Showing posts with label Circumstances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Circumstances. Show all posts

Monday, September 17

The Living One Who Sees Me




The players:

Mistress: Sarai, Hubby’s wife
Hubby: Abram, Mistress’ husband
Maid: Hagar, Sarai’s servant
Angel: Angel of the Lord

Act 1:

Childless through many years of marriage, Mistress is frustrated. One night, she turns to Hubby in their tent:

Mistress: “The Lord has held back children from me. Go, sleep with my maid. Maybe we can have children through her.”

Hubby hearkens to Mistress. Listening with interest, he willingly grants her request.

Maid becomes with child.

It all backfires. Besides a big belly, Maid gets a big head.

Maid, singing taunts to Mistress: “I’m pregnant and you’re not! I’m pregnant and you’re not!” 

Later, Mistress to Hubby: “It’s all your fault!”

Hubby: “She’s your servant. Do what you want with her.”

Mistress, then, treats Maid harshly.

Act 2:

Treated severely, Maid runs away to the wilderness.

Feeling forsaken and utterly alone, Maid, in tears over her plight, sits by a spring of water, somewhere on the way to Shur (meaning a wall), where she encounters an Angel of the Lord.

Angel: “Where did you come from? And where are you going?”

Maid: “I am running away from my Mistress.”

Angel: “Return to her and humble yourself to her. Then, I will greatly multiply your descendants. The Lord has heard your cry of distress.”

Act 3:

Maid names the Angel: The Living One Who Sees Me.

She also names the well: The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.

Finale:

Maid goes back where she belongs...serving her Mistress, the one ruling over her. And she is blessed with a multitude of descendants.

Personal application:

Act 1: The problem

Question 1: Have you ever had a situation that just wasn’t working out right?

Question 2: Have you ever had a problem, or been a part of someone else’s problem, and you, or the other person, did something without thinking it through?

Question 3: Has someone treated you so badly that, in your hurt, you wanted to escape?

Act 2: The consequence

1): Maybe, like Sarai, you got tired of waiting on God. You tried to help Him out by acting on your own, doing something that wasn’t His plan, and you suffered overwhelming consequences.

2): Maybe, like Paul, when those around you struck out on their own, not consulting God, you got caught in their aftermath, and you felt as if you were shipwrecked.

3): Maybe, like Hagar, you ran from your situation to the wilderness, where you sat down all alone, forsaken, and cried a bazillion teardrops. Maybe you ran up against a Shur-wall.

Act 3: The application

At one time or another, we have all experienced at least one of the above three scenarios.

When circumstances become overwhelming and our heart is aching, we all want to run to the wilderness to escape our problems, whether of our own or someone else’s doing, and cry.

We might feel alone and forsaken, but are we? No. God is with us. It’s not like the song, I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City! He’s not somewhere else.

In the Old Testament, God’s name and His presence were synonymous: Jehovah-shammah, meaning the Lord is present or there. In the New Testament, it is the same; Jesus’ name is Immanuel, God with us.

God is present; He is with us. He sees our tears; He sees our heartaches; He sees our struggles.

He says, “I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Josh. 1:5 NKJV)

We cannot run to a place so desolate, so forsaken, that the Lord will not find us. For wherever we go, there He is! No running away from any circumstance can ever separate us from God’s presence.

*Denouement (conclusion)

Running to your prayer closet to seek the Lord is preferable to running away from your trials. In God’s presence, you will receive His guidance, comfort, provision, love, forgiveness, joy, and His peace. Whatever your heart needs.

When you sit by the well of the One Who sees you, you are filled with courage and strength to return to where you belong...to serving and submitting to the One ruling over you.

No matter where you go, what you do, what your need, or what happens to you, God is there and you will encounter Him. And you will be blessed in your returning to Him.

In your tears and your heartaches, in your wilderness times of distress, remember...

...The Living One sees you.

                                                                         






Share/Save/Bookmark


Posted by lynnmosher

6 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, September 5

At the End of the Driveway




As soon as hubby drove out the driveway, I started my daily housewifely duties: picking up his socks and turning them right side out, turning off the lights he left on, closing the doors and cabinet doors he left open, putting his dishes in the sink, and whatever else I could find that he had done or left undone.

And then, it started:

Why does he leave his socks all balled up? Why can’t he turn off the lights? Why can’t he close the cabinet doors? Why can’t he put his glass in the sink? Why can’t he...

