I Give Up!!!!!

You won’t need to fight in this battle. Just stand strong in your places, and you will see the Lord save you. Judah and Jerusalem, don’t be afraid or discouraged, because the Lord is with you. So go out against those people tomorrow.

2 Chronicles 20:17 

 

 

I am going to be PAINFULLY honest with you....these last few weeks have pushed my bride and I to the point where we are ready to give up.  It's as if each time we're just about to get up and see sunshine, more punches come raining down on us.  And please let me be even more honest, when you have reached the point where you wonder "what next?" let me share a few things from personal experience:

•  When the punches rain down like boulders, it's very easy to focus on the pain and discomfort of the immediate situation instead of focusing on God who knew this was coming and has already put a plan in place to get us through this.
• You slap on a "happy face" for everyone to see, even though you heart is breaking and your life has been turned every which way but up.  But you're expected to never experience any turmoil because God loves you, and you're expected to wear the mask of serenity for the benefit of those who see you. 
• You want to spent all your time doing anything that will help distract you from the  bombardment EXCEPT listen to someone quote Bible verses to you.  You KNOW the Bible speaks truth, but you aren't in the frame of mind to truly hear what is being said.
• You feel as if you are drowning because stress and anxiety have such a tight hold on you that it takes conscious effort to breathe.

 

Now, I don't say these things seeking sympathy, but writing this is therapeutic for me, and I also know we are not the only ones having to deal with this blitzkrieg of challenges.  So....what can we take from this?  How can we practically make it through?  Here are some of the ways I am learning to deal:

• Accept what is happening and know that, even though it may be excruciating and life altering, this is a temporary situation.
• BE HONEST WITH GOD! Let's face it, God already knows everything about your situation and is already dealing with it.  If you need to change a perspective or an action or an attitude, be honest and tell God about it.
• Find an outlet!  Write it out, talk it out, praying is ALWAYS good because you are talking with God who is in control of all things.
• Keep with your routines.  Routines give you a way to physically occupy yourself and helps keep you focused.
• Try to find some positive point, no matter how seemingly insignificant, that will break your downward spiraling thought patterns. 
• And here's the part I struggle with most: When you talk with God about it,  let HIM deal with it! Take your hands off!  Don't try to tell Him how He needs to do His job or tell Him that your way is better than His.  Tell Him what is on your heart and then let Him deal with it.

The realization that hit my like a thump to the forehead....God has not taken you home yet, so it's His job to get you through this troublesome time.  We may not like the outcome, but when we understand that God does EVERYTHING for our good and His glory, our perspective will begin to change.

The Gift

May my words and my thoughts
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my sheltering rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:14 

 

How many years have we spent on ourselves?  Doing what WE wanted to do because it was fun or would lead us to something better?  We like it when we enjoy what we do and when our lives are going well.

 

Did you know that OUR lives are one of God's gifts to us?  Did you also know that OUR lives are our gift to God?  What we think and what we say and what we do are our gift that we give to God every moment of every day.  

 

Now, understand, I am not saying that we should pretend to be nice to someone or that we should accept unacceptable behaviors, because that would be giving God the LIE of what we think He wants from us.  God wants us and, through Jesus, commands us that we are to love each other.  Love does not mean accept unacceptable behaviors or words; Love means you care enough about that person to go to them and try to correct the behavior or words.  Sometimes Love means keeping distance for a time so as to let wounds heal.  

 

In a few weeks, we will be celebrating the sacrifice Jesus made for us because He loves us so much, that is His gift.  What gift can we offer that will be acceptable to Him?

Time To Pick A Side!

But if you don’t want to serve the Lord, you must choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. You may serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, or you may serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land. As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:15 

 

Ever been asked why you choose to believe the way you do?  Ever chosen any other way to believe or have you ever chosen not to believe because you couldn't understand why things happened the way they did?

