Monday, May 18, 2015

The One Thing God Can't Do By Marianne Evans

Marianne Evans
“There is one thing God cannot do. One impossibility.” Father Greg paused his homily for a moment. He surveyed the church, waiting, taking in our doubting, puzzled expressions. Impossibilities? For God? No way. “The one thing God cannot do is this: He cannot ever stop loving you.”

What powerful words. What a powerful truth I struggle to absorb and fully believe.

I see my flaws. God sees my heart. I see my failures, God sees my hope. I see my doubts and insecurities which mount by the day it seems. God holds me close and whispers, ‘My child, be still. The battle is Mine, and you are My beloved.’

I encourage and support; I work hard to write the best stories I can. I rejoice in the success and ministries of so many precious people in my life while sometimes beating myself up at the same time, wondering if my message, my call as a writer, isn’t as effective or as ‘good’ as theirs…especially in those moments when I feel like my own world is in a waiting pattern. The process of going still in trust and faith is very hard for me.

The battle is Mine, and you are My beloved.

There have been times of late when waiting for word on contracts, edits, release dates, is akin to falling. Am I trusting? No, I’m anxious. Do I know God will catch me? I like to think so, but, in the heat of battle, in my broken humanity, that’s hard to believe when the world spins by and I feel like I’m, perhaps, the unfruitful vine. In those moments, I reach out, like Peter in the storm-thrashed waves. I cry out, ‘Lord, help my unbelief,’ and there Jesus is, grabbing my hand, lifting me, affirming me with the gift of family, friends, and encouraging moments of support.

The lesson I seem to be learning of late is that in every way—great, small, seen and unseen—God has assigned me a mission. God dwells in as I carry it out. That kind of Spirit-led call is what fired up the apostles, and they probably had no idea the impact their lives would leave behind. In much the same way, I might never see or know the lives I touch through story. It may be one, it may be thousands or more. Doesn’t matter. I’m driven to follow God’s lead. He knows. He loves...no matter what. And, he uses the gifts He gave me to draw people to him. At longest last, I find trust.

‘Not to us, O Lord, but to Your name give the glory.’

God cannot stop loving me…and he cannot stop loving you. What’s your battle? Whatever it is, please remember, you’re central to the success of God’s plan. His good plan. His perfect plan.

What a blessing!


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Ethan Miller’s family has done…what?

His profile is plastered on MingleInFaith.com. Now this career focused, happy-to-be-a-bachelor is forced to endure an episode of speed dating.

Interior designer Natalie Gibbs is on the dating circuit, eager to find ‘the one,’ but she has strict rules about the manner in which she’ll embrace a romantic relationship. She wasn’t even supposed to meet Ethan Miller, but God had other plans.

Ethan spends a month each year in Honduras, offering eye care to the underprivileged. He senses a sweetness to Natalie that prompts him to invite her along on the next mission trip.

The voyage leads them far from their home base of New York City, but straight into the hearts of the Honduran people. Slowly, Ethan’s heart is swayed toward the idea of love. But Natalie’s mission work teaches her about a love that reaches far beyond romance.

What’s God’s plan? Should their hearts combine – or does He want them to serve, and learn, from one another and an extraordinary date night?

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Date Night, is part of the Pure Amore imprint at Pelican Book Group. Pure Amore is a Book of the Month subscription service featuring Christian romances centered on the concept of pre-marital purity and abstinence that doesn’t surrender one moment of the thrill to be found when two people fall in love. Check it out at Pelican Book Group!

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Marianne Evans is a multi-award-winning author of Christian romance and fiction with over twenty titles to her credit. Her hope is to spread the faith-affirming message of God’s love through the stories He prompts her to create.

Happily married and the mother of two, Marianne is a lifelong resident of Michigan who is active in a number of Romance Writers of America chapters, most notably the Greater Detroit Chapter where she served two terms as President.

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