My Mini Sermon: God Speaks

My mom always used to tell us growing up that God works in mysterious ways. I'm pretty sure my grandmother used to say the same thing to my mom because thats just how things work in a big italian family. Everything is passed down! Well, I guess I never really understood that statement until I've became an adult and now I'm not so sure I agree with it. I think the mystery is more about how He speaks to us and shows us His intricate plan. We already know the way He works. There is really nothing mysterious about it, He is a God of love and good.

This story is how God has spoken to me...
About a year ago, I was introduced to Laura, who is a teacher and Catholic orignally from Conneticut. She was down here teaching school and was looking for a church. She visited St. Johns, my church since I can remember, and she fell in love. Father Kennedy introduced the two of us and the rest was history! We decided to start a twenty-something group to discuss some of the things people our age go through and where we stand with our relationship with God. We also joined the Ladies Guild and ruffled some gray feathers. At group there are "regulars" that meet every week to discuss where we saw God working in our lives. One weekend we thought it would be a good idea to give each member a day of the week and hold them up in prayer. So from then on we have been doing that for one another. My brother Michael is also in this group and tends to be one of the major voices for his faith. I received a text from him one week that said, "place all that is in you at the feet of Jesus" and then it had scripture, Luke 7:36. I liked it so much that I wrote it down in a notebook that I keep near my bed. I never read the scripture just wrote it down.

The past couple of weeks I have been reading, The Purpose Driven Life and have really been trying to focus on my relationship with God. I am trying to make Him my main sqeeze instead of allowing other things or people to be what I worship. I recently read that "the heart of worship is in surrendering yourself completely to God." When I read that, I couldnt imagine surrendering all control and trusting fully in the Lord. There have been areas of my life when I have had no problem trusting in the Lord. God told me at an early age that I was going to be a teacher. In other areas, I knew I was still struggling big time to surrender. Now, I am willing to give of myself for Him but I know its going to be hard to do. Especially since the past few days I've had a difficult time trusting God with simple tasks such as texting. (It really is quite ridiculous how consumed I had become. )

As I laid in my bed tonight, I couldnt sleep. I was wanting so badly to talk to many different people and tell them everything I was feeling and learning. Instead I choose to write to God, as a way to strengthen my friendship with Him and my prayer life. Even after all of that writing I couldnt sleep. So I started flipping through the notebook sitting by my bed and I came across that scripture Luke 7:36 and thats when it hit me. "Place all that is in you at the feet of Jesus," thats surrendering! DUH! I was so overcome with such curiousity that I needed to know more about this story. I went to my trusty Bible and looked it up. I love when a scripture just lands in your lap... Or does it??

The story from the gospel Luke takes place in the house of a Pharisee. Jesus had been invited for dinner. A woman who "is a sinner" went to the feet of Jesus and began to wash them with her tears, dry them with her long hair and then she proceeded to kisses them. The Pharisee did not understand why Jesus would allow her to do such a thing. He responded with a parable about repaying debts and how the creditor forgave the two men of their different debts even though one was more. Then, He asked Simon Peter "Which one of them will love him more?" Peter answered with, "The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven." Jesus turned to the woman and forgave her from all of her sins because she had shown great love and faith. Then rest of the guests questioned who He was that He could forgive the sins of others. The woman surrendered herself at the feet of Jesus out of love for Him. God reminded me tonight that it's not about me and what I am feeling. Its about surrendering to Him out of love so that I may live out His will and be forgiven of my sins, the way the woman in the story did.

God was talking to me again... Who would have thought that weeks even months later I'd be getting an even deeper meaning from that scripture Mike sent? God speaks to us in many, many ways and has things planned for us that we cant even begin to understand. I bet He is just wondering when we are going to listen and truly understand His love!