Maybe you’re feeling out of sorts like you don’t fit in, like a penguin on a hot sandy beach looking for cooler waters. Or maybe you feel like you’re the only one doing what you’re doing, and you wonder if the world is looking at you like you’re nuts.
You are not alone, my friend! Check out the rest of my blog post here.
As the leaves are changing and the air is getting chilly here in small town USA, I’m thinking about Christmas.
Yes, that’s right. Christmas. Already. (Cue eye-rolling for those of you who still think I’m nuts.)
Maybe I’m a little biased. I did spend a good bit of this year writing and rewriting a Christmas novella (I JUST sent out the manuscript!!), so my brain has been on Christmas mode a lot. (And LOVING every second of it!) And thanks to my sweet hubby who relinquished part of his man cave, I now write in my own little Christmas corner of the world.
But I’m thinking we could all use a Christmas moment right about now. A moment where we step back from the darkness invading our world to immerse ourselves and bask in the presence of Jesus Christ, the light of the world.
You see with Jesus, He gives you rest. He gives you peace. He’s given you His Holy Spirit, so you are always connected to Him.
With Jesus, you never struggle alone. Darkness will not overtake you.
Of course you can play your favorite Christmas songs and movies. (I’m there with you!) You can start baking those cookies or making the dough and freezing it, so you’re ready when people start hollering at you from across the room that they need your chocolate covered marshmallow cookies. (Or maybe that’s just me!)
But there is more JOY in spending time with the One who came to save, the One who is coming again. There is joy and a calming stillness in His light that the world can’t touch.
Take a moment, my friend. Take a Christmas moment. Spend time with Jesus Christ. Call out to Him. Read His Word. And don’t let the world tarnish or steal that time from you.
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” (John 8:12 NIV.)
When my daughter hurried to the car after stepping off the school bus, I knew something was wrong. “There’s a shooter,” she said.
She explained a few miles from our house, a man had shot at police and was on the run.
We hurried inside, locked the doors, and watched a plane as it began to circle our yard. It flew so low I wondered if it skimmed the top of the maple tree in the front. The growling of the engine grew loud every time the plane approached and became a small speck in the distant sky as it made its rounds, searching for the shooter.
This went on for hours.
I’d asked close friends to pray. Calls and texts came in, asking us if we were okay and telling us to stay inside.
I prayed while my daughter and I went room to room in our house as we watched the sky for the plane and searched the shadows of our yard for an armed stranger.
Of course God was there. And in the brightness of day as we kept watch, I had peace.
But night came and there was no keeping watch beyond the beam of my flashlight. The plane was gone and the quiet was unnerving. Police cars raced by our driveway, their lights flashing in the darkness, their sirens silenced.
I breathed easier thinking, They must have got him.
But another call came. “They think he’s somewhere on your road.”
I’d like to tell you I still had peace. I want to tell you I cried out to God in that very moment and He brought me His peace that surpasses all understanding.
But it didn’t happen that way. I didn’t cry out to God just then.
I’d been relying on my sight, and now it was extremely limited. My ability to monitor the situation had been stripped away with the light. I reasoned I could still listen.
But every creak in our house, every sound I’d heard a thousand times before suddenly made me question the source. My stomach soured and burned. My head started to throb when I heard a helicopter circling, the red infrared light hovering above the shadowed trees.
My husband was completely calm with the seriousness and stability of a soldier on duty while our daughter watched the helicopter in between answering her friends’ texts.
Me? I paced and sat. Paced and sat. Answered my phone and paced some more.
It wasn’t until I was in the shower, my sight and ability to hear limited to the confines within the shower curtain and the sound of gushing water, that I finally cried out to God. My flesh wanted to hurry, so I could get back to the living room and keep an eye on the helicopter or stand in our darkened bedroom to listen for sounds outside our window.
Thankfully, my spirit won over my flesh, and I stood in the shower and prayed.
Please, God. We need You. I don’t know how any of us will get any sleep tonight if this goes on. Please keep the police officers safe. Please protect the man they’re after too. Please Lord, help them find him.
When I returned to the living room after my shower, my husband told me, “You can relax now. They got him.”
You can relax now.
I have to wonder if my Heavenly Father told me that very thing the moment I finally cried out to Him instead of relying on me with all my ridiculously limited abilities.
Yes, I can hear Him now:
Relax, child. I am. And I am here.
I want to remember this:
Every time things are out of my control.
Every time I can’t see the outcome of a situation or even what’s going on around me.
Every time I stumble over my human reasoning and weaknesses instead of living by faith.
And I want to remember how God cares for His children, even when they are pacing in the dark or crying in the shower.
