Oh, my friends. Change can be hard, and God’s pruning touch can be painful. But when we keep Him first, we will not only endure but thrive. This older post of mine is helping me today as the Lord prunes things from my life. I pray it helps you too, whatever situation you’re facing. Keep God first, precious soul. Everything else will fall into place. 

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God wants to be first in your life. He wants you to choose Him, running to HIM with your good news, crying out to HIM in your pain.

He jealously longs for you. To be with you and to protect you. To lavish His love on you.

Imagine going for a walk and tucking in your earbuds. You search and search for just the right song.

When you’re hurting, perhaps you need lyrics that will make you feel like someone understands what you’re going through.

Maybe you need to cry, and you want the song to drown out your sobs. You need your pain to blend into the music and somehow disappear.

Or maybe you search for a song that matches your upbeat mood, and you want the song to soar in your heart and lift you even higher because you feel like you could run faster than the wind, laughing all the way.

You want the beat to merge with your heart until you forget where you are, and the moment takes you beyond yourself.

But while you’re walking, earbuds in and the music either blending or merging with what’s captivated your heart at the moment, the One who walks with you KEEPS walking with you.

Waiting.

God waits for you to notice Him, to remember Him, and to talk with Him. He longs for you to cry out to Him and reach for His hand instead of fiddling with your earbuds.

Your heavenly Father wants you to draw closer to Him when you feel broken. And He wants to see the joy in your eyes, hear it in your voice when His blessings thrill you.

Don’t drown Him out with the noise of this world. Don’t let distractions drag you away from Him.

Don’t you know? God understands what you’re going through because He’s been with you all along. He knows what breaks your heart just like He knows what makes it swell with joy.

Oh, precious soul. Before you reach for your cell phone, log in to social media, or grab those earbuds, take a moment to be still.

Take a moment to be still with your heavenly Father. Not only does He have the comfort, strength, answers, and joy that you need…

…but He misses you. 

“You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find.” 

James 4:4-6 MSG.