What might it look like to plan for peace this week? Peace in relationships? Peace at work? Peace in your mind or heart or soul? Peace in your home?
Is it something practical like planning ahead for dinner on a busy night to decrease stress or anxiety when that busy moment comes?
Is it crafting in little 5 minute moments (or 1 minute even) where you can just stop and connect with Jesus, notice how you’re feeling, and invite him in to whatever activity is taking place?
Is it choosing words carefully with your family member/friend/teammate in order to add peace instead of anxiety or conflict to a situation?
As I ponder what “planning peace” may look like (and why that brings joy) I’m struck by all the things that are the opposite of peace. There are many antonyms. It could be strife or discord in community. It’s a restlessness in our souls. Distress in our mind. Anxiousness in our emotions. It could even me a messy or loud house that feels in-peaceful.
While in one way that seems overwhelming to think of all the ways we can experience the opposite of peace, it also gives us many areas, big and small where we can start planning for it.
For me this morning, that planning starts as simple as believing peace may be possible this week. To trust that the Prince of Peace is on His throne and on the scene in my life. To hope that peace might settle in a little more into my soul, into relationships, into my work and my play… and that as it does, it might bring with it a little joy.
This blog has been a little neglected lately with so much of my time and attention taken in the last couple of years by a new job and grad school. Now that graduation has passed and I find myself with a little more time here and there, my hope is that I can return here more often.
Last week I had the chance to vacation in a town I called “home” for 9 years. Visiting with friends who have become like family, exploring favorite spaces (and a few new ones), and eating familiar foods was so good for my soul.
It’s also always a little weird going back to a place that once was home, but is no longer. Things change. People change. We change.
My favorite coffee shop that I would frequent on my days off is now closed.
The church where I served has so many new members and new staff.
The parks I frequented look completely different (or were seemingly impossible to enter for my now unfamiliar mind due to changes to parking and roads).
As I wandered along the Niagara River, a spot I visited probably over a hundred times in the not-quite-a-decade I lived there, I was overwhelmed by this concept of how places are just places YET places matter.
I found myself pondering the hundreds of miles I had walked along that path with friends. Conversation after conversation drawing each relationship closer. I thanked God for those friendships, some of which are still close and some with people I never really get a chance to talk to anymore, all of which have changed in some way since geographic location no longer allows us to quick meet up for a River walk.
I thought of my exchange daughter and the way this path was near her school. It runs past an ice cream shop where her best friend worked, where we shared many ice cream cones. I recalled the day, a year and a half after she left that, she came back to America without me knowing and worked with some friends to surprise me when she joined our picnic.
I thought about the thousands of prayers I prayed in the years I lived near this place and would walk here multiple times a week. Joyous moments, heartbreaking moments, hundreds of little seeds of hope planted in situations of my own or people I love. And as the sun began to set, I recalled hundreds of past sunsets and this truth settled in to my heart:
Places matter.
They are just places. They change. People come and go. Yet, the things that happen there, the memories, the slight little shifts in heart and mind (whether for the good or bad) do indeed shift us, shape us, form us.
That’s what THIS little place, this blog has done for me over the years as well. In some seasons I showed up here daily and others only a few times a year. But through time, through the writing and the sharing and the mistakes and the celebrations, this little space of the internet has shifted things in me, shaped me, formed me.
I’m not sure what it means to return to this place after nearly two years of neglect. I’m different. My life rhythms are different. I don’t know how often I’ll write and I fear saying I’ll come back here often and then actually not doing that.
But for what it’s worth today. I’m simply reminding myself that this place matters and I hope to start showing up here more often again to see how it grows me as I have grown.
To memories made and memories yet to be captured.
To processing life and sharing what I learn.
To not having all the answers but journeying through life in the hopes of stumbling into some together.
To reminding myself once again that there is joy and blessing to be found in this life and it grows when we share it!
When I wake up with a worship song or Scripture already in my mind as my first waking thought, I pay attention. A few days ago, these lyrics were on repeat as I transitioned into my day:
“You write a beautiful story. You write a beautiful story. From glory to glory. I believe. You write a beautiful story. You write a beautiful story. Beginning to ending and in between.” ~ Beautiful Story by Andrew Holt, Mia Fieldes, Robert Marvin
To be honest, I wanted to joyfully believe these words but in the moment it felt more a mantra I needed to repeat over and over to convince myself of. All the same, I was thankful my day was starting with this reminder.
