You drowning?

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. (Havelock Ellis)

At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)

What do you hold onto what actually weighs you down? A drowning man seeks to be free of all that adds weight to his body - shoes, jacket, shirt, and even pocket change! Why? It will drag him down - creating extra 'drag' on his body. Learning what creates 'drag' in our lives versus what liberates us to move freely is sometimes quite a challenge. We hold onto what God says we should give up and then wonder why we don't seem to have the 'capacity' to take on what he wants to give us next. 

I know this seems simplistic, but when God deals with something in our lives, he is asking us to give it over to him. Does this mean it will never surface again as a memory or 'tempting force'? No, but just because the man sees his shed shirt and jacket come to the surface once again, it doesn't mean he has to put them on! He shed them for a reason, and he needs to remember all he did to be rid of their 'drag' in his life. He also remembers what his end goal is - to be rescued, placed on dry ground, and living without encumbrances.

The drowning man clings to that which gives him buoyancy and lets go of what weighs him down. We cannot cling to both - one will pull us down if we don't rid ourselves of it. Christ's goal is to give us 'buoyancy' in this walk. When he asks us to let go of something, it is meant to be a means of finding that 'buoyancy'. When we let go of what gives us 'buoyancy' and reach again for what will just pull us down, we struggle to keep going until we let go again and reach for his hands once more. Just sayin!

Just a little longer...

I wonder how many times we try to go it alone in life, kind of like some of us are doing right now, only to find ourselves in a worse muddle at the end? If you are like me (and I kind of think some of you might just be), you may try things on "your own" for a period of time, simply because you think you've "got everything under control". Then when the edges begin to fray a bit and life becomes a little more challenging than you expected, you begin to get a little worried, but you still hold onto control just a little longer. Why? The "fraying" is just a little annoyance at this point - you will deal with it. You don't feel the impact of a total "unraveling" quite yet - so you plunge ahead on your own. When do we finally take notice of how much "unraveling" has occurred in your life because you have been trying to do it alone? When the full-size blanket is the size of a washcloth?

Love God, all you saints; God takes care of all who stay close to him, but he pays back in full those arrogant enough to go it alone. Be brave. Be strong. Don't give up. Expect God to get here soon. (Psalm 31:23-24)

What happened to make the edges "unravel"? We either got "snagged" on something (or someone) who just began the process of pulling on the "one thread" which was holding us together, or perhaps we never really took notice of the "unfinished" edges in our life in the first place. Either way - we fray! We often don't recognize areas in our life where God needs to work on us until we begin to see them unraveling a bit. Sometimes we go for the "quick fix" - like when we cut material with a pair of pinking sheers to "minimize" the unraveling. The truth is - the edges still unravel - the "pace" is just a little slower! At other times, we just don't see the "unfinished" parts of our lives - either because we don't look, or because we are too preoccupied with "stuff" to notice. When we go with the "quick fix", we miss out on the beauty and security of God finishing our edges! The quick fix may get us through, but will the end result be as beautiful as he designed it to be? Not likely. I am not a true seamstress, but I can put together a garment if I have a pattern to follow. I have tried to "jump ahead" of the instructions that come with the pattern from time to time. Whenever I do, I usually find myself frustrated with having to rip out the seam and starting over because I sewed the facing on inside out! Isn't it amazing how much longer it takes to "redo" what we have done? When we jump ahead of God, we often find the "redo" much longer and harder than if we'd have just followed the directions in the first place!

When we ignore the unfinished edges of our lives, we are in danger of others helping us find them! Just as an unfinished edge of fabric will begin to unravel by the first thing that snags it, so our unfinished edges will begin to manifest when the "snagging" influences of life sweep across the surface of ours! There are a whole lot of "snagging" influences in our lives - maybe they are put there to help us see the unfinished edges. If you have ever tried to "repair" an unraveled edge, you will note quickly the weakening of the material that has unraveled. The "integrity" of the material is disturbed because as one thread begins to pull out of "alignment" with the others it is interwoven into, the strength of the fabric becomes compromised. Guess what? When we begin to have even one "string" of our life pulled by some snagging influence, the integrity of what we think gives us strength begins to be affected. We are never in a better spot than when we are closest to God. He is the one who protects us from unraveling and he is the one who is in the business of finishing our edges. But...in order to allow this to occur, we have to be close enough to him to let him "work" the edges.

