Hi Everybody! I hope you are having a good week! The weather here has been just gorgeous!!
We had a wonderful concert memorial/tribute for the 10th anniversary of the attacks of 9/11. It was worshipful and honored our military through music and narration. It was a deeply moving evening.
I wonder if you ever feel frazzled. Do you ever feel as though there are just not enough hours in the day? What does it mean to have a balanced life? Is it even possible? Do you know anyone who seems to have a balanced life? Do you wonder how they seem to make it all work?
For the past couple of years, I've enjoyed leading women in Bible studies that have focused on idolatry, unhealthy relationships, unrealistic expectations, and wilderness living. Yes, I said, I have enjoyed it. Here's why. I, myself, am one of those frazzled females. I've journeyed through a wilderness that seems as long and wide as the Sahara dessert. I've discovered that I've made good things idols, I've discovered the unhealthy relationships in my life and I've placed unrealistic expectations on myself due to an addiction to perfectionism. So, while leading these other women, I've had companions along the way. It hasn't been an easy journey but oh the nuggets of truth and wisdom we've all gathered as souvenirs!
So how do we find this so called "balanced life"? I must tell you, I'm still learning but something I've found along this journey is that when my prayer life, Bible study and overall relationship with the Lord is off balance - the rest of my life is berserk! In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." If we look back a couple of verses we can find out what "things" Jesus is talking about...clothes, food, provision--things we worry about. But if you read the whole chapter you can see that Jesus is teaching us about prayer, priorities and living a balanced life. Keeping "self" in check and focusing on God first. We'd all do well to read that chapter daily in these most frustrating times wouldn't we?
What causes us to get out of balance? Lose our focus? I would venture to say that a large part of the problem stems from idolatry.
Our lessons on idolatry have shown us just how quickly we can make "good things and good relationships" into idols. How so? Well, anything that distracts or holds our attention away from God, is defined as an idol or "functional god" according to author, Kelly Minter. When we focus more on those things and try to control, manipulate or even love them to the point that we don't trust God with them, we've made them into an idol. It's even possible to make our worship into an idol. How so?
Let me give you a very personal example. I love to sing. God has called me to sing for Him. I spend a great deal of my time doing so and it's something that brings me great satisfaction and I pray it brings glory to God. Singing is a good thing. About a year ago, though, I realized that my relationship with the Lord was suffering because I had made the gift He gave me a much bigger deal than Him. I fretted over it, I protected it, I perfected it, I studied it, I loved it, I enjoyed it, I was over sensitive to it, and when God showed me that I worshipped it, I was devastated! I was so embarrassed that I had made a good gift into an idol, that I had to back away from it for a while. It was during that time that God gave me a much better perspective. He showed me how this talent had become a functional god, because it was my hiding place. I didn't have to let God into the deeper places of my life if I could just sing a song about it. I didn't have to acknowledge that I might lack trust in God in the painful areas of my life if I could just stand before men and sing at how "they" should trust God with "their" problems. I began to defend music and champion its cause and give it much more credit than it deserved - even if I wasn't at the center of it. I began to feel hurt and empathy toward others who shared my "functional god- musical talent" if they weren't respected and used as they should be. And it didn't take trauma in my life for this to happen even though there was some major stress going on!
Now that I've walked through that battle storm, I have been blessed with a new perspective. I still love to sing - I always will. But by letting God into the depths of my pain and into the areas where I didn't trust Him and by letting go of this idol for a while and literally giving it to God as a sacrifice, honestly willing to give it up completely if that's what He asked, I've gained so much more. I've experienced God at a much deeper intimate level. I've seen how He has restored and built my confidence in Him so that when I sing, I don't worry about the notes and delivery being perfect. Instead, I'm able to focus on the truth of the message of the song regardless of whether I'm flying solo, singing backup, or in a choir. In essence, I've learned to worship THRU the music instead of "IN" the music. It's refreshing actually to be at this place now...
Another friend struggled with a long-term friendship that had become such a distraction and idol or functional god in her own life. It was a painful process to see her struggle with letting go of the control of her part in this friendship and yet, she's come out on the other side with a much better perspective of the relationship and she's been able to give this friend over completely to God as well as their friendship. I'm sure she would agree that it's much more refreshing to be in this place now even though her circumstances haven't really changed.
