A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:37-41)
Peace is our birthright. It is time we claim our inheritance.
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”. . . He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. . . . If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91)
Recently, I have been reflecting on the saying, "life is a journey, not a destination."
I was having lunch with a friend who was intimately sharing with me some of the anxieties that have plagued her. Most of the fears she spoke about had to do with the future. She was caught up in trying to figure out the outcomes of various situations in her life.
Have you ever felt like that?
I shared with her my own journey to grow in trusting God with my relationships, my family, my finances, my career -- all the things He has destined me for. As I was reflecting on our conversation later in the evening, my spirit asked, am I so attached to the outcomes, the ending, that I am missing the process, the whole journey?
What if rather than looking at where I am not, I focused on where I am? I might realize that my life, right now, and every experience I am having is bringing me closer to my true self and to realizing all the things God has for me. What a more joyous experience that would be! The fact is no man can discover anything about his future -- so what am I gaining by concentrating so much of my energy on how it is going to turn out? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
The question then becomes, how can I be present and enjoy life while on the journey?
Here are some things that I want to focus more on embedding in my everyday walk with God:
1) Stop resisting. Rather than fighting what may or may not be happening, be fully there in it. One of the ways I do this when I feel my body literally tightening up against something is to stop and begin to breathe. With each breath, I am reminding myself that I am here in this moment for a reason and that God is with me. In God I live and move and have my being. Breathing allows me to relax and open up to whatever is happening. Rather than letting my feelings overwhelm me, I can embrace them. Too often, we try to fight what we are feeling through denial but that just gives what we resist more power. We have to know what our burdens are in order to lay them down. As I breathe, I often will close my eyes and put my hand on my heart. By connecting with my heart, I am reminded of the God in me who loves me and who has designed all the days of my life. I am reminded that, with God there is no reason to fear, which is usually the cause of my resistance. The safety of that space allows me to feel my feelings. I allow each feeling to come and then I gently, prayerfully surrender them to God, thanking God for empowering me to overcome any obstacle or challenge that may come. This brings me to the next point…
2) Surrender. Akin to resisting, is to let go. Surrender whatever it is that you have been wrestling with to God. Let go and stay present with yourself, looking upon yourself with love and kindness and compassion. Remember that what you long for, what you need, and what will heal you is already yours, gifted to us from Him.
So often we are trying to hold on to a false sense of control when the most powerful thing we can do is to be still and know that He is God. When you do this, you will find that it’s not that the feelings, thoughts or situation will necessarily change - but your perception will! So many scriptures describe what happens when we trade our sorrow for the joy of the Lord:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30).
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3).
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Once you let go and seed your faith, just watch how God will move!
3) Show gratitude. Give thanks to the Lord! There are so many ways in which you can practice gratitude daily; including keeping a record/journal of all what you are thankful for, offering thanks verbally through prayer, or demonstrating kindness to those around you through acts of service.
Show gratitude by enjoying your life. Among the fruits of the spirit are joy; yet, so many people have never asked themselves the question, what brings me joy? Find the things that make you uniquely you and run with them. Delight in the gifts, people, opportunities He has given you. God gave us life -- how we dishonor Him by walking as the living dead. Rather than getting caught up in worry and anxiety about situations, we are invited to cast our cares on Him. This enables us to move on and take hold of what God has for us!
No matter what is happening in your life right now, each day, each moment is an opportunity for gratitude. We all know how to thank God when we perceive “good” things happening; but even those things that we feel distressed over should be cause for celebration. What we think as painful are often moments of great growth when God is preparing us for the next phase of our journey.
Be confident that God will do what He says He will do. Meditate on His word:
God is our refuge and strength; an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:2-3).
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9).
For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11).
No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame. (Psalm 25:3a).
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6).
Yes, life is the journey not the destination – and it’s a beautiful journey indeed! Below you can find some musical inspiration. Be blessed!
Last week, I wrote about the importance of maintaining peace with each other. This week, I had the opportunity to reflect again on why our spiritual bond is so important. It has been a tough week for me. The past two years in fact have really stretched me spiritually. In fact, the very things I have been writing about here -- understanding who we are, trusting God, surrendering -- are teachings I am grappling with myself. Experience is indeed the best teacher! But through the highs and lows of life (all relative!), I am grateful that we never have to bear it alone.
Along life's journey, Ihave been so blown away by the support and love received from those God has placed in my life. It is a blessing I am learning to access more and more.
A little over a year ago, I came across a passage in Acts that really touched my soul:
The Fellowship of the Believers: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47).
But we're so resistant to reaching out to each other. We have our pride. We feel like we ought to be able to handle it on our own. We are ashamed. We don't want to even say out loud what we are experiencing because then
it will be too real. Or we feel like whatever hurt, confusion, or distress
we are experiencing is not worthy of conversation. We don't want people to know what's really going on in our lives for fear they will not love us. We feel like we have failed. We've been living a lie and we don't want the truth to come out. We don't need or deserve
anyone's help.
