
"You will never find me lacking when you come to me. As you learn to depend on me more and more, and as you discover over and over again that I can be enough for you, you will begin to rest in my provision. You'll have less fear about whether or not I will show up tomorrow with what you need. You'll discover how blessed it is to hunger and thirst for me, and find me fully satisfying" (Abundant Life daily devotional by Guthrie, May 16th).
When I started reading this devotion this morning what struck me was this has been my prayer over the past few months "to find Jesus fully satisfying". There has never been such a time as this when I have been faced with that one thought. Does Jesus satisfy me daily? Now the obvious answer to that question is yes of course! He is our great provider after all, but there are times in life when we have to did deep and hold onto His promise.
This life transition has been very challenging for me. When I moved to/near Chico (I actually live in Oroville, but most people don't know where it is), I not only left friends and family and a great community behind, but I had to face leaving some dreams behind, and discover a whole new culture and pace of life.
Most people living in San Diego would consider where I am living as the wilderness. You see, it takes me 15 minutes up the canyon to drive into the closest town. When I say town, I literally mean its a small town. The biggest and only store you would be familiar with in Paradise is K-mart. They do not have a Starbucks, Walmart, or even a gym you would recognize. They do have a gold nugget museum thou, ha ha. I say all this to paint a picture for you of my life here.
So moving here forced me to really slow down because other than family, I had no friends and not many familiar places to go hang out. I was faced with the constant question in my soul, "Do I trust His provision and does He satisfy me". In the first couple months I was just so overwhelmed that it was even hard for me to try and address that question. In this past month, this has been my desire.....I want to see Jesus satisfy my soul daily.
I added the picture above because bridges remind me of the roads we travel and the bridges we must cross to reach our destination. This picture was taken here on a hike I went on about a month ago. It is so beautiful here, God's creation is just stunning! On this hike I wouldn't have been able to reach my destination if I didn't cross the bridge and I wouldn't make it home unless I crossed that bridge again. This reminds me that sometimes we have to cross the same bridge in life more than once, but that in the end we will make it home into the arms of our satisfying and loving God. This journey of life can seem lonely at times, but on the other side of our difficulty Jesus is waiting with open arms to take us in and is all that we need.
Hello Shauna Salemo. So good to know you through your profile on the blogger. I am also gladt to stop by your blog "Shauna Salerno" and the post on it "Rest In His Provision".How true it is to rest in His provisions. Thank you for reminding it. I am quite impressed by your testimony as to how you came to the Lord and now you are working at "Dynamic Church Planting International".and you are excited to share God's relentless love with the World. Your love of God and for people and your desire to know others. Well Shauna I am blessed with your testimony. I am from Mumbai, India and have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 34 yrs in the great city of Mumbai a city with great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of christ to bring healing to the broken hearted. We also encourage young people like as well as adults from the West to come to Mumbai on a short term missions tirp during their vacation time to work with us bringing new life, hope and purpose in the lives of people who have love hope and future. Since your desire to serve the Lord and know people we would love to have you come with your friends to work with us in the slums of Mumbai. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. My email id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar wankhede
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