Another reason we can't seem to hold onto balance in our lives stems from unhealthy relationships with fools...
In Jan Silvious' book, "Fool-proofing Your Life", we learned how unhealthy and unrealistic relationships can drag us down and rob us of an intimate relationship with God. This study had nothing to do with trying to do away with the foolish people in our lives or even change them. The focus, instead, centered on asking God to grant us wisdom to discern the foolish in our lives and asking Him to make us wise in how we relate to them. Centered on the book of Proverbs, it was a wonderful lesson on reality. It taught us to let go of the fear of facing the truth that someone we might love could be the biblical definition of a fool. That was so painful at times. None of us wants to admit we have aligned ourselves with a fool much less see our own foolish behavior in ourselves. But it's truly amazing that when we apply the truth of God's Word with regard to these people, we begin to experience freedom from having to "fix" them and focus more on allowing God to teach us to be more like Him -- and thus we become less "frazzled" in our dealings with them. We also learned that the true definition of forgiveness is much simpler than we make it -- it's simply giving up our right to punish. In forgiveness, we are able to relinquish control and give the one who hurts or offends us over to God to deal with. We don't have to make it right or "act as if all is well, we simply give up our right to punish and thus stop living imprisoned by unforgiveness, bitterness and anger. Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One understanding." Friend, can you smell that freedom!?!
Sometimes a wilderness journey is necessary for us to turn loose of those things that distract and drag us down in our walk with Jesus...and God allows it so that He can have our full attention...
Wilderness doesn't mean dessert - it's not always dry and desolate. Sometimes there are storms, green pastures, gentle streams, wild animals, loneliness and peaceful rest. It's not always hot, dry and desolate. In the wilderness we learn total dependence on God for provision, protection and shelter. In the wilderness we gain wisdom in navigating our journey according to how God moves and not on our own. In the wilderness, we learn that we can be stronger than our minds and feelings tell us and in our wilderness, we learn about trusting God on a deeper level than is humanly possible.
Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Christ. It's letting go of our fleshly nature and self-centered neediness. Part of that sanctification process will involve wilderness time. If Jesus had to go into the wilderness, we'd be foolish to believe that we can escape it - Jesus is our role model!! Wilderness travle comes in many forms. It begins and ends at different intervals and it won't be like someone else's wilderness journey. There will be highs, lows, lessons learned, lessons repeated, successes and failures. There will be tears, laughter, frustration, anger, grief, joy and temptation. There will be long stays, and short stays and some that seem like they'll never end. It's not fun, for the most part. But it's the process of taking off the cloak of self and putting on the full armor of Christ. It's taking on the yoke of Christ and giving Him our burdens. It's trusting God to keep His promises and believing that His promises are true and that He keeps His covenants...and this is a learning process. As Jesus told the rich young ruler who asked what he needed to do to "earn salvation", Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor and then take up his cross daily and follow me (Jesus). This, my friend, is the challenge to all of us - it's not just to that one man. The suggestion here is to release our hold on the things of this world and be generous with our possessions -- taking up our cross means - pick up the life you've been given and follow Jesus daily with it. If we hold onto this life too tightly, we'll miss the blessings and glimpses of Christ in this life but more than that, we'll miss out on making our lives bring glory to God.
No, this journey of living here as aliens isn't easy...Scripture doesn't guarantee that. But it also doesn't tell us to walk around in sack cloth and ashes every day either. Don't isolate yourself when things get tough - instead, link arms with fellow pilgrims and share each others burdens -- encourage, love and care for one another and teach each other too as God has instructed you along your journey. You never know how your life can minister to another person ... your struggles, victories, defeats, and dreams may just be that spark that energizes a weary traveler.
I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as a "Joshua-girl" in leading these dear and precious Christian sisters on this journey. They have taught me so much - we have endured together and grown deeper as women of God both individually and as a group.
I thank the Lord for EVERY remembrance of each of you...and I look forward to our next step -- our Psalms of Ascent into the temple together - Our journey out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land....to the next chapter and phase of our journey and I pray we'll meet up with some more pilgrims along the way.
