem. It was probably one of the smallest problems of my life but it was a hard decision at the time and I got some great and Godly advice from a friend. I am going to leave it at that before I go into too many details. :)


"Someday God will put the answer on my heart that I have wanted all along...........in His Timing of course." :)