I sat outside on my balcony with my coffee in hand. I so enjoy the weather change of the coming fall. The wind was blowing something fierce. I had my Celtic music playing in the back ground and I was praying for my children. As I was pondering the faithfulness of God I looked across the way. In the apartments across from me stood a woman on her balcony in her morning routine. I have seen her before but this time I looked upon her. She stood in the wind with a can of coke in one hand and a cigarette in the other, listening to the leaves rustle. We both seemed lost in thought. Was she praying? Was she lonely? Was she happy?
Our women’s ministries are focusing on Gods unfailing love for and entire year. So as I read His word, or have devotions or even sit on a balcony in the early morning, my thoughts tend to linger on His faithfulness. As I look around me and see other who are in desperate need of knowing His unfailing, faithful love, I am challenged to not forget it.
Psalm 13:5-6 5 But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.
Psalm 33:18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
I think about the times I failed in trusting Him. The times I feared He had forgotten me. Days I was certain He had abandon me; and then like a breath of fresh fall air, He would blow hope into my dry bones. He would visit me with a presence of peace that would crush all fear. He would disperse the discouragement that had set up camp around me and sit with me in my lonely place. And I would rest in His unfailing love. He did as His word promised in Psalm 119:41 May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;
The signs of a person who rest in His unfailing love are subtle yet obvious. When troubles blow in to their lives they are anchored deep in His abilities to either rescue them from them, or weather the storm with them. A gentle confidence is around them. They may be terrified to drive in a real storm but trust in Gods unfailing love in the ice storms of life. They may scream because a nasty, hairy spider crossed their path but they are spiritual ninjas when they are in warfare.
My mother is one of these heroes. She knows Gods unfailing love to a level I would love to be at but dread the road to get there. I have lived for 41 short years(don’t laugh) and have many more troubles, trials and victories to experience. More days of balcony pondering. More days of learning to trust in His unfailing Love. More opportunities to notice those who are afraid and help them. More opportunities to extend my faith, flex my spiritual muscle and be brave in the uglies of life. More years of laying my children before the Lord pleading for their safety. And more years of seeing my prayers answered in His unfailing, faithful way. Lord, help me to not forget your unfailing Love
You are challenged today to do the same.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Keeping the sparkle in your eye
Psalm 13 1-3 O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die
Have you ever prayed the prayer, “Don’t forget about me God.”?
The other morning I woke up with this prayer on my lips and I heard in my spirit Psalm 13. So I curled up on the couch and read it. It was as if David had read my mind. I love how a scripture is like fresh bread. Even though I had read it before, possibly hundreds of times, it was as if I had just pulled it from the oven and I tasted it for the first time. It was warm and a sweet morsel to my spirit.
Restore my sparkle.
I have never had the struggles David had but I have had my share of troubles. I am not running from a mad man. Does road rage count? I have never hid in a cave, but sometimes it feels as if I’m lost in one. The verse that really tugs at me is verse 3, Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
How can one live without a sparkle in their eyes? Sparkles fade when tragedy strikes, failure happen, and hopelessness invades. The light in our eyes, the crows’ feet and laugh lines make life abundant, worth some of the pain. Joy isn't Joy unless your familiar with hardships. But a broken heart can darken the sparkle in person’s eyes
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete
Much of my passion or sparkle comes from living out who I was created to be. And when I fall short of it or feel the largeness of life swallow up my joy, it can feel as if I have been forgotten. Struggling. That the enemy has the upper hand. Why is it that when our sparkle is dimmed our strength is zapped? Nehemiah 8:10b explains it best…for the joy of the LORD is your strength
I find it ironic that when I am in a full belly laugh I have no strength to carry a small box. But Joy is the thing that gives us strength to carry life’s heaviest burden
HIS JOY makes us complete.
What makes Him joyful? Us being who we were created to be. That is why stepping into our destiny is so vital. Pursuing our dreams, our vision, and our passions. Feeling His pleasure when we do what we were created to do! If I were a betting girl, I would say the majority of us feel a fullness of Joy when we are doing what we were designed and wired to do. Regardless of things, money or power.
