Promises

I love when I read a scripture that I have read hundreds of times and God allows it to somehow come alive to me and I see something that I have never seen before!

Last week while I was reading through Proverbs Chapter 13 I had one of those moments. It happened when I read Proverbs 13:4 "The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." I am sure that I have read that verse before and thought "ok, don't be a sluggard...got it." But last week I saw so much more.

God allowed me to see who I am through that verse. As much as I hate to admit it...I am the sluggard. No, I don't dream of being a couch potato and I don't just like to sit around and eat bon-bons. My desire is NOT to be a sluggard but to often I find myself in that spot. Why you ask? Because I never looked deeper into that verse...I never realized that there in the middle of that short little verse is a HUGE promise. The promise is that those who are diligent will see results. My problem is that I get overwhelmed...I haven't lost weight on my diet that I started 2 days ago so I give up, there is so much laundry piled up that I will never get it done so why not just do something else.

I have realized that diligent means...even when I am tired...even when I am not getting results as quickly as I would like...even when I am in a bad mood...even when I think it will never get done.

This brings me to our latest endeavor. We have purposely been trying for the last several years to get completely debut free except for our house. To be honest God has blessed in amazing ways and we are closer than we thought we would be by this time. However, last week we decided that it was time get our budget in check. We gave ourselves a set amount of money for groceries, gas, and entertainment.

Here is a picture of my very first budget shopping trip:

The budget was $100.00...I spent $105.00.:) I felt like it was a good effort since we needed some of the more expensive items this trip (diapers, batteries, laundry detergent, carpet cleaner etc.) Now, I did make a few mistakes. Like spending the whole amount at one time. I should have saved some for emergency items like running out of milk or baby wipes. But all in all I felt ok about my first attempt.

This made me think a lot about that verse. The old Jenna would have decided this is too hard, I went over the budget, I couldn't get everything I wanted, this will never work, and I would have given up. But not this time. I am clinging to that promise that "the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." I believe that God honors good stewardship and that if we will be diligent (even when it is hard) we will see the results.

I believe this carries over to ALL of the areas of my life. Being fit, being a godly woman, being a godly mom and wife, and most of all being person who is ready to share about my faith in season and out of season WILL NOT happen overnight. It will happen it the small moments when I choose to die to my sluggard self and push forward in diligence knowing that God himself has promised me my desires to be that person He wants me to be will be satisfied.