Circumstances and Perspectives

I am on week four of the Unglued Online Bible study, and the first couple weeks were quite uneventful as far as facing moment where I would become unglued. I was thinking that I had this managing emotions stuff under control. Then week three happened.

It started with a sick cat and a trip to the vet on Monday…

…then it lead to a discovery of some unwelcome flea guests, of which we managed to clean up round one on Tuesday…

…then a busy and rough workday for both me and my husband, on the same exact day as our church small group on Thursday…

…then on my way home from my other small group the very next day, my check engine light came on, and the repair would not be covered under my maintenance plan at the dealership I bought it from because they are not a Mazda dealership…

…and finally, 11 p.m. on Saturday night, we had a mouse running around in our closet. Which, might I add, had piles of stuff on the floor that the mouse was able to hide in until just the right moment to run out at our feet.

Needless to say, I had reached my limit by Saturday night, and I became quite unglued when the mouse actually ran over my foot.

That is why these words in Chapter 7 stood out to me:

“…if only I were more in the habit of having a thankful heart full of praises instead of a grumbling heart consumed with circumstances.”

It’s a matter of making the habit of being thankful. Putting circumstances in God’s perspective, instead of just my own.  Praising God even if nothing seems to be going right…after all, the world is still turning, and I’m still breathing.

So last week in review with a new perspective:

I have two pets who entertain me, are companions (sometimes, anyway), and are normally healthy…fleas aren’t so fun, but we got free medication, which helps us a lot financially, and we caught them early so there weren’t that many of them…both of us have jobs and we have a great group that meets in our house every week…we both have cars, that are in good condition other than a couple minor things that need to be fixed…and finally , the mouse was tossed outside the same night, and I got a great laugh at my husband as he was chasing the mouse across our backyard yelling “go little mouse, go, go!!!”

Lysa also says, "...how powerful it is to shift from an attitude to gratitude and to praise our God in the midst of it all. When I do this, my circumstances may not instantly change, but the way I look at those circumstances certainly does.” By looking at the above circumstances with a new perspective, I believe it has opened the door to me being able to look at other circumstances with a new perspective as they come.

Today, I was allowing myself to get all worked up about a situation that hasn’t even happened yet. On my lunch break, I chose to sit and read my Bible. I looked up verses on being anxious, and 30 minutes later, I had a much better perspective and I went back to work with the reminder that I should “give all [my] worries and cares to God, for He cares about [me].” I was reminded to take each day as it comes.

God wants to take our worries. He wants to help us not be controlled by our emotions. If we waste time worrying, or being upset over something, or stuffing our emotions, we become ineffective in what God has given us to do in this very moment.

 

 

Unglued - Labels

I am on the second week of the Unglued Bible study on Melissa Taylor's blog, and it is amazing how aware I am becoming on the moments where my emotions get the best of me. The biggest thing that I have noticed in the past couple weeks is how in the heat of the moment where emotions are going haywire, it is very hard to reign them in and deny them control over my actions.

In chapter 3, Lysa says a very simple sentence that hit me in a HUGE way: "Labels only stick if I let them."

I have lived my entire life with the "quiet person" label. I don't speak up very often in big groups, and I have a soft voice. It was while reading this very quote that I finally realized how much control that label has over my life.

What I have realized is that by having my "quietness" pointed out in group settings, it actually made me believe the lie that I am a quiet person, and I do not have much to say in big groups. It shook my confidence.

And I have been living this label for years.

This label has hindered me from believing that I can really do what God has called me to do. As Lysa states, "Those labels start out as little threads of self dissatisfaction but ultimately weave together into a straitjacket of self condemnaton."

The "quiet person" label has me tempted to believe that I'm not going to be successful at my job...that I'll never be able to impact someone's life because I don't know what to say to some people...that I'll always be intimidated by the people that are outgoing and always talking to everyone about everything, never seeming uncomfortable in any situation.

Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

Masterpiece...We have all been created by God, exactly as He meant for us to be.