One thing I have come to expect in life: God goes for the edges! He is focused on what I would not give a moment of thought to otherwise. He is reluctant to let me unravel by a careless snag. He wants the integrity of the fabric of my life to be strong - not weakened by some careless snag. Now, that said, I have to be willing to follow the directions he gives! Just as I had to read the instructions (and follow them) with the pattern for the garment I made, so I must pay attention to the instructions he gives to provide my life to be perfect with all edges finished. There are no short-cuts to God's "finishing" of our edges. He has in mind a garment of beauty when he looks at your life and mine. In his eyes, all edges are perfectly finished. We may jump ahead on occasion, not quite paying attention as we should, but when we do, we either overlook some edge, or we spend a whole lot of time "undoing" what we wish we'd never done! There is no better place to be than in the hands of the one who "finishes" our edges. Just remember this: There are a whole lot of snagging influences just waiting to help unravel our edges! Weakening our integrity is their main goal. We guard against this best when we are close enough to Jesus to allow him access to the edges first! Just sayin!

You wanna be free?

Have you seen someone so 'plastic' that you wonder what is still real about them? They have such an obsession with their appearance that they enhance that, reduce something else, go through that lift or tuck, pulling tighter and tighter, until what once was recognizable as that person is something quite different from the original! You might say they are a little 'two-faced'. Two-faced is just another way of saying someone is "fake". What you see isn't the real-deal. The tendency of these individuals is to act one way when they are with certain people and then a totally different way when with others. Their set of values can fluctuate based on the circumstance or opportunity. They lack consistency and are always changing depending on the whim of the moment. In time, they are harder and harder to 'recognize' because they are so inconsistent!

I hate the two-faced, but I love your clear-cut revelation. (Psalm 119:113)

I know a great many of us have the tendency to conceal our "defects" so that we APPEAR more "put together" than we really are! Somehow, in the "made up" presentation of ourselves, we portray what we think others will see as a better, or perfect picture of us than they'd really see if they saw us as we really are. The problem with this tendency to be two-faced is our inability to always have the "right" 'face' on at the right time! It gets harder to juggle our 'untrue' selves than it would actually have been to just remain true to who we really are! Do you realize just how much "void" there is in our lives without having the Word of God as our guide? Whenever we choose to wear a mask instead of being "real"- we seek to conceal, hide, or not trust. God's exact mission in our life is to reveal what we might seek to conceal because he knows change is only possible through truthful revelation!

I have done more than my share of "mask-wearing" in my day. My friends probably saw right through my lame attempt to cover up some defect in my character I was not very proud of at different times. There is a fairly common catchphrase which I think sets us up for failure - "Fake it till you make it". I think this little phrase is riddled with all kinds of difficulty. In actuality, we are telling someone (maybe ourselves) to "imitate confidence" until that confidence produces some form of success or positive outcome in our lives. In turn, that imitation of confidence will generate some real confidence. The only problem with this is the idea of continuing to imitate or fake what we don't really possess. God is very clear in his Word that we possess ALL THINGS in Christ Jesus. There is no need for imitation when we have the real thing!