 

November 17, 1981, my world came crashing in and I admit that I began to question why I believed some of the things I believed.  In fact, when I got to college (at a BAPTIST school) the only church I would attend were the Tuesday morning required Chapel services where I spent my time either reading, sleeping, or finishing up a project.  I was not sure that what I believed was true!  So I took time to stop for a couple of years.  I took a few more years re-evaluating what I had been taught to believe.  Those 10 years were spent wondering and wandering.  

 

Then I found a book called "A Scandalous Freedom" by Steve Brown.  This was followed by a whole list of books that seemed as though were written just for me.  One of the points made through these authors is that we must look at WHAT we choose to worship because, after all, worship is a choice we make.

 

What do you worship?  

• Perhaps it's your job. Your job comes before everything and everyone.  Your job defines who you are and gives you great satisfaction at the cost of your friendships, relationships, and when you retire...you are left wondering what to do with yourself.  
• Perhaps it's your children.  You take pride in their accomplishments and gush with pride at their antics.  You ignore your spouse and those who don't worship your children with you because, "they just don't get it."  When your children are grown, you wonder what happened to them and what to do with yourself.
• Maybe it's sports.  You play sports, watch sports, quote all the statistics, schedule your day so you don't miss a single moment of a single game.  You might even go so far as to spend countless dollars on paraphernalia and memorabilia devoting entire rooms in your home to SPORTS!
• Some even worship church.  Odd, how that sounds, but it's the truth.  They worship church because the band plays songs we like to hear; the preacher is dynamic and preaches sermons make me feel good but doesn't make me understand that I need to make some changes.  The socials are great!

My point is this, every single one of us choose to worship something.  My life experience has taught me that the things I worshiped did not last and did not help.  Oh, they gave me moments of escape from reality for a while, but it wasn't long lasting and it wasn't satisfying. But there comes a time when we have to choose whose side we're going to be on.  Jesus told us, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. NO man comes to the Father except through Me" - John 14:6.  Jesus promised to be with us and never ever leave us.  My life experiences have proven that to me over and over.

This is not like picking teams for dodgeball where someone else decides whose team you end up on.  In life, YOU make the choice!  Please, choose wisely. 

 

 

 

Courtesy of God

¹ The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
² Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
³ They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard.
⁴ Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world.

Psalm 19:1-4 

Have you ever seen a sunrise?  I'm not a "morning person" usually, but every once in a while I am up before the sun and get to see it rise.  That sight is amazing in its beauty! And it's courtesy of God.

Sunset is equally as breathtaking.  And there's truly nothing like a clear night where the stars stand out like lanterns and the full moon glows.  Again, courtesy of God.

And even though there are no words that can adequately describe the sights, God speaks to us through His creation as loudly as through a megaphone...but only if we are listening.  

The question I have to ask myself, and you need to ask yourself as well, are we listening to God?  

 

Excuse Me.....Are You Lost?

If you go the wrong way—to the right or to the left—you will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the right way. You should go this way.”

Isaiah 30:21 

 

Okay, I admit it....I speak sarcasm with some fluency.  I was picking up a couple of items from the grocery store the other day and when I got to the checkout, the exhausted clerk asked in a monotone exasperated I-Have-To-Ask-You-This tone of voice, "Did you find everything you were looking for?"  I wish I could say that I could not stop the words from coming out of my mouth, but that would be a lie.  Without looking up from the card reading contraption, I said, "Well......I found the peanut butter and the bread, but I just could NOT find where you keep the walrus jelly."

 

Men seem to have a reputation for not wanting to stop to ask directions.  I rode with one person who had a GPS on their phone and this person got angry with the voice because it was female and he didn't like some female telling him where to go.  But let's face facts, we don't like being lost, but we're also not very good at following directions sometimes either.

 

But imagine if you were traveling along the road, lost and looking for some sign of where you need to go, when you hear a voice in your ear say, "Might want to turn around, the bridge ahead is out and I love you enough to keep you safe."  Hmmmm......'But God doesn't really talk to us like that, Padre?" (I heard you say that).  But consider this, Scripture gives us direction and teaches us right from wrong.  Scripture even gives us some wonderful examples of good people making big blunders because they didn't follow God's directions.