On and on, I mumbled, all in my heart and under my breath. I grumbled while I washed the clothes. I complained while I did the dishes. I murmured while I vacuumed. This negative attitude seeped into other areas of my thinking. Its tentacles grabbed my thoughts and slowly began to suck the life out of me.

I noticed negativity taking a foothold. I started to frown more often. My heart became two sizes too small, just like the Grinch’s heart.

I mumbled to myself that...

...my children wouldn’t clean up their rooms or make the right choices.
...my server brought my salad after my entrée, didn’t fill my water glass, brought me someone else’s meal, or ignored me altogether.
...the person in the car in front of me drove too slowly in the fast lane.
...the nosy neighbor across the street was always watching to see what we were doing and why couldn’t she mind her own business.

Oh, the endless list! I stumbled over all the negative pebbles I flung in my own path.

All this happened many years ago until it finally dawned on me: What is my grumbling and complaining doing to me? What is it doing to my marriage? How is it affecting others? I knew that if I did not change the thoughts in my mind and heart, my negative attitude would spill out as poison on my husband, the kids, and everyone else, if it hadn’t already.

The Bible says, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matt. 12:34b NIV) What would be the outcome if I continued? I certainly did not want negative criticisms to roll off the end of my tongue.

The Canadian preacher A. B. Simpson once said of the apostle Paul, “Paul did not carry a cemetery with him, but a chorus of victorious praise; and the harder the trial, the more he trusted and rejoiced, shouting from the very altar of sacrifice.”

So, I learned to give that sacrifice of gratitude, sometimes even through gritted teeth.

I learned that thankfulness and praise are the best replacements for any complaints, turning each negative into a positive. For instance, if my husband does something that irritates me, I replace it with a positive, like having a husband who loves the Lord, or having one who isn’t an alcoholic, who doesn’t fool around, who isn’t an addict, or whatever. And I do the same for anything else.

I found that, if I am constantly negative and boo-hoo my circumstances more than being thankful and positive, I magnify my circumstances above everything else. And if I am not careful, I will be just like the Israelites thousands of years ago, as they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, whining and complaining, which resulted in dire consequences.

What is my response today?

Now, when my day is darkened with a multitude of problems that cause my gratitude to stick in my throat, I strive to remain positive anyway. When my eyes spill over with the tears of heartache, I attempt to find a way to be grateful.

I do my best to focus my thoughts on what is “true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others.” (Philippians 4:8 The Living Bible)

When faced with circumstances beyond my control, I try not to respond with feelings but try to purposely choose to be positive, thus invalidating the negative.

I do not want my gravestone to read: Died from too much whine!

Now, as I watch my hubby leave the end of the driveway, nothing fills my heart but gratitude!

           
***I originally wrote this for Chicken for the Soul’s upcoming book The Power of Positive. It never made it {sniff-sniff} so I’m using it for this month’s Christian Writers’ blog chain topic of change. Please visit the other participants are in the right sidebar.

Life: Unmasked
holy experience
katherines corner
Reflections of His Grace
Intentional.me

Share/Save/Bookmark


Posted by lynnmosher

39 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, September 2

Come, Thou Weary Souls!




“Come to Me, all you who labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Matt. 11:28 NKJV

* ...all you who labor: to feel fatigue, to work hard, to labor with wearisome effort, to toil, to grow weary, exhausted, tired.

Exhaustion plagues many people after a long day’s work at a job they hate. Stress consumes the worker as the economy serves up less and less for each dollar. Everyone toils to stay afloat, to make ends meet.

What is the return for the strain of intense labor? Solomon asked, “What does a man get for all his hard work?” (Eccl. 1:3 TLB) He lamented, “All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied.” (Eccl. 6:7 NKJV)

The stomach may be full but the soul is not satisfied. The body is sapped of energy. So many are just plain wearied and tired. It hits all of us at one time or another. And just as it is possible to get weary physically, it is equally possible to get weary emotionally and spiritually.

Do you ever feel tired, overburdened, and weary?

* ...and are heavy laden: to load up as a vessel or animal, to bear, something carried, to heap on.

When you encounter heavy burdens from...

* relationships that are strained to the breaking point,
* the job market being almost non-existent,
* prices on everything continuing to climb,
* family problems that loom,
* a death in the family,
* daily schedules,
* the attacks of the enemy and you feel like giving up,

...does the stress overwhelm you? Do you need a rest?

* ...I will give you rest: to repose, refresh, to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labor in order to recover and collect his strength to give rest, intermission from labor.

