I saw this posted on Facebook- no attribution was given so I don’t know who wrote it, but I thought it was very pertinent today:
Practice the pause. When in doubt, pause. When angry, pause. When tired, pause. When stressed, pause. And when you pause, pray.
I might add–when you are tempted to buy, pause, or react emotionally, pause.
Then this came to me–I credit the Holy Spirit–that “pause” can stand for:
Pray
Aloud
Until
Stress
Erases
Why aloud? Verbalizing seems to bring things to the surface and release them. They are no longer stuck in our guts or trapped in our brains.
So pause and go into a secluded place to tell it out to God, even if it is the bathroom with the water running full blast to mask your cries. Release it to the Lord. He will listen. He will care.
He will respond, though perhaps in a way you never expected at a time you later realized you needed it the most. Then thank Him for being ever-present, and for His past blessings. Praise Him for his mercy and grace.
I bet you’ll find this is the pause that refreshes!
This time of year, Facebook memes and comments seem to be about goal setting. I guess that is a good thing, but frankly, my focus has changed.
Over the years I seem to keep quoting, “the best-laid plans of mice and men.” Whatever I plan seems to not really happen. Financial, health, and life situations slap me in the face like a discarded rake hidden in the grass I accidentally step on.
Instead of “planning” my life for the upcoming year, I have learned to hand it over to God and accept His plan. Somehow, even though mine never come to fruition, things turn out right when I turn to Him. Scott Moen says,
Yes, that’s my screen saver for 2024. I have biblical proof that this i a good way to plan.
Proverbs 3:5 tells us to not lean on our own understanding but to trust in God’s ways.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Psalm 119 states: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word. Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 16:24-26).
Then there is that song, Jesus, Take the Wheel. Last September, my son and I went on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to England and Ireland. We rented a car and I let him drive “on the wrong side of the road”. I learned to lean back, trust him, and enjoy the ride. Unfortunately, walking was not as great. I ended up in bedrest and came home to discover a nasty bone spur had grown into my spinal cord. I have been basically homebound since, unable to drive and dependent on others for a lot of things.
However, God has prevailed and provided. When an opening in a senior community of one-story bungalows emerged, I quickly made plans to move. But God slammed that door shut, and I sat for another month in a second-floor apartment unable to navigate the stairs. Brokenhearted nad confused. I really wanted that bungalow.
My Lord Jehovah Jireh had a better idea – one of the few apartments in my complex, built on a hill, that didn’t involve steps to get to it came available. I love it. It is a better floor plan and I feel safe and secure. I get to stay in the area of town I love, close to shopping, friends, and church. With the aid of my walker, I can take out my own trash and go to the mail center to check my mail. It is easier for friends and delivery folk to find me in this maze of buildings, too. His plan was much better than mine!
The trek to England and Ireland was worth it and taught me a good lesson. I am no longer satisfied with having God ride shot gun or trying to be a backseat driver. Instead, I want to be a passenger and see where He leads me this year.
And for once in a long while, I am kinda excited about how 2024 will unfold. I have the best driver who already knows what lies ahead taking me there. My goal is to give thanks for that, every day.
A friend brought me a lush, gorgeous Pythos ivy in a hanging pot. As its tendrils grew longer and longer toward the floor, I clipped them and stuck the ends in a vase of water. Slowly they started to grow roots. After a while, I planted those stems with new roots back into the hanging pot. Those roots soon dug deeper into the dirt and intertwined with the other roots of the plant. They began to grow lush, full, and flourished even more.
It reminded me of the Christian … or the way our lives in Christ should be. Paul wrote to the Ephesians saying,
I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he will grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you will be filled up to all the fullness of God. (vs 16-19, emphasis mine)
When new Christians are baptized, the Holy Spirit immerses them in the new faith. Slowly, the new way of living takes root. But unless they are transplanted into a body of believers, it will be hard for them to thrive.
We all need to intertwine. We need to grow together, learn together, nourish each other, and share the love of Christ. Then we can spread out to others. We all have a responsibility to train up the children in our churches, even if we are not called to teach Sunday school or VBS. The Torah instructed the people of God to teach the commandments to their children (see Deuteronomy 4:9, 6:11, 11:19.)
