Being a Princess... In the Jungle

I was changing purses. You know how it is... I had put last fall's purse in the box with a few things left inside of it, so it was a treasure chest now! Inside was one of my notebooks - a little one that flips up over the top. It was open to a page and had prayer requests in it. I closed it only to find that it had been my notebook at a women's retreat in KC last spring (a year ago... 2007...). The speaker was Carolyn Johnson, one of my favorites! So, I thought I would journal through my notes of her sessions over the next few days and revisit what I had learned. (I'm not sure what I really took away from them at the time because I was 'working' the event...)

You know, we all go through life and life can be really stinky. What we often tend to forget is that
NOTHING HAPPENS TO ME THAT ISN'T FILTERED THROUGH GOD'S WILL
I forget that a lot, don't you? That doesn't mean that nothing bad is going to happen to me or that I'm not going to suffer consequences due to my own choices or the choices of those around me, but God will work His Will through it all.

Look at Genesis 29. Read it through.
I. The Picture
Jacob meets Rachel and falls in love
II. The Problem
Rachel has an older sister, Leah
Their father switches the daughters at the wedding and makes Jacob work an additional 7 years for Rachel.
III. The Prescription
Suffering - Leah knew she was not loved, but God had opened her womb. She had sons...one after another. Reuben (Look-It's-A-Boy), Simeon (God Heard), and Levi (Connect), but it wasn't until she had Judah (Praise-God) that she chose to say, "This time I'll praise God," and submit to His Will.
Submission - this is the goal. We must submit to His Will. When I am in the jungle of life, when I am suffering, I must turn my pain into praise. I must fix my eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter.

You are a Chosen One! You are not chosen to resist suffering, but to Praise God through it!

Judah, Leah's son, is the son through which Jesus's line comes. Normally, this honor would be given to the first-born. Not in this case. God waited for Leah to praise Him through her pain and the reward is that Judah becomes the line through which Jesus will enter the world!

Turn your pain into praise!