Trading My Sorrows

His Word: I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.         Lamentations 3: 24-26

Observation & Obedience: What makes you cry? What makes you feel deep sorrow? Does that sorrow lead to action or apathy? What makes a person cry says a lot about them. It shows whether they are self-centered or God-centered.  Where do you fall on this spectrum?

As one of God’s choice servants, Jeremiah stands alone in the depth of his emotions as he writes the book of Lamentations. Broken by his care for the people, his love for the nation of Israel and his devotion to God, Jeremiah laments (to feel, show, or express grief, sorrow, or regret; to mourn deeply) as he writes these five funeral songs.

While the book of Jeremiah looks forward with warning, Lamentations looks backward with mourning. Jeremiah sees the devastation, destruction and desolation of the city of Jerusalem. The temple, where God dwelt, is gone and so is God’s presence. The people are dying in the streets and there is nothing he can do now. They refused to listen when he warned of what God would do if they did not turn back to him…so he grieves, mourns and weeps.

Do you weep because your selfish pride has been wounded or because people around you lead sinful lives and reject the God who loves them dearly?

Do you weep because someone has insulted you or because someone has insulted your God?

Do you weep because you have lost something of value or because people around you will be lost forever because of their sin and rejection of God’s forgiveness?

Our world, like Jeremiah’s, is filled with injustice, poverty, war and rebellion against God. And seeing this should move us to tears and to action!  Is it time you traded the things/people/situations/circumstances that cause you sorrow and weep over the things that break God’s heart? Jeremiah wept tears of empathy and sympathy for those who were rejecting God; not tears of self-centeredness and self-pity because they had not paid attention to him.

Yet, Jeremiah was not without hope and neither are we. He did not give up trusting God. Instead he traded his sorrows and turned his focus on God’s faithfulness.  His Word for today represents hope in the midst of affliction. In Jeremiah’s darkest moment, his hope was strengthened with the assurance that God had been faithful in the past and would continue to be faithful in the future – therefore he would wait on, hope in and seek after God.

Prayer: “Dear God, give me a heart like yours; one that breaks and mourns for the lost. The abused. The exploited. The innocent. The weak. The poor. The missing. May I weep for the things that matter in this life.  May my focus be God-centered and not self-centered.  Self-centeredness only leads to sorrow for myself and not for others. I want to cling to your faithfulness and share the hope you bring with others who are hurting and need your love. Amen.”

Encouragement:  You may be someone’s only lifeline of hope.  June Hunt

Are You Willing Or Rebellious?

His Word: Isaiah 30:15 God, the Master, The Holy of Israel has this solemn counsel. Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourself. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me – The very thing you’ve been unwilling to do. (MSG)

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling, (ESV)

Observation and Obedience: This portion of scripture from Isaiah comes from an exasperated God who is dealing with the rebellious children of Israel. They take counsel and carry out a plan, but it’s not His plan.

Know anyone like that? (Have you looked in the mirror lately?)

The great news, unlike you and me when we’re dealing with rebellious children, verse 18; the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! (AMP)

I loved what Deb Potts had to say in the October 7th post regarding meditation. She gave us 4 steps that would assist us in returning to God, His word, His plan and waiting on Him. It’s not hard, it’s not ridicules, it’s not going to hurt. It’s almost too good to be true.  It’s so SIMPLE! “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” 

So…….let’s just let this sink in, take hold and change our lives! Let’s stop thinking that we’re running the show and we just need God to bless it. We are but a vapor. It’s His story, it’s His plan and He’s longing to be gracious to us, his precious children. He just asks that we return to Him, wait for Him, look for Him, long for Him and spend time with Him. He is our most trusted companion. 

Prayer: Lord, you are so patient with us. Thank you for your word. Thank you that we live in a time and place where your word is so readily available. WE ARE BLESSED. I can read it, listen to it, share it, and absorb it without fear of losing my life. Forgive me for taking it and you for granted; for being careless with it and with our relationship. Forgive our rebellious spirit and stubborn ways. We return to you with grateful, humble hearts. Have Your way Lord. For You are HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.  

Encouragement: “The longer the tea bag sits in the cup, the stronger the tea. The more God’s word saturates our minds, the clearer our grasp on what’s important to Him.”

Be Still......Know God's Peace

Guest post by Kathy Dork

His Word: Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:5-7

Observation and Obedience:  Who doesn’t want God’s peace, which transcends all understanding? But how do you find it, especially if you struggle with anxiety like I do.