When 'faking it' enters into the realm of "belief", we are telling ourselves one thing, but the facts speak differently. For example, we may tell ourselves we are not feeling depressed, so we make ourselves do things people do who are NOT depressed - like being with others, cleaning the house, getting out of bed. We are trying to convince ourselves one thing is true, but in reality the real thing in control is the feeling that we ARE depressed. Belief is clearly not enough to bring about full deliverance - it may be the beginning of hope, but it is not enough to sustain us through bad times. We need the reality of changed feelings to realize deliverance from our depressed state. It is only as we tap into the strength that God gives, the Christ-empowered determination of mind / will / and emotions, that our deliverance comes. "With God, ALL things are possible!" This is the basis of our belief - but the walking out of this belief is in the daily, moment-by-moment reliance upon God's enabling to walk strong!

There is a definite "void" in our lives whenever we begin to rely upon self instead of God. Two-faced living is really a place of extreme void - we are attempting to cover what we are really powerless to change, or don't realize needs changing. It is in the revelation of our true self where change becomes a reality. In the moment of revelation, we are able to behold our true condition, reach out to God for help, and then begin to behold new and bolder life choices through his eyes. In those moments, change begins. We may cry out for change in our lives, but until we remove the masks of "creative cover-up" we have been hiding behind, no change will come. As we learn to value the revelation that comes through the Word, trusting God to assist us in the changes we so desperately desire, we step into a new freedom of being "real". What a freeing thing living without masks can be! Just sayin!

More than bending over backwards

I think we shall always be among those who don't approve of what we say, what we do, the way we dress, or what we take joy in discovering. The world is full of people who think they know best, not really knowing much more on the subject than we do, but they think they do. There also all of those in this world who find fault in what we do, but all the while they are secretly admitting they want to do the same thing, or probably are! One day, Jesus and his disciples are walking to their next destination. They find themselves in the midst of a field of grain. Hungry from their journey, they reach out to take some of the grain as a little snack to get them through. What they do is forbidden - not because this was not their field to harvest, but because it was the Sabbath. To the Jew, this was a day of rest - commanded by God many years prior to be kept holy; a day when men cease from work and pay attention to God. A day in which there was absolutely NO flexibility for these Jewish 'law' followers - the 'letter of the Law' must be followed.

"There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—'I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual'—you wouldn't be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he's in charge." (Matthew 12:6-8)

Their simple actions of removing grain from the stalks, and rubbing them between their hands to remove the outer "husks" of the grain, was the issue - not that they were hungry, not this specific source of food, and not even their desire to be satisfied. It was the action of 'conducting work' on the day dedicated to not doing any work. The Sabbath had become a day full of ritual observances, but it lacked the reality of seeking God, of truly enjoying his presence. The Pharisees were livid with Jesus and his disciples - they were not honoring the traditions of the Jews and this just wouldn't do. Their encounter of Jesus and his disciples was less than welcoming - they immediately confronted Jesus with an accusation: "Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!" Not that they recognized their need for food, but that they weren't keeping all the rules!

I almost imagine Jesus at this point taking a deep breath, holding back the desire to roll his eyes and shake his head in disappointment at their lack of understanding about what the Sabbath was to be to the one who serves God. There are probably times when we receive a response from Jesus that is "tempered" with his grace when what we really deserve is a good "chewing out" for our lack of belief, limited understanding in the face of revelation, or our silly belief some 'set of rules' will get us somewhere in life. His response is direct and to the point. "There is far more at stake here than religion." This is the key we must see in what he says. Jesus is pointing out that the "religion" of the Jewish leaders had not produced what God would honor. They were hung up on the keeping of rules, while God was looking for obedient and submissive hearts. To so many, religion is a set of "do's" and "don'ts" - keeping many in a place where they don't really want anything to do with "religion". I think that was what Jesus was most concerned about that day when he responded as he did. He knew that the religion of rule-keeping was driving men further from God, not drawing them nearer.