Work is not always laborious; it can also be fulfilling. Solomon also said, “Every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor - it is the gift of God.” (Eccl. 3:13 NKJV)

So, how many enjoy their work? How many realize it is a gift of God? Enjoyment of our labor comes much easier if we praise God for what we have, keep a positive attitude, and take a break to rest from it once in a while to avoid burnout.

Even God rested on the seventh day. Jesus got weary and rested. He took time to enjoy Himself. He attended weddings and dinners with friends. He laughed and teased and had a good time.

He also spent time in prayer to recharge Himself. He took time to slow down and be with the Father, going off to the solitude and serenity of the mountainside or the gardens to pray. One day, Jesus sat by the well of His forefathers to rest and recuperate, to quench His thirst.

What do you do before every last drop of your physical, emotional, and spiritual vitality have evaporated?

* Do you rest from your work?
* Do you take a vacation?
* Do you take a day off now and then (especially if you cannot take a vacation), just to enjoy yourself and your family?
* Do you relinquish your will, surrendering to God’s leading?
* Do you keep a positive attitude?
* Do you spend time in prayer?

When labor becomes arduous and circumstances burdensome, sit by the well of the Father, lowering your bucket into His spring of Living Water to quench your parched spirit and soul, and regain your strength and power, pausing until every thought of stress is lifted.

Rest in God’s promise, “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” (Jer. 31:25 NIV)

“Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.”
(Is. 40:31 NLT)

“Come to Me, all you who labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”


(You might find encouragement in these two posts entitled Let Down Your Wings and Come, Sit by the Well.)
                                                                       
Hooking up with...


Beauty in His Grip Button

On In Around button

Share/Save/Bookmark
Posted by lynnmosher

13 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, July 23

Are You Suffering from Wilderness Fatigue?



Out of work.
Loss of insurance.
Temperatures soar.
Bankruptcies abound.
Foreclosures proliferate.

Things are drying up all around. Feels like the hot sands of the Sahara sometimes, doesn’t it?

What drives you into the desert? What vehicle takes you for a spin to the backside of the wilderness? No, I don’t mean an SUV, bus, or pickup truck. Circumstances, doubts, fears, and disobedience drive us there. However, some of us use a dump truck!

Moses sinned by killing an Egyptian and fear of death drove him to the wilderness. And for forty years, Moses “kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian.” One day, “he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.” (Ex. 3:1 KJV)

Let’s look at that for a moment.

Kept in Hebrew means to shepherd, to tend a flock or pasture it, to graze, to rule, to associate with (as a friend), to be companions, or to be a special friend.

The meaning of led is to drive forth (a person, an animal, or chariot), lead, carry away, proceed, and so on.

The word wilderness means a pasture, open field, desert, uninhabited land, mouth, and speech. Its root word means to arrange, to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, sing, talk, teach, tell, utter, etc.

Mount Horeb is in the Sinai Peninsula. In Hebrew, Horeb means a dry, wasted, and desolate land. So, why did Moses take the flock there to pasture them? And if kept means to graze, then there must have been fodder for the flock to feed on.

We know for sure there was a little growth…a bush.

While Moses was there, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in that bush appearing to be on fire. Moses purposely drew near the flare of this non-burning bush. After calling Moses by name, God spoke to him.

Hmmm…in the wilderness, a dry place where God communes. There, God told Moses His plan for him and encouraged him, “I will certainly be with you.” (Ex. 3:12 TLB)

Years later, Moses, speaking of Jacob, said God “found him [Jacob] in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.” (Deut. 32:10 NKJV)

God met Jacob in the wilderness, encircled him, guarding him from danger, taught him, and watched over him as the little man (reflection) of His eye. And He will do the same for each one of us when we are in our own wilderness, whether self-imposed or otherwise.

* Have your circumstances created your own private wilderness?
* Have you run to the wilderness to escape the consequences of something you’ve done?
* Have you been wondering around in it so long that fatigue and thirst have set in?
* How long has it been? Two weeks, two months, two years? Or maybe it’s been twenty or even forty years like Moses?
* While in that barren place, do you hear the Lord?
* Do you listen to His plan and purpose for your life?

There is a bush burning in the midst of your situation. God’s presence burns to commune with you. Purposely turn aside from your distress and draw near to the Lord. Tune out the frazzled racket of the world to hear those sweet whispers of heaven.

Hidden in that wilderness are the words of comfort you so long to hear. God will give you springs of living water for which you have long been thirsty. He “will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Is. 43:19 NKJV)

He will encircle you with His love, guard you with His strong arms, teach you, and keep His watchful eye on you, never letting you out of His sight.

