Two Sorts of Living

I recently finished reading the fiction novel, The Penny, by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford. I have to say it was a good novel. It's about a young girl who faces the struggle of an abusive father. God uses a penny to show her that He is watching out for her and that He has a plan for her life.
In chapter 21, the main character Jenny, is coming to some realizations. God used several people in the story to show her things, one of those people being Miss. Shaw.

In this passage Jenny says...

"I understood that there were two sorts of living: one where you run away from things that hurt too much to look at, and one where you looked at those hurtful things and kept right on going forward anyway. God's willing to show you your heart if you want to see it. God's willing to take hold of what's there and fix you up when you're ready. Every trek starts with putting one foot in front of the other, just one stride at a time."

There are a lot of us who are prone to running instead of facing our issues. When hurt we push it aside and pretend everything is fine. We walk away from things and bury hurt deep down inside instead of sticking up for ourselves. We blame ourselves, thinking we deserve what comes our way. We make excuses for the things we do. We hold on to our past and we live our life in fear. Sometimes we just blame others.

When faced with something hard we need to look deep into ourselves and ask God, "What are you trying to show me here?" I think a lot of times we are afraid to do that because we don't want to see where we are wrong. No one likes to be wrong, and it is much easier to point the finger at others and what they have done. The fact is... yes, the other person may have hurt you... but God allowed it to happen for a reason. Ask Him! He uses many things to grow us into the person He wants us to be.

The hardest thing I have been dealing with... for what seems like forever... is me.
I have always had a low self-esteem. I feel like I fail in so many ways. I am selfish and needy. I am not a fighter... I seek the approval of others. I spend much of my life feeling like I am walking on egg shells... waiting for something to happen. I base my moods on those around me. I over think on what I am going to say or do in almost every situation. Sometimes I wonder if I even know who I am.

Then there are times of complete clarity... times of peace that only comes from the Lord. God has used many ways of speaking to me... His word... a song... a book... and people around me. He is so patient with me... doing what ever it takes to hold my hand and remind me that He loves me... and that He does have a plan for my life.
He is healing me... of those old wounds that I am slowly facing. He used that passage from this book to remind me that He is right there beside me taking those steps with me.

We can try to run away from our past, from pain, from hard things...but those things are always one step behind us. Let God show your heart... face those things that hurt and keep right on going. The past has a lot to do with where you are... let God use it to change you and shape you into the person He has called you to be. Let Him fix it.

Sufferings

All of us go through things... things that hurt. I don't know anyone who likes to go through suffering. You hear people make the joke that it(challenges/suffering/pain) comes in 'three's'. I mean, it's almost never just one thing that happens to us. I can almost picture Satan just continuing to kick us when we have already been knocked down.
How many of us have compared our own sufferings to the life of Job. Although, very few of us have lost everything... Job lost his children/family, he lost all of his herds of sheep and his shepherds and then he lost all his camels... (his riches.)Then he had health issues.(But, Satan was limited by God, he was told he couldn't take Job's life.)
Then on top of all of this, he was blamed for it... his friends said that it all happened to him because he must have sinned. Job even thought about what his friends were telling him. What he couldn't understand was why he was suffering so much when he was sure he had done nothing to deserve such pain. Even his wife wanted him to curse God.
He did question God... as we all have when we are in the midst of pain. Job even cursed the day he was born. I have personally wanted to through my hands up in the air... feeling like it would be better off if I was never born... or... I give up, I would rather die than deal with all this.
Often we do suffer consequences for bad decisions and actions. Job's willingness to repent and confess for his sins is a good guideline for us. Sometimes suffering shapes us for special service to others. Sometimes suffering is an attack by Satan on our lives. And sometimes we just never know why we suffer. At those times are we willing to trust God in spite of unanswered questions.

Dear brothers and sisters, when (not if) troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when (not if) your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete. needing nothing.
God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptations. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:2-4,12

Trails give us strength... when we respond to them with the right attitude.
Job was a man of faith, he showed his faith in his actions... he may have questioned God, but he never cursed and blamed God.
Job was also a man of patience and endurance.

For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. James 5:10-11

We know the end of Job's story... he was given everything back. God blessed and returned all that Job had lost, because Job was faithful.

We have to rely on God in our times of suffering. We have to know that He sees the 'big' picture. He has a plan for what He is allowing us to go through. He will use it to glorify His name in the end.

Thinking too much?

I plan just about everything... I have to know what I'm doing at all times.
This includes much of what I say. When faced with a situation... I am very quick to think... and over think... everything I should and shouldn't say. I am so afraid that I am going to say something wrong and I will hurt someone, or that I'll hurt myself, after all who wants to make themselves look bad?! I will say though, I can't even tell you how many times this has back fired on me... and I end up doing what I hoped I wouldn't... saying something wrong.
I would love to be able to speak my mind... to say what's on my heart. I don't know why that has to be so hard for me. Fear... that sums it up pretty well.

God used my devotion time, again, to get me thinking.

