Resilience

   

When we used to walk the fence row of a neighboring farm property, we walk by this tree. I’ve walked by it dozens of times and admired how majestic it is. It has been there a long time and is I don’t know how tall. It is huge and beautiful. Something to be admired. This week I noticed something about this tree that I never noticed before. It made me admire it even more and taught me something.

Down toward the bottom of the trunk is a large rock embedded in it. The tree has managed to grow around it and almost encapsulate it. The rock looks to be good sized based on the curvature that is exposed. I don’t know how this happened. It amazed me that this large obstacle got in the way of this tree at some point in time, and the tree did not let it stunt its growth. It grew above it and around it to overcome it.

I thought about people that I look up to currently. I admire them as they are now, but I don’t completely know what rocks they carry with them that made them what they are today. We all have rocks placed in our way. The question is what do we do with them? Do we let them crush us or do we overcome them and grow past them to not only survive but thrive like this tree did?

Casting All Our Cares

I was reading in a devotion about 1 Peter today where he says, "casting all your care upon Him (God), because He cares for you." The devotion author mentioned about the verb cast and notated two different ways to cast. You can cast a fishing rod where you will reel it back in to yourself. You can also cast a rock into the water where it will remain, never to be picked up again. It made me wonder how I cast my cares upon the Lord? He wants me to cast them upon Him like I would throw a rock in a pond - never to be retrieved again. However, do I? It seems too frequently, I cast them upon Him as if I'm throwing out my line to fish, only to reel it back in again and try to handle it myself. I had never really thought about it that way. Had you? The key to why we do that is found in the previous verse. It says to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. In order to cast it like a stone, we have to humble ourselves, admit that we can't handle the burden, only God can. From now on, I'll approach my time of supplication differently. I'll be more purposeful about casting my cares upon the Lord like I'd skip a stone across water, never to take it up again. I hope you will too.
 

 

We had the privilege of having Willow in our lives for almost 11 years, and we lost her in November 2021. She made a paw print shaped impression on our hearts that will last a lifetime. We will be forever grateful for the love and laughter she gave us and the lessons she taught us.

Through Willow, God taught us some great life lessons. God created the animals, after all, and He created Willow. Over the years, Willow taught us about unconditional love, to be tough, not to worry, and to be still.

Willow taught me how to love unconditionally. She lived out loud the love of God into our lives. She was patient, kind, not prideful, arrogant or rude. Willow was never resentful and didn't rejoice in wrongdoing. Because of this, her love never ends. She taught us to live love out loud. To be kinder to one another. She taught us that love never fails.

Willow taught me to be tough. She suffered with epilepsy her entire life and never let it get her down. She still played and was silly. Toward the end, she came down with lymphoma. She handled the meds with grace. She showed true grit to the very end, even jumping up on the bed to awaken us in the mornings when she thought we should be up (4:00 a.m.). She never complained. She took what she was dealt and determined to do what she wanted each day despite it all.

She taught me not to worry. She trusted us with her life. Willow knew we would feed her and provide fresh water. She never worried we would not. She trusted that no matter what we did to her, even toward the end with numerous trips to the vet and administering medications, we would never harm her. Isn’t that how we should be toward our Heavenly Father? No matter what circumstances come our way, we can trust that He will provide for us and never harm us. We only need to trust Him.

Finally, Willow taught me to be still. Willow loved to sit in the sunshine and soak it in. Whether it was in the front door in the morning sun or in the dining bow window in the afternoon sun, she loved it. She taught me to sit still in the Son-light and soak it in. It can be a precious time if we’d only make the time. It can warm us and comfort us just like the sunshine did for our sweet Willow.

Willow, my heart is still broken from losing you. However, to quote Winnie the Pooh, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” Goodbye sweet Willow.

Stand Still and See

 

Whether we realize it or not, we are engaged in a battle. The battle is with an unseen enemy, and it attacks in an unconventional way. Our first reaction is to fight. Go against the enemy with all barrels blazing while trying to shield the most vulnerable. How can we best win?