As I pondered this concept more, I considered God’s Word and realized: it’s true. Looking back I can see it clearly that our God does write an insanely beautiful story. The day to day moments often don’t seem so sweet but when you see both the beginning and the end, and the redemption that happens along the way, it becomes clear.
The hard part that we’re living right now is not the end of the story, but it still can be beautiful. Or perhaps how we TELL the story is what really shapes this view.
We can walk through a challenging season of life (like the one we’re all currently living) and have it be all about how hard it was, how tired we were, all the ways people didn’t treat us well or we hurt them, all the ways we messed up, etc.
OR
The narrative I tell can be about how day after day God showed up, how faithful and constant He was when everything was changing, how He provided strength when we had none.
It’s not that the first reality isn’t true, but it doesn’t really capture the beauty of the real story God is writing.
My tendency is to stay focused on the first half. I don’t think I’m the only human who does this. But to do that without also shifting my heart and my words to God’s role and action leaves the story incomplete. If that’s how a movie or book was written we’d label it “boring”. It’s not what people would want to take in.
But Jesus, He writes beautiful stories, stories filled with redemption, with restoration, with faithfulness.
May that be the story I tell this day, this week, with my life.
Which leads me to another recent favorite song called “The Story I’ll Tell” by Alton Eugene, Benji Cowart, Naomi Raine which include these lyrics:
“And I’ll testify of the battles you’ve won How you were my portion when there wasn’t enough I’ll sing a song of the seas that we crossed The waters you parted The waves that I walked
Oh, oh, oh, My God did not fail Oh, oh, oh, it’s the story I’ll tell Oh, oh, oh, I know it is well Oh, oh, oh, is the story I’ll tell”
That is the story I want to be telling through my life, the song I want to come out of my mouth. Just like I described above, this song, especially in it’s verses, doesn’t ignore the hard and painful aspects of life. It names them all, but it doesn’t stop there. It continues declaring truth that we can trust the pain is not the only part of the story. Rather, because of the faithfulness of God, we know that on the other side we’ll have a water parting, wave-walking, victorious story of provision. It may not happen in this life, but we will some day look back on this moment, yes even a moment in 2020, and see God’s hand on it and in it.
The song ends:
“All that is left is highest praises So sing hallelujah to the Rock of Ages”
My prayer is that I’d see and pay attention to God’s hand day by day. May we not have to wait until we look back on this time to be able to tell the beautiful story God’s writing. I want God to get the praise, even today.
Lent. It’s a season known for fasting. As I journey though a devotion book suggesting a new fast for each day, the suggested fasts have ranged from “collecting praise” to an actual physical meal. I had to laugh when I came across the most recent suggestion. “Today, fast from isolation.”
In a current world climate where “social distancing” is the buzzword in efforts to slow down the spread of a pandemic and many are being told to stay home or to isolate in their offices at work, I found it ironic that God, through my devotion, was encouraging me to fast from isolation today.
The reality is that with or without COVID-19, WE NEED EACH OTHER!
We can’t do this life alone and while we my physically need to maintain some distance for a while, I think we all should make it a goal to “fast” from isolation today and for all the days and weeks ahead.
As a coworker reminded me yesterday “Don’t go it alone!”
So what’s that practically look like? How do we fast from the very thing our employers, health departments, and friends are encouraging us to add to our lives? In a phrase, “be creative!”
1. Text, call, or FaceTime a friend. Grieve together, celebrate together, process this crazy life together. It may not happen in the normal classroom/office space or in a crowded arena watching a game, but you can still do life together from a distance.
2. Find ways to support each other. If a friend is sick, drop off some supplies on their doorstep with a little note. If you know a nurse or other professional who is caring for those directly impacted by this disease, simply ask them how they’re doing and maybe get them a gift card to a restaurant near their work or home so they don’t have to worry about cooking after extra long days.
3. Snail mail! If you are one who has to be home for a long time, maybe write some notes. Wash your hands well and then get to writing. (Maybe spray a little Lysol on it before dropping it in the mailbox.) 🙂
4. Offer people patience. This is an overwhelming, anxious time for many sorting through the impact pandemic has on lives. Whether your decisions impact hundreds or the decisions of others greatly impact you and your family, offer compassion and grace towards each other. We’ll get through this but we can’t see each other as the enemy.
