Satan holds us hostage

This past weekend was the big yard sale for the Douglas Adoption Project.  Though it was a lot of work it was worth it and it was fun. There was time to sit and chat with volunteers.  People I don't get a chance to sit with, or talk with on a regular basis so that was fun.

During one of those times when we were slow I observed something during one of our conversations.  Apparently there is one little thing Satan is able to use that hold all of us hostage.  It doesn't matter if you are young or old, male or female, big or small, black or white.  The one little thing isn't even the same little thing for everyone.  That one thing is a number.  The number on the scale.

KC was talking about weighing that morning and being depressed by the number she saw on the scale.  Everyone began to share their scale theories.  Everyone agreed weighing in the morning was the best time, preferable before your shower because clothes do add weight.

I confessed that I had even tried standing at the back of the scale and the front of the scale just to see if I could get a lower number.  Apparently I am not the only one who has tried that.  Thanks Susan for not making me feel crazy.  Chris confessed he weighs before getting in the shower because that weight is lower than after getting out.  Water hydrates you or something and can add weight.  Many of us knew that trick.  And everyone agreed wet hair weighs more than dry hair.

But as I listened to this group of various people I began to realize that most of us are consumed in some way by this number.  A simple number on a scale.

Why is that?  Why if I am feeling good one morning and I step on the scale and it is up instead of down my mood drops?  My self image didn't change simply by stepping on that scale.  My weight didn't change just by seeing the number, my attitude about the number I saw is all that changed.

My image,  my worth, who I am doesn't change with the change of the number.  It shouldn't, but for most of us it seems to have a big impact.  Satan uses that little number to make me doubt my worth, make me doubt if people will like me, make me doubt what I am capable of doing or being.

Romans 12:1 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

My body is a gift from God, no matter what the number on the scale says.  I am to present it as a living sacrifice.  And it is holy and acceptable to God. It isn't acceptable because of the number the scale says.  It is acceptable to God because He purchased it with His Son's blood.  The cost far outweighs the number on the scale.  So, lets agree to not let Satan hold us hostage to a tiny thing like a number on a scale.

I DO SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

I was talking to a friend the other day. She asked me if we had any leads on our house selling yet.  I said no, and I was OK with that right now.  I realized there is a lot going on the rest of this month and I would be freaking out if I were in the middle of looking for a house right now.

I said I am really OK with the house right now.  That I was at peace with it.  That if it was going to sell it would, and it would sell on God's time.  And if it doesn't sell than I am convinced that meant we weren't suppose to sell and God would provide.

She said what a good place to be.  At peace.

It is.  There are not a lot of areas that I am at peace on, but I am at peace on our house selling and I am at peace with Will and Brittany's adoption.  I am at peace that no matter what happens in the upcoming election God is still on the throne and in control.

So, it isn't the big stuff that gets me.  The major adjustments and events in life don't usually knock me down.

But, I do sweat the small stuff.  When little things fall apart.  Like when the schedule at work is set and a driver can't run that makes me lose it.  Or if I have to change my plan, that makes me lose it.  When I think I have things under control and something upsets my apple cart, that stresses me out.

I thought about this for a little while and I know what it is.  The big things are out of my control.  I know that and accept that so I am comfortable turning those over to God and finding peace in the fact that He is in control.

It's those small things like schedules, and plans, and people, and ministry, and controllable things that throw me for a loop.  Why?  Simple - I can depend on myself for those things.  I can depend on my own abilities to make sure they work out.

In the small things I depend on me and not on God, because I feel like I can control it, I feel like I can do it myself.  Just like a small child as they start to stretch their independence.  "I can do it by myself."  But that is not what God intends even in the day to day simple things.

Proverbs 16:9 says "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps".  My old inside self wants to plan everything, to have everything in it's spot where I think it belongs and how it goes.  However, all my planning in the world isn't going to change the path God has already set in place in my life.  God establishes my steps, the giant steps and the baby steps.  I just need to put one foot in front of the other and let him lead the way.  

Do you sweat the small stuff??

Gulping in Grace

Finally the weather is cooler, the humidity is not so bad. Fall is on its way and I love it.  Early morning walks are in the dark but at least more enjoyable.

I have talked often on here about how I am not a runner.  I want to be.  I want to love it.  I want to be able to just walk out the door and take off running.  (That is another post all together about training and what you have to put into something that you really want.)

But, since it has been nicer and cooler and bearable outside I am trying to add more running, jogging really, to our morning walks.  So, this morning we started out jogging.  And it felt good.  I have learned I can do better on my breathing if I have a song in my head to concentrate on.  This morning that song was the simple lyrics from Matt Redman's song "Your Grace Finds Me".  The lyrics, "so, I'm breathing in your grace, and I'm breathing out your praise."  They fit well with simple breathing in air and breathing out air.  

