On Friday I received a letter of encouragement and challenge. The challenge that was found in that letter whether intended to be a challenge or not was that I would continually ask the Lord for wisdom as James 1 talks about. I've read James before, but I needed to reread James 1 so I of course opened up my Bible. James 1 begins by talking about finding joy when we face trials, because these trials are producing perseverance. It goes on to say that when we lack wisdom that we must continue to ask God who gives generously to us. And that when we ask Him for wisdom we must have faith and not doubt. When we doubt we are tossed around like a wave in the ocean and are unstable, but instead we need to ask God for wisdom and believe in Him to provide us with His wisdom. After reading through James I went on to read through the book that I am reading and the chapter was about bowing before God in the midst of trying times and letting us worship God through painful moments and joyous moments. Perseverance was described in many ways throughout the chapter and at the end of the chapter the challenge was to write a prayer to God telling Him why I choose to persevere. The thoughts and feelings that I couldn't quite put into words an hour before I opened my mail had been defined and I feel like in this time this is exactly what the Lord is wanting me to learn- to persevere and to ask Him for wisdom in that. I was so encouraged by just a simple letter and a book that I have been reading through all summer. God works in ways that we may not ever think would be a big deal, but I am grateful that he nudges people to speak into others lives and that He uses all kinds of different ways of communicating with us. I definitely don't know what lies ahead or what each new day, month, or year will bring but I do know that God will provide me with the wisdom I need and will lead me where He wants me.