5. Worship. Even if your church closes or you need to avoid social gatherings, don’t forget to find moments of worship. This is a way we can fast from isolation by connecting with the God who is always with us. Also, worship connects us relationally with others who join in worshipping the God who is still overall and in all, the God who remains faithful. We may not be in the same room but can join in the same spirit of worship that unites and connects us.
6. Enjoy and don’t take for granted what limited social interaction you may have. If you’re “stuck” at home with your family, break out the games. Make Spring 2020 the season you look back on as one of your favorite family times. If you get to interact with others at work, enjoy that time and use it to build each other up. When you’re in the grocery store, be kind to others who are also just trying to find a couple rolls of toilet paper.
7. Make use of technology. Start up a phone app game with a friend that lives across the country. Video chat with people who can’t have visitors right now. Watch a movie “together” or read a book and then talk about it.
8. Make plans for when this all settles down and you can get together again. Use this time apart to make grand plans for face-to-face connection when it’s possible.
Well, there are a few ideas. What else would you add? How are you going to join me in fasting from isolation even in the midst of pandemic? How are you going to show love and compassion perhaps in ways that are different than you’re used to? How can COVID-19 push us toward expanding our repertoire for how we connect and care for each other? Get creative today!
“Happy” ≠ “healthy”. They are not synonyms. But I think we act like they are.
I’ve been trying to use my lunch break to enjoy some reading and recently just finished a book called “Why Emotions Matter”. The middle section of the book spends six chapters looking at each of the six most basic emotions we all experience. Each chapter focuses in on the value of one emotion, where we see it talked about in scripture, when that emotion can become an problem, and how to navigate each emotion with wisdom. While looking at these things in regards to shame or fear or sadness was helpful, when I got to “happiness” I started to realize how little I actually know about how emotions work.
We go through a day or a week and someone asks us “How are you?”. Generally speaking, if the primary emotion we’ve been experiencing lately is something along the lines of happiness, we respond that we are good. However, if any other emotion has raised to the top, our response indicates that we are not good. (Well, at least if we’re not just acting “fine” even if we’re not… but that’s an entirely different blog post.)
We chase happiness as the ultimate defining factor of life being “good” or even “healthy”. In reality, happiness is just another emotion that CAN indicate things are going well in our lives, but happiness can go wrong too. Each emotion has its place where it adds value to our lives AND has potential to become a problem in our lives. I think I see this easier in emotions like anger or fear or sadness, but I’ve never considered this with happiness.
The authors of the book described well the main challenge happiness can bring:
“Happiness is wonderful, but it’s also tricky. We want happiness to last, to be the default, all-the-time feeling in our bodies, even though that simply isn’t possible. It’s not how we’re made. Yet like addicts we chase the high, never permanently satisfied. We’re also pretty terrible at knowing what makes us happy. Again and again we fall into advertising traps or cultural narratives that tell us stories about what will make us happy, yet every time we end up hungry for more.”
Later on it in the chapter they remind the readers that happiness is just one of many emotions, one “voice in our body’s communication system” and that “all of our emotions matter”.
Suddenly it all made sense. Happiness doesn’t automatically mean “good” and something like shame or sadness or fear or even jealousy aren’t inherently “bad”. I can be sad and yet deal with that in a healthy way while wrongly chasing happiness as the ultimate goal.
I saw this play out in my life over the last few weeks. January into February really provided space to find some healthy rhythms for my life. In addition to physical health, I was finding an emotional and mental health better than I had experienced in years. So I got a little frustrated when that seemed to all suddenly change a few weekends ago.
Grief has a way of sneaking up on you and suddenly my generally happy day-to-day life was overwhelmed by sadness for a while. As the one year anniversary of a certain event approached, I began to grieve so many things, loss of dreams, loss or changes in relationships, a desire for some areas of my life to be different. As God would have it, I happened to be reading this chapter on happiness RIGHT in the middle of that time. What a helpful reminder that just because “happy” wasn’t my primary emotion didn’t mean my whole life was suddenly bad or unhealthy.
While that weekend brought grief and sadness and opportunities for perfectionism to take my heart captive, looking back I actually responded in good, healthy ways.
I processed my grief and sadness instead of ignoring it, letting it show me where some healing is still needed in my life.
I celebrated the realization that perfection no longer has the same hold on me that it once did.
I rested when my body signaled its need for that.
I did some work to figure out why fear was popping up in my life more than it was actually helpful.
I reached out to friends and chose not to be alone even when I felt alone.