They were working great.  Then I suddenly realized I had reached that point where I wasn't really breathing anymore I was gulping for air.  And it hit me sometimes that is how my walk with God is I am gulping for grace.  When things suddenly aren't going the way I had planned them out.  When the same thing sets off those feelings of bitterness, envy, or jealousy again for the umpteenth time.  When I let my reactions and emotions take over and I am no longer breathing out praise. Instead I am holding in grace just like holding my breathe when I jog.

But the solution for both is the same thing.  When I am jogging and find myself gulping for breathe, I go back to walking again until my breathing is back in a normal rhythm. Then I can pick up and start jogging again.

When my old self takes over I need to stop running, slow down, breathe, be thankful, think about the amazing creator who creates everything around me.  Think about the God who loves me, the one who sent his only son to die for me.   When I do that then once again I begin to breathe in his grace and breathe out his praise.

Are you gulping or breathing today?

   

As I read in Colossians this morning, I camped out on the following verse. Colossians 1:11 "We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.  May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father."

Paul knew this path would be trying.  He knew from experience that these people, these fellow believers in Christ would need endurance and patience.  He prayed those things for them.  What a great thing to pray for our family and friends, endurance, patience and joy.

As I read that verse this morning I sat and mediated on it a while.  I sat in my living room with the washer, dryer, and dishwasher all running and two dogs barking.  I remember thinking there is nothing quiet about this moment.  And God spoke to my heart and said the quiet isn't about the noise or lack of.  (Though sometimes that does make it easier.)  The quiet and stillness are about the condition of your heart.

Is your mind already running in circles?  Are you already stressed about the day?  Are you already making list in your head of what needs done today, this week?  Are you anxious, are you worried?  If so, no lack of noise is going to change that.  You have to find the quiet within, in the deepest parts of your soul.

I continued to think about that on my way to work.  I said God that quiet is easy to find here in my car, all alone, listening to christian music and talking to you.  But what about when I get to work?  When a phone call comes in with an issue I have to deal with.  When a driver doesn't like a run he is on.  When I brush up against other people and things don't go as planned.  When someone says something that I don't like or that hurts my feelings.

God said remember when Brittany and Chris were little and you would lay out their clothes for the next day?  How it made life easier because you didn't have to deal with those decisions in the morning?  God said I have already laid out your plan for the day.  Nothing is going to take me by surprise.  I already know what is going to happen, I have already laid out the day.  There is no reason for you to worry or stress.

My next thought was, what will I do all day with that time I would have spend worrying and stressing?  God said what I created you to do.  Worship and praise me.  Spend time listening to others.  Take time to notice others, to stop and give a smile, to be kind and grant grace to those around me.

I never thought about how much wasted time I spend each day worrying and stressing about things I really can't change or  have no control over.  Francis Chan in his book "Crazy Love" says worry and stress reek of arrogance.  What a true and convicting statement.

My goal this week to find the quiet.  Not the lack of noise quiet, but the quiet that comes from a life that not only says God I know you have this, but a life that lives that out.

"I QUIT" From The Mouth of Babes

First of all, I have to describe DJ to you.  He is about 3 feet tall, cute as a button, full of energy, the most expressive facial expressions I've ever seen, and a genius in my eyes.  Oh, and did I mention he is 4 years old, (I think).  Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I passed him and his Mom in the aisle at church.  I asked "DJ how is it going?" He replied, "I quit church!" His Mom explained that he had not gotten his way, and his response to that was that he was going to quit church.

I said "DJ, you don't want to be a quitter do you?"  He said "No but I still quit."

I laughed because DJ almost always makes me laugh.

But DJ's response has stuck with me over the last couple of weeks.  Different people have expressed that they were quitting things in their lives and I thought of DJ.

DJ's response was no different than most adults response.  When something doesn't go our way, when we are not happy with an outcome, when things get too hard, we simply decide to quit.  We quit on dieting, we quit on exercise, we quit jobs, we quit marriages, we quit ministry.   And even as adults like DJ we quit church.

But quitting is not what God calls us to do.  There are many verses in the bible that talk about not quitting.

    Colossians 1:11 "Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you 
    may have great endurance and patience."

   Galations 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a 
   harvest if we do not give up."

   James 1:12 "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial."

God knew this life would be hard, that's why there are verses to encourage us not to give up.  

Think about it. I am sure there were times Jesus wanted to give up.  When the people were pushing in, the crowds kept coming, he was tired and hungry, but he didn't quit.  When the disciples spent years with him and still didn't get it, he didn't quit on them.  

Most important, the hardest trial in his life, the cross.  He didn't give up. He didn't quit. Even though he could have.  He saw it through, and because he did, you and I have the promise of eternal life.

What is it that you are contemplating giving up on right now?  Your job, your spouse, your health, your sobriety?  Don't do it! Don't give up!  Don't be a quitter!