Jesus replied...

"You do not realize now what I'm doing, but later you will understand." John 13:7

Pay close attention to the word, "now" in that passage. I just about came unglued when I read it. Let me explain...I'm not sure about you but this verse couldn't have come at a better time. I was awakened at 3 this morning and having what I call a N.O.W. night. I'm not talking about a Night of Worship but a Night of Wonder, I might even go as far as saying it was a Night of Worry. I tried fighting the urge to get up but worry and concern kept me from laying there tossing and turning until 5 AM when my alarm usually goes off. I was so overwhelmed I hardly knew what to do. Thank God for the strength to get out the Bible study a friend of mine and I are doing together. We're studying the Psalms of Ascent. I did two days out of my workbook and I can't get over how timely and fitting they both were.

Before I knew it I had written the word, "now" three times just in the first homework assignment. That's how I came up with Night of Wonder as I was wondering about my present circumstances. I thought for a few minutes about others who have had these kind of nights where worry gets the best of you and robs you of sleep. I say, "rob" because there have been times I should have gotten up and searched scriptures instead of laying there not sleeping while wondering, worrying and wrestling over different situations.

There were very probing questions in both of the homework assignments. There were also a lot of liberating verses that reminded me of how much God loves me as His child. Our passage was from Ps. 124: 1-8 and at the end of the 2nd assignment, we had to turn it into a prayer. However, when she asked us to write down the verse that I began with, John 13:7, I started weeping because it was as if God Himself made me get out of the bed to tell me that He knows I don't understand what He is or isn't doing in my circumstances right now but that one day I will. Shew, that's good stuff ya'll. It gets even better than that, hang on! Praise you Father!! There were other verses that reminded me where I might or could have been had I not turned over my life to Him many years ago which caused me to kneel before Him in praise and gratitude. I don't even have the time or space to tell it all as far as how or where I could have ended up. I was thrilled to be reminded, "If the Lord had not been on my side."

The study then took me to a list of promises from Romans 8:28-39 in which I had to place my name in the first slot so that I could take each promise from these passages and apply them. Near the end of the homework I read about a prostitute who had walked into a group in Cape Town, South Africa where some women had gotten together to do a Bible study called, "Breaking Free". She told the women in that group that she "could never go back to her old life." I about had me a fit because this is the exact study that our Life Group just agreed on doing this past Monday night. Now out of all the studies we could have chosen, it was the same exact one which that was mentioned in today's lesson which for me was just another confirmation. It's pretty funny too because I have done this particular study years ago and I would have never thought about doing it again so that's why it wasn't laid on my heart beforehand because I would have argued with God about it. At this point in the lesson my N.O.W. night turned into a W.O.W. morning because I went from a Night of Wonder to a Woman of Worship over the passages I was directed to and because of the confirmation of our study of choice!!

At the end of the last day of homework for the week we had to close in our own prayer from
Ps. 124:1-8. During my prayer that I wrote based off these scriptures, I couldn't help but think about God being my "very present help in the time of need."

So to recap, He met me in my Night of Wonder and lifted a T.O.N. off me in my Time of Need and turned me into a Woman of Worship because He confirmed His love for me through His Word!

Okay, I know, the guys who might be reading this are probably thinking she is weird, she's lost it, she's corny, etc. but I'll tell you what I told the ladies at our Just for the Girls event, "me and Jesus got our own thing goin'." I know the women reading this can relate, it's a woman thang!!!

Be encouraged today, you may not understand what He's doing right now but one day you will!!! He said it, not me.

Have a blessed day!