"I prefer a flexible heart rather than an inflexible ritual." Plain and simple - Jesus focuses on the condition of the heart, not on all the good intentions, the innumerable times they had done "good stuff". He looks at the "pliability" of their heart - in other words, the responsiveness of their heart to the voice or leading of God's Spirit. The one thing that gains the attention of God more than anything else is the flexibility of our heart. If we are rigid in the keeping of rules with the idea that the rule-keeping will somehow get us the notice we desire from God, this does not move his heart. It is quite plain - the openness of our heart is what God notices. Rules are fine - that is not the issue. We spend lots of time developing the rules - far less time evaluating the heart that struggles with the keeping of those rules. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath - he is the "point" of the Sabbath. It is not the rules, the religious rituals, or the day of the week. The Sabbath was always known as being a day of rest. He is the one who provides perfect rest to our souls - the place where we cease from all the things that distract us from living for him and then we are drawn into the nearness of his presence.

A flexible heart is one that is capable of being "molded" without being completely destroyed in the process - one that is willing to be modified for the use of the one who is doing the "molding". The desire Jesus has for his disciples is that they be "pliable" in his hands - yielded to his leading, open to his voice, hungry for more of him. When he finds that kind of heart, he takes delight in making that one into his image. The person who is rigid in belief, unyielding in the "rules", finds themselves struggling with the "change of heart" that Jesus may be after. If we can learn anything from this exchange with the Pharisees it is this: We need to be flexible. That which is flexible is expandable. Jesus is looking for "expandable" hearts - because he desires to gives us more and more of his grace until it leaks out of us to all those around us! Just sayin!

Don't steam in it any longer!

"Count yourself lucky." We use this phrase, "I am so lucky", often without realizing what it means to be "lucky". It means that we are "favored" - to find a special space or focus of attention where all is going well. We should count ourselves as specifically favored by God - an object of his special focus! Being the special object of his favor should produce within each of us a sense of awe - tremendous wonder at how the God of the universe could have favor on us. His care for each of us begins with a specific action of his love - he forgives us - giving us a fresh start. The slate has been wiped clean! How many times do we say, "I wish I could get a fresh start"? Well, we can as many times as we need that 'fresh start' - God's footstool is the place of fresh starts. Fresh starts are characterized by being able to leave all the mess of our past exactly where it is and moving on beyond that place of 'messiness'. Not only is this possible - it is a reality as we cry out to our God - an assurance his kids can count on all the time.

Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be—you get a fresh start, your slate's wiped clean.  Count yourself lucky—God holds nothing against you and you're holding nothing back from him. When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans. The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up. Then I let it all out; I said, "I'll make a clean breast of my failures to God." Suddenly the pressure was gone—my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared. (Psalm 32:1-5 MSG)

Sin has a way of getting us into places where we just yearn for a breakthrough. I probably don't have to point out the misery of spirit, mind, and body that becomes the "mire" of our lives when we remain in our sinful condition, wallowing in our failures. It weighs heavy on us - bringing disease, sickness, depression, and even something scripture refers to as a "dryness". Living in the desert, I understand the effects of heat - the tremendous drying effect of the hot air and blazing sun. I have seen the sun literally turn a body that is otherwise healthy into a mess of dehydration, electrolytes totally out of balance, and the ensuing weakness absolutely destroying internal organs. Where there is "dryness", it is impossible to maintain life! The issue isn't that lack of moisture - it is that the 'heat' isn't something we are equipped to deal with!

Why is it that we live like we are inside pressure cookers? We let all the pressures of life build up, then at the point of absolute explosive capacity, we let it all out - sometimes not very well and usually making a big mess when we do! We remain in our place of absolute misery - unaware of what tremendous grace and peace lays just on the other side of our pressure cooker - and stew in our misery! When he finally "let it all out", the pressure is gone. That was not recorded for all time in the Word simply because it sounded good - God knows all too well our tendency to keep it all inside and attempt to deal with life's failures on our own terms. He also knows how messed up we can become when we do! I have a pressure cooker and when I release the steam that has built up, I have to wait a couple minutes longer to actually release the lid. Why? There is unrecognized pressure still in there long past the time I think the pressure has been released - pressure that is still capable of hurting me. I need to let the pot rest a little to ensure it is not going to bring me harm. Sometimes we need to just rest after God has relieved the initial pressure of our sinful state, not because we aren't feeling release, but because we need to allow the release to finalize!