When I am not doing what I was created for I can feel dull and un-sparkly. My lamp feels clicked off when I feel busy but not productive. When I feel weary from doing average things and too tired to dream big things. ARG. This is when I feel the enemy sucking my joy, my life, my sparkle. Like fluorescent lighting it just drains and discolors you. Your eyes are squinty not because of brightness, but from trying to see.
My passions can be summed up in three areas God, Family, Writing. When I am deprived of time with God and my family I loose my sparkle, it affects my writing, it changes my attitude. When I get to busy for any of my passions, my life is dull and meaningless. I can feel forgotten by God when in actuality it is me doing the forgetting. Sure there are times I will go through season that it feels as if God is quiet even if I am doing my devotions and reading my word. But that’s not what I am talking about here. I am taking about loosing our sparkle because we are consumed with tasks and assignments. We forget what brings God pleasure. We are created for His pleasure and Him seeing us take risks with our gifts and invest them in faith, puts a smile on the Fathers face. When we are doing what we were created to do. Your great dream and desire may be somebodys everyday life. Do it any way! I dont care if its not your career, but a hobby, it makes life so much fuller. We feel His completeness because it is creating completeness in us. It is time for us to sparkle and bring His light to those who are in the shadows. Go,inspire another!
Have you ever prayed the prayer, “Don’t forget about me God.”?
The other morning I woke up with this prayer on my lips and I heard in my spirit Psalm 13. So I curled up on the couch and read it. It was as if David had read my mind. I love how a scripture is like fresh bread. Even though I had read it before, possibly hundreds of times, it was as if I had just pulled it from the oven and I tasted it for the first time. It was warm and a sweet morsel to my spirit.
Restore my sparkle.
I have never had the struggles David had but I have had my share of troubles. I am not running from a mad man. Does road rage count? I have never hid in a cave, but sometimes it feels as if I’m lost in one. The verse that really tugs at me is verse 3, Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
How can one live without a sparkle in their eyes? Sparkles fade when tragedy strikes, failure happen, and hopelessness invades. The light in our eyes, the crows’ feet and laugh lines make life abundant, worth some of the pain. Joy isn't Joy unless your familiar with hardships. But a broken heart can darken the sparkle in person’s eyes
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete
Much of my passion or sparkle comes from living out who I was created to be. And when I fall short of it or feel the largeness of life swallow up my joy, it can feel as if I have been forgotten. Struggling. That the enemy has the upper hand. Why is it that when our sparkle is dimmed our strength is zapped? Nehemiah 8:10b explains it best…for the joy of the LORD is your strength
I find it ironic that when I am in a full belly laugh I have no strength to carry a small box. But Joy is the thing that gives us strength to carry life’s heaviest burden
HIS JOY makes us complete.
What makes Him joyful? Us being who we were created to be. That is why stepping into our destiny is so vital. Pursuing our dreams, our vision, and our passions. Feeling His pleasure when we do what we were created to do! If I were a betting girl, I would say the majority of us feel a fullness of Joy when we are doing what we were designed and wired to do. Regardless of things, money or power.
When I am not doing what I was created for I can feel dull and un-sparkly. My lamp feels clicked off when I feel busy but not productive. When I feel weary from doing average things and too tired to dream big things. ARG. This is when I feel the enemy sucking my joy, my life, my sparkle. Like fluorescent lighting it just drains and discolors you. Your eyes are squinty not because of brightness, but from trying to see.
My passions can be summed up in three areas God, Family, Writing. When I am deprived of time with God and my family I loose my sparkle, it affects my writing, it changes my attitude. When I get to busy for any of my passions, my life is dull and meaningless. I can feel forgotten by God when in actuality it is me doing the forgetting. Sure there are times I will go through season that it feels as if God is quiet even if I am doing my devotions and reading my word. But that’s not what I am talking about here. I am taking about loosing our sparkle because we are consumed with tasks and assignments. We forget what brings God pleasure. We are created for His pleasure and Him seeing us take risks with our gifts and invest them in faith, puts a smile on the Fathers face. When we are doing what we were created to do. Your great dream and desire may be somebodys everyday life. Do it any way! I dont care if its not your career, but a hobby, it makes life so much fuller. We feel His completeness because it is creating completeness in us. It is time for us to sparkle and bring His light to those who are in the shadows. Go,inspire another!
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