My current battle with anxiety began with a health problem in the fall of 2013, and it quickly spread to other areas of my life. One of my anxieties is the result of anticipating my sons’ passage from adolescence into adulthood. My oldest son is fifteen, and his brother is twelve. You’re probably thinking, “Relax! You’ve still got time. Enjoy them while you can.” I’m trying, but it is easier said than done.

In the spring of 2014 The Lord began instructing me to “Be still”.

He says, “Be still and know that I am God…. Psalm 46:10

I wrote the verse on a notecard, memorized it, and spent time thinking about it (meditating on it). Making time for God every day has been critical to battling my anxiety. It is so important that I literally practice being still, reading and meditating on scripture, and thinking about who God is. If I don’t spend time with God each day anxiety creeps in and threatens to get a foothold. 

Be still… Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Clinging to the desire to be in control, even mild anxiety can overflow with fits of anger at the slightest hint of disobedience or disrespect. Logically I recognize my sons are struggling to become independent young men. They are cutting the apron strings if you will, and I am fighting back. Often my responses are not fair and gentle.  It is crucial to remember that the Lord is near, and rely on the Holy Spirit’s ability to give me the control necessary to respond in gentleness that helps guide my sons along this inevitable path to adulthood. 

Be still… Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

When I’m spending time with God, and remembering that the Holy Spirit is available to help me; anxiety about my sons’ futures becomes a signal that I NEED to pray. If I don’t pray the anxiety begins to well up in me, and I will chase the anxiety rabbit down its hole. There is no light down that hole, but there are many fears. Taking these fears to God, asking for His help, and trusting Him with the outcome keeps me in the light. Thanking God for all He has created my sons to be, the wonderful things He has planned for them, and for how close we are as a family keeps me calm. 

Be still… And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

A month or so after God began teaching me how to “Be Still” I attended a day retreat. Seven hours of intentional stillness. A few hours into the retreat I asked God, “What is your will for me?” 

God’s still, small voice said, “Do not worry!” 

Then I remembered my son’s new Lacrosse jersey numbers: 46 and 10. These were not the numbers they had requested, and to say they were disappointed is an understatement.

What about their jersey numbers, I wondered. Immediately I recalled the scripture card I was still carrying around, “He says, ‘Be still and know that I am God…’” 

I pulled out the card to double check the bible citation- Psalm 46:10, 46 and 10, my sons’ jersey numbers.

God is sovereign! God loves my sons’ so much, and is so intimately involved in their lives that He chose their jersey numbers. That gives me God’s peace.

Remembering and trusting in God’s sovereignty enables us to receive God’s peace which transcends all understanding, and His peace will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. 

Prayer:  “ Dear Heavenly Father, continue to teach me how to “Be still.” Increase my faith, so that I will trust You with the future. Remind me to seek Your strength to live moment by moment. Calm my spirit, so that I may perceive Your still, small voice. Give me eyes to see Your hand working in my life and the lives of my family. May I know that You are sovereign; so that I may receive Your peace that will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus, Amen.”

Encouragement: Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

Thank You Kathy Dork

Coming Soon: Peace And Quiet

Guest Post by Emily Gehman

His Word: And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. Isaiah 32:17

Observation and Obedience: A little known fact about me in the blogiverse is the number of people that live at my house. I’ll spare you the details, but long story short, there are nine people that live in my house including me. Four of them are under the age of 16. Let’s just say our house doesn’t specialize in “quiet.”

Now, I will be the first to say they are really great kids. I mean, really. They’re respectful and kindhearted and relatively non-destructive. But they’re still kids…learning to be adults.

And I love them dearly.

But.

Sometimes, all I want is some peace and quiet. Sometimes I just want the whole house to myself. Where nobody is dumping out the Legos or watching Phineas and Ferb at 87% volume at 7:30am or fighting like the brothers and sisters they are. These are all perfectly acceptable things to do when you’re between the ages of 8 and 16 and I don’t want them to stop doing those things. But sometimes, I love an empty house. Peace and quietness.

Beyond The House Walls 

That’s what we all long for, isn’t it? Peace and quietness and trust forever—just like Isaiah 32:17 says? But not just in your house filled with people everywhere all the time. We long for peace and quietness in every part of our lives. We want to live peacefully, with no conflicts from within or without. We want an illness-free, accident-less, grief-clear, undisturbed, no-anxiety, peace-and-quiet life. Right? Right.

But.

