When I was about seven years old, a little hand-held mirror of mine broke. I’d dropped my treasure box, and there it was broken to pieces in the bottom. It was a mishap – an accident. I remember my first thought was a superstitious one – seven years bad luck. I didn’t tell anyone, so I didn’t have anyone tell me that God was bigger than any superstition
Those seven years were hard ones for me. Maybe they are for everyone. Did I believe that superstition? I rolled that thought over in my mind. I didn’t rebuke it. I didn’t toss it out and walk away from it. I let it follow me and I acknowledged it was there.
When I turned 14, I felt liberated. I felt as though a weight was lifted and I was freed from the curse of the broken mirror.
A cloud lifted, hope like sunshine broke through.
I realize I believed wrongly and let a little cloud that had no business covering my life do just that, like a cloud comes between me and sunshine, a false belief come between me and the plan God designed for me.
Jesus told the centurion, a Roman soldier – someone not an insider, but an outsider – “as you have believed, let it be done” (Matthew 8:13). The centurion came not for his wife or his son or daughter, but came for a servant.
“As you have believed, let it be done”
The Roman soldier believed – and it was done as he believed.
What have you believed for?
I’ve believed for crumbs,
and he gave me a feast
I believed for a good, faithful husband,
and it was done beyond what I understood
the fullness of what to hope
I believed for children,
and it was done beyond my imagination
once I believed for a daughter
and he gave me sons
I believed for a cardinal to nest
near my home,
for God’s saving grace in a hard
challenge,
and it was done
I believed for God to heal an empty place
in my soul,
for protection, comfort, and answers
for God to show me how to love
when there was no feeling for it,
and it was done
I’ve believed for dreams to find their way,
and that he will show me how to
bloom riotously where I am planted
in easy and uncomfortable places
and it was done
I’ve believed that he would show me how
to trust him
for a life time,
how to love
the hand that designed
the world and me,
and he has
There’s a list of things I believe for
that my sons have a heart for God
who seek real relationship in their daily
that grows into an abiding, vibrant, sustaining love
for daughter-in-laws with a heart for
my family
for restoration of broken relationships
for God to show me how to live
the rest of this life joyfully, fully,
gracefully
I believe for snow blankets, hydrangea blossoms,
the crunch of autumn leaves.
I believe for laughter, joy,
forgiveness and comfort
in the fabric of my family,
for making cookies with grandchildren,
time for singing little ones to sleep,
and weaving long tales together
in quiet moments.
I believe
it’s already done
maybe not the way I envisioned or
anticipated, or even hoped
He tells me, as I believe
it will be done
I needed a faith-booster tonight, so this post was a real blessing to me. Thank you!
Such a good word and so beautifully written!
So much beautifu Truth spoken here! Wonderful encouragement for a few areas where it’s sometimes hard to keep believing. Thank you, Maryleigh. I’m believing (and hoping and praying). May I stay out of the way and let God…
What a beautiful list, Maryleigh! “He tells me, as I believe it will be done.” I know there are bigger things I need to be believing correctly for, and letting go of lies that I’m believing instead. It’s hard to identify those at times, but once we do, the beautiful truth shines so brightly we wonder how we missed it. Thanks for sharing this great truth with us and for your great examples. Those crazy cracked mirrors. 🙂
What we believe God for is so important! Thank you for sharing this beautiful word. I needed to hear it today.
these pictures calm my soul with their beauty, Maryleigh …
lovely.
Simply gorgeous!! What a reminder of the promises of faith, the beautiful ways God answers our prayers as we draw near with a believing heart!! You’ve inspired me today as I noticed a dull faith this Monday morning..until I returned to all I was grateful for, and all God has given me! Your writing is so beautiful!
How much I enjoyed reading this! You’ve challenged me to look at my own list of what I believed!
Your poem was absolutely beautiful!! It brought me such encouragement!
Recently, I have been praying a portion of the verse about the Roman centurian back to the Lord, praying that He need only say the word, and a loved one’s addiction can be healed, but I was challenged when I read this post of whether I am “truly believing this”. Your insights gave me such hope to pray the promise that when I believe, it will be done for me. Maybe not how I envision it, but beyond what I hoped or expected, knowing that the Lord’s purposes are full of love and for His Glory.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Blessings,
What a beautiful list of things you’ve believed in and will believe in. So sorry about your spending 7 years as a child thinking you had to have “bad luck.” Yikes! Thanks for your encouragement to believe God for good things, even when they’re different than we expect!
Such a beautiful post. And that God. Sometimes when we only believe for a little, He gives so much more than we can ask or think. I love the intimate prayers of yours where He said Yes! And that you shared the ones where He said, “I have a different plan.” (Like when you prayed for a daughter).
Thank you for the reminder of God’s lavish love for us. I’ll be thinking on this tonight.
Words are so very important and breaking the word curses spoken over us are too. I’m believing for many of the same things you are for my family. God is faithful and I am thankful!
Blessings,
Patti
So lovely, Maryleigh. I can relate to many of the things you’ve believed that God has given and the “more” parts as well. He is a good God, isn’t He?! Hugs to you, my friend!
Maryleigh, I love this so much! What a tonic, faith boost and encouragement all rolled into one. Thank you for sharing your heart’s desires and the wonderful way in which God has fulfilled them. It gives us all hope of seeing things come to pass in our own lives too. Dreams remain alive when watered by faith. May you keep anticipating good things and witness even more grace gifts to rejoice in during the days and years ahead. Blessed to be your neighbour for #TellHisStory 🙂 x
Just beautiful – you have done my heart good – thank you so much. Visiting from Three Word Wednesday.
Maryleigh,
What a beautiful list of how God has blessed you above and beyond what you believed….and it is a mystery, His grace….Thank you for your very empathetic and sweet comment on my blog about my 2011 post…I appreciate your sweet spirit, my friend 🙂 And I’m sorry you had to suffer so for 7 years as a child, it reminds me of the power of those childhood thoughts and when we don’t have a way to check its veracity.
Great words! God’s been working on me to believe what He has promised. I appreciate your encouragement!
Ahhh Maryleigh, such a beautiful post. I don’t visit here often enough. I absolutely love your words. It also shows we should believe for big things and I don’t mean stuff either. Restoration that seems impossible, joy that seems doubtful, fruit that seems out of reach… Yes, time to dream God-sized dreams.
God bless my friend. I am adding this post to my list of favourites.
Tracy
I remember visiting before and loving your writing. I will make a note to visit more often. Such gorgeous musings about God’s promises, it touched my heart making me realize how much God has done for me more than I can have imagined! This dug deep into my heart: “I believed for children,
and it was done beyond my imagination..” I had a conversation with my teen who asked me last night about the miscarriages I had before he was born..it was a hard talk, but I told him, if I didn’t have them, I wouldn’t have you. I was 40 when he was born. Blessed God!!