God’s pleasure in me and my satisfaction in Him

October 4, 2025

Maria God's Attributes, God's goodness, God's pleasure, God's protection, God's Provision, Psalm 37 , , , , , Leave a comment

Delight yourself in the Lord . . . and he will direct your steps, delighting in the details of your life. 

Psalm 37:4 ESV and 5 (My rewording)

These two verses from the same psalm are like a double blessing. I can hardly believe that Scripture declares that God follows, enjoys, and finds pleasure in me as I heed His directing. I can almost picture the Father chortling as He watches my every move, maybe pointing me out to some angels. 

“Just look at my daughter! She’s following my clear guidance. She’s trusting me. She’s doing what we designed her to do and be. How much joy that gives me!”

And what does this psalm promise that I will receive? When I set my heart on enjoying my relationship with God, I am guaranteed satisfaction and protective guidance from the Father. Money can’t buy that! 

The question is HOW to be glad in Him, to find Him satisfying? What comes to mind is to hold God first in my thoughts and first in my daily priorities. Truth is, I set out doing just that early in the morning. But then I get distracted.

Last night I was reading about the 20-20-20 ‘rule’ as some call it. It’s meant to help your body and your vision. Every 20 minutes, rise from your desk or work space and focus your eyes on something outside a window that is about 20 feet away. Hold your gaze for 20 seconds. 

Perhaps I can couple that practice with bringing my thoughts back to the One who is most important in the universe and the source of all goodness.

When God gives what you didn’t even think to ask for

March 7, 2024

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Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 NLT

Is there something that you dread? Some big project or task that has fallen to you?  You can’t see how you will accomplish it, given your limitations as well as the time you have? You probably stress, producing anxiety just imagining it.

That was me in the days leading up to my trip back up to Asheville, just 2 weeks after Mom’s death.

I had agreed to help my sister-in-law, Eve, clear out Mom’s apartment after her death. Steve has a full-time job and Mike had work commitments too, staying home with the cats. The deadline for turning over the apartment to management is next week, if the family doesn’t want to pay another month’s rent to this retirement complex.

I had pictured us working almost nonstop 8-9 hours each day.  Given what I imagined, I didn’t know what to do about lunches, since lunch is one of my two daily meals. I didn’t want to eat out and wasn’t sure what I could bring from either my house for the time away or buy locally.

I was also dreading the work involved in sorting out her apartment, since I pictured it as a HUGE task.

Like anything else, I need not have worried.

In my conversations with Jesus before I departed, I felt him suggesting that I do something a bit ‘risky’. He led me to recall Jesus’ disciples who went out 2 by 2 with no food and no extra baggage.  So, for the ‘fun of it’ and curious to see how the Lord would provide, I traveled light, opting to trust him to ‘work it out’. 

Here’s how surprised me. Eve and her husband, Mike’s brother Steve, have started eating meat after being vegan for a long time.  I had known that but didn’t realize how aligned Eve and I are about food, now that she is a meat-eater.  I ended up cooking 3 of our dinners and we went out to dine at a Brazilian steak house where there was a LOT of meat. It was great.

The night before the first work day I asked Eve what time she eats her first meal. We worked it out for the two of us, stopping at the grocery store to buy what we needed each day.  The lunches I fixed myself were perfect. She happily prepared what she wanted as well.  Eve turned out to be pretty chill about food.

But what was even better was that the work load I had imagined as huge was much lighter.  Because of the Lord’s gracious provision of efficient team work plus my SUV whose back seat folds down, Eve and I wrapped up everything by lunch time of the third work day.  We got to rest and chat that afternoon back at their house.

Nor did we work non-stop.

We took plenty of time to chat, getting to know each other’s heart.  She and Steve have been married only 12 years. Before this visit we had never spent 3 days, just the two of us, talking and sharing.

That was the biggest gift to me. She felt it too. We are much closer now.

So, why did I worry? Why do you angst about the future? I know for a fact that you and I have seen the Lord come through time and time again. You’d think we would learn and finally trust him.

Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. Psalm 37:5 NASB

Your and my unbelief is what keeps us from relying on God at all times.  This sin we must confess each day, asking for his help.  But even though we will continue to indulge in fleshly worry and likely allow ourselves to listen to Satan’s thought-suggestions of lack, we have Jesus’ perfect obedience imputed to us. Jesus trusted the Father always and depended on him for guidance and strength to do the hard things.

May you and I NOT beat ourselves up, but relax in God’s provision and ask for help each moment, not only for the situations themselves but for us to count on him completely. Afterall, he DID create the universe out of nothing.  