I enjoyed the few happy moments that did come along even if they were shorter or less prevalent than they’ve been in recent days.
While many of those emotions are less enjoyable than happiness, life was (and is) still really good. One challenging aspect in all of this is that after my thyroid surgery and in the 18 month process of finding the right amount of medicine my body needed, often my emotions or experiences did indicate something was really unhealthy and out of balance in my life. Sadness could so quickly lead to depression. Increasing fear often indicated that worry that anxiety was around the corner once again. Fatigue or muscle pain could be a signal that I had too much or too little medicine. These hyper-sensitive signals trained my brain to think any time some of these things popped up it was bad… because for an extended period of time that was true.
I’m thankful for a season now of re-training my brain… of enjoying a happy moment without fear of when it may end… of letting shame draw me into exploration of where my identity feels threatened… of sitting in my sadness realizing some things in this sin-stained life are just hard and worth grieving… of truly celebrating victories and growth and health in grace without over-focusing on areas I still need to grow.
All of this and more is helping me re-define the true, abundant life that Jesus promised in John 10:10, not necessarily a life filled with only happiness, but rather a life of health and joy and peace despite what hard things may be happening around us or difficult feelings rising up in us.
I work in Higher Ed. In that space, the concept of stress is pretty much daily conversation.
Academic stress
Athletic stress
Family situations causing stress
Roommate conflict stress
Health issues adding to or resulting from stress
And more.
Students talk about (or at least experience) stress often. So do all human beings.
A few weeks ago a student asked me to share some of the ways I personally deal with stress. As I answered their question and tried to then help them figure out what might work in their life, it felt like three main categories emerged. The more I thought about these categories the more I realized how helpful they can each be in my life.
First, sometimes I believe we just need to distractourselves from whatever is going on. We need space away from what’s causing the stress. For me, these kinds of stress-busters include things like reading a book, watching a movie, hanging out with a friend doing something fun, playing a game, going for a walk or run, sometimes even scrolling the web or flat out taking a nap! There are times when I’ve thought so much about a situation or issue, that doing something completely unrelated truly does relieve stress and lets me come back to it later with a clearer mind.
But in many things we do actually have to “come back to it” which leads to the second way I think we all need to cope with the hard things that come our way in life: deal with it. If it’s an emotional struggle, for me, this often looks like journaling, talking with a friend, mentor, or counselor, or finding some way to sort through and process through what’s happening. On the work/homework/housework side of stress, this looks like actually getting something done; completing a project surely relieves stress! In relational issues, this involves having the hard conversations and figuring out how to best move forward. Sometimes we just have to DEAL with it!
At first I thought there were really only those two categories, but there really is a third (and maybe more… this isn’t scientific or anything, just my random thoughts)! A key stress-reducer for me is all about habits. There are things that I can do every day or every week that automatically position me to be in a better place when stress comes along. They set me up for success before I even need to respond. Things like getting enough sleep and eating well help avoid the “hangry” state that certainly doesn’t cope well with additional stress added on. Exercise releases tension from the day even if it wasn’t built up from anything specific. Connecting with friends regularly energizes me along with making sure I have a decent amount of alone time to refuel. Reading God’s Word, prayer, and connecting in a faith community add on-going stability in a way nothing else really can.
When I have all three of these things in motion in my life–regular rhythms, ways to deal with my problems head on, and even some distractions–I find I really do stress less. The challenging things that come along don’t rattle me as much as they might have in another season. I feel hope for getting through tough circumstances because I have options of what might help.
With three broad options on the table, and then specific ideas within each category, I can figure out a little bit better what I need in any given moment. Do I need to dig in and deal with this problem or is a night “off” just doing something fun what will refresh my body and soul? Have I been shifting to distraction and ignoring the problem, only adding stress to my life? Is the situation in front of me not really a huge deal, but my reaction to it seems to indicate I’ve let the life-giving habits slip lately? Have I stopped doing the things that normally put me in a better space to manage the everyday inconveniences?
The longer I live the more I realize, there will always be something else hard around the corner in life. This isn’t something I need to fear or despair… it’s just reality in the broken world in which we live. But God has also given us many tools, experiences, and resources to deal with the hard things that come our ways. My challenge for you this week: make a list! What are the things you like to do to handle stress in your life? If you want, perhaps use these three categories to help you brainstorm. What do you like to do to just “check out”? How do you best process and deal with the hard things in life without ignoring them? What are the ongoing joys and rhythms in your life that steady you through the ups and downs?