Life isn’t peaceful or quiet. Nope. Not even a little. Illnesses takeover, accidents happen, grief strikes, worries dominate, and there is little peace and quiet. There may be some peaceful periods and quiet moments, but then something hits, and it’s gone. And we want it back.

But I don’t understand! God promises peace and quiet, does He not? He promised no more world-floods after Noah spent 120 years building a giant boat. Didn’t He? He promised His people endurance and eagle’s strength. Didn’t He? He even promised peace and quietness to the righteous. Didn’t He? Doesn’t He? Isn’t that what it says right there in Isaiah 32?

“The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness quietness and trust forever.” 

Yep, there it is. So why don’t I have it? Why did life just dump the box of legos on top of me to step on with my bare feet? Why isn’t there peace and quiet in my life? Why is there conflict everywhere I turn? Why is my friend sick? Why did my friend’s mom die at 46 from brain cancer? Are we—am I—not righteous? Do I not love God enough? Do I deserve these sorrows life has brought me?

Ah, yes, the questions flood my mind, my soul, and I grow weary.

But.

We are counting on the wrong righteousness.

And we are short sighted.

Not My Righteousness, But Jesus’

The effect of our righteousness is nothing. In fact, Isaiah goes on to say in chapter 64 that our righteousness is as good as filthy rags; unable to clean and unable to be cleaned by us. It is, in fact, not our righteousness that brings peace and quietness, but that of Jesus Christ.

Driven by His enormous, mind-blowing love, Jesus died in our place for the punishment of our sin. He died, experiencing the separation from God we were bound for on our own—so we could benefit from His righteousness, since our righteousness won’t get us anywhere.

Belief in this Gospel—good news—secures for us the righteousness and its benefits Isaiah talks about. Jesus’ righteousness truly offers peace, quietness, and trust forever. But not yet.

Not Here, Not Now

We are promised not peace, but trouble here on earth. The peace and quietness Jesus offers is not promised for this life, but the next. I’m not talking about reincarnation or coming back to earth as a cow or something. No, I’m talking about Heaven. It’s a real place, and it’s the only place we can experience peace, and quietness, and trust forever.

For now, we might be caught up in a swirl of everything unpeaceful: the white stench of hospitals, the grief of broken relationships, the sorrow of a funeral dirge.

But.

This life, with all its pain and grief is only temporary. The effect of Jesus’ righteousness is coming. The peace and the quietness and the trust forever is in our future. We are here only for a while, and then the results of righteousness will be ours forever. And ever.

So for now, I’ll enjoy the peace and quiet of an empty house, but I know they will be home soon, and the quiet will be over. And I’ll want the peace and quiet back in the rest of my life, too.

But.

The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.

Thank You Emily Gehman

Find Your Place Of Rest

Guest Post by Deb Potts

His Word:  Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.   Psalm 62:5

Observation & Obedience: Rest. How do you find rest? Some would say rest happens when we’re reading, taking a walk, watching TV, knitting, or even sleeping. True rest is none of these things. 

“Rest is the absence of striving, working, accomplishing, thinking, worrying, or planning. It’s not sleep. It’s not taking a walk. It’s a waking sleep, but you are alert and aware.” Rubin Naiman, PhD, is a sleep specialist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Arizona’s Center for Integrated Medicine. He says, “We don’t “go to” sleep or “go to” rest. We achieve rest when we make space for it and allow it to happen.”

Meditation is one way to find rest. It has been found to lower heart rates, blood pressure, and oxygen consumption, alleviate hypertension, arthritis, insomnia, depression, infertility, cancer and anxiety.  But meditation for Christians has so many more benefits.

Rest can be found for Christians in meditation of the Scriptures. If we can discipline our minds to meditate effectively we can truly “find rest in God.”

Meditation is a Christian tradition going back to the 3rd century. Origen wrote about the process of Scriptural reflection and interpretation, St. Ambrose taught his methods to St. Augustine, and the practice was later adopted by monks. Today this ancient tradition is still in use, called Lectio Divina, which means “divine reading.”

Lectio Divina consists of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and increase our knowledge of God’s word. It doesn’t treat Scripture as texts to be studied but as the Living Word, intended to bring us into a more intimate relationship with Jesus.

There are four steps in Lectio Divina: reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation. 

• Reading (lectio). Read the passage attentively, reverently, slowly. Lectio is a listening kind of reading, allowing the words to resonate with you. You may read the passage several times or just linger on one particular phrase as the Spirit leads you. Don’t rush it, take your time.

