{"id":16659,"date":"2014-01-02T01:15:03","date_gmt":"2014-01-02T06:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=16659"},"modified":"2014-01-02T08:30:57","modified_gmt":"2014-01-02T13:30:57","slug":"lean-closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/01\/02\/lean-closer\/","title":{"rendered":"Lean In Closer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
\nTherefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
\nthough the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
\nthough its waters roar and foam,
\nthough the mountains tremble at its swelling.
\nPsalms 46:1-3<\/p>\n

God is there. Lean in closer.<\/em><\/strong> We, as believers, know that He is always with us—always within the reach of our heart’s cry.<\/p>\n

Uncertainties and difficulties are always on the horizon. I\u2019m facing some now. Christians face difficulties like other people do. The difference is that when the storms hit, we know God is there with us. We go to Him\u2014our Refuge and Strength<\/strong><\/span>. (When things are going wonderfully, let\u2019s lean toward Him then also. The world may have a hard time distinguishing what is going on in our lives. That\u2019s okay, if that happens. If they have an encounter with us at any time, I hope the main thing they take away is that we love God.)
\nGod is my Refuge and Strength<\/span><\/strong>. He helps me enormously! It\u2019s in the tough times that my faith, trust, and relationship with Him grow even stronger. Without Him, I wouldn\u2019t have endured or persevered in really tough times.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m tired, hurt, or face the unknown, God is my Refuge and Strength<\/span><\/strong>. Can you say that? Hopefully, you can! (If not, please pause now, and pray to God to allow that statement to become true for you.)<\/p>\n

I know of several close friends who have heavy burdens right now. None of us have a completely smooth ride between birth and death. There will be many wonderful times of love, laughter, celebrations, and being with special people. There also will be many times of illness, grief, struggles, loss, loneliness, and hurts. Life is made up of a combination of all of these for every one of us. Each person\u2019s journey will look different than someone else\u2019s. The only way to live in a God-glorifying way is to reach toward God in all things. Don\u2019t let the emphasis be on our circumstances. And if others do see the circumstances, may they see that in them, we loved Jesus. Each new day that we begin, let our emphasis be on His Presence in our lives and our love for Him!<\/p>\n

I often think of Joni Eareckson Tada, who\u2019s a quadriplegic. At the mention of her name, I also think of her great love for God. Her incredible love for Him shines even brighter because she places her love for Him way above dwelling on the circumstances she has to live in! So, her beautiful testimony of loving God within her difficult circumstances shines even brighter to bring Him even more glory! Wow! I love that!<\/p>\n

How do we lean in closer to God? Hannah, in the Bible, prayed. When she couldn\u2019t have the child she so desperately longed for, she prayed. The child, Samuel, came after her prayer of request and then, she prayed a prayer glorifying God. In her prayer of thankfulness, Hannah said, \u201cThere is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our Go<\/em>d\u201d (1 Samuel 2:2). She drew close to her God for help and to praise Him! (See 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11<\/a> for more.)<\/p>\n

We can lean closer to God through prayer, reading His Word, singing songs of praise and worship, and trusting and having faith in Him regardless of circumstances.<\/p>\n

What are you going through in this season of your life? Lean in closer toward God. He is there. He is waiting with love and open arms. He will be your Refuge and Strength<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Dear Jesus, \u00a0let us always be mindful of Your Presence. Thank You for caring about us and loving us to the point of death on a cross. If You can rise from death and reign as King of kings as You have, You can certainly deal with the problems that come our way. Let us lay them at Your feet. Let us trust You completely with our difficult situations and circumstances\u2014knowing You are to be trusted and loved in, and through, all things! In Your precious Name I pray, amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Psalms 46:1-3 God is there. Lean in closer. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[4948,3175,4951,4955,4953,1287,425,2975,4949,4950,4952,4954,4944,3174,3579],"class_list":["post-16659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-1-samuel-22","tag-cheris-gaston","tag-christians-face-difficulties","tag-dailhy-devotional","tag-depend-on-god","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-glorify-god","tag-god-is-our-refuge-and-our-strength","tag-hannah-prayed","tag-joni-eareckeson-tada","tag-lean-in-closer","tag-psalms-461-3","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-trust-god","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-4kH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16659"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16662,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16659\/revisions\/16662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}