But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious about how or what you are to speak; for what you are to say will be given you in that very hour and moment, for it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of you Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:19-20

"Do you realize how much peace can be ours if we will just stop trying to figure out in advance everything we need to day and do in every situation we face in life? If you are like me, you wear yourself out trying to prepare yourself for every situation you are likely to run into in the future. You try to plan and rehearse every word you are going to speak in every interview and conversation. Jesus is telling us here that we don't have to do that. He is telling us to trust all that to the Holy Spirit who will guide us and direct us.
When we do have to make hard decisions or solve complicated problems or confront difficult people, the Holy Spirit will decide the proper time and the best approach. He will give us the right words to say. Until then, we don't need to bother ourselves with it. If we listen to what the Lord is telling us here in this passage, not only will we have more peace, but we will also enjoy more success. Because when we do have to speak, what comes out of our mouth will be spiritual wisdom from God and not something that we have come up with out of our own carnal mind."
-Joyce Meyer, from New Day New You

Reading this was like looking in a mirror. I realized that I am putting so much pressure on myself for nothing! The fact is... I don't have to have things figured out. Wearing myself out about what I should or shouldn't say shows that I'm not relying on the Holy Spirit's guidance. Wow! that's big. This, once again shows my lack of trust. Ouch, I feel that in my heart! God is amazing in the way that He lovingly and patiently molds us to what He has called us to be.

"God helps those who help themselves...." / Seeds Of Turmoil

"God helps those who help themselves." Sounds good right? Is it right? Is is biblical?
I think part of the reason we say that is because we want to teach against laziness... or a lack of initiative.
The phrase is not a verse from the Bible... It was made popular by Ben Franklin... who probably got impatient with Christian who would say things like, "I'm just trusting the Lord" or "It's all up to God." or "I'm just waiting on the Lord." The saying came from Poor Richard's Almanac.
This saying has caused people to take matters into their own hands... showing a lack of trust in God. When people do that... things don't always end well.
The fact is... we don't realize the consequences that follow every decision we make. What might seem like a small choice can set the road for generations to come...

I recently finished the book Seeds of Turmoil, written by Bryant Wright.
This book takes us into the roots of the crisis in the Middle East.
Bryant Wright takes us to the very beginning to what started the whole mess...

Sarah, Abraham's wife... decided to take matters into her own hands, (she wanted to give God a hand)... she basically lacked faith that God would follow through with the promise He made to them, that He would make them into a great nation.
She gave Hagar her maid to Abraham... and from that Ishmael was born. God did keep His promise and Sarah at the age of 90... had Isaac.
From Ishmael we have the Arabs... and from Isaac we have Israel.

This was a good book that goes into detail about who, what , where... and why things are the way they are in the Middle East. I recommend it!

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Patience

Running the Race...
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
-Hebrews 12:1-2

Patience With a Smile
Be patient in little things. Learn to bear the everyday trials and annoyances of life quietly and calmly, and then, when unforseen trouble or calamity comes, your strength will not forsake you.
There is much difference between genuine patience and sullen endurance, as between the smile of love, and the malicious gnashing of the teeth.
-William Swan Plumer

Oh, Well...

Today God used something to cause me to do a little soul searching.
My daily devotional today was in my Joyce Meyer book, New Day New You.
So here is what Joyce had to say...

Oh, Well
Whenever I find myself in a situation I can't do anything about, I have found that a good way to cast my care upon the Lord is simply say, "Oh, well."
Take, for example, the morning that Dave spilled his OJ in the car and got a little of it on my sweater. Immediately he said, "Devil, I'm not impressed." And I said, "Oh, well." So that problem was solved, and we pressed forward with the rest of our day.
Some things just aren't worth getting upset about, yet many people do. Unfortunately a large majority of Christians are upset, fretful, and full of anxiety most
of the time. It is not the big things that get to them; it is the little things that don't fit into their plans. Instead of casting their care and just saying, "Oh, well," they are always trying to do something about something they can't do anything about. On more than one occasion that simple phrase "Oh, well" has really helped me make it through.


I can get easily irritated... over the small things. I hate running late, I hate feeling like I'm being ignored, I hate feeling rushed... and so on. The devil sure knows how to push my buttons most mornings at my house. If you have a child, and you have to get them to school, and yourself off to work, then you probably know what I'm talking about. There have been countless times I have been on my way to work... thinking about everything I may have done/said wrong... countless times I have had to apologize to my child. This is something God has been digging into me about... and I have made some strides.
It is almost easier when things are too big for us to try to handle... things we have to let go and give to God. It is a relief to be able to say, "Here God, this one is all Yours!... it's too much for me to deal with."
It tends to be those smaller things that we try to take on and deal with, that we can drive ourselves crazy over. We so often think that we 'should' be able to handle this thing... or that thing. Why?!?
When we let those little things get to us... we sin. We tend to get angry and short tempered... or we get anxious and worry... (all sin!) Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself-- it tends only to evildoing. Psalm 37:8

God tell us to cast all our cares on Him... no matter the size. There are no "I should be able to handle this." He can handle it.

My new focus and prayer for myself... to say "Oh, well" more. I don't need to sweat the small... or the big stuff.