This is just so like God!

Oswald Chamber's 'My Utmost for His Highest' is my favorite devotional ever. It has a reading for every day of the year. This past Sunday, October 12 (the day of the marathon), the title of the reading was 'Getting Into God's Stride'. How cool is that?!! I love how God gives you just what you need when you need it! I am sharing the whole thing with you because it is just soooo good!

GETTING INTO GOD'S STRIDE

"Enoch walked with God..." (Genesis 5:24)

The true test of a person's spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during the ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exciting happening. a person's worth is revealed in his attitude toware the ordinary things of life when he is not under the spotlight (see John 1:35-37 and 3:30). It is painful work to get in step with God and to keep pace with Him--it means getting your second wind spiritually. In learning to walk with God, there is always the difficulty of getting into His stride, but once we have done so, the only characteristic that exhibits itself is the very life of God Himself. The individual person is merged into a personal oneness with God, and God's stride and His power alone are exhibited.

It is difficult to get into stride with God, because as soon as we start walking with Him we find that His pace has surpassed us before we have even taken three steps. He has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined in His ways. It was said of Jesus--"He will not fail nor be discouraged..." (Isaiah 42:4) because He never worked from His own individual standpoint, but always worked from the standpoint of His Father. And we must learn to do the same. Spiritual truth is learned through the atmosphere that surrounds us, not through intellectual reasoning. It is God's Spirit that changes the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and then things begin to be possible which before were impossible. Getting into God''s stride means nothing less than oneness with Him. It takes a long time to get there, but keep at it. Don't give up because the pain is intense now--get on with it, and before long you will find that you have a new vision and a new purpose.

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

I love the beginning of this, where he talks about that what we do in the ordinary moments is what counts...not the extraordinary moments....I don't think it was a coincidence that I read this the day after the marathon--not the day of. It reminds me that every day I have to get into stride with God. All of those ordinary moments in life are what really matters. Life is a marathon...each little step counts...and I could go on and on but I have to go now and get into the 'ordinary' moments of my life with my five children! :)