Bible Neglect.

Lately, I haven't felt like reading my Bible.  Periods of my personal "Bible neglect" start with me just being incredibly busy and thinking about every single thing I need to do in a day ( Not good).  After a couple of days of this, then I just start getting lazy and thinking, 'Oh, I'll just pray.' or 'I'll read it in the morning.'  I start believing lies like, "I won't remember what I read anyway."  or "I need sleep more right now" or "I won't find anything relevant to my life."

So, as I neglect my Bible that is when I feel overwhelmed and as if life itself is crashing in all around my little world.  That's what happened this week.

I move tomorrow and "overwhelmed" has been the defining word of my life this week, as you'll see in my most recent post. 

You'll also find a prayer to my Father. A cry for help and a surrender of all of my worries to Him.

God wasted no time at all to answer my prayer. :D

The next day, my wonderful friend, whom I cherish very much came to visit me in Corvy:) ..well, she was actually job/house hunting but I enjoyed her presence to the fullest nonetheless.  Anyway, she brought me a little note that had the definition of my Charis nickname, Reba (don't ask), in hebrew/greek.  One of the definitions was 'prostration(for sleep)' and I just knew God was speaking to my overwhelmed and tired heart.  That was the very next day after I woke up at three in the morning and couldn't return to my slumber for three solid hours!  I felt like God was just telling me that He cared that I couldn't sleep that night(along with previous nights) and that He wanted to give me rest..and that rest is somewhat part of my identity, which He knew when I got the nickname. CRAZY COOL! RIGHT?  I felt so loved and special as I read that :)

Now, a couple days later I finally got over my Bible neglecting phase and picked it up with a speck of hope that I would find something relevant since I had an impossibly busy day ahead of me and needed spiritual strength.  The verse I turned to touched my heart so deeply.  God just broke all the lies that were keeping me from His holy word and He showed me once again how much He cared about my stressed state.  Here's what I read.

Isaiah 43:1-5

43 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes,
    and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
    peoples in exchange for your life.
⁵ Fear not, for I am with you;
    I will bring your offspring from the east,
    and from the west I will gather you.



This made me tear up a bit.  I was blown away that the exact word, "overwhelm" was written because I have literally used that word twenty times this week in my thoughts/speech to describe what I was going through.  God totally met me through His word and showed me how deeply He cares about every detail of my life and how He loves me more than I can ever imagine.  Thank you Lord for answering my prayer! <3