Today, if you have been keeping it all wrapped up inside - afraid to let it go - allowing the very juices of your joy to be dried up - it is time to let it all out! Not in ways that will bring you or others harm, but under the guidance of the knowing hand and eye of the God that knows us all too well. God is not stunned by our guilt - he already has made provision for that. God is not shamed by our failures - he already has provided a way back from those failures and out of that shame. He is not intimidated by the mess of our lives - he has already made a plan for restoring the disorder of our past with the perfect peace of the present and the joyful anticipation of the future. Whatever it is that is robbing you of your joy, keeping you bound in your failures, let it out! God stands ready to relieve you of that pressure today! Not just for a little while, but for good! Just sayin!

Exchange is possible

And how blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel; they wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!  God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn—Zion! God in full view! (Psalm 84:5-7 MSG)

The psalmist declares that "happy" is the one in whom God "takes up residence" - the one that gives him right placement in their lives. As I read this passage again today, I asked myself the one question I like to ask myself from time to time: "Is my life marked by the footsteps and hand prints of God?" If God "passes through" my life on a frequent basis, my life should be marked well by his "tracks". If I spend time following him, the only footsteps that should be seen are his! If I find my hand securely in his, the only hand prints that should be molding my life are his - they are the ones that should be making the greatest and most lasting impression.

A little further into this psalm, we find the reminders, "he doesn't scrimp with his traveling companions" and it is "smooth sailing all the way with God!" Does that mean that you and I will never encounter any difficulty in our life if we will just surrender to God? Absolutely not! What this says is that God spares nothing to provide us with the protection we need, the provision that becomes more than we need, or the presentation of his unending and boundless grace as we travel along with him into uncertainties galore. God's provision is always greater than our awareness of our need - we might think we know our need, but he knows the specific provision that will meet that need in ways we never imagined possible. His protection is quicker and more thorough than our awareness of the dangers we face - even when we think we have a good handle on these obstacles, his view of what lies just beyond that present danger might just be an even bigger danger he has to guard us against. His offered grace and mercy are freer than any other offered blessing that crosses our paths along our journeys in life.

That being the case, I wonder what we do with his provision when it is offered - do we embrace it, or are willfully rejecting it? Do we hoard it up all for our own enjoyment and satisfaction, or do we disperse it into the lives of others around us so that they too may be blessed in their journey? What is it that we do in his protective arms - under the umbrella of his watchfulness and safe-keeping? Some of us might just nuzzle up there and enjoy the protective arms of our God, but I also know that we may, at times, chafe under that watchfulness. Instead of finding shelter there, we complain about the limits that shelter places in our lives - all the while pushing against those limits because we don't like being "limited" - our willfulness getting the best of us on occasion. When we examine our response to his mercy and grace, we are afforded an opportunity for the examination of our heart and mind as it relates to the healing of our pasts. His mercy and grace are there to create wholeness out of the emotional, physical, and spiritual injuries of our past.

Sometimes, we don't want to let go of what is so imperfect within us, choosing to hold on to the crushed emotional state, or what we could come to call the 'experienced damage' of our spirit. Although those areas of our lives are damaged and hurt, they have become a thing of certainty in our lives and letting go presents a place of uncertainty - so we hold on. Yet, God extends his arms and offers his mercy and grace - looking for an exchange to occur (our pain for his provision). A traveler is impacted by his travels - there are memories that are formed, experiences that are new and fresh that become things we hold onto, and moments of awe as we partake of something new, boundless, and beautiful. Those we choose to travel with along our journey in life impact the beauty and enjoyment of the path we travel. Therefore, they also impact the memories we form along the way. We can choose God as our traveling companion and be blessed along our journey - and this is just exactly what the psalmist had in mind as he penned these words. Our blessings are determined by who travels with us. Choose your traveling companions wisely! Just sayin!

