Just stand

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (I Peter 5:7)

All, not just some. Give them all to God. Seems easy enough, right? Nope! It isn't all that easy because we have this tendency to 'hold onto' just a few more worries than we should. The trouble with that is we aren't allowing the one who can 'take care' of them to handle them. Taking on the burden of those cares is not our 'duty' or even our 'privilege'. It is sin! God tells us to give him all our cares, so when we hold onto them so tightly, worrying them along, we get buried under a load of weight, some of which is the guilt we experience by not letting them go. 

Our shoulders weren't meant to bear that burden. All we can do in life is our 'best', then we leave the rest to Jesus. If we have done our part, we need to allow him to do his. The issue comes when we think 'our part' goes way beyond where it should go. Our 'best' is done now, then Jesus does his best as things unfold. The obedience we manifest today might not solve all the problems we are facing, but that tiny bit of obedience today leads to God's big interventions tomorrow and on down the road. We need to learn that God really does care about us - these are more than mere words that sound good. They are truth and we need to allow them to become reality in our lives.

I have frequent spoken of roots - deep roots find what they are after - nourishment and refreshment. God's plan is for troubles or worries to drive our roots deeper, but too frequently we focus on the problem and forget that we could tap into something much greater than the problem if we just keep ourselves 'rooted' in Jesus. Truth is that we rarely get life 'perfect', right? If we do our best, then give God the ability and 'permission' to actually do what he does best, we might just find ourselves a little less anxious, more at peace with our circumstances, and deeply 'solid' in our faith. 

When we have done all God asks, then we stand. We stand in faith, stronger than we look, and even stronger than we may feel at times. God will work out the rest, but we have to give him the chance to do 'his thing'. It is likely time we all learn to trust God with what we cannot do, what we might have tried to 'overdo', and just stand. Just sayin!

I need a bit of peace here

 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 me, your first inclination may be to withdraw a bit in the midst of emotional chaos - choosing a place of solitude until you can get through the turmoil. I find myself sending up a few quick words of prayer, seeking God's wisdom to recognize the source of my worries, and then I just listen. That may seem a bit passive to you, but God never fails to bring peace when I 'settle in' to his presence and just let him have his way.

His peace is a great guard over our hearts - this means our emotions don't have to run amuck in our lives. We can go to him, drawing close through prayer, praise, and recalling his Word, then just listen to hear his stillness 'speak' into our lives. God's voice is 'still' and it is powerful. We must not circumvent this stillness - it has more power than any amount of 'busyness' we can put ourselves through in order to 'escape' our emotions and worries. If we desire peace, we find it in him. If we want power, it is never in the things we sheme to do to counter our worries - it is found in the stillness of his presence and the 'refilling' of our lives with his love, joy, and absolute peace. Just sayin!

Sit back and marvel

 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 the mixed-up muddle of emotions that can occur at times. The more mixed-up we are about the things, the more we need to lean into God for his perspective and a fresh infilling of his peace.

Every detail is worked into our lives for some manner of good. I had a hard time understanding how 'bad stuff' could actually be turned into something I would benefit from in the long run. Yet, over the years, I have seen God take the various 'bad moments' and bring some element of growth within me that wasn't previously there. I guess this is what he means when he promises to bring good from the bad. It doesn't mean we won't face the hard stuff in life - it just means we don't face it alone and we don't face it without a purpose. We might be in a place of despair, but he remains in a place of control.

I live in a home that is over thirty years old now, so as each year passes, I try to do something 'big' to improve it and keep it in tip-top shape. One year I replaced the roof and central air. The Arizona sun means the outside needs painting from time to time. The inside needed a fresh coat of paint, so that was another year's project. The bathrooms needed a refresh and now the flooring is being redone. These projects come at a cost - financially, physically, and emotionally. I don't like to live in chaos - I like order (no...I am not OCD, I just like the comfort of things being settled). 

I think our minds are a little like these 'big projects' around the house. There is a cost that comes with all the emotional turmoil we face in those hard times. Our minds get all muddled-up, emotions riding high one day and down the next. Our thoughts can be carried away like a feather on the wind. Our bodies feeling the tension of the season we are in. There is no better time to take things to God than when we are experiencing those moments. We may not even have one clue what to ask for, but he knows exactly how to take the chaos of our present and create something so beautiful within us. Just like when the floors are all done, we will step back, sitting in peaceful repose, and marvel at what he has done. Just sayin!

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!