That living hope He imparts is greater than your circumstances, greater than your depression, greater than your grief, greater than your debt, greater than your yourself.

The Lord is with you, no matter how dark or how dry your situation becomes.

If you are suffering from wilderness fatigue, I pray you find that peaceful, resting place of encouragement and thirst-quenching in the midst of your circumstances. May you know God’s encircling, His protection, His teaching, and His watchful eye upon you.

                                                                         
Today, I am hooking up with...



Share/Save/Bookmark
Posted by lynnmosher

12 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, June 22

The Blindfold



**I felt led to post this rerun. May the Lord bless the one/s for whom it is intended.**

Today, I share with you a story that I received as an email. I tried to find out the author but he or she remains anonymous. This story may be true or it may just be a legend. I found conflicting accounts. Either way, I hope you enjoy it...

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian young male’s Rite of Passage?

The youth’s father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him, and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.

During the night, the boy is naturally terrified. He hears all kinds of noises. The wind blows the grass. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. But he sits stoically, throughout the long night, never removing the blindfold.
Finally, after a horrific night, the sun appears and he removes his blindfold. It is then that he discovers his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

Once the youth survives the night, he is a man. When he returns to his friends, he cannot tell them of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

Moral of the story: Just because you cannot see God doesn’t mean He is not there. It doesn’t mean He is not at work, watching over you.  

We are never alone. When the howling of circumstances surrounds us and the darkness of afflictions blinds us, we can know that the light of the Son is upon us and that the Father watches over us, sitting on the stump beside us.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

                                                                         
Hooking up today with Laura Krokos' Faith Filled Friday...

 

Share/Save/Bookmark

Posted by lynnmosher

6 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Monday, June 11

Leaning Against a Thorn




Thorns of trials.
Thorns of affliction.
Thorns of adversity.
Thorns of all kinds.

Thorns pricking. Briers sticking. Thistles piercing.

Pricking thorns of...

* abuse
* divorce
* addiction
* a lost job
* failing health
* loss of a home
* financial disaster
* a friend’s betrayal
* a teen making bad choices

The enemy stands ready to prick us at any time with adverse circumstances.

However, sometimes we find ourselves being pricked with the barbs of consequences when we lean into an avoidable situation, something God’s Word clearly states that we are to shun.

If we lean into wrong desires, our hearts will be pricked with the thorns of heartache and sorrow.

If we lean into improper thoughts, our hearts will be pricked with the thorns of guilt and remorse.

If we lean into fleshly lusts, our hearts will be pricked with the thorns of shame and regret.

Sometimes, God will remove the thorns; however, on occasion, He will leave them for our good, as when He left Paul’s thorn to prick him when he leaned into pride.

I wonder if we ever thank the Lord for the thorns? What? Thank Him for a trial, a heartache? All things work together for good, remember? So says Romans 8:28.

The next time a thorny ordeal is pricking you, remember the words of this prayer by George Matheson, a blind Scottish theologian and preacher in the late 1800s...

My, God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorn...Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the value of my thorn. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow.

He thanked God for his blindness. Is that something we would do?

What did David say? “I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of His glories and grace.” (Ps. 34:1 TLB)

What about Habakkuk’s attitude? The prophet asserted his faith in God and promised to praise Him, even if all else failed, “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.” (Hab. 3:17-18 NLT)

Being thankful is easy when everything is hunky-dunky, but the praise that emanates from a pain-ravaged heart, pressed by a thorn, is the sweet-smelling sacrifice of holy incense that rises to the throne room and lingers at the Father’s feet.

But what of those times when our hearts are pricked with grief?

Once I heard a song of sweetness
As it cleft the morning air,
Sounding in its blest completeness,
Like a tender, pleading prayer;
And I sought to find the singer,
Whence the wondrous song was borne,
And I found a bird, sore wounded,
Pinioned by a cruel thorn.

I have seen a soul in darkness,
While its wings with pain were furled,
Giving hope and cheer and gladness
That should bless a weeping world;
And I knew that life of sweetness,
Was of pain and sorrow borne,
And a stricken soul was singing,
With its heart against a thorn.

We are told of One who loved us,
Of a Savior crucified,
We are told of nails that pinioned,
And a spear that pierced His side;
We are told of cruel scourging,
Of a Savior bearing scorn,
And He died for our salvation,
With His brow against a thorn.

We “are not above the Master.”
Will we breathe a sweet refrain?
And His grace will be sufficient,
When our heart is pierced of pain.
Will we live to bless His loved ones,
Tho’ our life be bruised and torn,
Like the bird that sang so sweetly,
With its heart against a thorn?