Boxed in?

There are definitely times when we need to just tell someone how "boxed in" we are feeling at the moment.  It could be pressures from work piling up uncontrollably around us, or the bills of a few unexpected expenses which are now coming due, but regardless of the cause of the "boxed in" feelings, there is not much joy in them.  In fact, they are probably eliciting some fear, that little bit of anxiety mixed with frustration, and can even be creating undue physical pressures within our bodies which we now have to "manage", as well.  The scriptures are filled with examples of people feeling "boxed in", ranging from an entire nation of Israelites standing before the Red Sea with a vast amount of enemy forces closing in on them in hot pursuit, to the feelings of being alone and abandoned in a foreign country as a couple of widowed foreigners. Regardless of the cause, our sense of being "boxed in" can be overwhelming to us on occasion - eliciting either a deep sense of need which we turn to another to have met, or an even deeper sense of prideful stubbornness which digs in our heels and thinks we can "motor through" this one without outside help.  We may want help, but we won't admit it!  We may actually "need" help, but we won't bring ourselves to ask.  Why?  We are focused so much on the "box" we are in that we cannot think beyond the "walls" of the box!

But I will sing about your strength, my God, and I will celebrate because of your love. You are my fortress, my place of protection in times of trouble. I will sing your praises! You are my mighty fortress, and you love me. (Psalm 59:16-17 CEV)

David was often in predicaments which made him feel more than a little "boxed in" - both literally and figuratively.  It might have been matters of his own doing, such as his committing of adultery with Bathsheba while her husband was off to war.  It might have been matters of someone else's doing, such as when he was hiding out from Saul's armies because Saul was tormented by an evil spirit and out to kill him on the spot.  Either way, the pressures mounted from time to time - every pressure adding to the last unless he found a way to "release" those pressures.  Here is where we often get this part of the equation wrong.  My math teachers often told me I could solve a problem a certain way, one which arrived at the right answer, but if I didn't follow the principles of solving the equation the "right" way, the potential of me arriving at the right answer would vary depending on how I chose to "arrive" at the answer each time.  This is true in our daily lives, as it applies to dealing with the pressures which "box us in" and make us feel we are in a pressure-cooker of sorts.  There might be more than one way to find a "release" from the pressure we are feeling, but there is really only one consistently reliable release!

I think this is where most of us struggle with getting out of the box - we think we have to be the ones to release ourselves from the walls which confine us. It is either because we are too prideful to ask for help, or we just simply think we don't need help in the first place.  I just have to ask - how's that been working for you?  If you are like me, probably not so well!  In fact, you might even find you get out of one "box" and find you are just in a different "box" all together! Now, what good did that do?  Nothing really brings us to the same "release" as God's wisdom and power.  No matter how good of a plan we create to get ourselves out of our "box", we just won't manage it as well as if we'd just turn to God for his wisdom and help.  After all, he didn't put us in the box, but he actually knows what will keep us out of it the next time!

As I was contemplating this "boxed in" feeling we occasionally feel, I was struck with how frequently this can occur when we are further away from intimate relationship with Jesus.  The more we try to do things our way, the further away we move from Jesus.  This is probably what my math teachers were trying to say - I "can" do things "my" way, but do I want to continue to if I know it may not produce the reliability I am hoping for?  The more I insist on handling things myself - doing things my way - the more I find the box gets stronger walls and tighter tape!  Focus on the walls long enough and that is all you see.  Eventually you don't even remember that you want to be free of those walls.  This is called bondage, my friends!  The further we turn our focus away from Christ, the deeper becomes our bondage.  The only way to be free is to turn toward release and this is only found in a person - Christ Jesus.

