The Plumbline

 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7) I imagine one of the hardest things we can 'learn' in life is the act of trusting when you aren't too sure what is going on around or within you. Some of our worries and anxieties are because there are numerous external forces at work that we see, but may not fully understand. At others, our worries are much more 'covert' - we 'feel' them, but we don't have a clue why they are there. These can be a result of circumstances, but they can also be a result of some internal conflict that is putting our emotions through their paces. How does one get to the place of 'not worrying' when life seems to be creating chaos, or our emotions are in a muddle? If you are like ...

  Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. (Romans 8:28) There have been moments when I just didn't know what to say to God - unsure of what really was going on inside of my mind and emotions, just needing to get out those feelings, but really not sure how to put them into words. How about you? Do you ever experience those moments when there is an overwhelming sense of heaviness within, but you cannot really express it in words? I am so glad God can understand our sighs, groans, and even our silence. He knows our heart better than we do, but he also understands...

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 ...

Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders—he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin. (Psalm 55:22) Virgil was a Roman poet way back in the day and he penned the words, "It never troubles the wolf how many the sheep may be." Ponder that one for a moment and really let it sink in. The wolf is not put off by the huge flock of sheep - he sees the one he is after and then he zeroes in to achieve his target. What he doesn't know is that there is a Shepherd keeping his eye out for each and every one of those sheep in the flock! He has no clue what will await him if he chooses to attack even one of them! We will know troubles - it is inescapable in this world. We will have things that make us worry a bit - it is human nature to do so. We will encounter wolves and become frightened by their 'huge teeth' - it is part of our fight or flight response. We don't have to fear the troubles, nor do we have to create our own way of esc...

Have you ever been unsettled by a dream?  You know the kind I mean - those which either awaken you in a start as though you were falling some great distance, or in which you find your heart beating as though it were going to burst from your chest at any moment!  I think we may have all had these on occasion, but if they are a steady thing for us, it may be time to consider the cause of those dreams.  I have been around people who believe it is possible to attach meaning to each and every dream.  I guess I am not that superstitious or "believing" in the "reading" of dreams, but I do know this for sure - when I watch some thriller movie which leaves me on the edge of my seat throughout, I look for "bad men" under the bed!  It is only natural!  What goes into the mind has a way of playing tricks on the mind.  Be without something long enough and you might just crave it a little - to think upon it is not some supernatural occurrence, but rather a normal t...

Did you ever stop to consider just how much you actually "worry" about stuff you really have no control over?  You leave the house in the morning, finding traffic a little heavier than you expected, only to come upon a wreck which has bogged traffic down even further.  Instead of being concerned about the wreck, we find ourselves concerned about whether we will reach our destination on time.  We see the "low tire pressure" sensor has triggered the little light on the dashboard of the car, so we stop, get out, look around all four tires, then fret we might have picked up a stray nail somewhere.  We count and recount the number of items in our cart at the checkout lane because the sign says "15 items or less" - in turn, we are worrying if the three bananas count as one item or three!  Silly stuff, really, but we worry ourselves about stuff we have no control over.  No wonder we go to bed exhausted at night!  We wear ourselves out with worry! My dear ch...

As pressures mount in life, we have two choices - either we embrace them head-on, or we run in fear as far away from them as possible.  I suppose there may be a third choice - we could just be paralyzed in our fear, neither moving nor being moved.  Many will venture into the "thick" of the unknown - facing the mounting pressures without timidity - sometimes merely looking for an adrenal rush of sorts.  Others will venture in, but with a much more timid, almost respectful apprehension of the unknown - movements calculated and determined, but based in fear nonetheless.   11-13  God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:   "Don't be like this people,   always afraid somebody is plotting against them.   Don't fear what they fear.    Don't take on their worries.  I f you're going to worry,   worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies. (Isaiah 8:11-13 The...