Overwhelmed?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?  I sure do. Just yesterday morning, I picked up my Bible, and feeling a deep sense of my own inadequacy for the things that face me, I prayed, "Lord, I need something to hold on to in this season of my life.  Please give me something to get me through this time when I feel so overwhelmed by what You've called me to do.  What do You have for me this morning?"

I've been reading through Exodus, so I opened up to chapter 33. As I read through verses 12-23, it seemed to me that Moses was feeling overwhelmed with his job of leading the Israelites to the Promised Land. He pleaded with God, "If I have found favor in Your sight, please show me now Your ways, that I may know You in order to find favor in Your sight. Consider too that this nation is Your people." (vs. 13)

God's response to Moses in the next verse is such an encouragement to my often overwhelmed heart. "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."  Wow.  What more could a person ask for?  God's presence..... and.... rest?  Wait. Moses is in the process of leading a huge group of people across a desert, and God promises him rest?  That thought amazes me. I guess I sort of expected God to promise Moses that He would be with him on this journey.  But to promise him rest? That astounds me.  And it also gives me the hope that in the middle of facing my own overwhelming situation, God will not only be with me, but He can give me rest.

Sometimes I look at my circumstances and feel that I am staring up at a mountain that appears to be impossible to climb.  But I have a promise I'll be holding on to in the coming days...."My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." God is with me. No matter what I face. No matter what He asks me to do. He will never leave me to face the mountain by myself.  And He can give me rest.  Just like Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...." Even as I'm climbing the mountain of my situation, God can give me rest. I can give Him my weariness, my inadequacy, and my uncertainties and rest in Him, knowing that He has a plan, and He has everything under control.

A Simple Secret for Being Secure

     "It feels so good when you hold me in your arms," my younger son said as his daddy carried him up to bed. He was feeling secure, and he liked how it felt.  Don't we all?  If we're honest, aren't we all looking for security?

     When we lost our baby earlier this year, Psalm 16 became very meaningful to my husband and I, particularly the last verse of the psalm.  A few weeks ago, I felt the Lord prompting me to go back and spend some more time in that Psalm.  I found a simple, yet profound key to security in verses 8 and 9.

     "I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure."

     Insecurity takes on many forms. We might compare ourselves to someone else, and find ourselves lacking.  It might be brought on by financial hardship.  Perhaps being in a certain setting or situation makes us uncomfortable.  We might have concerns about our own safety or the safety of those we love.  No matter what form it takes, a few things are certain.  Insecurty makes us fearful.  It cripples us, makes us uncomfortable, and robs us of joy. It can cause us to be unfruitful, and it can stifle our spiritual growth.

      God is the answer to our insecurity.  "I have set the Lord always before me."  The antidote to insecurity is to set God before us. Rather than allowing our minds to become fixated on the thing or the circumstance that causes us to feel insecure, we must fix our minds on God and His truth.  When we do that, we will not be shaken!  Nothing can shake us because we have our hearts fixed on God. When we do this, we have the ability and the opportunity to rejoice and be glad, and live securely, no matter what is going on around us. 

      It sounds like an overly simplistic solution to being insecure. And it is simple, but actually teaching our minds to focus on God and His Word instead of our circumstances takes a lot of discipline and practice.  The more we work at it and teach our hearts to be grounded in Him, the more habitual it will become. So set your mind on Him today! 

Meeting Trials with...... Joy??

           We all have trials – problems and unpleasant circumstances that come into our lives. Depending on what the trial or problem is, we are likely to experience a variety of emotions and feelings as we try to deal with it and figure out how to handle it. What is your first response when a trial comes along? When you're confronted with a problem, what do you do?

          I've been pondering this today, and here are some of the ways I tend to respond....

1. Fear.... There is a reason that fear is first on my list, and that's because my initial reaction to a problem is probably most often fear. As soon as something that looks like a trial comes along, I start to worry. How will I handle this? What if ___________ happens? What if, what if, what if?

2. Frustration..... Once I get past my first response of fear, I often tend to be frustrated by the trouble that has come into my life. Why did this have to happen and mess up my carefully laid out plans? Why does my life and my agenda have to be interrupted by this? I might even feel angry that I have to be dealing with the trial that I am experiencing.

3. Self-Pity..... Another common reaction when I am confronted with a trial is to pity myself. Why do these kinds of things always happen to me? I might compare my life to the lives of others around me, and find that my life seems to be lacking. Why do I have to go through something like this, while everyone else around me seems to be doing just fine?

           Reading my Bible today, I came across a familiar verse. I've read this verse countless times. I've memorized it and written it out and taped it onto my mirror. But no matter how many times I read it, it seems like I am always taken aback by it. I'm startled by what it asks of me. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds....” (James 1:2) Wait...... WHAT?? Consider this trial to be a source of joy? Recognize that this problem can bring me joy? Rejoice while I'm going through this trial? Really? Yes. Really. I have to admit that I used to look at this verse as a nice suggestion, but I've come to realize that it's something that God actually wants and intends for us to do. This is not something that comes naturally! Rejoicing is just about the last thing that I feel like doing when I'm going through a trial. It would make more sense to me if God told me to trust Him while I'm going through a trial. But He asks us to rejoice during the troubled times.