Another thing caught my attention - the ability to celebrate release even when the "box" is still in place!  David gives us ample example of this principle as he always found himself ending up his prayers and even his "complaints" to God with a reminder to himself of God's faithfulness and love.  Yep, David complained to God.  So, don't think yourself so "holy" and "spiritual" that you won't admit you do the same thing!  A whole lot of our prayers about the "box" we are in at the moment are really "complaints" about the predicament we are in!  We need to take a lesson from David, though.  He had tried a few times to do things on his own - like when he decided the best plan to cover up his infidelity with Bathsheba was to have her husband killed in battle!  That didn't work so well for him as he realized when he lost the son born out of that infidelity!  Our best laid plans of "escape" are not going to produce the results we hope for - so why do we insist on following through on those plans?  Instead, we need to draw closer to Jesus, look fully into his face, and then confess we need his help to get out of the box (whether it is a box of our own reckoning, or one another has placed us within).

Herein is the rub - our pride keeps us from admitting we need the help and our fear keeps us focused on the walls of the box.  Until we recognize the box as a means of interfering with our ability to behold God's face, we won't want his help to be released from the confines of the walls of that box!  Just sayin!

Hey...you worrying on that again?

Instead of worry, we are to pray.  Instead of gloom and doom, we are to praise.  Instead of hatred, we are to walk in love.  In the Bible, there are a whole lot of "instead of" statements.  Sometimes we see them as don't do this, but do this; put off this, put on that; or don't go that way, but follow this path.  Regardless, of the wording, the intent is the same - we are NOT to pursue some course of action and we are to embrace readily another.  I don't think these words are in scripture for pleasant reading - they are instruction which will save us tons of regret if we will just heed them.  Today's "instead of" instruction is that of worry.  It is not "don't worry, be happy", but rather "don't worry, pray".  Too many times, we think if we will just pursue this or that which promises happiness, all our worries will just melt away.  Okay, I gotta ask . . . how's that working for you?

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.  (Philippians 4:6-7 MSG)

Paul's instructions are quite plain - don't worry or fret.  Don't torment yourself with disturbing thoughts.  Did you realize that was what worry was - tormenting thoughts?  I once heard we are "borrowing from tomorrow what belongs in tomorrow" when we worry.  I kind of like that illustration, for we bring the things which we imagine will torment us tomorrow into our today and then they actually do torment us because they weren't intended to be in our today!  Imagine the difference we'd experience if we'd just let the stuff which belongs in tomorrow to stay there until we are ready to deal with it right there!  

I like the way this passage describes letting our petitions and praises shape our worries into prayers.  Isn't this exactly how we allow God to take care of our concerns?  When we are open enough to share what is on our minds, God is willing to take them into his care.  What shapes you?  If you have a tendency to worry, you might just be surprised how much those things you are constantly muddling over in your mind have "shaped" your life.  What messes with your mind shapes you.  What you allow to "mess up" your mind also has a powerful effect on you!

What settles a mind?  Isn't it the peace of God?  How does the peace of God come?  It comes when we are willing to take the "muddle" in our minds and speak it forth to him.  It isn't "natural" to "give up" these thoughts, though. It is something which requires our concerted effort.  Since we gravitate toward "mulling things over and over" in our minds, it is only when we "focus" on getting them out of there that we are finally free from them.  This is probably why Paul instructed us to shape our worries into prayers and praise!  The formation of these worries into prayers and opportunities for praise is what actually allows us to finally get them into the open and into his hands.  This is the actual place of release.  It isn't in the muddling, it is in the praying and praising where release comes.

Worries are often not spoken.  They are maintained in the recesses of our minds and allowed to create all kinds of additional concerns than the original "worry" ever possessed.  This is the silliness of holding onto things God asks us to let go of in the first place - they rapidly become monumental things and we just don't realize how "out of control" they get until we FEEL out of control. The way "out" of worry is really not so much in what we "do", but in what we "express".  Prayer and praise are both expressions of our heart - they give "voice" to what is hidden within.  Worry is a "hidden" thing for most of us - if we want freedom from it, we might just need to bring what has been "hidden away" in our hearts for quite some time into the open!  Just sayin!

