May 19, 2019 - INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE HEART

I have always been a very indecisive person, from the smallest of choices to the biggest. One piece of advice I often receive from my family (blood and church family) is to always pray about my decisions and ask God for guidance. To be honest, for almost my whole life I've never really understood how exactly to do that. Many times I've prayed to God very specific prayers for guidance, such as which program to take in school, which jobs to apply for, even which man to marry. In all those times, I never once heard or saw any specific instructions from God as to the next step I was supposed to take. There were no Bible verses that said, "Abby, the Lord commands that you go into nursing school." I didn't have any dreams that showed me the face of the man I would spend the rest of my life with (sorry Jason xD). Does that mean that God did not answer my prayers, though?

As I've grown older, I've come to learn that I simply wasn't asking the right questions of God. I kept praying for and expecting very specific directions from the Lord. God has now opened my eyes to see that a lot of the direction we need from Him can be found in His Word. In a real world example, Jason and I are currently looking to buy a house. The thought of committing to such a huge purchase was very daunting to me, and so the two of us started praying. Amazingly, the theme of this Sunday's sermon is derived from Matthew 6:19-21, which says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven...For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." This passage guided our prayers about our future house, in that instead of asking God to lead us to the right area, the right builder, or the right bank to have a mortgage with, we asked Him, "What do You want to do through us and our house? Where can we live that would most impact Your kingdom? What should our budget be so that we can continue to do Your will without having our lives becoming consumed by our mortgage?"

God's primary concern is not where you live, what type of house you live in, what you're taking in school, what your career is, or even who exactly you're married to. He cares more about our heart's condition, and what kind of stewards we are of the many gifts and blessings He has poured out on us. While we should never take any of these decisions lightly, ultimately God works all things out for the good of those who love Him and seek to do His will. So let's continue to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

-Abby Cheng