The Plumbline

I must calm down and turn to God;   only he can rescue me.  He is my Rock, the only one who can save me.  He is my high place of safety, where no army can defeat me. (Psalm 62:1-2) We have talked many times about the protection of God, but I would like us to focus today on what our psalmist reminds us here: WE must calm down and WE must turn to God. When all is spinning like what seems to be 'out of control', we can never forget that God controls what we cannot see, hear, or even imagine with our finite minds. It is our responsibility to trust - plain and simple. Sometimes we need to be reminded to just settle down, refocus, and listen. To calm oneself down is an art form, especially when turmoil of all manner keeps coming your way. You might 'want' to calm down, but the things that keep happening just seem to take their toll on your emotions. You find yourself spiraling out of control faster than you thought you would, all because your emotions were perceived quicker t...

Listen to advice and accept discipline; then you, too, will become wise. People might make many plans, but what the Lord says is what will happen. (Proverbs 19:20-21) One of the most difficult things for some of us is this idea of actually listening when God speaks. We go through life thinking we aren't hearing anything from God, but in actuality, we are just not heading what we hear. Many times this is because God is trying to get us back on track as we have allowed some amount of compromise to creep into our lives. The message isn't easy to hear, so we wonder if it is his voice. God never shamed us, that is the voice of Satan. He never runs us down. He will give us clear warning not to proceed with a certain course of action, or to lay down one we have been engaging in that hasn't been the wisest choice for us.  What happens when we don't listen when God speaks? We might find that his voice seems to get harder to hear, but in truth, we have just drawn further away. Ou...