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV.)
I’ve finally emerged from the “hole” I’ve been in. I’m not talking about the claustrophobia-inducing crawl space I recently descended into to kill mold where I had to belly crawl and turn my head around backward (it felt like it!) to paint over those menacing monsters that were invading our helpless floorboards.
I’m talking about the hole of distraction. Actually, distractions are more like a swamp with all the slow-me-down squishes underfoot.
I know I’m not alone, hanging out in the quagmire of distraction. We’ve certainly got a lot of things tugging on us for our attention: Covid-19, politics, masks vs. no masks, violence, shut-downs/cancellations, quarantining, fear, rioting, and wildfires. Just to name a few.
Throw in your own “stay-cation,” unusual family get-togethers (if any), summer DIY attempts, financial woes (lack of employment or decreased pay), and school worries (back in session or maybe it’s not or maybe it is but only online or partly online), and it’s enough to make your eyes jump around in your head wondering what to look at next.
It’s easy to get sidetracked or pulled in different directions with so much going on. It’s like you’re the only piece of candy left sitting in the street during the parade and a swarm of kids has spotted you.
But what about God? What happens to your relationship with Him when you’re so distracted by all that’s going on around you?
God speaks to you, to all of us, through His Word and His Holy Spirit. But when we’re distracted, we’re like a bunch of rubber-necking drivers so busy gawking out the window that we miss what He’s saying, and we wind up missing our turn.
We lose our way and before long, we run out of gas and start walking.
Hello, swamp.
It doesn’t take long for this murky place to zap us of our strength, peace, and joy—no one laughs when they’re knee-deep in the muck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing. And there is no peace when you feel far away from God.
But one of the great things about God is that it’s never too late to call out to Him and ask Him to help you get back on track. You don’t even have to belly crawl to get there. 🙂 If you humble yourself and ask Him for help, He will lift you up.
And you don’t have to have all of the answers, logically mapping out how to get from here to there. You don’t have to be “perfect” either. You don’t even need to have hiking boots to get out of the swamp and back to your relationship with Him. God will give you exactly what you need, and He will meet you right where you are.
You simply need to pull your life back from the greedy, candy-sticky fingers of Distraction, and give God your focus.
And while you’re at it, give Him all of you and watch and see what He does.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV.)
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” (Matthew 6:6a emphasis my own, NIV.)
“Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” (James 4:10 MSG.)
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6 NIV.)
I’m a word girl. I know, big shocker there to discover a writer that likes words. What can I say? Words are the tools of my trade. Without them, I would be scribbling stick figures with awkward, uneven eyes and jagged lips doing all sorts of acrobatics to indicate their internal turmoil. It just wouldn’t make much sense.
Similarly, God’s Word is the tool of the Christian’s trade. That would explain how, when the world seems to be falling apart and is in total chaos, we can read God’s Word to find wisdom, understanding, direction, and peace when the world offers us none.
Instead of looking through our own eyes at what’s happening in the world today, we can look through eyes of faith and see things more clearly the way God intended through His Word:
“If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” (Galatians 5:15 NIV, emphasis my own.)
The word that stood out to me was “devour.” I remembered reading that here:
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV, emphasis my own.)
Can you see how “devour” in both of these cases consumes in order to destroy?
There’s another word. Destroy.
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10a NLT, emphasis my own.)
So our enemy, the devil, is out to destroy us, wanting to devour us. That’s his purpose. Can people actually be used by the enemy to destroy each other? If they’re not filled with the Holy Spirit and staying alert to the enemy’s schemes, sadly, yes.
What does God’s Word say about how we should treat each other?
“This is my command: Love each other.” (John 15:17 NIV.)
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8 NIV.)
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” (Romans 12:9-10 NLT.)
There’s a powerful word. Love.
“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” (1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT.)
So when we look through our eyes at a world that seems to be crumbling all around us, we have the opportunity to look through God’s Word and see. Really see. We can see through eyes of faith that the enemy is behind the killing, stealing, and destroying.
As we know, the thief comes to cause harm, but Jesus Christ has come to give us life to the full (John 10:10) and peace. True peace which the world can never give us.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27 NIV.)
We are not to be troubled or afraid, my friends. We are to “be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12 NIV.)
And when the world looks back and sees God’s children joyful in their hope as they seek their Father’s face, patiently awaiting His direction during times of disorder, and faithfully praying to God for each and every need and person the Holy Spirit guides them to pray for, then the world may very well get a glimpse of peace in the midst of chaos.
What a beautiful sight that would be for all eyes to see.
(Photo from pexels.com.)