So when you feel alone, remember you are not. Give your burdens to God. He will either open your eyes to the people in
your life you've been resisting or bring new relationships into your
life at just the right time. (Thank God for the "strangers" that "coincidentally" have come into my life with just the right message/confirmation/resource/push I needed at that time!).
Like many of us in this country and abroad, I have been
struck by the divisiveness that has overtaken our political decisions. I have
stopped watching the news. It even pains me sometimes to read online articles
and blogs because the comments sections are so full of venom. The post
might be on a topic that seemingly has nothing to do with politics and before
you know it someone draws out a thread that spins into a heated, cutthroat
attack on another's views.
Now many of us will say, "I just have a strong belief but I would
never set out to hurt someone. I am just passionate about my viewpoint."
But what if what you consider "just passion" and "healthy
debate" is really causing another pain? How do you draw the line?
I will speak from experience. The other day a friend of mine
was sharing with me how her family is struggling to accept some of the
lifestyle choices of her brother. They have chosen not to
meet certain people in his life or engage in certain conversations with him
because of their disapproval.
Now, because I love my friend, it pained me to hear how hurt she and her family
were. I also felt great empathy for her brother. I immediately started telling
my friend that her family needed to surrender this situation to God in prayer
and continue to show love to her brother. Something in the way I
delivered my message caused her to start becoming upset. She said she
felt like I was saying that she and her family do not love her brother. On the
contrary, I was trying to say that because they love her brother, they have to
let go. But this caused us to go down a whole "debate" of what love means,
what it means to judge and/or correct others, and whether her brother's actions
were "wrong" in the first place.
Now a part of me knew we were just going in circles. We were just repeating
each other's points, talking past each other, and often making the same point
(just in our different ways). But I could feel my voice getting louder, my
responses becoming more clipped, my tone more self-righteous or sarcastic as I
dismissed her points and suggested scriptures and various readings her family should
study.
I later attempted to apologize. Typing this now, I'm like whoa, how did I
even get there?
I could look to different experiences in my life that made this tendency
to become combative easy to latch onto. I could say that my friend pushed
my buttons, that I was tired that day and lacked the patience required for the
conversation. I could say it was a sensitive topic that evoked emotions.
And those might reasons - but not excuses.
A renewed mind is not stuck on old habits and behaviors. Each day is a new day
to try something different. Fortunately, that opportunity to try always comes
again!
The Word exhorts us to:
bear with one another in love
make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual
edification
build each other up
accept each other as Christ accepts us
be humble and gentile
So how do we do this? Here are a few things to keep in mind:
1) You are a reflection of God. You are made in His image. You
may be the only expression of God that a person encounters in any given day. Through
your deeds, you exhibit God to others. So, what are you showing them?
2) Each of us is a unique work of art. God tells us that we are His
masterpieces. But each of us were formed intricately with our own individual
paths to him. Look around and you can see the great diversity of God's
creation. It is a fact that people will have different opinions, beliefs,
paths, trials, victories, thoughts, and interests from yours. We are all being
molded by the one true Potter.
Might you be interrupting the process by insisting that people think and
believe the way you do. "Who
are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or
fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand."
Remember, God is still working on you too! (I know that is hard for some of us
to admit ;))
One way I have learned to build this unity and break a me-versus-them
pattern, is to really imagine myself as the other person. What must he/she/they be thinking? Is there a reason that could explain this? How might I
also react if I felt that way, held those beliefs, had been through that
experience? What would I have needed or wanted? When you pause and start to ask
yourself those questions, it becomes much easier to see how you and others are
so much more the same. We all have the same fears and pain at some level. And
for all of us love is the antidote! Walk
in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a
fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
A few months ago, I found myself in a really negative space
with a co-worker. Because I didn't allow myself to understand her, I judged.
But one day I decided to break the pattern between us. Rather than reacting and perpetuating our cycle of sniping, I stopped. I tried to look at
the situation from her perspective, seeing her in the best light I could. I
found myself finally empathizing with her. I reached out to her to let her know
that I was on her side and wanted to work together to resolve the issues she
was having. Since then, our interaction has made a complete turnaround.
4) We are saved to do good . . . not harm by trying to ram our beliefs down
people's throat. In Titus
3, Paul writes that we must "be ready to do whatever is good, to
slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward
everyone." He reminds us that there were times when we too acted
foolishly, were disobedient, and were deceived. We hated and were hated by
others. BUT when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us
not because of anything we had done but because of His mercy. (Can I get an
Amen!) Justified by His grace, we are now made known of our inheritance. As
Kingdom-builders, we must be careful then to devote ourselves to doing what is
good. Specifically, Paul writes that we must "avoid foolish controversies
and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable
and useless."
When
we keep love in our hearts, the result is pure bliss. (Believe me that this lesson is as much for me as you!)
As it relates to my friend, I can see now that all I had to do was listen, show
empathy for the pain she was feeling, and pray for her, her family, and myself
to seek God's wisdom and trust Him to act in the situation.
Lord, help us to reflect your love to all of our brothers and sisters.
Let us not tear each other down but rather continuously seek to lift each other
up to the high places to which You have called us. Amen.
