"I will lead blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along an unfamiliar way. I will brighten the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead of them.
Yes, I will indeed do these things; I will not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16
When my first daughter was little, I loved to watch with her this movie about a daddy fish looking for his son all over the sea! It was a really hard journey because it meant for him to leave the safety of his coral, and go to the unknown. In the middle of his journey, he found a friend fish who didn´t have a good memory, (you know fish are supposed to have a 3-sec memory), so she kept telling him that when there is nothing else to do just keep swimming!
That little phrase stood in my mind and years later our Beloved spoke to my heart telling me that I need to keep swimming in faith!
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42:1-2
Reading and pondering in this living lesson, I am applying this faith-filled idea! Just remembering all that He has done for me in the past that seemed impossible and now is an answered prayer!
I love the Living Lessons for all the faith-filled ideas they give to us, so many practical ways to just keep swimming with Him! So while I was feeling revived, care for, and just happy for my Heavenly Husband, He reminded me of the importance of cultivating a healthy relationship with Him every day. To take time off to just enjoy His company and as the lesson taught us: to recount our mountains already climbed!
As the author says: "The testing of my heart I happily passed that led to sooooo many outrageous things that happened, before and after I stood face to face with one of the most breathtaking views I’ve re-lived thousands of times!"
Changing the patterns of fear, anxiety, and control is a journey, but with Him, we are new creatures! Struggles are real, but when we give thanks to the Lover of our souls, He replaces those thoughts and feelings with hope and joy. The action of giving thanks changes our perspective. Finding something grand, like the sunset, or something minute like shade on a hot summer day, and having a heart of gratitude, will deepen our relationship with the Lord. The benefit of writing down what we are grateful for re-emphasizes Our Beloved’s goodness. It also allows us to look back on days past with an appreciation of His faithfulness.
We need to get into a habit of being thankful in both good times and bad (Colossians 3:17). Whispering a prayer of gratitude invites Him to work in our lives and gives us fresh insight into our circumstances. When we start to count all things as joy and praise our Heavenly Husband for big and little things, our attitude will be one of gratitude, the mountains will not look as impossible as before!
Let´s change our patterns to look for Him always and keep swimming!
Thank you for sharing precious Isabella, I too watched the movie with my children and love it, wow, yes keep swimming.
And can really testify the moment we start thanking our Darling Lord in all circumstances, He really does replace all the patterns of fear and anxiety with hope, joy and a peace that surpasses all understanding. My Darling has been leading me now for months (just the other day I said weeks, which have now become months), to be thankful in all circumstances and it has changed my life. I have to admit it became a habit to complain and not it is becoming a habit to be thankful in all circumstances and I too want to encourages other brides even if you don’t think there is something to be grateful for, start thanking Him for every small thing in your life, and soon it will become a habit and it will fill you with peace and joy that surpasses all understanding.
Yes precious Isabella, lets change our patterns, thank you.
Yes my dear Janine, that is one of the patterns we need to update, just be thankful and recount blessings every day!! Praise Him for all that He is doing in your life, and all the blessings are yet to come your way!
If we look to His Word, we see Him giving His people dreams to stretch their faith again and again. Our Beloved uses dreams to inspire us as well.
“What do you mean, ‘If I can?’…anything is possible if a person believes” (Mark 9:23 NLT)
https://biblia.com/bible/nlt/Mark%209.23
“The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)
https://biblia.com/bible/niv/1%20Thess%205.24
This movie is playing at work right now. I love the your analogy to keep swimming 🐟. The father fish asks the other fish, “How do you know something bad isn’t going to happen?” The other fish replies, “I don’t!” It’s a leap of faith that leads him to find his missing son. This reminder to keep going, even in the face of uncertainty, is inspiring.😊Counting our blessings, big or small, and praising God for them can make challenges seem like minor bumps in the road.