I’ve been struggling this summer with various trials, and I’m sure I’m not alone. Health, finances, direction…whatever you’re dealing with, I pray this revised post brings you some clarity and peace as it did for me. (If you’d like to read the original post, click here.)
When you ask God for more of Him, sometimes things can get painful as He works on you, as He renovates you.
But it’s okay. God is in the renovation business.
He is like the silversmith that heats the silver, revealing the dross, those impurities in your heart, so He can scrape them off and toss them out of your life.
But before He removes them, He lets you see them. All of your bitterness and anger surface and sit there like ugly black chunks beside the bright, hot metal. God allows you to get a good look at it, to really see it for what it is.
You get more and more uncomfortable the longer He allows it to stay. You want it gone. You want God to hurry up and dispose of it because it’s painful to see.
And you can’t help but notice the striking contrast: His blinding, powerful light against the darkness of your sin.
But again, you asked God to draw you closer to Him. This isn’t a task to simply point out your flaws but to point out your need for Him. He’s the only One who can remove such agonizing and toxic things from your life.
He’s the only One who can prepare your heart for the blessings that are coming.
So you take a deep breath, acknowledge what you see and ask for forgiveness and for help. And then you let go. You let go of the control. You let go of the situation. You lower your head because it’s all to much for you to handle. You just can’t. You’re too overwhelmed to fix anything, and you realize you shouldn’t be trying anyway.
It is God who is in the renovation business; taking the old, worn, and broken and making it new.
So you focus on Him. You imagine His mighty hand removing all the dross, all the poison, refining you. Perhaps you hit your knees, completely falling apart knowing He is about to rebuild. Or maybe you stand taller, tears streaming down your cheeks as you close your eyes and lift your face heavenward, knowing He is watching you… and smiling.
His renovation has brought you not only closer to Him but to a place of peace. You can let go. You don’t have to try to figure everything out. He’s got you. And He’s got this situation.
Which means you don’t have to let the stress of everything suffocate your joy.
You are free to walk even closer to God. It’s where He’s wanted you all along.
“For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.” (Psalm 66:10 NIV.)
This isn’t the post I thought I was going to share today. But what can I say? God has been working on me. Maybe He’s working on you, too.
Dealing with the past can be hard. If you’re like me, you look back and blame yourself for…well…pretty much everything you can: the things you said and didn’t say, the timing of what you did and didn’t do. The list can go on and on.
But what if you and I stop looking back at the past as if it’s something dreadful to ponder, something painful that left us scarred and tattered, broken beyond repair and instead look to God? What if we hand over that old suitcase from our past, the one we’ve locked and buried in the back of our spiritual closet, and allow Him to unlock it?
It can be scary. I know. But what is even more frightening is living with the knowledge that the suitcase is still there, something we never dealt with, something we kept pushing to the back of the closet. It can hide in the shadows like some monster from our childhood, bringing nightmares and stealing our peace.
But what if, instead of being afraid or cringing with guilt when we see it, we realize that old piece of luggage can actually be a beautiful thing because of what it holds:
Experiences. Stories. Lessons.
They are the hidden gems tucked inside the suitcases of our past just waiting to be unpacked to help others.
Sure, the failures and disappointments are there – abandoned dreams still on hold, tear-stained journals, and faded, torn photographs. But those are the very things that make our stories believable, relatable.
We all have brokenness from our past.
But it’s up to us to decide what to do with it. We can either hand it all to God, surrendering its hold on us. Or we can let it control us from the shadows of our closet, leaving our spirits in a state of mustiness and stagnation, never learning, never growing; giving more weight to the past than the desire to move forward to the future God has for us.
(Deep breath here.) I officially surrendered my suitcase, my past, to God yesterday after years of ignoring it. And when I did, I realized it had quite a hold on me.
And today, well, today is a new day. And the lessons are pouring out as He holds me, steadying me…
I pray you feel Him steadying you, too.
“Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.” (Isaiah 41:10 MSG.)
When the sunlight began to dance across the snowy dunes early one morning, I was like a little kid rushing to go sled riding as I threw on my coat over my pajamas, pulled on my boots, and grabbed my camera. I just knew God was asking me to go for a walk, and I couldn’t wait!
I crunched my way around our yard, taking shots of this amazing scene God had created. The shadows from the trees stretched like charcoal drawings across the ground that appeared like white marble.
These unusual forms from blowing wind and ice stood by our driveway, something to admire and ponder like sculptures in a museum.
And the ground itself resembled layers of waves on the ocean, the wind pushing them to some unseen shore.
