It's Friday and I'm happy about that because I don't have a ton of things on my calendar today. I can relax a little--maybe. It's been a crazy busy week for me, but good. God is good as He continues to lead me through the obstacles of life and down the path He has chosen and He has lit for me.
My son had a rough week.He was tired and he was whiny. He didn't like the food I made him, he didn't like his sister. He didn't want to clean his room. He wanted to buy a hamster, and was mad at me for saying no! Nothing seemed to work out very well for him, and so he complained a lot. Yesterday, was better for him. He played all afternoon with his sister, no big fights. He ate his dinner, and he went to gymnastics. Not too bad for such a rough life!
My heart aches for him when he is having such a hard time. I want to make his life good and pleasant. I want to rescue him and comfort him. But, usually he just has to walk through the difficult path and learn to navigate all that is going on around him. I get to pray. I know that God loves him far more than I do and He is working in my dear son's life. God will rescue him.
I have found this to be true with all the people in my life. I can listen to them, offer my love to them, comfort them. But, the best thing I can do for them is pray, and hand them over to God. If I am able to step aside, God will do a magnificent work. He can choose to use me to give to them what they need, but it is not ever my job to carry their pain. It is my job to hand it over to God as it is given to me.
Jesus has rescued me so many times. He has lifted me up INTO His heart and loved me fully, even when I don't know He is doing it, He is there. He soothes my aching soul when the days seem long and difficult.He gives me hope when it seems like nothing will work. He loves me. It seems to come back to love every time. His love endures forever and it is beyond my ability to even imagine how wide and deep His love is. It is reality and it is the one thing that pushes me forward.
As a bonus to His love, an expression of His love, He has given me people that love me and want to be in relationship with me. This is a blessed and healing gift. He has enabled me to love, even when I don't want to.
This morning in Luke 16, there was a little blurb that I found fascinating. On the Message side it reads this: "They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way-but for what is right-using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you'll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior."
Surviving by their wits? Use every adversity to stimulate creative survival? This is a loving God that would say this. As His children in a sinful world, we go through many adversities. And, sometimes the way we have survived those adversities is very creative. I know, as a child, I came up with some very creative ways to survive. His hand was in on my creative ways, loving me. I didn't know it at the time, because I felt alone and sad much of the time. But, He created my mind in such a way, that I could use it to survive! This was a loving, compassionate gift. It was His rescue!
Say That Again, Lord God! You have put within me the ability to live fully IN you. It is not about behavior, it is about allowing You to take me, use me, be creative with me, and love me. Thank you!
My son had a rough week.He was tired and he was whiny. He didn't like the food I made him, he didn't like his sister. He didn't want to clean his room. He wanted to buy a hamster, and was mad at me for saying no! Nothing seemed to work out very well for him, and so he complained a lot. Yesterday, was better for him. He played all afternoon with his sister, no big fights. He ate his dinner, and he went to gymnastics. Not too bad for such a rough life!
My heart aches for him when he is having such a hard time. I want to make his life good and pleasant. I want to rescue him and comfort him. But, usually he just has to walk through the difficult path and learn to navigate all that is going on around him. I get to pray. I know that God loves him far more than I do and He is working in my dear son's life. God will rescue him.
I have found this to be true with all the people in my life. I can listen to them, offer my love to them, comfort them. But, the best thing I can do for them is pray, and hand them over to God. If I am able to step aside, God will do a magnificent work. He can choose to use me to give to them what they need, but it is not ever my job to carry their pain. It is my job to hand it over to God as it is given to me.
Jesus has rescued me so many times. He has lifted me up INTO His heart and loved me fully, even when I don't know He is doing it, He is there. He soothes my aching soul when the days seem long and difficult.He gives me hope when it seems like nothing will work. He loves me. It seems to come back to love every time. His love endures forever and it is beyond my ability to even imagine how wide and deep His love is. It is reality and it is the one thing that pushes me forward.
As a bonus to His love, an expression of His love, He has given me people that love me and want to be in relationship with me. This is a blessed and healing gift. He has enabled me to love, even when I don't want to.
This morning in Luke 16, there was a little blurb that I found fascinating. On the Message side it reads this: "They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way-but for what is right-using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you'll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior."
Surviving by their wits? Use every adversity to stimulate creative survival? This is a loving God that would say this. As His children in a sinful world, we go through many adversities. And, sometimes the way we have survived those adversities is very creative. I know, as a child, I came up with some very creative ways to survive. His hand was in on my creative ways, loving me. I didn't know it at the time, because I felt alone and sad much of the time. But, He created my mind in such a way, that I could use it to survive! This was a loving, compassionate gift. It was His rescue!
Say That Again, Lord God! You have put within me the ability to live fully IN you. It is not about behavior, it is about allowing You to take me, use me, be creative with me, and love me. Thank you!
Of course His messages comes in all forms and formats, the next song, the slogan on an advert, the words of the person you speak to or whose life you bear witness to, or sometimes in the wind.
ReplyDeleteThere are messages everywhere for every question we have. We just have to remember to look with new eyes, listen with new ears and feel with new hearts.