My what big teeth you have, Mr. Wolf

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 escape. That is the main difference between believers and those who have yet to choose to follow Christ. We have been given a watchful Shepherd - one who has no other aim than to keep the wolves away.

So why do we pile one worry upon the other until we are so laden down with cares that our movement is made impossible? If ever we would be subject to an enemy's attack, it would be with our arms so full and our eyes so distracted that we didn't even notice his approach! God's intent was for us to have open and honest dialogue with him - so many of our worries and cares coming because we neglect this one privilege. There is something 'disarming' that happens when we open up to God - one by one the worries we have been amassing begin to be laid at his feet, until we finally begin to feel the freedom of being 'unburdened'. The lightness that comes as those burdens are eased off our shoulders and placed squarely upon his is really like none other.

The wolf preys on those who haven't learned to lay ease those burdens from their heart to the heart of Jesus. He knows how full our hearts, minds, arms, and emotions become when we refuse to let go. That is the planned moment of his attack - when we are so filled up with worries we forget to watch out for him. The good news is that even when we forget to watch, Jesus doesn't! Just sayin!

Not another bad dream!

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 thought!  Bad dreams come from too many worries - now this is a true thing.  Spend hour after hour pondering the hard things in this life and you will find it almost impossible to drift into the quiet repose of a restful night's sleep!

Bad dreams come from too many worries, and too many words come from the mouth of a fool. (Ecclesiastes 5:3 ERV)

If we were to examine what scripture has to say about worry, we'd find reminders such as: 

• Matthew 6:25-34 "Don't worry about the things you need to live - what you will eat, drink, or wear....you cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it..."
• Proverbs 12:25 "Worry takes away your joy, but a kind word makes you happy."
• Ecclesiastes 5:12 "Those who work hard all day come home and sleep in peace. It is not important if they have little or much to eat. But the rich worry about their wealth and are not able to sleep."
• Philippians 4:6 "Don’t worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks for what you have."

These are but a few of the scriptures which point out the futility in our worries. They are concerns placed on the wrong shoulders - ours!  When we worry, we are imagining all the possibilities about how "we" will handle the problem at hand.  We are attempting to shoulder the weight of the issue at hand rather than leaving that issue on the shoulders of the one who has not only the strength to bear it, but the wherewithal to handle it once and for all!  

Imagine a life without bad dreams - wouldn't that be a good thing?  Imagine a life without worries - wouldn't that make your heart skip a beat for a totally different reason than those bad dreams do?  Just as too many words come from the mouth of a fool (and we have all experienced that one), too many worries result in restless nights of sleep.  If we don't put those anxieties where they belong (on the shoulders of Jesus), we will continue to shoulders burden too big for us to handle, too hard for us to solve, and too great for us to bear up under.

The things we need to live - clothing, food, shelter, etc. - all things which are best left in the hands of the one who actually provides them!  It is true - worry takes away our joy - consuming us with the weight of the issue.  We don't have time to enjoy life if all we do is stumble through it with the weight of our worries clearly upon our own shoulders.  Maybe this is the revelation we need - we are stumbling (at best) through life as long as we try to handle our life's issues. Who knew the issue even before it came?  God.  Who has all the resources to address that issue (no matter how big or small)?  God.  Whose words are powerful, consistently trustworthy, and never spoken in vain?  God's.  Now, that we have settled those few facts, isn't it senseless to carry these things into our slumber?  Just sayin!

Affected or Infected?

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 children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.  (I John 3:18-20 The Message)

One of the most "telling" forms of worry is the type we might classify as "self-criticism".  It is the fear we are not "measuring up" to either a standard we have set for ourselves, or which has been imposed upon us by another IMPERFECT human being!  Did you catch that?  It is OUR standard or that of another totally IMPERFECT human being!  Now, don't get me wrong, there are some "good" standards others have imposed in my life.  Things like chewing with my mouth closed, learning to share my stuff, and the like all qualify as "good" standards someone imposed as I was growing up.  These are not the types of "standards" I am suggesting.  

The types of standards we are constantly striving to live up to are the ones which require us to do stuff over which we have very little control.  For example, when someone demands we "always" look a certain way, with our appearance just so, it may be quite unrealistic, right?  Ever try to keep up appearances on the outside when you just don't have any desire to do so on the inside?  It is difficult to say the least.  The problem with "imposed" standards is that they are IMPOSED - they come from the outside and are supposed to affect us inwardly.  The standards God asks us to adhere to begin on the INSIDE and then affect our outside!

