Skip to main content

A cut path

My troubles turned out all for the best—they forced me to learn from your textbook. (Psalm 119:71)

To disturb the mental calm and contentment of an individual is indeed an unfortunate state of affairs. To constantly worry, be in distress, feel agitated or stirred up is a terrible place to find oneself. There are a whole lot of things in this life that annoy the stuffing right out of us. One trouble upon another will wear us down. If you have ever observed a stone 'grooved' by a constant drip of water, you may not know exactly when the 'erosion' happens, but it does! We never really know what "drop of water" will actually be the first to begin the "groove", nor do we know when the last drop will accomplish its work, do we? We have lots of tiny drops, all working away to "cut a groove" across our lives, trying desperately to divert the waters in a totally different direction. The seemingly impervious stone is eventually eroded away by the "troubling" of the water over its surface. The same is true in our lives - those drops can just splash upon the surface, being deflected for a time, but in enough time, they leave a mark, and in even more time, the mark becomes a well-worn path.

Troubles don't have to vex us - they can become instruments to drive us deeper into God's word, if we will let them. The first "drop" which hits upon the hard surface of our hearts may just seem to "splash" everywhere, affecting much around it. Eventually, God "narrows" the path of the "drops" which he allows to hit our hard hearts until there is a well-worn groove that correctly directs the trouble we face directly back toward him! The troubles we face at first, we try to handle on our own - cleaning up the mess the "drops" create by "splashing over our lives". In time, God wants those "drops" to be channeled directly to him - so he becomes the source by which those troubles no longer produce damage in our lives but are directed away - not affecting our peace because his presence has set the course for those troubles to travel.

If we keep in mind the heart as being the center of our emotions, doesn't it make sense that God wants to have those things which so miserably "stir up" our emotions to be channeled in such a way those "stirred up" reactions don't continue to occur? The enemy of our souls wants the troubles he "drops" into our lives to "stir us up" so we become all "murky" on the inside - an emotional mess, so to speak. God's desire is to provide a means to keep the purity and beauty of the heart undisturbed. When we begin to realize the tiny drops are "cutting a groove", we might just embrace the work of those "drops" in our lives a little differently. Take notice of the drops, then use them as a reminder of the importance of looking deeply into God's word for the means by which the drops can be dealt with. Troubles have a way of either sending us into a tizzy, or driving us to our knees. God's hope is that we take the latter path! God's textbook is his word - filled with every imaginable struggle, sin, and stubborn display of man's troubles. In the pages we also find the tremendous means by which those troubles can be channeled into the very place where God's grace and mercy help us deal with them so they don't disturb our peace.

I don't know what "drops" are wearing the groove into your lives right now, but know this - God's will is for them not to splash out of control, causing havoc in your inner man, destroying your peace and "muddying" the waters of your life. His will is to allow these troubles as a means of wearing away at the hardness of our hearts, until we one day find the path of least resistance is to divert those drops directly to him! Just sayin!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What did obedience cost Mary and Joseph?

As we have looked at the birth of Christ, we have considered the fact he was born of a virgin, with an earthly father so willing to honor God with his life that he married a woman who was already pregnant.  In that day and time, a very taboo thing.  We also saw how the mother of Christ was chosen by God and given the dramatic news that she would carry the Son of God.  Imagine her awe, but also see her tremendous amount of fear as she would have received this announcement, knowing all she knew about the time in which she lived about how a woman out of wedlock showing up pregnant would be treated.  We also explored the lowly birth of Jesus in a stable of sorts, surrounded by animals, visited by shepherds, and then honored by magi from afar.  The announcement of his birth was by angels - start to finish.  Mary heard from an angel (a messenger from God), while Joseph was set at ease by a messenger from God on another occasion - assuring him the thing he was about to do in marrying Mary wa

A brilliant display indeed

Love from the center of who you are ; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply ; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. (Romans 12:9-12) Integrity and Intensity don't seem to fit together all that well, but they are uniquely interwoven traits which actually complement each other. "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it." God asks for us to have some intensity (fervor) in how we love (from the center of who we are), but he also expects us to have integrity in our love as he asks us to be real in our love (don't fake it). They are indeed integral to each other. At first, we may only think of integrity as honesty - some adherence to a moral code within. I believe there is a little more to integrity than meets the eye. In the most literal sense,

Do me a favor

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Philippians 2:1-4) Has God's love made ANY difference in your life? What is that difference? Most of us will likely say that our lives were changed for the good, while others will say there was a dramatic change. Some left behind lifestyles marked by all manner of outward sin - like drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, or even thievery. There are many that will admit the things they left behind were just a bit subtler - what we can call inward sin - things like jealousy,