Created anew...When we trust Jesus for salvation and eternal life, we are a new creation. God has given us a new life, and we do not have to be the "same old" people we always were.

...the good things he planned for us long ago." God already knows what we will be able to do in our lives. We just need to step up to them.

The truth is this: I do not have to be controlled by the quiet person label. I do not have to be afraid to speak up in a group setting because of the fear of not being heard. I do not have to go into every conversation with a stranger with the worry that I won't know what to say next. I do not have to be intimidated by outgoing people but instead, observe how they keep conversations going with complete strangers and learn from them.

What is a label that you need to shake off?

Fight Against Doubt

Am I really ready to take on this responsibility?

Do I really know enough to be able to be any help at all in this situation?

How can I be sure I am on the right path?

These are the questions I have asked myself over the past few years. Doubt can hold us back from what God wants to do in and through our lives. Doubt does not come from God...it is a tool the enemy uses to derail us from what God wants to through through us.

2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." (NLT)

I remind myself of this verse whenever I am faced with feelings of doubt and insecurity. When my flesh says, "You're too quiet for this role, too young for this responsibility..." I remember what God said in Jeremiah 1:7-8 "Don't say 'I'm too young' for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don't be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you."
The first thing Satan said in the Bible was this question: "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" He did not even specifically mention the only tree that Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from. Satan simply asked a broad question that contained a statement that he knew was inacurrate, and by asking that one question, he caused Eve to doubt the motive behind God's first command.

How many times do we start on a path that we feel God is leading us down, and then as time goes on we let doubt in and begin questioning if we heard God correcty regarding our decisions? How many times do we let the things we can see with our limited vision let doubt begin growing in our minds?

Any time we are doing something that God has led us to do, let us recognize doubt for what it is...the enemy's attack to deter us from God's will.

Prayer: God, guide me to replace feelings of doubt, fear, and timidity with feelings of power, love, and self-discipline.

Unlimited

Who knows of any single person on this earth that can meet with us anywhere, anytime we need them?

Who in your life will always show up where you are, no matter if you're walking down a road, sitting behind locked doors, or sitting beside the ocean?

I'm talking about 24/7, unlimited, nonstop availability.

The only person that is capable of this kind of guaranteed communication is Jesus. After his resurrection, he met with the disciples on a road (Luke 24:35), behind locked doors (John 20:19), and beside the sea (John 21:1)

So why, when we are faced with struggles or annoyances, do we sometimes turn to people that have limited availability? We text a friend, walk down the hall to vent to a co-worker, or call someone that we think will be there to listen to us. Don't get me wrong, these people are great and necessary to have in life...but we shouldn't depend on them to be our first choice when it comes to dealing with problems. Jesus will meet us wherever we are, so why don't we call on Him first?

Exchange

I found this quote on a blog from Nicki Koziarz a few days ago:

"What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it."

This quote has brought up so many thoughts over the past couple of days that I am still trying to sort through all of them. The one immediate thing that this quote did was challenge me to ask myself this question: "Is what I am doing/have done today meaningful?" It has challenged me to look beyond myself and what I'm doing in the moment, and think about the level of importance I am putting on any given activity.

It's given me a new sense of purpose at work...I'm exchanging a day of my life, five days a week, to make a difference in my workplace and the lives of the people I work with. The days I'm discontent at work are the days I'm focusing on what I'd rather be doing at home verses what I could be doing at work.

It's the reason I make sure that I am encouraging to my husband, and I do and say silly things to make him crack a smile. I make it a priority to ask him about his day and go "out on the town" with him, even if it's only to Target. I am exchanging days of my life to show the strongest, purest love humanly possible and to strive to become the kind of wife that Proverbs 31 describes.

It's the reason I make sure that I spend time with my mom, taking her shopping and out to eat and playing Parcheesi at her house. I've already lost my dad, without really having a chance to bond with him as an adult since he had been too sick and weak over the past couple of years. I won't have my mom forever, so I want to do what I can while I can. I am exchanging days of my life to make a difference in my mom's life, to break through the monotony and loneliness she is struggling through and give her encouragment as God works through me.

