Ever had one of those weeks where the lows were REALLY low and the highs were REALLY high and it left you wanting to ask the operator of this ride called life to just stop so you can get off? That would be a picture perfect description of the past week for me but as is often the case with the Lord, I have been blessed with new insights about myself and life in general and can't keep them to myself. So here goes...
Not surprisingly, just about the time I was beginning to feel sorry for myself for having to deal with the trials God had chosen to allow into my life, I sat down to do my devotions and guess what the topic was? Joseph. Wouldn't you know He would place before me the textbook case of unfairness just when I was drowning in my own self-pity? Although I have read this story hundreds of times over the years, I began to look at it in a slightly different light.
It hit me that if Joseph had known how great his contribution would be to his family and to the whole of Egypt, he would have gladly endured all the hardships, knowing there would be a tremendous pay off in the end. Then it occurred to me that Joseph made the best of his situation even without knowing exactly what the pay off would be. And that is precisely what God wants from me also.
He promised me in Romans 8:28 that He would work all things out to the good and I had, in fact, seen that very promise carried out a few short weeks ago when we were vandalized so why was this such a revelation for me?? If I lived every day the way Joseph did, I would meet every challenge with the attitude that my momentary suffering could be a vessel for eternal blessings. How differently would I look at things with this shift in focus? I would not think twice about experiencing hardship if I knew my own child would reap the benefit at a later date. The truth is I am short sighted and human and need to be reminded often that my view of life is limited.
I'm sure there will be more weeks where life will be a roller coaster ride but next time,I'm going to try to apply what I have now begun to refer to as the "Joseph Principle," a more God-focused view of the things He allows in my life that can and will have eternal repercussions. Way to go, Joseph!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Christianity and Teabags
I know what you're thinking...what do teabags have to do with Christianity? My mind has a tendency to take journeys sometimes and occasionally the journey turns out to be one that actually leads somewhere! I am inviting you along on one particular trip that I took recently.
Every morning while I do my devotions, I make myself a cup of hot tea. And every morning I keep the teabag in the cup until it gets to the strength I want my tea to be. The other morning, as I watched the tea swirl around and darken the water, it occurred to me that Christianity is alot like that teabag. The minute it hits the water, it begins to change everything around it. And the hotter the water, the faster it changes.
As Christians, we have the ability to change everyone and everything around us. How we respond to challenges, how we deal with others, how we react to life's little annoyances, all affects those around us. And it seems that the hotter the issue, the faster we see things change, either for the better or for the worse. If I respond to someone in a grumpy way, the chances are extremely good that I will get grumpiness right back. And the thing about a teabag is that once it has changed the water, it can never go back to being a cup of plain water. So it is with our responses. Once we've let the negative out of our mouths, it can't be put back in, no matter how many times we say we are sorry or how badly we feel about saying it in the first place.
On the flip side of that, when we do something kind for someone, give out some encouraging words, take a little extra time to help someone, there is a ripple affect that can end up affecting everyone around us. As I watched my cup of hot water slowly turn to a deep shade of brown, I was reminded that I have the choice every day to change my own little piece of the world. And I have the choice to make changes that will allow others to see Jesus in me or not.
Tea anyone?
Every morning while I do my devotions, I make myself a cup of hot tea. And every morning I keep the teabag in the cup until it gets to the strength I want my tea to be. The other morning, as I watched the tea swirl around and darken the water, it occurred to me that Christianity is alot like that teabag. The minute it hits the water, it begins to change everything around it. And the hotter the water, the faster it changes.
As Christians, we have the ability to change everyone and everything around us. How we respond to challenges, how we deal with others, how we react to life's little annoyances, all affects those around us. And it seems that the hotter the issue, the faster we see things change, either for the better or for the worse. If I respond to someone in a grumpy way, the chances are extremely good that I will get grumpiness right back. And the thing about a teabag is that once it has changed the water, it can never go back to being a cup of plain water. So it is with our responses. Once we've let the negative out of our mouths, it can't be put back in, no matter how many times we say we are sorry or how badly we feel about saying it in the first place.
On the flip side of that, when we do something kind for someone, give out some encouraging words, take a little extra time to help someone, there is a ripple affect that can end up affecting everyone around us. As I watched my cup of hot water slowly turn to a deep shade of brown, I was reminded that I have the choice every day to change my own little piece of the world. And I have the choice to make changes that will allow others to see Jesus in me or not.
Tea anyone?
Sunday, September 5, 2010
To rearrange or not to rearrange
I hate it when they rearrange things at Walmart. I just get used to where things are and they completely change everything. I’m sure there is some marketing strategy to justify this but it drives me crazy. We are creatures of habit and when we are forced to deal with changes that we see as unnecessary, it messes with us.
I recently came across a quote that made me reconsider my aversion to rearranging. Lysa Terkeurst says, “God is close and if I choose to be close back, He will rearrange my feelings.” Webster's defines rearrange as, "to alter, adjust or change." So I rearrange my closet, my furniture, the contents of my refrigerator, and my chest of drawers but my feelings? Hmmmm.
Why do I rearrange all those things in my house? To get rid of the old to make room for the new, to change the look or perspective, to make it easier to access things. Why would I want to rearrange my feelings? To get rid of the junk to make room for the holy, to change my perspective, and to make it easier to think about the things God would want me to dwell on.
Okay, it’s beginning to make sense to me now. Ruts are good when you want to stay on the same path but if you want to move to a higher road, you’ve got to force yourself out of the rut. Rearranging things keeps me from getting bored and forces me to change to a new kind of “normal.” Getting closer to God forces me to look at things in a different way, using different standards and different “normals.” John 15:19 says, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
Alright, so next time they rearrange things at Walmart, I won’t spend the whole time whining about the fact that I can’t find anything. Instead, I’ll remind myself about how getting closer to God can change my perspective and rearrange my feelings…and maybe whine just a little.
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