Be blessed dear sisters and brothers!! I'm gonna post some Sunflowers and Sweet tea tips and recipes this weekend! I'm cooking again! :)
We had a wonderful concert memorial/tribute for the 10th anniversary of the attacks of 9/11. It was worshipful and honored our military through music and narration. It was a deeply moving evening.
I wonder if you ever feel frazzled. Do you ever feel as though there are just not enough hours in the day? What does it mean to have a balanced life? Is it even possible? Do you know anyone who seems to have a balanced life? Do you wonder how they seem to make it all work?
For the past couple of years, I've enjoyed leading women in Bible studies that have focused on idolatry, unhealthy relationships, unrealistic expectations, and wilderness living. Yes, I said, I have enjoyed it. Here's why. I, myself, am one of those frazzled females. I've journeyed through a wilderness that seems as long and wide as the Sahara dessert. I've discovered that I've made good things idols, I've discovered the unhealthy relationships in my life and I've placed unrealistic expectations on myself due to an addiction to perfectionism. So, while leading these other women, I've had companions along the way. It hasn't been an easy journey but oh the nuggets of truth and wisdom we've all gathered as souvenirs!
So how do we find this so called "balanced life"? I must tell you, I'm still learning but something I've found along this journey is that when my prayer life, Bible study and overall relationship with the Lord is off balance - the rest of my life is berserk! In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." If we look back a couple of verses we can find out what "things" Jesus is talking about...clothes, food, provision--things we worry about. But if you read the whole chapter you can see that Jesus is teaching us about prayer, priorities and living a balanced life. Keeping "self" in check and focusing on God first. We'd all do well to read that chapter daily in these most frustrating times wouldn't we?
What causes us to get out of balance? Lose our focus? I would venture to say that a large part of the problem stems from idolatry.
Our lessons on idolatry have shown us just how quickly we can make "good things and good relationships" into idols. How so? Well, anything that distracts or holds our attention away from God, is defined as an idol or "functional god" according to author, Kelly Minter. When we focus more on those things and try to control, manipulate or even love them to the point that we don't trust God with them, we've made them into an idol. It's even possible to make our worship into an idol. How so?
Let me give you a very personal example. I love to sing. God has called me to sing for Him. I spend a great deal of my time doing so and it's something that brings me great satisfaction and I pray it brings glory to God. Singing is a good thing. About a year ago, though, I realized that my relationship with the Lord was suffering because I had made the gift He gave me a much bigger deal than Him. I fretted over it, I protected it, I perfected it, I studied it, I loved it, I enjoyed it, I was over sensitive to it, and when God showed me that I worshipped it, I was devastated! I was so embarrassed that I had made a good gift into an idol, that I had to back away from it for a while. It was during that time that God gave me a much better perspective. He showed me how this talent had become a functional god, because it was my hiding place. I didn't have to let God into the deeper places of my life if I could just sing a song about it. I didn't have to acknowledge that I might lack trust in God in the painful areas of my life if I could just stand before men and sing at how "they" should trust God with "their" problems. I began to defend music and champion its cause and give it much more credit than it deserved - even if I wasn't at the center of it. I began to feel hurt and empathy toward others who shared my "functional god- musical talent" if they weren't respected and used as they should be. And it didn't take trauma in my life for this to happen even though there was some major stress going on!
Now that I've walked through that battle storm, I have been blessed with a new perspective. I still love to sing - I always will. But by letting God into the depths of my pain and into the areas where I didn't trust Him and by letting go of this idol for a while and literally giving it to God as a sacrifice, honestly willing to give it up completely if that's what He asked, I've gained so much more. I've experienced God at a much deeper intimate level. I've seen how He has restored and built my confidence in Him so that when I sing, I don't worry about the notes and delivery being perfect. Instead, I'm able to focus on the truth of the message of the song regardless of whether I'm flying solo, singing backup, or in a choir. In essence, I've learned to worship THRU the music instead of "IN" the music. It's refreshing actually to be at this place now...
Another friend struggled with a long-term friendship that had become such a distraction and idol or functional god in her own life. It was a painful process to see her struggle with letting go of the control of her part in this friendship and yet, she's come out on the other side with a much better perspective of the relationship and she's been able to give this friend over completely to God as well as their friendship. I'm sure she would agree that it's much more refreshing to be in this place now even though her circumstances haven't really changed.
