Irritants are burdens

Are you being an irritant or surrounded by irritants? A telling question indeed, for many of the things that actually irritate us about others are things that irritate us about ourselves! Mom always used to say, "It takes one to know one" and she was pretty 'spot-on' with that observation. If you are able to see such things as kindness, goodness, and graciousness in others FIRST, above all their other traits, you are likely doing pretty well allowing God to develop those traits deep within your heart, as well.

Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. (Proverbs 3:3-4)

Irritants are burdens none of us want to carry - much less emulate in our lives. I found it amazing that one tiny 'burr' under the saddle blanket could cause a horse to act up so much. They become downright 'agitated' by that tiny burr! How many times do we find ourselves getting irritated by the 'small stuff' in life? When we find that happening, we might want to consider how much 'weight' we are applying to the 'irritant'. 

The horse doesn't consider the size of the burr, he just feels the pressure of all the weight placed against it! Sometimes we apply way too much 'weight' to the 'burr'. We allow other pressures to build up around that one tiny 'irritant' and then we are downright 'agitated' by such a small thing. Most of the stuff we 'wig out' over is really not all that 'insurmountable' - it just gets us 'amped up' because we don't want to admit how much weight we are carrying ourselves over that same 'insurmountable' thing in our own lives.

Some of us would do well to focus on the 'weight' of all that guilt and shame we are carrying over that 'burr' in our lives. When we unburden ourselves of that unnecessary weight, the burr becomes obvious and easier to remove. We can look for the 'burr' under the saddle all we want, but until we remove the saddle we have no idea where to even look! We just feel the pressure and know something isn't right. When another comes along with a similar 'burr', we react. God is asking us to let kindness and graciousness be our response by getting rid of all that stuff piled upon our own 'burr'. Just sayin!

Breathe in, Breathe out

When I said, “My foot is going out from under me,” Your loving-kindness held me up, O Lord. When my worry is great within me, Your comfort brings joy to my soul. (Psalm 94:18-19)

The details never escape God, even when they seemingly escape our notice or attention. Maybe this is why it is so essential for us to trust God - because he has an eye on the details and he will never fail. Even though he never fails, our trust in him does, huh? We let worry grow within us - until it mounts to astronomic levels - and then we panic a little. God never stops taking care of the details of our lives, even when we are spinning out of control. The needs of our life are there, but he has all those needs under his control - no amount of 'great worry' will ever help bring the answer to those needs quicker, or in any better manner!

I don't know where you are today, but I know there are bound to be some of you who are feeling like your feet are going out from underneath you. It may be like you just don't think you can stand it anymore. The pressures mount and mount and your anxieties over life are just about to cause you to burst. All I can say to you at this moment is to 'breathe'. Take a breath for a moment and just settle into his presence for a little bit - not because it is will be easy, but because it is what you need the most right now. You need to breathe in the presence of God and allow it to settle your anxieties.

Life may be messed up right now. Decisions seem harder and harder, almost making it as though you don't even want to move at all. You just want to fall down, call it quits, and just wallow where you are. There is nothing more debilitating than for us to allow worries to multiply until we find we can no longer bear up under those pressures. We are reminded today to allow God to show us how his loving-kindness can actually hold us up when we feel nothing will ever be right again. His comfort is there - we just need to take time to 'breathe' it in.

Think for a moment about Gideon. Do you know the story? They would sow their seeds and then the Midianites and Amalekites would swoop in and steal all their crops, destroying their fields, and leaving them without any resources. They were feeling awfully oppressed and without any hope. It was as though they would do, redo, and then redo again - all to no avail. Until one day when God raised up one man - a man of God - who spoke truth into their lives and began to remind them they belonged to the Lord. There was nothing and no one they needed to fear. 

Yet, if you know the rest of the story, you know Gideon was a little challenged himself in the faith realm. He had to put out a fleece or two to God, asking for the wool to be wet one night and the ground dry around it, dry another and the ground around it wet. All to prove that he was hearing from God and wasn't acting on his whim. In due time, God built up Gideon's faith and they were victorious over these oppressing armies. They weren't massive in number, but the were mighty in force and strength - because God was backing them all the way. When your worries almost make you buckle under their pressure - look up, listen for a while, and just breathe. God is going to build up your faith, settle your worries, and guide you into the greatest victory you could ever imagine. Just sayin!

Bite-sized morsels

I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you've done it.  I relish everything you've told me of life, I won't forget a word of it.

(Psalm 119:15-16 The Message)

Are you a "ponder-er"?  If you are one who turns things over and over until you get a better understanding of the object you are considering, then you are a "ponder-er".  To ponder means that you consider something deeply and thoroughly.  It involves the mind, but it also relies on the involvement of the emotions in the process.  It comes from a Latin word that means to "weigh".  Some of us might say that we are "reflecting" on an idea - we are simply pondering that idea (weighing the pros and cons).

David tells us that he has become a "ponder-er" of God's wisdom - that which comes from his Word.  He has learned to "put to the test" the ideas he has running through his mind, those things that are affecting his emotions, by "weighing" them against God's Word.  There is no better "scale" to measure our ideas against!  

Part of pondering is the idea of directing our attention toward whatever it is we are considering.  There is focus - not just haphazard consideration - but determined attention toward the object of our reflection.  David has the most important thing to him is the "using" of the counsel God gives to make decisions about his life.  It is more important to him to "use" what God gives than to have all the riches in the world.

I wonder if that is the respect we have for the counsel of God.  Is it a standard by which we "ponder" on life's decisions?  To David, the Word had become the standard by which he made decisions.  It is the process of "pondering" that actually brings us to a place where we "learn" the Word.  This allows us to have the Word available when we need it - not forgetting it.  

David is very clear - God's Word is not taken into our minds in huge quantities.  It is pondered by the "morsels".  A morsel is a small bit - some call it a tidbit.  It is like a bite-sized candy bar - just enough to give you a taste, but not enough to send you into a diabetic coma!  God's Word is "bite-sized".  We take it in one morsel at a time - pondering the morsel until we find deep satisfaction in it.  That is how it begins to be something we come to relish.

When we relish something, we have developed a "taste" for it.  Many don't have a well-developed "taste" for God's Word.  Perhaps this is because when it is mixed with so many other things we "take in" right along with it, we don't get a full appreciation of the "taste"!  I like coffee.  My daughter likes creamer.   I like a little creamer in my coffee.  My daughter likes a little coffee in her creamer.  We have each developed a different "taste" for coffee.  Does the coffee change?  No, just our appreciation for the taste of that which is produced by either the focus on the coffee or the creamer!

We need to develop our ability to ponder.  Pondering is not easy because we have so many distractions.  We also need to develop our habits of "intake".  We often consume in quantities that are not easily digested - God desires that we take his Word in bite-sized morsels.  In the morsels, we develop a "taste" for his Word - an appreciation of the hidden truths deep within.

So, ponder with me today.  Enjoy the morsels God gives.  Develop a taste for the good things God reveals in his Word.  Great delight is found not in the consuming of the Word, but in the pondering of its taste!