 

Ponder this thought for a moment:  When you go to a city you have never visited before, do you know how to get to all the destinations you need?  NO!  It takes time and practice to learn the roads and the shortcuts (the ones that really are shortcuts, not the "more scenic" ones that take hours longer).  When we make it a habit to read the Bible, we will begin to find the direction we need to go.  When there's a question in our mind, God will bring to memory a verse that tells us where to go.

 

It's still not too late to begin a Bible Study....just sayin'  

Just Let Them Be? Are You Mad?

This is My commandment: that you love one another, as I have loved you.

John 15:12 

When you think of a parent showing love to their child, what comes to mind?  Is it giving them lots of gifts?  Perhaps it's letting them do whatever they want, when they want, to whom they want?  After all, children are adorable and would NEVER do anything that could construed as "wrong".....  If this is how you perceive showing love, you're completely miss the point of Jesus' words.

When a parent truly loves their child, they will teach that child!  They will teach their child that their actions have consequences...good or bad consequences, but every thought and action will result in some sort of consequences.

Remember the Israelites when they left Egypt heading toward the promised land?  God truly loved and loves His children.  What happened when the Israelites decided they knew the best way to do things instead of following God's direction?  God let them wander around the desert until the sinful generation had died (and that generation included Moses).

Remember King David, The Beloved of God? What did God do when David decided he wanted to take another man's wife (Bathsheba)?  Did God tell David, "That's okay.  You take who you want.  As long as it makes you happy, it's okay with me"?  If that's your answer, then perhaps you need to read the Bible story again.  God loved David enough to make him the ruler over Israel, but God also loved David enough to HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE!

You see, if we truly love someone we must love them enough to comfort them, as well as, correct them gently (or more harshly if the lesson is not learned).  

Let's look at this another way...let's say you want to lose weight (and I'm NOT saying that you do, just that you WANT to), what helps you more: your friends letting you do what you want, eat what you want, and not offering any motivation OR your friends holding you accountable by going to the gym WITH you, eating better WITH you, and encouraging you?

You see, giving someone everything they want so they don't have to do anything for themselves is NOT showing love.  Letting someone do whatever they want without any accountability or consequence is not love.  Love is teaching and guiding and encouraging and caring.  Jesus even reminds us in John 14:15: "IF you love Me, you will keep My commandments."  True love is never passive or inactive!  True love builds us up whether we like it or not.

When It Rains...

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
    he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

Psalm 34:18 

 

In the movie "Forrest Gump," there is a scene where Forrest is waist deep in water and monsoon season starts.  Forrest said, "One day it started raining, and it didn't stop for FOUR MONTHS!"  He and his platoon members walked in the rain, sat in the rain, slept in the rain, ate in the rain and the rain just kept on coming.

 

Ever have one of those seasons of life where it feels like the rain just won't stop?  You feel like Job when the messenger came to deliver bad news and before he could finish speaking, here came the next messenger with bad news and before he could finish speaking, ANOTHER messenger came with bad news.  It feels as though the bottom has dropped out of your world and you are helpless.

 

Let me give you a couple of Ponder Points:

•  Storms are going to come in life.  If we didn't have storms, we wouldn't appreciate the sunshine as much.
• Just because we can't see the sun during the storm doesn't mean the sun isn't there.  Look above the clouds and you will see the sunshine!
• When the rains come, we have a choice to make: cower and cry OR let the rain cleanse us.  God sometimes brings the rains to clear away the dust that has clouded our sight for so long.
• Sometimes God allows storms for the sole purpose of reminding us that HE is the one who is in control and that we need to look to Him!  He never leaves us, but sometimes we forget to remember that.  
• Talk with God through the storms! Remembering that all His Son had to do was tell the storm to quiet down, and it obeyed.