Comment below and share some of YOUR favorite stress busters!
Courage is an interesting word and an even more interesting concept. What does it mean to have courage or to be courageous? How does that word play into the concepts of both encouragement or discouragement?
I do know this… life takes courage. For some, it takes courage simply to get out of bed each morning. I see the courage it takes for my friends to parent their children. It takes courage to take risks in our jobs, ministry, and life. It takes courage to speak truth with love.
Life takes courage. And it seems God agrees. Joshua 1:9 has been a verse that keeps popping up everywhere I turn in the last year. As this book begins, God is talking to a man named Joshua before he took over the overwhelming task of leading thousand and thousands of God’s people:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
“Courage” comes from the original words for “heart” and “age”. And perhaps as we grow older and age, courage does become a slight bit easier; we grow in our ability to stare right at the toughest parts of life and defiantly take one more step when everything about it says “I can’t”. Yet, here was Joshua at an estimated 96 years old needing God’s reminder: there’s no need for fear, there’s no need to let things deprive your heart of confidence. I, the God of the Universe will be with you every step of the way.
God called attention to the fact that courage for Joshua was not simply a suggestion, it was a command. And I think we all need a little reminder from time to time and perhaps that’s exactly what it means to encourage someone… to remind them… courage is in them and it’s not just a suggestion; it’s necessary.
So take courage my friend, not because you have your life together or know exactly what the next step is. Rather face into whatever lies ahead with confidence and strength knowing you never walk alone!
One of my favorite passages to come back to in busy seasons is Matthew 6:25-34. The whole section is about how we don’t need to worry and be anxious in life because God knows our needs and cares for us. It ends with this verse:
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34)
In another translation that last sentence says: “Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
This is one of the phrases God brings to mind in seasons of my life when my to-do list seems overwhelming or I’m worrying too much about things in the future instead of what’s right in front of me. In those times, one of my favorite things to do is to take a piece of paper and write that verse at the top of it. Then, I draw a line down the middle and on the left column I write “Today”. The right column is then titled, “Not Today.” I start sorting out all the things I need to do in one category or the other. Having a space for the “Not Today” items helps me feel peace that I won’t forget them, while giving space to focus on the “Today” items.
This idea of not borrowing trouble from tomorrow is nothing new to me. However, God recently brought this passage to mind… but in reverse. Not only should we resist borrowing trouble from tomorrow… but we also should work to not ADD trouble to tomorrow as well. He challenged me to deal with today’s troubles in order to set myself up for success when tomorrow becomes today.
Troubles delayed = troubles multiplied.
Here’s an example: A few weeks ago I made a large meal for some people that involved using a roaster, three crock-pots, and other various dishes and bowls. When I got them all home, washing all of those dishes was the LAST possible way I wanted to spend my Friday evening. However, if I would have left those crockpots and roaster and serving utensils until Saturday, everything would have gotten hard and more difficult to clean. To keep the example going, left even longer, those dishes might have started to smell or even get moldy. What was an annoying but small “trouble” on Friday would have become a much bigger “trouble” days later.
And I’m not just talking about dishes.
If I leave that conflict with a coworker unresolved and keep putting off the tough conversation that needs to happen, bitterness makes me hard and resentment starts to grow like mold.
If I experience a stressful season in life or a traumatic situation but choose to ignore how it’s impacting me instead of walking through the hard, I “steal” from a future “tomorrow” and add to its troubles. That stress will eventually come back to the surface, my body will eventually revolt and I’ll be forced to deal with it along with whatever troubles that day already had going for it.
If I don’t face the sin in my life today and ruthlessly cut it out, seeking God’s grace and forgiveness, it will grow deeper in my soul deceiving me and hurting the people around me.
Don’t borrow from tomorrow’s trouble with worry and anxiety. But also don’t add to tomorrows trouble by ignoring what you need to take care of right now. Whether it be dishes or disease, laundry or loss, sorting socks or suffocating sin, we need to deal with today’s troubles.
“Sufficient for the day it its own troubles”
…
and sufficient is our God to help us deal with them… TODAY.
I found myself recently pondering the winter solstice. Actually, I found myself pondering the day AFTER winter solstice.
Somewhere around December 21 each year (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway) we experience the shortest day of the year, with the least amount of sunlight. From that point forward the days start having a little bit more sun and a little less dark. Coming home from work and it already being dark out is never fun. I love the day after winter solstice, the day that marks the start of longer days. It’s as if the world takes a deep breath and hope starts to grow.
