EMBRACE THE MOMENT
- Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro
- Jul 11, 2018
- 5 min read
“...In quietness and confidence is your strength”
Isaiah 30:15
Every year, towards the end of the year, I ask God to give me a passage He wants me to learn more of for the upcoming year. These scriptures become my life’s verses. They shape me and mold me into all God is trying to do in me. I started this in my 20’s.
This particular verse has been a hard one for me. So much so, God made me repeat it the following year with this message, “You didn’t learn this verse. You must learn this truth. Therefore, I’m giving it back to you for the following year.” That was hard for me to swallow. I still remember sitting in front of my fireplace, looking at my Christmas tree, holding my Bible, crying, and begging God to please change His mind. He didn’t. He was serious, and I didn’t want to go through the hardships again.
I will never forget it. Our family tradition is church on Christmas Eve, then our traditional Italian big fish dinner at my home. I cook 12 different types of fish and my family, closest friends, which includes my pastor and his family come for dinner.
Everyone knows the routine. We come back from church and sit around the dining room table as my dad reads the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth. We sing, pray, and we hold our little white candle as we go around the table sharing what God has done in our lives. Each one of us, about 30 of us, as we finish sharing, we light the candle of the person sitting next to us. I’m always last to go, and I share the Bible verse God gave me for the coming year, how He confirmed it, and what God has told me about it.
You can imagine my embarrassment having to admit before my family, friends, and my pastor, God was making me redo a Bible verse for another year because I didn’t learn my lesson the previous year. I was sitting next to Pam, his wife, and one of my best friends, who knows me inside out. She can predict with 100% accuracy what I’m going to say, and how I’m going to react in every single situations, but then, we have been accused of being alike. And it’s true. We love talking about God and all He has done. We have been there for each other in the toughest of times and working together to see other lives live the blessed life has been our passion. And she’s the only one I can be on the phone with until our cells die, and we charge phone while we're still talking. Best conversations have taken place after our children were put to bed, and we talk with no interruptions until the early hours of the morning and have had the best prayer times, too.
Pam and I spent hours on the phone discussing this, “Repeat of Bible verse.”
Her best line ever, “Teresa, you have to embrace the moment.”
“Pam, stop telling me to 'Embrace the moment!'”
It’s so difficult, I don’t want to embrace this moment,” I tell her.
Those two years were difficult ones. Extremely, hard, and extremely painful. I tried so hard to push my way through. The truth was I was overlooking two very important words. “Quietness and Confidence.” I was so to busy focusing on proving to God I got it, I missed it again. Truth was I still didn’t get it.
I have always known in my Spirit I never learned my lesson. Until
this morning and one of my friends posted just this part of the verse on Facebook. It then hit me. Here we are years later, and finally I see what God has been trying to teach me all along.
Finally, God whispers into my heart this morning, “Quietness means to be still. Be still and know I am God!” It’s hard for me to be quiet. No shocker here, I’m sure those who know me are laughing at this comment. Go ahead laugh, I’m laughing with you. Truth is God is our peace, in the middle of our turbulent times. I forget God says, “Quiet. Be still,” to the storms in our lives, and there is tranquility and peace in the raging storm. Here lies first part of our strength.
Next whisper, “Do you know in Whom you trust?” Confidence means trust. “In whom do you believe and place your trust in?” Came the next words. Confidence is in a God that never ever fails. He is perfect in every way, and He comes in right on time. Never late, never early. His timing is beautiful every time. He really does make everything beautiful in His time. This is our strength in accepting His time and having the conference it will happen just as He said. Confidence is all about knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt He is in control of everything. This is our second part of the strength.
REFLECTION: "For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: In sitting still and rest shall ye be saved, In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength..." (JPS Tanakh 1917). Do you want to know the secret to your strength? I believe God didn’t just speak to me this morning but is speaking to you, too. You want real strength? The kind that doesn’t push you down to the ground? The strength to scale mountains, and get to the mountain top? The strength that keeps you grounded in hope? The strength that never makes you give up and keeps you going? The strength to go from day to day? The strength that makes you get up every morning singing great is your faithfulness? The strength that believes and is unmovable regardless of the raging storms? It’s two simple words, “quietness and confidence!” This is the secret. God wants you to have it. Grab hold of these precious and powerful words. Practice them in your life.
Don’t be like me getting this truth years later. Speak to your situation. “My strength is in my God. I will be still and quiet in the storm. I will put my faith, trust, and hope in Him. My confidence iS in my God!” Guess what? This declaration just made you victorious. The battle has just been won, and the victory is yours. God is in control of every single trial you face. Our strength is found always in our quietness and confidence in believing WHO HE IS!
I’m so filled with joy. Will you join me in declaring, “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be happy in it? My strength is in You. My obedience is in being quiet and having confidence in You GOD!"
Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, You are the God of all Truth. Thank You for Your continual guidance and for being My Instructor. Lord, help me to embrace each moment, and help to know You more. As I commit myself to be still before You, help me to know You are the God who does not fail, that You are the God in whom all my hope is found, that You are the God who always faithful to His Word. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Linda A. Knowles
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