Affecting or Infecting?

If you have ever struggled with a little negativity in your own life - such as just not being able to see the forest for the trees - you probably will get what I am going to talk about today.  Life choices are based on what we evaluate to be either "negative" or "positive" for our lives.  We try to avoid the negative and move toward what we consider to be positive.  The time it takes to avoid one and move toward another is really what gives us the most problems, isn't it?  One of the things we have to keep in mind is the "ease" at which the negative stuff comes into our lives.  It is like this ever-present gift that just keeps on giving!  On the other hand, the positive stuff takes a little longer, might seem a little hard to get our hands around, and sometimes even seems to evade us!

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.  (Philippians 4:8-9 MSG)

First things first - our words often reveal the course of our minds and influence the environment into which we take steps forward, backward, or none at all. Maybe this is why Paul focused on filling our minds with things which mattered the most.  If we look at the list, these are not the things which come naturally to us.  They are pursued on purpose.  Negative stuff comes our way because it naturally exists in our environment.  People gravitate toward negativity when they don't understand stuff.  They get negative about others when they might not want anyone to focus on them.  There is just something "natural" about negativity.  On the other hand, these things Paul tells us to fill our minds with are not "natural" - they take some work.  Yet, if we focus on these, we find our view of life turns a lot more positive, even when negative stuff seems to surround us.

Next, if we have been embracing the negativity around us, it is time to let it go.  How?  Probably one of the simplest ways to let something go is to move toward it in forgiveness.  Simple?  Yeah right!  Forgiveness is not all that simple, is it?  Nope - it is purposeful, costs us something, and sometimes takes us out of our comfort zone.  Look again at what I said - we move away from negativity and toward the positive in the actions of forgiveness. Forgiveness has some pretty specific actions - things like letting go of the debt you feel another "owes" you, not holding onto what you think you have a right to, etc.  The more we engage in these types of actions of forgiveness, the easier it is for us to move away from the negative and toward the positive.  As we move in forgiveness, the things which held our attention and demanded so much of our energies in the negative realm no longer hold the same power over us.  Those energies are free to be refocused - we have more to invest in the positive, making the positive more attainable than it was when we held onto the negative.

If you don't think your relationships are important in this battle between embracing the positive and releasing the negative, think again.  They matter big time!  The more we hang around with negative people, bent on skewing our perception of life toward the negative, the more we become rooted in never taking steps to get out of negativity.  Negative people affect other people - maybe even "infect" them.  Staying rooted in that type of soil will certainly turn the "fruit" on your vine very "acidic"!  Good fruit only comes when we are in good soil - if your fruit seems a little acidic - you might just consider where you are planted!

Most important of all - keep your perspective.  A word on perspective - the best perspective is established from the best vantage point.  The best vantage point is next to the heart of Christ.  This said, the best way to step away from the negative and toward the positive is to nuzzle up really, really close to the heart of Jesus.  How?  This IS the simple part - for it takes only a word to him to be drawn near.  What we don't realize is he accomplishes the work of coming near - he gives the access - we just have to ask and then be drawn in.  We make this "closeness" with Jesus such a hard thing - thinking it is done only on our knees, in a quiet room, with lots and lots of focus on "getting close to Jesus".  Come on!  Although these experiences are good for us in order to develop closeness with Jesus, we meet up with Jesus many different ways and in all sorts of places.  One of the places I hear from him and release stuff to him is in the drive between home and work, or work and home.  I am alone - except for the hundreds of other drivers on the road!  I get to talk to him about whatever I want - and he talks to me about whatever I need!

There isn't much we can do about the negativity around us - except keeping the perspective which will help us to avoid being sucked in.  If you have been sucked in already, it is not too late.  Get a change of perspective by drawing close to Christ, allowing him to direct you toward forgiveness, and then let your mind be healed.  Your energies will be renewed as you do - and your change in perspective might just be what the environment you are in needs, as well!  Just sayin!