I am a weather nerd. I’m the one who checks the weather forecast to decide what to wear the next day. Planning a family outing? Should I water the grass tonight? Let me check the weather.

So it is no surprise that I found myself looking to the sky this morning. It was a beautiful soft blue with a small cloud that seemed to have gotten caught on the top of Pikes Peak as it tried to crest it. Immediately I was reminded of 1 Kings.

“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
“There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”
So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
1 Kings 18: 43-44

You see, I had checked my weather forecast and knew that the professionals were forecasting heavy rain for my area this afternoon. And that innocent, little, puffy cloud hooked on America’s mountain was the first sign.

After years of drought, God told Elijah to present himself to King Ahab and rain would follow. It was a you-do-this-and-I-will-do-that kind of promise. Being an obedient servant of the Lord, Elijah did…and then he prayed…fervently. He prayed until his servant finally brought back word of a teeny tiny little cloud rising from the sea. And that was all Elijah needed to know that his God was on the move, and they better get moving too!

Elijah knew that God’s promise of rain wasn’t a light shower. No, it was going to be a deluge.

Has God given you a promise that you haven’t seen fulfilled yet? Keep praying! Keep watch on the horizon for His sign to you. Even if it means taking seven trips to the shoreline to look for the beginnings of His promise fulfilled. He will fulfill it. The promises that God speaks don’t return void.

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11

Do you hear that? It is thunder in the distance, because….

You are adored.

So what do you do when your heart catches you by surprise?

I think all of us are on a journey with the Lord that includes an intentional vulnerability to allow Him to shape us into the person He created us to be. Honestly, over the years this intentionality has varied with me. Some seasons have had just a trickle of desire to peel back the layers of selfish immaturity. But the longer I walk with the Lord, the deeper that desire has grown. I lean further and further in to Him, asking to highlight situations where I can be more Godly with my response – helping me to see what He is doing in that moment rather than react from my flesh. I want to be proactive. I want to grow. I want to be mature in the Lord.

So the loving gardener of my heart and I go to work. He waters and prunes. I repent and pray. Leaning in for His strength and reaching down deep to grow strong roots that will support the loving work He is doing. It can be a slow, raw work.

The thing about growth is that the Lord often gives us opportunities to practice what we’ve learned. He allows situations that have previously triggered a fleshly response. A pop quiz of sorts. Sometimes that goes well and other times….

So what do you do when your heart catches you by surprise? What is your self-talk when you realize the growth you’ve worked so hard on is not to the level it needs to be at in order to really be Christ-like in the face of difficulty?

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

So, here we go again, Lord. You and me. Walking out the messiness of growth together. You, the patient and kind caretaker of my heart. Me, the impatient sapling longing to be a tall, strong oak. You never weary of my mess. In fact, you delight in it and lovingly whisper…

You are adored.

As little girls we were told to dream big, shoot for the stars, and take hold of the future that is ours. So we dreamed about being doctors or mommies or authors or a million other heroic aspirations.

We boldly told others about what we would do or who we would become – painting the picture for them so they could see it too. Some would smile brightly and encourage us to keep dreaming – telling us how much they believed in us. But the smile of others might have been more like a sneer and their words more of discouragement – telling us we weren’t the type or not smart enough to reach such high goals.

Ouch!

Despite our best efforts to shut them out, the voice of the discouraging would often out-shout the voice of the encouraging in our hearts. The temptation was to stop dreaming, believing, reaching for those God-given dreams planted deep inside. The temptation was to believe that person saw something lacking in us that we didn’t recognize. The temptation was to stop, settle, and perhaps even agree with their lie.

Then God reminds us what He thinks.

Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep. You’re going to need lots of elbow room

for your growing family. You’re going to take over whole nations; you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.
Don’t be afraid—you’re not going to be embarrassed. Don’t hold back—you’re not going to come up short. You’ll forget all about the humiliations of your youth,

and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory.
Isaiah 54:2-4 MSG

Not only does the Lord speak encouragement to us, He does it with certainty about the outcome! He tells us to dream big. Run hard. Laugh loud – louder than any cynic – because He is confident about the result. If our God is for us, who can be against us?!

Beautiful dreamer, it is time to be bold again. Clear the ground, stretch out, and entrust your dreams to the One who planted them in your heart. He is confident of the outcome and you can be too. After all…

You are adored.

Precious friends,

The topic of inspiration has come up several times in the past few days as I’ve visited with friends. The idea that some have really learned the secret to inspiring – or encouraging – people to walk out their best is something I want to learn to do well.

Who inspires you? Is it someone with celebrity – Joanna Gaines, Serena Williams, or Christine Caine? Perhaps someone you know – a mentor, family member, or friend? Their gift of genuine, authentic inspiration is something I’m asking the Lord to develop in me as well.

We are usually inspired when someone encourages the core of who we are. They see the promise in us that can often be dimmed to our own view. Real inspirers:

~Believe in us. They aren’t swayed by the mess of our humanity.

~Speak up. Being vocal is necessary for encouragement. Otherwise, it is just a nice thought!

~Value us. Someone who inspires us can see the God-given significance we embody. Not for their own benefit, but for others’.

The best inspiration comes from those who know us. It takes time to get to know someone well enough to see their heart. Trust must be developed to speak and receive inspiration at the deepest level. And no one has known us longer or more intimately than our loving Father.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Psalm 139:16-17

May I encourage you to watch for the Lord’s inspiration to you in the next few weeks? What is He encouraging you to do, to say, to trust Him about? Then ask Him how you can pour some of that into another with an encouraging word or boost of belief. It is a beautiful circle He has created!

Have a lovely day and remember…

You are adored!