~ Author unknown

Do you sing and thank the Lord when a thorn pierces your heart with pain?


Today, I’m hooking up with...

Soli deo gloria...









On, In, and Around Mondays...







On In Around button




On your heart Tuesdays...









 In Other Words...






Share/Save/Bookmark
Posted by lynnmosher

10 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, May 7

Passing Gas!




We just celebrated the Run for the Roses, the Kentucky Derby, and all the events that led up to it. The air show and fireworks display is the biggest event, attracting hundreds of thousands of people, sometimes three quarter million, from many states.

As I watched the air show on television, I learned that those flying the Lockheed Martin KC-130 in-flight refueler call what they do...passing gas! (Gotcha!)

Wikipedia says, “The Lockheed Martin KC-130 is the basic designation for a family of the extended-range tanker version of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft modified for aerial refueling.”

The KC-130 is capable of fulfilling a multitude of roles and missions. As a tactical tanker/transport, it provides support for the Marine Air Ground Task Forces, such as...

*carrying wounded
*being the largest aerial firefighter
*having some converted into gunships
*emergency supply into battle areas
*emergency medical and other evacuations
*aerial delivery of troops, cargo, and equipment
*humanitarian missions for food and medical supplies
*in-flight refueling for both tactical aircraft and helicopters as well as rapid ground refueling.

So, what does this have to do with you and me? Let’s see.

We have our own personal air and ground Task Force, the Lord and His army, His hosts of heaven. He is our Refueler. He is all things to us, working for us in every area of our lives.

The Lord is to us whatever we need:

*He carries us when we are wounded and hurting, when there is only one set of prints in the sand, as Mary Stevenson said in her poem Footprints in the Sand, “The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you.”

He carries us through those wilderness days, as He did the Israelites, “You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.” (Ex. 19:4 NLT)

*He puts out the fires around us, joining us in the midst of the fiery circumstances, just as He did with the Three Amigos when they were bound in the midst of the fiery furnace. Others saw that over their “bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.” (Dan 3:27 NKJV) The Lord enters our flaming trials and we are loosed, walking unhurt in their midst.

*He helps to fight our battles and makes them His, as Scripture says, “The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you,” (Deut. 1:30 NKJV) and “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chron. 20:15 NIV)

*He brings emergency supply into wherever we are and in whatever we need, for “my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19 NKJV)

*He is there to evacuate us from certain situations. “I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the [enemy], I will rescue you from [his] bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” (Ex. 6:6 NKJV)

*He supplies our need for daily sustenance, “He has filled the hungry with good things,” (Luke 1:53 NKJV) and “He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” (Ps. 107:9 NLT)

*As our Refueler, He fills us when our soul-level gets low or drains out and we seek His infilling. Scripture tells us, “He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!” (Ps. 103:5 NLT) And “I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.” (Jer. 31:25 NKJV)

The questions are: Do we allow Him to refuel us with His Spirit and fill us with all He offers in order to accomplish all the things He desires us to do? Do we run to Him to be refilled in whatever we lack?

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,” and may you be “made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself.” and “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Rom. 15:13 NKJV, Eph. 1:23 NLT, Eph. 3:19 NIV)

Do you need to be refueled today? Need gas?









Share/Save/Bookmark
Posted by lynnmosher

28 comments
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Thursday, February 9

Hulio! Hulio! Hulio!


Ever have a day like this?

The kids are fighting and yelling.
Your husband is late for dinner, again.
You just found out your best friend spread rumors about you.
The phone rings and so does the front doorbell;
you answer the phone and it’s the electric company about to turn off your electricity because you forgot to pay the bill.
The guy at the door is there to repossess your car!
Oh, you also forgot it’s your mother’s birthday
and one of the kids has a school project due tomorrow!

Ever just want to throw your hands up in the air and scream, “I surrender”?

I love the old M*A*S*H series, which takes place during the Korean War in the early 1950s (if you’ve never seen the show). I watched one episode the other day where Hawkeye and BJ (doctors) drove to get a supply of penicillin. On their way back to camp, they wreck the jeep, so they start walking.

A lone, enemy soldier appears and bows to the ground before them. Mystified, the two doctors keep walking. However, not ready to give up his efforts, the man picks up his trusty rifle, points it at them, and starts spouting something they do not understand.

He then drops the rifle and throws his arms up in the air, waving his hands, and yells, “Hulio, hulio, hulio!” (Well, that’s what it sounded it.) In essence, he said, “I surrender! I surrender! I surrender!”