I marveled at everything, thanking God and being especially grateful when the sun began to warm my gloves (and my camera battery!). Looking back, it really was like walking through an untouched museum, one I was allowed to capture with my camera.
I snapped shots of a weeping cherry with limbs coated in ice, its shadow resembling a dark dandelion going to seed.
I thought it was pretty when the light hit the icy coating and sparkled like glitter. I tried to capture that sparkle, but every time I took the shot, it seemed the glitter disappeared. So I grabbed one more photograph, a random shot of a chunk of ice hanging from the end of one of the branches before moving on.
It wasn’t until I went inside and downloaded the photographs on my computer that I realized there was more to that simple photograph than I’d noticed at a glance.
Tucked inside, preserved in ice, there appeared to be delicate snowflakes. I never would have noticed them if I hadn’t taken the time to look closer, had I dismissed the photo as being “too simple.”
Sometimes, my friends, we have to slow down and look closer. God may ask you to go for a walk, take a break from social media, or put down the phone. (It can be that simple!) And maybe when you do, you’ll find those hidden gems – that peace, those answers, and the direction you’ve been searching for all along, just waiting to be discovered in God’s amazing presence.
“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” (Psalm 16:11 NLT.)
With so much to do, it’s easy to get overwhelmed at Christmas. There are parties to attend and host, baking and more baking, gifts to buy, wrap, and exchange, cards to deliver, and perhaps a little something God whispered to your heart like volunteering or helping someone who’s really struggling this time of year.
It can be a bit overwhelming.
Since visiting Walmart and our local mall yesterday, I know I’m not the only one. The overall feeling was “hurry” and the basic maneuvering of pushing a grocery cart was at breakneck speed, dodging others who were doing the same.
But let me tell you what God has done to help me slow down:
I sprayed myself in the face (with God’s help, I believe 🙂 ) with the sink sprayer while hurrying to clean up, the water also hitting my arm and landing in a puddle on the floor. I found the puddle after laughing, thanking God for the wake-up call, and turning to leave the moment behind; I left with an even bigger smile and a wet sock.
I watched deer playing in the backyard, chasing each other and circling around; their white tails wagging and waving at me as if to remind me to find joy in the moments all around me.
I “found” a bright and beautiful dandelion (my favorite!) on my walk…in December?! Of course I picked it and put in a glass on the windowsill.
Laughter, so much laughter and joy. Laughing at a silly reindeer hat and broken glasses with close friends, cracking up over eating bread (long story!) with some wonderful friends from church, and laughing with God as I remembered Him spraying me in the face (see above).
Our dear Pastor stopped what she was doing to hug me and breathe with me. It was as if God used her to wrap His arms around me to tell me to calm down and breathe.
I can’t tell you the number of times I looked into the eyes of children (those riding in grocery carts, walking through stores, and talking with me at McDonald’s) and saw the peace and love of God Himself.
And something God did to not only slow me down, but to remind me Who Christmas is about and to fix my eyes on Him:
He reminded me why Jesus came, and He led me back to the cross. (To go there with me, click here.)
God taught me being overwhelmed at Christmas is a very good thing, not when we’re overwhelmed by the world and its demands, but when we’re overwhelmed by Jesus Christ Himself.
I pray you and I are overwhelmed by Jesus Christ this Christmas.
Merry Christmas and blessings to you all!
Do you struggle with past failures? I do. And sometimes it can be really hard during quiet days because the enemy tries to sneak his lies into our thoughts:
You totally messed up.
You really hurt them.
You call yourself a Christian?
They never wanted you around anyway.
You don’t matter.
You’re replaceable.
They’re waiting for you to fail.
Suffocating? Good.
Feel that squeeze? Even better.
God is so disappointed in you.
Now wait just a minute. When you set your focus on following God instead of pleasing everyone else, God is NOT going to be disappointed in you.
So just relax. Whatever game the enemy is trying to play, put up your hand and say, “I’m out.” (Or you can whisper, “Jesus” or start singing and praising God and that old devil will flee!)
And you don’t have to follow the enemy when he tries to take you on his twisted ride down memory lane, searching for what you may or may not have done wrong.
Pray and ask God what you can do about it today. If He tells you, “Just keep your eyes on Me,” then you have your answer. If He tells you to make a call, pray, or forgive someone (that someone could be YOU!), then obey Him.
Always, in all things, obey God and trust that He has every right answer and every right step you will ever need to take. (Thank you, Lord!)
Just like a lovely blossom that grows from a cactus, there is beauty and surprising wonder in the battle for our souls when we focus on following God and pleasing Him and Him alone.
And there is always victory.
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.” (Isaiah 26:3-4 NIV.)
Training for Eternity 