Happy Monday! Wow March is almost over, summer will soon be here! As this week’s verse says, “The Lord is a sun and a shield …” He is our guide and protector, He illuminates our path and shields us from harm. If we walk uprightly with Him, then He won’t hold back on all the good things He has for us.
Enjoy relaxing and meditating on God’s word as you color in this week’s free coloring page. If you are enjoying these pages and posts, please like and share. Thank you.
Have wrestled with God? Are you wrestling with Him today? It’s not uncommon and it’s not a sin. It’s ok to wrestle with God and I’m pretty sure God is ok with it. In Genesis 32:22-32, Jacob wrestled with God and even though he walked away with a limp he still walked away a better man and blessed by God. Verse 30, – “So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
Have you wrestled with anyone? Your kids, your spouse, in a fun away of course. Maybe you wrestled in high school, maybe you just like to watch wrestling. It’s hard when the other person overpowers you and all you want to do is to be let go, to be free, have your way out. It’s the same when we wrestle with God. Sometimes it’s about not being so willing to give God our hearts and lives and let Him have control. Other times it’s struggling over what He wants us to do, like with Jonah. Jacob was trying to do life his way. When we wrestle with God we need to understand that God will prevail and we walk away blessed.
I like the part, “It is because I saw God face to face …”. When you wrestle with someone it’s full body contact, face to face, an embrace, it’s pretty intimate. Even just arm wrestling you’re face to face. I’m not suggesting we make a practice out of wrestling with God. God wants nothing more than to be our Father, to have our hearts and His way in our lives. We as humans, sinful, prideful, want our way. God wants a relationship with us and He provided a way to do that, through the sacrifice of His Son. While we maybe struggling and wrestling, God is literally embracing us.
Is it really luck? Is it all by chance? Sure some things take work and require action. But God does have some say in what we do, right? I mean nature, the world, the universe, didn’t just happen. C’mon there has to be a force behind it. Even science says for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. God’s hand, His breath is behind all that we see and experience on earth, the ocean, the breeze, the trees, birds, flowers are all designed and created by Him!
So may the work of our hands, the force behind our hands, the thoughts into our steps that take us places, may He confirm them. Acknowledge the work of His hands.
How does it make you feel when you have worked so hard for something only to not achieve it or just fail at it. Perhaps you were working hard for a promotion at work. You stayed late when you had to without complaint, went above and beyond to prove your abilities, you were honest and loyal and someone else who was far less experienced and than you got the promotion. Hardly seems fair.
Maybe all your friends are getting married and having babies and you are having a hard time finding the right guy or girl or experiencing miscarriage after miscarriage. You take care of yourself, eat healthy, exercise, and still no baby. Or maybe it’s your marriage. Your friend’s marriage crumbled but now, they are back together but your marriage seems like there is no hope that any reconciliation is possible. How is this fair? But it happens and God allows it. It seems like the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. Life just isn’t turning out how you had planned. Sometimes God’s actions clash with what we expect.
Habakkuk saw injustices happening and what appeared to be the evil ones succeeding. Read the book of Habakkuk, it’s only four chapters. In this book, God offers hope, as He always does.
Habakkuk makes no bones about complaining to God and asking questions like, why and how long. Habakkuk had to posture himself before God. Be it on your knees or not, the most important the posture of your heart – humility. Philippians 2:3-8 offers some insight into the posture Jesus had. Habakkuk also had to be patient and wait on God – Psalm 46:10 – this can be hard but so necessary. I sometimes wonder if “being still” means not frantically worrying and worshipping the problem we face, but instead frantically worshipping our Father. How many times does a solution comes to us when we aren’t thinking about it. For me I could be cooking dinner, driving, reading a book, in the middle of writing a blog post or serving Him and God will hit me with the answer to my problem. Most times, that’s how God speaks to me, when I’m not solely thinking about my problem.
God replies to Habakkuk in 1:5; “Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told …”. Then in Chapter 2, verse 2 God tell Habakkuk to write down His answer to warn others. God is telling Habakkuk in verse 3 to wait, wait for what He is going to do. God will make everything right, but we have to wait. We need to continue to have the right posture and be patient.
God’s ways are not our way- Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.” “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” – Psalm 115:3. God is sovereign, He sees the big picture. What appears to be unfair to us now, God is delivering us grace. That can be a hard pill to swallow. Through all the injustices we see now, God sees, He knows what He is doing. We need to have faith and trust Him.
Here’s something to think about, what is the difference between grace and fairness? Leave a comment below, what are your thoughts?
Memorize Monday, free coloring page – Ephesians 2:8-9 – ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Salvation isn’t by luck or chance, it is a gift from God to everyone. It is a free gift, we do nothing to earn it, we just need to accept it, receive it. God doesn’t force it on us, He gives us a choice, we are free to choose it or accept it.
If you enjoy these free coloring pages please like and share, thank you.
Happy March! Where does time go? When you think of the month of March, St.Patrick’s Day most likely comes to mind. Maybe luck o’ the Irish, leprechauns and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
But with God, it’s not luck. Nothing is random. God is in control and it’s His favor and on us and blessings that He bestows on us. A flat tire may look like bad luck, but God may have allowed that flat tire to happen to prevent an accident.
So as you color these pages remember that the good and what seems bad all come from God. Evil does exist because of the fall of man, but God sent His Son to take care of that. What happened to Jesus seems bad, it was bad but it was God’s way of providing us the greatest gift, salvation.
Where does one begin to pray for the Ukraine and the situation over there? It can be a bit overwhelming, where does one start.
So I asked God and searched the scriptures and this is where He lead me.
PRAY FOR GOD’S WILL Pray for God’s will to be done. Matthew 6:5-15 and Luke 11:1-13, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Is what’s happening God’s will? He is allowing it I don’t know why. Since the fall of man sin has overtaken the earth we are dealing with those consequences. Not all evil is ordained by God. Look at Job, God allowed Job to go through what he did to show that Job was faithful. If God is allowing something He has a purpose and a plan. We can pray against anything that is not from God. Isaiah 54:17 – “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper…” What was meant for evil God will use for good – Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” That can be hard but we have to trust that God sees all and He’s allowing it for some reason.
PRAY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE, EVEN THOSE IN AUTHORITY Pray for God’s will to be done in each of everyone’s lives. 1 TIMOTHY 2:1-4 – “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants ALL people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
PRAY FOR ENCOURAGEMENT Pray for ur brothers and sisters in Christ to be encouraged. Thessalonians 5:11 – “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” God has a way of bringing His people together. Ask God to allow their paths to cross so that they can encourage each other. We have a big God and He can use anything to encourage.
PRAY FOR COMFORT Pray for safety, pray for comfort, not only for physical comfort but many have lost loved ones and are mourning. Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
There are other ways to pray for this horrible situation, these are just a few suggestions for those who may be having a hard time finding words. Please share how you have been praying for the people in Ukraine and Russia. And if this post has helped you, please like and share.
The Kedge Anchor 
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