That’s my new hand signal now: arms thrust in the air, yelling, Hulio!

When you have one of those days, when everything comes at you at once, do you ever feel like doing the same thing, screaming, “I surrender”?

But who or what are we surrendering to? Our circumstances? Certainly not the enemy! And we can’t surrender to ourselves. So what is left? We surrender to the Lord. Which should be the action we take in the first place!

When a multitude of voices scream for your attention, when so many scheduled duties clamor for you to perform them all at once, when chaos invades your space, and you want to pull out your hair, then throw up your hands and yell, Hulio, hulio, hulio!

Tell the Lord, I surrender! As the old hymn says...

I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

Surrender it all, and when you do, peace will flow like a river...

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Is it well with your soul on those harried days? As David said, “He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me.” (Ps. 55:18 NKJV)

I love The Message’s take on Matthew 11:28-30, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Wow! Learn to live freely and lightly! Does that resonate with you like it does me?

The Lord says, “Only in returning to Me and resting in Me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.” (Isa. 30:15 NLT)

Circumstances may still be the same. But you? If you have surrendered it all to the Lord, you will know peace and bring a calming influence to all you do and to all those around you. You will live freely. Lightly. In quietness. With confidence as your strength.

I have hulio-ed!

Ah! Peace. Like a river. It is well with my soul. Living freely and lightly. How about you?



Share/Save/Bookmark
Posted by lynnmosher

14 comments
Labels: , , , , , ,

Sunday, January 1

The Quest


“When you go, your way shall be opened
up before you step by step.”
(Prov. 4:12 free translation)

Henry Clay Trumbull once said, “The Lord never builds a bridge of faith except under the feet of the faith-filled traveler. If He builds the bridge a rod ahead, it would not be a bridge of faith. That which is of sight is not of faith.”

I seem to be reminded of movies lately. The above scripture and statement remind me of the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, as Indy (Harrison Ford) and his father (Sean Connery) are on a quest for the Holy Grail, the chalice of Christ, believed to contain healing power and everlasting life.

In Professor Henry Jones, Sr.’s journal, his notes to locate the chalice contain coded instructions and three challenges...

*Challenge one: the Breath of God: Only the penitent man will pass.
*Challenge two: the Word of God: Only in the footsteps of God will he proceed.
*Challenge three: the Path of God: Only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth.

In his quest, “Junior” makes it through challenges one and two and comes to challenge three. Indy stands on a ledge in a small opening in the rock, just big enough to squeeze through. Beyond that is a great abyss, a 100 foot drop to the rocks below and 100 feet across to the other side, a rough, stony cliff wall. He can see nowhere to cross.

Indy looks down into the grail diary and agonizes over what it is asking him to do. Standing on the ledge, he ponders how to span the great chasm, repeating the instructions, “Only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth.” Looking around, he notices inscribed into the rock above his head is the head of a lion.

Flashing back to Indy’s father, Henry calls out to his son, “You must believe, boy. You must...believe.”

Indy realizes, “It’s... a leap of faith. Oh, God.”

Even though he is petrified he will fall to his death, he slowly raises one foot and cautiously steps out into thin air…only to be surprised that a bridge is under his foot. Totally relieved, he safely passes to the other side.

I’ve always loved that part of the movie. It so reminds me that only when we step out in faith into the unknown does God place that solid Rock-bridge beneath our feet.

As we go on our quest through the New Year, we will...

*pass on when we are penitent to the breath of God
*proceed in the footsteps of God when we follow the Word of God
*prove our worth when we leap away from the lion’s head and continue on the path of God in faith.

Think about that. No, it isn’t always easy. We will all encounter frightening Indy-circumstances at one time or another during the year. Each situation we face will be bridged, for the ordained way has already been given to us. Christ is our bridge. Always.

How much faith will you have to step out onto the Bridge in the New Year? Stretch out that foot and put one in front of the other. Walk with faith on your quest through the year.

Just as Indy, we step out in faith for each day’s quest. As Paul said, “Our life is lived by faith. We do not live by what we see in front of us.” (2 Cor. 5:7 NLV) Therefore, as Jesus said, “According to your faith let it be to you.” (Matt. 9:29 NKJV)

May the Lord bless your New Year with faith, hope, joy, peace, and all that you need!



This post is part of the monthly blog chain at Christian Writers. This month’s topic is quest. Please visit the great posts of the month listed in the right sidebar.

Share/Save/Bookmark
Posted by lynnmosher

38 comments
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)