God shows us throughout Scripture with the largest battles that Israel faced. What did Moses tell the children of Israel when they were facing the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh's army bearing down on them from behind? Exodus 14:13 says, “Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.”

When Gideon and his army were facing the Midianites, Gideon told them in 2 Chronicles 20:17, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”

Again, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. I am not saying we should not do anything. In each of these scenarios, God required them to do something. Moses had to use his staff. The children of Israel had to step into the Red Sea. Gideon had to reduce his troops, and his army had to blow their trumpets and yell. Action must occur.

Along with that, stillness must occur within each of us. We must be still for God to do His work in and through us. In Numbers 9:8, Moses again tells the children of Israel, “Stand still, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.” He needed them to stand still so he could hear direction from the Lord. In Psalm 46:10, we know that it says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Be still.

As we go along our way, please take time out to be still. Pray. Do as it says in Job 37:14, “Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God” or as it says in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Take some time and stand still.

Know Your Enemy

My old Bible cover was worn out. I like a cover that will hold pens, pencils, Bible Study books, etc. with my Bible. This is not easy to find. Searched for months & kept coming back to this. I bought it as a reminder that we are in a great battle. We need to check ourselves daily to ensure we have on the full armor of God. Also as important, though, we need to know who our enemy is.

Your neighbor is not your enemy.

Your spouse is not your enemy.

Your parent is not your enemy.

Your sibling is not your enemy.

Your co-worker is not your enemy.

The Democrats are not your enemy

The Republicans are not your enemy.

The Church is not your enemy.

The LGBTQ are not your enemy.

The Straight are not your enemy.

The Black are not your enemy.

The White are not your enemy.

Satan IS your enemy. He wants you to believe all of these are, so he can destroy you. Unless you go after the right enemy with Jesus, the One who has already won the war, you are at risk of destruction.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Peter 5:8

Kaizen

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

I am blessed to be a Christian that happens to do Process Improvement. We often do focused, week long improvement events called Kaizens. Kaizen is a combo of two Japanese words - Kai which means change and Zen which means good. So Kaizen means change for the good or better.
This morning as we were winding up a kaizen week, this verse came to mind. When we make the decision to repent and trust Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, He starts a kaizen event in our lives. Having Christ as Lord of our lives and the Holy Spirit as our guide, God changes us for the better.
As you go into your weekend, think about if you need a kaizen in your own life. Why not trust Christ today?

Prayer ADHD

Seriously, is anyone else with me on this? It seems there are days when we have so much going on that prayer time goes something like this:

“Father God, thank you for another day. You are so good, and I love you...I can’t forget to do the agenda for that meeting later in the week, and I need to follow up with Karen. The dishwasher needs run tonight. I forgot last night...so sorry, Lord. Please forgive my busy mind today...”

I’ll confess I’ve had more than my fair share of prayers go like that, even with so looking forward to prayer time. Even with knowing P.R.A.Y., which we discussed in previous posts. It is frustrating! Then, I started reading the book Fervent by Priscilla Shirer. She talks about writing down our prayers so we’ll remember and can record when prayer is answered. It was then that Holy Spirit asked, “Don’t you write out an agenda of items you want to make sure to discuss with your boss when you meet with him? Why not do that with Me to prepare for your time with The Lord?”

When Holy Spirit speaks, we should listen, so I tried it. It has been amazing because it gives quality time with both Holy Spirit and God. First, there is quiet time to listen for what Holy Spirit really wants you to pray about. This time can reveal hidden sin in your life, bring names to your remembrance of who most needs your intercession, time to reflect on who God is. For what do you want to praise Him? What needs surrendered in your life? Is there Scripture to pray? I jot this down in P.R.A.Y. format. This forms a prayer strategy so the Enemy cannot distract me. If I start to get prayer ADHD, I look to my prayer strategy to get back on track. It really has helped me. I pray it may help others as well.  Have a blessed day!