It's the reason I desire to be a better friend. I want to learn how to listen, really listen to what people are saying. I am exchanging days of my life to encourage the friends I have around me, and be like Jesus to them, not judging them but instead, supporting them as they realize the things they want to do in life.

At the end of the day, no matter how tired I am or how annoyed I get at the cats over their mischief, I'm thankful for the opportunity to rescue both of them, one through a rescue group and the second by just picking him up and fostering/adopting him myself. Their sweetest moments are worth every opened cabinet and torn trash bag that I find. I am exchanging days of my life to care for animals that God created. If He didn't have a purpose for them, they would not exist.

I want to make sure that I make a difference in each day. Even if it is in the smallest way, like picking up one piece of trash or wiping down a counter at work...I want to make sure that what is truly important to me is visible in my daily life.

Strength

I started writing this blog post last Tuesday. More specifically, I was writing it after work, but before we went to visit my dad in the hospital. God's timing is amazing. Just that morning, in my quiet time I was reading Nehemiah 8, and the verse below stood out to me:

"Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10.

I have been faced with some new, exciting opportunities lately, as well as some challenges, and I keep reading about how God tells us to be strong (Ezra 10:4, Isaiah 35:4, 1 Corinthians 16:13, 2 Timothy 2:1 just to name a few). I keep thinking, 'well, that's great advice, but how exactly am I supposed to be strong? I honestly don't know how.' It was no accident that I discovered that verse that morning, nor was it coincidence that I could not get that verse out of my head all day.

I wasn't able to finish the blog post before it was time to leave, so I saved the draft with the intention of finishing up that night. I had no idea just how much that verse would mean to me until we got to the hospital, and we received the news that I have been half dreading, half expecting for a while...my dad had passed away.

In that moment, I had multiple reactions; sadness, numbness, and thankfulness. It felt strange to me that I could be feeling all three of those things within a matter of 30 seconds, but in the days that followed, this verse stuck with me, and my strongest moments were when I was looking towards God.

I am thankful for two things: one, my dad is no longer suffering, and two: just a couple weeks before he passed away, Bishop T.D. Jakes preached a powerful sermon on forgiveness at our church, and I was finally able to let go of a lot of past hurts from my childhood and teen years that were caused by my dad's health.

One of my favorite things that Elevation has taught is this (from the Joy Genome series): My joy is not determined by what happens to me, but by what Christ is doing in me and through me.

In John 12:27, Jesus says this, "Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, 'Father, save me from this hour?' But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name."

We have the opportunity, in everything we do and go through in life, to bring glory to God. God is my strength...my dad is no longer suffering, and I am thankful for that...and I am blessed that my mom is still living and I have opportunities to grow closer to her and my sister during this difficult time.  I am praying for my faith to grow even stronger and bolder, and that God touches and speaks to other people through me.

Peace

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Most of the time, when I read this verse, I acknowledge that yes, I will have troubles to face, and I know that if I lean on God for strength, I will make it through whatever life throws at me...even if I feel like at the end I am barely hanging on by a thread. However, I usually just think of the big things: health problems, car expenses that I can’t afford, job challenges, and major arguments with people that I’m close to. While reading the Amplified version of this verse, I noticed something:

The Amplified Bible states it this way, “In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

I always think about going to God to help me overcome the seemingly larger things…but what about the smaller day-to-day frustrations? Hitting every red light when I’m already late to where I’m going, forgetting something at home when I’m on my way to work, having to clean up extra messes that are made by being in a hurry…Christ overcame the world, and that includes the small things. Therefore, when we are feeling stressed out by the little things, we can turn to Jesus for patience and peace.

Another thing I think is amazing in this version of the text is the bit at the end. Jesus has deprived the world of power to harm us. This world only has as much power over us as we allow it to. If we turn to Jesus when we are having a weak moment and focus our eyes on Him, we will not be overcome by the worldly challenge that is facing us, no matter how small it may seem in our eyes.