             Thankfully, instead of just telling us to rejoice as we're going through a trial and leaving it at that, God tells us why we can do that. “Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4) God wants us to look beyond the trial – look to Him – and recognize that he is doing something.

When we are going through a trial, our faith is being tested. God is at work in our life! This trial is developing patience and steadfastness in us, so that we can grow to become more like Christ. Romans 8:28 tells us “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.” God can use a trial that comes into our life to make us more like Christ. Is this not one of the best “good things” that can happen for us?

          Lord, when the trials and the hard times come, help us to rejoice, knowing that You are working all things for our good. Shift our focus from the problem and ourselves and help us to fix our eyes on You. Help me to lay aside the fear, frustration and self-pity that come so naturally, and choose instead to rejoice in You and in what You are doing in my life.

In the hard times You work patience and steadfastness in us, shaping us to become more and more like Christ. Thank you, Lord.

My Greatest Treasure

  

          Yesterday my sweet and thoughtful husband had a day off from work. Rather than taking the day for himself (which would have been a very reasonable thing to do) he gave me the morning off and took care of the kids so I could have the morning to myself.

          While I did some cleaning, I took advantage of the quiet in the house and listened to a John Piper sermon called “Don't Waste Your Life”. These words from the sermon have been on my mind the past day and a half....

          “...Paul displays the worth of Christ by counting everything else as loss for Christ's sake. 'I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of Christ.' This means that the life that displays the worth of Christ – the unwasted life – is the life that uses everything to show that Christ is more valuable than it is. Money is used to show that Christ is more valuable than money. Food is used to show that Christ is more valuable than food is. Houses and lands and cars and computers are used to show that Christ is more valuable than they are. Family and friends and your own life are a place to show that Christ is more valuable than any of them.

          The way that we display the supreme worth of Jesus in our lives is by treasuring Christ above all things, and then making life choices that show that our joy is not finally in things or even in other people, but in Christ.”

          Wow. These are challenging thoughts for me. It's easy to say that I treasure Christ above all else, but is that the reality in my life? Does my life actually look like I treasure Christ over everything else? Or perhaps another way to phrase it would be this: I look around at all the things God has given to me or entrusted to me – that can include people, relationships, material possessions, etc.... Do I treat them, use them, or care for them in such a way that it is evident that I treasure Christ above all those things? Or have those things and people, themselves, become my treasure?

           These are sobering thoughts for me. Again, it's easy for me to tell myself that Christ is my highest treasure, but is that what my life looks like? Maybe it looks like my husband and my children are my greatest treasures. And indeed, they are my most precious treasures on earth. But do I value them more than I vaule Christ? Or do I treat them and care for them in ways that demonstrate that Christ is my supreme treasure?
           Perhaps it looks like I value a particular lifestyle more than anything else – like being able to garden and live in a rural place. Maybe my home, or my material possessions have become my greatest treasures. It could be a car, or a job, or money.... anything really. Social media.... does the amount of time that I spend on the internet demostrate that Christ is my highest treasure?

           Or maybe the thing that I value most highly is simply..... .myself. Far too often, it probably looks like my “to-do” list is my highest treasure. Being able to say that I got done what I wanted to do today. Have my goals, my dreams, my desires or my time become my greatest treasures? Or am I willing to lay aside my agenda and meet needs that come my way or lay aside my own plans because I value Christ more than these things of “mine”.

            Jesus, You are my greatest treasure. I want my life to demonstrate that – that I treasure You above all else. That I find my joy, my purpose, my all - in You.

You can listen to or read the whole sermon over here at Desiring God:

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/dont-waste-your-life--2

"Call Upon Me"

          Grace has been struggling with a bad cold this week. She seems pretty good during the day, but at night, and when she first gets up in the morning, her cough is pretty bad. Last night I put her to bed, and as she hadn't had a nap, she fell asleep right away. About a half hour later, though, I heard her coughing uncontrollably. By the time I got her downstairs, to steam up the bathroom and try to clear her lungs, she was struggling to breathe between coughs. I held her in my arms and just prayed, “Lord Jesus, please help her.” She immediately stopped coughing, her breathing became calm, and she fell back to sleep on my shoulder.

           As I sat there holding our precious child, I thought about my simple prayer, and how speedily God answered. How often do I fail to call on His name, struggle away on my own, and miss the miracle of having Him calm the storm in my life? Far too often, I'm afraid. Whether it's a physical problem, a hopeless situation, or an emotional battle I'm going through, so often my first response is to figure it out on my own. Instead of calling on His name, I try to fix things on my own, or overcome my problems in my own strength. Prayer is too often a secondary response, or a back up plan when I finally realize that it's not working to do this by myself. I want my initial response to be to call on the name of Jesus.

          No, all my problems won't necessarily go away as quickly as Gracie's cough did last night. But the name of Jesus is powerful. He does have power to heal, to calm my heart, to change the circumstances I find myself in, or to change my heart. No matter what my situation, when I call on Him, I can receive His strength. I don't have to face anything on my own. I can know the amazing miracle of having Almighty God work on my behalf.

           “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

                                                                                   -Psalm 50:15