Another reason we can't seem to hold onto balance in our lives stems from unhealthy relationships with fools...
In Jan Silvious' book, "Fool-proofing Your Life", we learned how unhealthy and unrealistic relationships can drag us down and rob us of an intimate relationship with God. This study had nothing to do with trying to do away with the foolish people in our lives or even change them. The focus, instead, centered on asking God to grant us wisdom to discern the foolish in our lives and asking Him to make us wise in how we relate to them. Centered on the book of Proverbs, it was a wonderful lesson on reality. It taught us to let go of the fear of facing the truth that someone we might love could be the biblical definition of a fool. That was so painful at times. None of us wants to admit we have aligned ourselves with a fool much less see our own foolish behavior in ourselves. But it's truly amazing that when we apply the truth of God's Word with regard to these people, we begin to experience freedom from having to "fix" them and focus more on allowing God to teach us to be more like Him -- and thus we become less "frazzled" in our dealings with them. We also learned that the true definition of forgiveness is much simpler than we make it -- it's simply giving up our right to punish. In forgiveness, we are able to relinquish control and give the one who hurts or offends us over to God to deal with. We don't have to make it right or "act as if all is well, we simply give up our right to punish and thus stop living imprisoned by unforgiveness, bitterness and anger. Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One understanding." Friend, can you smell that freedom!?!
Sometimes a wilderness journey is necessary for us to turn loose of those things that distract and drag us down in our walk with Jesus...and God allows it so that He can have our full attention...
Wilderness doesn't mean dessert - it's not always dry and desolate. Sometimes there are storms, green pastures, gentle streams, wild animals, loneliness and peaceful rest. It's not always hot, dry and desolate. In the wilderness we learn total dependence on God for provision, protection and shelter. In the wilderness we gain wisdom in navigating our journey according to how God moves and not on our own. In the wilderness, we learn that we can be stronger than our minds and feelings tell us and in our wilderness, we learn about trusting God on a deeper level than is humanly possible.
Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Christ. It's letting go of our fleshly nature and self-centered neediness. Part of that sanctification process will involve wilderness time. If Jesus had to go into the wilderness, we'd be foolish to believe that we can escape it - Jesus is our role model!! Wilderness travle comes in many forms. It begins and ends at different intervals and it won't be like someone else's wilderness journey. There will be highs, lows, lessons learned, lessons repeated, successes and failures. There will be tears, laughter, frustration, anger, grief, joy and temptation. There will be long stays, and short stays and some that seem like they'll never end. It's not fun, for the most part. But it's the process of taking off the cloak of self and putting on the full armor of Christ. It's taking on the yoke of Christ and giving Him our burdens. It's trusting God to keep His promises and believing that His promises are true and that He keeps His covenants...and this is a learning process. As Jesus told the rich young ruler who asked what he needed to do to "earn salvation", Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor and then take up his cross daily and follow me (Jesus). This, my friend, is the challenge to all of us - it's not just to that one man. The suggestion here is to release our hold on the things of this world and be generous with our possessions -- taking up our cross means - pick up the life you've been given and follow Jesus daily with it. If we hold onto this life too tightly, we'll miss the blessings and glimpses of Christ in this life but more than that, we'll miss out on making our lives bring glory to God.
No, this journey of living here as aliens isn't easy...Scripture doesn't guarantee that. But it also doesn't tell us to walk around in sack cloth and ashes every day either. Don't isolate yourself when things get tough - instead, link arms with fellow pilgrims and share each others burdens -- encourage, love and care for one another and teach each other too as God has instructed you along your journey. You never know how your life can minister to another person ... your struggles, victories, defeats, and dreams may just be that spark that energizes a weary traveler.
I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as a "Joshua-girl" in leading these dear and precious Christian sisters on this journey. They have taught me so much - we have endured together and grown deeper as women of God both individually and as a group.
I thank the Lord for EVERY remembrance of each of you...and I look forward to our next step -- our Psalms of Ascent into the temple together - Our journey out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land....to the next chapter and phase of our journey and I pray we'll meet up with some more pilgrims along the way.
Be blessed dear sisters and brothers!! I'm gonna post some Sunflowers and Sweet tea tips and recipes this weekend! I'm cooking again! :)
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