• Meditation (meditatio). This is the human response to God’s word. Ponder, ruminate, and savor the words you read. Be expectant for God to reveal Himself to you through these words. Consciously open yourself to God, allow Him to touch your heart and speak to you. Ask yourself, “what do these words mean in my life?” Be honest with yourself when you feel a nudge from God.

• Prayer (oratio). Pray from your heart. This is your response to Him as a result of the first two steps. Words may escape you; a sigh may be all that’s necessary. Remember Mary’s words, “Thy will be done.”

• Contemplation (contemplatio). This is God’s turn to respond. This is a spiritual gaze; God’s gaze into our souls, and our gaze in faith back to Him. It’s being fully known and fully loved. It’s looking God right in the eye without reservation. Your whole self becomes focused on the Lord. It can become deep, personal, intimate, and tearful. It’s child-like, it’s surrender. His gaze will purify our hearts, minds, souls and bodies. It’s only at this final stage where we enter into true rest. 

The practice of Lectio Divina won’t come naturally to most of us. It takes time to discipline our minds to be so still and contemplative. But with practice, we can enter into that “soul rest” that we hunger for. Choose a short passage of Scripture, perhaps in Isaiah or the Psalms, or in your favorite book of the Bible. Keep a journal of your experiences so you can record what God has taught you. 

Prayer: “ Abba, I so desperately need You close to my heart. I long to feel Your breath on my cheek, Your arm around my shoulders. I would give anything to see the love in Your eyes as they gaze on me. Teach me to be quiet and still and willing to wait for Your gentle nudge. Then help me to be obedient to Your good and holy will. Amen. “

Encouragement:  It’s true that the voice of God, having once fully penetrated the heart, becomes strong as the tempest and loud as the thunder, but before reaching the heart it is as weak as a light breath which scarcely agitates the air. It shrinks from noise, and is silent amid agitation. St. Ignatius of Loyola 

Thank You Deb Potts

Who's Fight Is It.......REALLY?

His Word: Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”   Exodus 14:13-14

Observation & Obedience: In Exodus 14, we find Moses just beginning his role as leader of the Israelites after their miraculous escape from Egypt, and already he is faced with a teaching moment! Pharaoh has changed his mind and the Egyptians are hot on their tail. As the Israelites witness the Egyptian army closing in on them for the kill, Moses and God give them an important lesson.

In verses 11-12, we hear what will become a familiar question and complaint from the Israelites:   What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?  Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 

Can you believe that after watching God’s powerful hand deliver them from Egypt, their only response was fear and whining. They had forgotten how miserable their lives were as slaves and recalled only what was familiar to them.  Now they were faced with a choice.  Trust that God was able to protect and provide for them or give up and die at the hands of the Egyptians. 

This is the first instance of grumbling and complaining by the Israelites, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last. In fact, this response would become a major problem for them. Their lack of faith in God is startling. Yet how often do we find ourselves doing the same thing? Questioning God’s actions; complaining over inconveniences and grumbling over discomforts. 

I would like to imagine that the conversation may have gone something like this: 

Moses: “Look, have you forgotten all that God has done for you up until this point? Do you really think he would bring us this far to leave us to die at the hands of the Egyptians? They had plenty of opportunities to destroy you while you were in slavery. Today, you are going to see God do something huge; something only he can do. You just need to stop looking back at your old life, and turn your focus on the Lord because he is the one fighting for you.”

People: “Ok Moses, you’re right. How foolish of us to think that God would abandon us here in the desert. We’re sorry for grumbling and complaining (until next time). We will be still and know that our great God will save us.”

God: “I love how you are all bonding, but in order for me to do another miracle you people need to stop talking and get moving!! (Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.           v 15). Prayer is vital to our relationship but there is also a place for action; and now is the time!”

Are you unhappy with a situation you find yourself in? Are you trying to “fight” your way out on your own?

Are you stuck in “what used to be?”  Do you want to stay where things are familiar, even if they are miserable?

Are you praying for more guidance as an excuse to postpone doing what you know you need to do? 

Prayer:  “Dear God, why do I constantly feel the need to try to fix and control everything in my life? You are the one fighting all my wars; I just need to stop and recognize this. How many times have I missed you do something big in my life because I’m too busy grumbling and complaining, wishing my life was like it “used to be?”  Help me to know the difference between the times when I need to stand still and the times when I need to get moving! Amen.”

Encouragement:  God is always reliable but seldom predictable. He has plans and procedures in place that we’ve never considered.  Clayton King