Looking at our passage, we observe several salient points.  First, the worry of our hearts is nothing compared to the magnificence and ability of God.  I read a post this morning which simply stated: "Be thankful for the bad things in life.  For they open your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before."  Hmmmm....now this certainly gives us a new perspective on our worries, doesn't it?  It is in the discovery of our worries we see the evidence of God's blessing!  When we finally connect our worries to the ability of God, we are doing the right thing with them!

Second, we "shut down" debilitating self-imposed standards (self-criticism) by learning to live in the love of God.  As I stated earlier, when the right stuff gets worked out on the inside, it begins to affect the outside!  When we come into a place of really seeing God's love for us - connecting it to the evidence we see in the blessings we enjoy in life - not simply focusing on the bad stuff happening around us - we begin to see our worries take on a right perspective.  

Last, but not least, we are challenged to make love a practice - not just a matter of talk.  This is only possible when our INSIDE is affected.  It must be affected with the right stuff, though.  Otherwise, we might say it was "infected".  When we see someone as "infected", we are commenting about something which is going on in their bodies - on the inside.  As time goes on, what is occurring on the inside begins to affect the outside.  If we are running a fever, we might get flushed, break out into a cold sweat, and begin shivering a bit.  There is evidence of the infection now apparent on the outside.  Leave it untreated, and it will begin to destroy every part of our being.

God's love has a way of AFFECTING us - until it changes our entire affect.  In other words, it begins to work in our minds until it changes our feelings.  When feelings are changed, we begin to see evidence of this in the actions we reflect.  Our countenance eventually changes, as well.  In fact, when we encounter an infection, we find it is content to be contained in one host up until there is nothing to "feed upon" any longer - then it looks for another host.  God's love has a way of not "feeding upon" its host, but building up and restoring its host.  The similarity to being "infected" and being "affected" comes in the "sharing".  Whereas the infection looks for another host to "feed upon", love looks for another host to build up.  

As long as we dwell upon the worries IMPOSED upon us, we won't have anything positive to give out.  When we lay down these worries, we find we have ample capacity to take in God's love and in turn, give it out freely.  Just sayin....

Wrapped in Knots?

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.  If you're going to worry, worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

(Isaiah 8:11-13 The Message)

Ever been "grabbed by God" in such a strong manner you could not deny it was his hand holding you back or pulling you forward?  Isaiah speaks of an encounter he had with God - being spoken to with all the strength of the God of the Angel Armies.  The warning is strong - it is directional.  God's intention is not to frighten Isaiah, but to preserve him from a course which would prove to be his undoing if he followed along with the "trend" of the crowd.

From the passage above, it appears there is a group of individuals living with a little bit of paranoia - fearing the plotting of the other guy.  In a purely psychiatric sense, paranoia is any set of "delusions" or "projections" we conjure up within which imagines the hostility of others.  These "imagined" beliefs can cause us a great deal of personal conflict - paralyzing some, driving others into the confines of solitude and withdrawal.

In a more practical sense, paranoia is simply anything we believe about the motives of another person which are basically without any reality.  In other words, they are simply suspicions - baseless imaginations.  If we look at our lives, we probably have experienced a few of these moments - believing something or someone was "out to get us", but having no real basis for our imagined threatened posture.

The God of the universe is totally aware of these moments of perceived threat and he takes great care to keep us grounded in reality!  Here we see God pointing out to Isaiah the futility of fearing what the others fear - the basis of their fears having no real power backing them.  God reminds him of the futility of taking on the worries of another - it is even more silly than taking on our own set of worries!

Sometimes we need the "grab" of our God to get us in touch with our worries - seeing them for what they really are - baseless imaginings, without power to overtake us until we give into them!  God is very clear - if you are going to worry, find the right thing to worry about!  To Isaiah, he says, "Worry about me!"  To us, I think he is saying the same - "Focus on me!"  After all, he is the one with the power to turn the tide!

Not sure if you find yourself in a moment of "paranoid" thought today, but you may find yourself there soon.  Remember, there is but one basis for perceiving reality - it is through the eyes of Jesus.  Take those things which challenge you, keep you tied in knots, awaken you from sleep, or drive you into hiding to the source of all peace.  His warning to us - control what you allow to affect your life!  How?  By placing these "perceived threats" into his hands.  He holds the key to unraveling the mess of worries we have wrapped our brains around!