Signing, Phantom, & the Greek on Discerning God's Will

Hi Friends,

First, if you're in the Salinas, CA area this weekend, I wanted to let you know I'll be signing copies of Beyond the Night and Veil of Fire at the B Dalton Bookstore in the Northridge Mall on Saturday from 1-3pm. So, if you're around, drop by! I'd love to see you!

Next, last week Bryan and I took a fun trip to Las Vegas with our friends, Bill & Patti Risinger. I was celebrating my birthday (I won't tell ya which ;-)), and they were celebrating their anniversary. LOTS of fun! My favorite part, besides the great company, was seeing THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA production at the Venetian. I'm a huge Phantom fan, so that was especially fun. It's a great production, in a theater designed specially for the Phantom, so if you get to Vegas, I highly recommend seeing the show!

We also did some shopping in various malls. Here's a picture of Bryan and I picking out some fun gifts for our girls at the Fao Schwarz toy store in the Caesar's Palace Mall. (Thank you to Grandma & Grandpa for taking care of the girls while we were away!)

And lastly, Bill introduced me to a neat Greek word that's found in Acts 16:10. Oh, how I love the Greek! In Acts 16, Paul and his group are going around the region of Phrygia and Galatia, while finding some places open to them and others that the Spirit is not allowing them to visit. Basically, Paul is trying to figure out where he should go and what he should do. Sound familiar? Don't we all need to figure out where God wants us to go and what He wants us to do?

Well, in Acts 16:10, it says that Paul "sumbibazontes" (you've got to say that one out loud! :-)) that God had called them to preach the good news in Macedonia. Sumbibazw (that's the simple verb form) doesn't just mean to decide on the one hand, or to "hear and obey" on the other. What it means is to "unite, bring together, hold together" to come to a conclusion.

As I heard that word, I realized that much of life following Jesus involves sumbibazw - it's not about just making your own decisions, but nor is it about waiting for a direct command from God. It's about recognizing the things that God is doing in your life and bringing them together to determine the next step. It's about pulling together God's actions in all the parts of life and seeing how He is guiding you through it all. It's about being wise and discerning. It's about seeing the hand of God not just in prayer or Bible reading or church attendance, but in every aspect of your life.

So, as you go about seeking God's will for you in your everyday life, may you remember to sumbibazw! God is at work ... see Him. And in seeing Him, you'll sumbibazw what to do.