As I reflected on this I thought about the hard times in life… the times that seem like they’ll never end… the dark days of winter in life. I think about the moments after a loved one dies when the family and friends feel like the days just get darker and darker as they continue to grieve. I consider a friend who has been battling trauma and sufffering for more years than I even know, and just when it seems to settle, the darkness sets in again. I wonder about how many people around the world found out some horrible news today that will change their lives forever and a dark shadow was cast. We’ve all experienced (or will) at one time or another… the seasons when winter never seems to end.
But there is hope.
The day after the darkest day will come.
I was brought to tears recently as I heard a friend say, for perhaps the first time in 18 months, “I’m doing so well.” Her life is not perfect and the pain of this long “winter” season is not completely over with, but the days are getting longer, brighter… there is more light each day. There is hope.
In an earthly sense, winter will come again. It’s a cycle we can depend on. Winter turns into spring, into summer, into fall, and back to winter. On the emotional side of things we can predict this cycle as well… we will face hard times again. As long as we live on this earth, that is a given. But the cycle of literal seasons give us hope that spring will come again in the emotionally hard seasons. Also, there is hope for the day when that cycle will break and the light will grow ever brighter into eternity.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. … I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” … And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory.” Revelation 21: 1-4, 23-24
I was talking with a friend back at the beginning of this year and he mentioned how he had been learning that only when our pain is greater than our fear will we be able to make positive changes in our lives. It was fascinating to hear him say that because I was wrestling at the time with a similar concept but from a different perspective.
I had been thinking about the concept of self-control and how to do the things that we want to do but somehow find so hard to do. (Romans 7 kind of stuff.) Just as an easy-to-understand example, let’s look at the ever-popular topics of eating health and exercise, especially popular this time of year! I think we all pretty much know that eating certain foods and staying away from others is how our bodies function best. We all know that finding ways to move more and get enough sleep helps us. We want to feel healthy … and yet we keep grabbing the sugar and skipping the exercise and cutting down the hours of sleep to pack more in our busy lives.
So how do we get to a point where change is possible and our resolutions don’t fall short on January 3. As the conversation with my friend suggested, sometimes pain is a great motivator. The diagnosis of a health condition, the threat of losing a job, the inability to play with kids… these are pains that sometime can force us into life change.
But I had been trying to figure out if there were other ways. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want pain to be the only way I can have positive change in life. Shaming ourselves (or others) doesn’t typically work and “just try harder” is possibly the worst advice anyone could ever give. But what DOES work? I was stuck… how do we embrace lives of self-control and discipline while still living in the freedom that actually leads to LIFE and not slavery to a system?
And suddenly I stumbled upon an idea, pieced together over a few days. Paul says it this way in Romans:
“But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting him. …” (Romans 9:31-32 NLT)
It makes me wonder… when our TRUST in God is bigger than our fear perhaps that ALSO leads to freedom, change, and abundant life.
As this concept processed through my brain I was reminded of this quote from Jessica Honegger:
“Self-control is really about these moment-by-moment choice we have to believe God. Do we believe that God is who He says He is and that He is enough?”
I heard that quote in a livestream of an if:gathering conversation last February between her and other women including Ruth Chou Simons who followed it up with:
“Self control is a fruit of the Spirit. It’s God’s work; you can’t muster it up. Don’t keep trying to staple fruit onto your tree. Hide and abide yourself in Christ.”
Self-control is probably one of the least popular fruits of the Spirit. We all want things like peace and love and joy… but self-control… hmmm maybe I’ll pass.
As I process these quotes, I wonder if we actually trust and believe God IS enough for us, especially in these areas we struggle to gain control over. Is he enough for our faults and failures, enough to satisfy our deepest longing, enough to bring peace in this chaotic would.
Hide and abide in Christ.
That really does sound a lot like trust. It’s hard for us to comprend because we think that we need a “7 steps to a better you” plan. Hiding and abiding can’t possibly be the key.
While God isn’t beyond using pain to bring about change in our lives if necessary, His preferred method is trust. Eyes locked in on Christ at every move; seeking His Kingdom first and letting everything else be added in after. Our God is so trustworthy, whether our hearts can believe it in any given moment or not. I’m still here, months later, trying to figure out exactly how trust practically leads to positive change in my life, but I have learned this in the process: without trust I’ll never take the risks necessary to find out.
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