What a refreshing day it was yesterday. No not weather related, its still hot here in NC and with tomorrow being the first day of fall ... I am so looking forward to cooler weather. We are hitting a record 90 days this summer above 90. Thats warm... but tolerable thanks to air conditioning.
Yesterday was refreshing because I got to share my heart with some close peeps yesterday and send them an email, to encourage them, to share my heart with them, to reveal Gods glory to them, to pray with them as well as to lift them in prayer. Its been a long time since I have done that and I loved getting the emails back and the love that I read in them really just makes it complete. How humbling to know we have a God who in Romans 8:28 says:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Praise God he is for us and for making all things work for our good. Last night I got to take a good handful of close students to the university volleyball game. I have never been before so it was knew to me and I didnt even know the rules really and had to figure them out as we watched the match from the 1st row. It was all smiles and laughs, stopping by the office last night and then over to starbucks and a tour of the student union where all the college kids hang out. For a few, it was a fresh look at what college looks like. For others, a familiar place where they know, they know, that this is in their future. So they get to look at what the that future has in store while a few others view it as what could be in store. It was such a fun evening investing not in the here and now but also the long term. As I dropped the first student at home, I stopped and shared that I felt God prompting me to pray. I parked in the driveway and prayed for our friendships and for a great day today and for everyone to seek Christ in all they do today.
Each of us are struggling with things. School has it pressures and friends send mixed signals and the attraction of boys and girls and all that mess. The pressure to please and somehow get along with parents at this "know it all" stage. Life really is dramatically hanging on and sometimes we lose focus of the long term because we are living in the meantime. The here and now is all that matters. I have to ask the question that Romans 8:28 begins with.
And we know...... do they really know? Do you really know? I mean with all your heart, all your mind, and in all your soul - do you REALLY know?
I think about why we don't really know. I wonder if only some really know but its not really for me. Is that your thinking? ... there is a rule in that verse and its not, I have to have it all together. I have to be praying and doing more. Its none of that loved ones. Its - do you love God? Do you love him enough to know him? See in John it is written that He loved you first. Praise God he loved us first so that we can love him back. He sent his son, Jesus, for us because he loved us first. So without any hesitation and with an open heart - We have to know!!
When we love God with all we have - we know. WHEN we know, we go to our schools and places of work knowing. Other will, who don't know now, will know. We just have to know that God works for us because he loves us because those who love him have been called according to his purpose and thank you Jesus for loving us first.
The season you are in now might be years in the process, the inbetween. You can't go back and you have lost your way moving forward. This season of pain and hardship is for your greater purpose because, you know.
I can remember back when my mom was sick and the doctor only gave her months to live. I was in that season of not knowing. I couldnt go back - I couldnt move forward. Mom rewrote the book on battling cancer and lived 5 months with her condition. For her it was a season she couldnt go back and she couldnt move forward but she knew. She knew that through her cancer that God works for the good of those who love him. My faith in part is due to that season in both our lives. We knew. My Aunt Sharon and Uncle Buster knew. My cousin Patty knew. Carol and Kyle knew. My rock group family knew. Our church family knew.

So at the end of the day, when you put your head on your pillow, do you really know? God often speaks in whispers, are you listening for his voice? Are you seeking him in all you do? At work, in school, in class, in that conversation or in that relationship? Do you know?

Romans 8:31 - What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

I pray you take the time today and ask yourself the question, "Do you really know?"
Lonnie~