Jesus’ practical advice

January 6, 2024

Maria Anxiety, God's Mercy, God's Promises, God's Provision, Matthew 6, Problems, Promises, Psalm 23, Unbelief, Watchman, Worry , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

“So, don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:34 NLT

If you were to analyze all that you are anxious about this moment, what percentage would be about today’s events or circumstances? Do you think more of your ‘worry bank’ would be directed and spent on hypothetical future problems?

Up until this morning, I’ve always reacted to Jesus’ reality check about ‘enough trouble today’ with a ‘Thanks a lot, Jesus! Just how is that supposed to make me feel better? ‘

But while meditating on Psalm 23:6, the Spirit triggered my memory and I looked up to see just where Jesus had announced this common-sense advice. Matthew 6:34 follows his command that THIS day we focus foremost on the Kingdom of God and its spread. Forestalling our, ‘but what about ….?,’ he assures us that all today’s needs are being met, right now.

A dear friend of mine currently feels buried by fears of the future regarding new work projects. He feels burdened by all the unknowns. He is also very skilled and practiced at imagining the worst. (I’m not sure who would win that competition, he or I!)  So, scouring Scripture this morning, I searched for fresh encouragement for him. It just so happened that this week’s BSF lesson on John 10 has us re-reading Psalm 23 to find descriptions of Jesus as our good shepherd.

I have always loved the first part of verse 6 (NLT): Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life…My mom often talked about the image of God’s ‘Hound of Heaven’, (title of one of Francis Thompson’s 1890 poem) chasing us, almost glued to us as a shadow.

As I applied this truth to myself and the things I often fearfully imagine, I teased out what God’s kindness, mercies and his faithful loving favor toward us imply. In other words, I saw clearly what I and all of us who know God should do each day. Kind of like wearing an ‘If X, then Y’ pair of glasses.

If God’s ‘tob’ and his ‘chesed’ are chasing me today and every day, then:

  • Maybe I should slow down and enjoy them.
  • Certainly, I should be expecting them, and be on the lookout for each one, like a watchman assigned to a tower.
  • That way, I can thank Jesus at the end of the day, mentioning concrete occasions of when I saw his provision.
  • Furthermore, I’ll always have a fresh crop of examples of God’s love to distribute to thirsty people who are desperate for hope.

So, back to my friend; here’s how I hope to encourage him.  Instead of dreading what he imagines he might have to face in these new job possibilities, I will gently counsel him to stay IN today, trusting Jesus’s promise that he will provide. That statement about ‘enough trouble today’ means today’s rescues and mercies have been planned and already remedied, BUT to meet ONLY today’s needs.

As John Piper points out: the root of all our worry is unbelief in God’s promises.

God won’t supernaturally make us count on him and not worry.  But he gives us plenty of practice to trust his character and throw ourselves on his guaranteed vows.

Abundant leftovers

December 23, 2023

Maria God's Provision, John 6, Trusting God , , 1 Comment

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”  So, they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. John 6: 12-13 NIV

Are you feeling exhausted, worn out with all the rush and preparation that our civilized ‘first-world’ celebration of Christmas includes?

I have 4 sets of friends who are sick with bad colds, ordinary viruses or Covid.  They are run down. It’s the end of the calendar year, the end of the first semester of school. And ever since mid-October, it’s been push, push, push with first Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and now Christmas.

I’m referring to the commercial busyness we take on, not the quiet, meditative heart preparation that Thanksgiving and Advent provide. We neglect our hearts to comply with the cultural expectations that take over our thoughts.  

So, when these verses in John popped up this morning in my study, I saw refreshing news! 

Fact – we have a good Father who provides us with abundant leftovers. So what? What does that imply? 

For me, that means that today’s looming ‘To Do’ list that I jotted down shouldn’t unsettle me.  Sure, half of what I have planned involves people I want to write or message, but the other items are household chores, appointments or scheduled activities. 

What I have found over the past 15 years is that when I daily hand over to God my availability for his purposes, when I prioritize people over tasks, God is faithful to stretch my hours to accomplish most of what I deemed important. Plus there always seems to be time to relax and read for 15 minutes before I start the evening dinner prep.  (Reading is my restoration time).

Here is what I wrote down this morning in my journal: “Maria, don’t hoard time or worry about ‘getting things done’.  Don’t worry about if we have enough money when the Lord prompts you to give.  For in God’s kingdom, his leftovers are more than that with which you started the day, or the month”

Isn’t that what this miracle shows?  Jesus began with 5 small rolls of bread and a couple of dry sardines.  And when the disciples collected the leftovers, not only had the multitudes eaten to their satisfaction, there were twelve baskets of life-sustaining bread to more than take care of the hunger of the disciples.  The generous boy and Jesus’ guys were well taken care of.

So, take a deep breath, relax and trust our generous Father who richly provides all we need.