It’s ironing day. I’m terribly upset! A certain situation, stuck on a repeat cycle for a number of years, has tightly tangled up my thoughts and emotions. How I long to be free of it!
“If you have any kind of trouble in your mind, give it to God. God has promised to take care of you.
1 Peter 5:7 EASY
Jesus? Can You hear me?
‘Do you cotton to the way I’m thinkin’?’
What? Wait. Hold on now! I recognize that Tone! (cotton to: to like, approve of, accept or tolerate)
Time to hush the inward shouting, the closing off, and vehement self-guarding. Time to open up both little ears; position my heart to pay closer attention instead. I haven’t heard this particular expression in ages! It’s quaint turn of phrase from back in my grandparents’ days brings to remembrance my grandmother’s love for all things fabric. She was quite an accomplished seamstress!
God’s little nudge in the midst of a fray. I’m too scattered right now to really focus. Can I bring myself to appreciate His out of the box approach? He tends to reach out at the seemliest of times. I don’t want to ignore Him. That just wouldn’t be good. So I attempt to pause, allow a shift in my thinking, pull this thread, and see where it will take me.
It’s difficult for me, so I ask for His help. The adjustment takes the sort of discipline that doesn’t come naturally. He reminds me that in spite of deep shadows I am set apart.
“You should think about things in the same way that Christ Jesus thought.”
Philippians 2:5 EASY
(Reminder: Orange represents perseverance and endurance.)
As an encroachment the likes of Jumanji threatens…with its wild stampede of zebra stripes, naughty monkeys, rampaging rhino and trumpeting elephants….I am able, with His help, to gain a bit of ground above the fray. As I continue to follow His cues my gaze slowly turns towards a different Garden Setting.
My flesh is super hot. My emotions, still keen. But Word begins to rise up. Even if at the start I sound a bit like a parrot.
“Trust in the Lord completely. Do not think that you understand things well enough for yourself. Whatever you are doing, remember that the Lord is with you. Then He will show you the right way to go. Do not think that you are already wise enough. Obey the Lord and refuse to do evil things.”
Proverbs 3:5-7 EASY
With each fresh nudge comes redirection. I don’t want to be a hearer only…I truly want to be a doer!
The Great Hope of the World Rest in the Heart of the Man Who Kneeled in the Garden of Gethsemane. Amidst accusations and violence, clandestine treachery and riot, He faced mock trial, deep scourge, and poured out His blood. He did not turn back, turn aside, turn away, nor return in kind, but entrusted Himself to the Father’s Plan.
How to learn obedience like that?!
Every pattern has its place. God is forever God and He’s promised my faith in Him is not misplaced! He’s got this situation well in hand…and He will work thru it all to establish me!
He will help me stand!
“Keep your mind clear, and be alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion as he looks for someone to devour. Be firm in the faith and resist him, knowing that other believers throughout the world are going through the same kind of suffering. God, who shows you His kindness and Who has called you through Christ Jesus to His eternal glory, will restore you, strengthen you, make you strong, and support you as you suffer for a little while. Power belongs to Him forever. Amen.”
1 Peter 5:8-11 GW
I find myself at the receiving end of Grace…a far and vastly different mindset from the one He came to displace.
There is no God
like our God!
Light as a feather;
effective as iron!
Comes to so deftly
press out and settle,
discuss a few matters
and bring to the table
Something only made possible
at the price of His great cost.
“Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.”
Romans 13:14 NLT
“We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment….He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—He is supreme in the end. From beginning to end He’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is He, so expansive, that everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of His death, His blood that poured down from the cross.”
Colossians 1:15-18 MSG
So. Coming back to full circle, making a return to square one….
Do I cotton to the way You’re thinking’?
I’m learning to every day! Grant me a willing spirit, LORD! You are my life, the truth, the way!
“Now you have received a new nature. It is God who made it for you so that you can become more and more like Him. You will learn to know Him better and better. People have this new nature only because they belong to Christ. That is the important thing. Jews are not different from Gentiles. It does not matter whether someone has circumcised you or not. It does not matter which country you come from or how clever you are. It does not matter whether you are a slave or a free person. Christ is all that matters. He lives in every believer.”
Colossians 3:10-11 EASY
Amen!