Availability

OK, story time guys! I have such a cool testimony to share :D

So, lately God has been asking me to run as part of my quiet time in the mornings--this is not something I particularly enjoy, and most mornings I'm fighting it, but God invites me to come and run with Him. He is so faithful to speak to me during these times. My mind can be quite divergent, so running is actually very helpful for me when praying because it keeps part of my mind busy so I can focus on praying for longer. Often times these prayer times include quite a bit of prayer asking God to please help me to keep going :P

Part 1:

One morning this week, I was debating with God, per usual, and finally made it out the door and onto the path and I started running. Then I felt like God was telling me to turn a different way than usual, I didn't really understand, but I decided to give it a go. After running for another minute or so, God told me to stop, and look at the sunrise. Again, I was a bit confused...and wondering if I was actually hearing God, or if I just REALLY didn't want to run. As I was standing on the path (trying not to get hit by bikers passing by) and looking at this sky...

As, I stared at this beautiful view, I felt like God was saying, "Haley, I want to tell you something new". So I stood there waiting, and waiting, and waiting...praying, "God please, I need to hear you speak". Then, I got this revelation--God's plan is like the sun--it's too big and wonderful for us--if we looked straight at His plan, we would be blinded. So, He places clouds to block our view, the light shines out and at different points we see more or less of the plan. The clouds aren't there to hide things from us in a vindictive sort of way, but they protect us from things we can't understand or comprehend and they reveal to us parts of God's plan in the right timing. WOW, what a beautiful picture of how God interacts with us and invites us into His big story!!

Part 2:

The next day came and once again I found myself fighting to get out of the house to go for a run. A bit of context: I am meant to meet the rest of the school at a certain time, which means I have to leave for the run with enough time to get back and meet them on time. This particular morning, I was really pushing it with time, but felt like God was still asking me to go and that He would help me to get back on time. I started running and was going particularly slow, then I got a text from the school leader and she canceled the meeting, which meant I could run as slow as I wanted, Hallelujah!!! I kept going and saw this beauty...

Wow, God gives me such a lovely view each morning!! As I was coming to the close of my run, I came to this wonderful (horrible) hill and started running up. Just in front of me on the path was this woman, as soon as I saw her, I heard God ask me to go and pray for her.

My immediate response was, nope...

To which He replied, "Haley you have no excuse, you have nowhere to be, you have plenty of time". Something in me knew that if I asked her if she wanted prayer, she would say no, but God was so clearly urging me to do it anyways.

The scene that followed was probably humorous for any onlookers. I stopped running and tried to casually cruise up beside her, but she was walking really fast, so I had to do this awkward walk/jog/run thing to get next to her. AND...she had headphones in...so as I got next to her and caught her attention, I motioned that I wanted to say something. She took her earphones out and waited...

I told her that I was a Christian and that I felt like God was asking me to pray for her then I asked if there was anything she wanted prayer for. She said no, but that me asking me asking her was quite relevant.

Woah, wait, what?

God you are so good.

I asked if she was sure she didn't want prayer, and she said yeah. I got her name, and then continued on my run. Every muscle in my body felt like it released and I was running so much faster. I was really in awe of what had just happened and heard God saying to me, "Haley everything about this morning, the fact that you left late, your meeting was canceled, you ran slow, everything was because you were meant to meet that woman and say those things to her because she needed to hear them".

WOW...

I think we all know that God uses us, or I guess, I hope that everyone knows that. Often times we don't get to see behind the scenes, we don't know the effects of our obedience. That morning God moved the clouds and showed me more of His plan and how all the little things worked together. I love being used by God in His story, and it all comes back to one word--AVAILABILITY.

Are we available to be used by God? Are we available to be interrupted, redirected, and nudged along by the Holy Spirit? Do we have a posture of availability, approachability, and adaptability in everyday life? I am constantly challenged by this, and oftentimes my answer to these questions is "no", but each time I step out and say "yes" it gets easier for the next time, and the next, and the next, and I praise God that He continues to invite me into His perfect plan!