How we act around the kids (and the adults new in Christ) has a great effect on their growth. When they see how we live out Scripture in our daily lives, it encourages them to do the same. They will flourish in the nurturing soil of the faith, attached to the vine as we are through Christ.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing” (John 15:5).
Then when the time comes and they are cut away to start off on their own, the Holy Spirit will immerse them in how to live in the world yet not be tainted by it. What they witnessed in us will begin to take root.
Eventually, our hope and prayer is that they will realize they need to be repotted with other believers. And then the cycle will begin once again.
We are all children of God when we claim Christ as Lord. And we all grow at different rates. Let us not judge each other but intertwine and help each other grow in the faith, no matter our age or how long we have been in the Body of believers.
After battling nerve pain and enduring two surgeries over five years, I finally felt alive again. I could walk on my own, though not more than a half mile or so. I could drive. I could even haul my groceries up the stairs to my apartment.
Then, after eight months, the familiar burning twinge down my right leg returned. I was daily commuting twenty minutes to work and climbing a steep flight of stairs to my office. I ignored it. Part of me said I was simply out of shape after being housebound for so long. Part of me didn’t want to face the reality that the discs in my lower back that were now bone-on-bone were rubbing me the wrong way… literally. My bucket list trip to England and Ireland with my son lay just a few weeks away. So we went, and I walked, and the pain kept getting worse. On the final full day of our trip, I tried to get out of bed and couldn’t put weight on my right leg. So I stayed in bed and watched the tree outside my window blowing as a storm moved in.
As I watched the tree, I noticed the leaves all reacted differently to the wind. When the tree limbs swayed they fluttered in different directions- some into the wind, others away from it. Yet they all remained anchored to the bark. It reminded me of a plaque I inherited from my mother: We cannot change the wind but we can adjust our sails.
I had a choice. Pout or choose joy. So I made the best of it and watched British TV mysteries and home improvement shows while chomping on a cheese roll, biscuits (shortbread cookies), elderflower water, and hot tea–thanks to my son’s trek to the cafe next door. Then he ventured out to discover London on his own and ended up seeing a lot of what he wanted to see before the rains came. After that, he took refuge in a pub under the Tower Bridge and met some nice folks who were also seeking shelter. After the storm passed, he brought back some pub food takeout. And me? I experienced London in my own way and, despite the pain, had a good time.
Back home, the pain still lingered and the trigger point injections only exacerbated the nerve. The spinal surgery team I had before was booked out for a consultation until five weeks later. Once again I am homebound, limping, and in pain. And once again God reminded me that I had a choice of how I handled it.
You see, I design the bulletins for my church and the lesson for the next Sunday was Philippians 4:4-9.
4Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice! 5 Let everyone see your gentleness. The Lord is near! 6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.8 Finally, brothers and sisters,whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. 9 And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you. (New English Translation)
The Holy Spirit whispered into my soul: Always be thankful and rejoice. No matter what happens in your life you can be certain of this: Your LORD is by your side, He will provide, and be your guide.
The truth is, if you call on Him in prayer with a thankful heart, He will be the same for you. No matter what way the wind blows, little leaf, cling to the branch!
Think, my friend, about these things. And the peace of God will indeed be with you as well.
You lead me in the path of life. I experience absolute joy in your presence; you always give me sheer delight. Psalm 16:11
What are you facing on your trek in this life? Is it a TRAIL or a TRIAL up ahead?
Often we do not know, but our attitude may hold a clue. It is all where we place the A and the I. That makes the difference. You see, it is a matter of perspective. Do we spend the most time concentrating on our will (I) or our LORD’s will (Almighty.) Do our prayers concentrate on “Lord, will you do this for me today?” – or – “Lord, what will you have me do today?”
Yes, God may allow trials. But when He does, it is usally to teach us something so we can grow in our relationship with Him, learn how to strengthen our weaknesses and armor chinks through His mercy, or give up something that may not be in our best interest after all. What attracts us may be a false bunny trail leading to a dangerous situation. Almost every time we seek to satisfy our egos, whet our appetites, or fulfill our own desires, it will be an error in direction … despite what the world tells us.
But, when we trust the One who loves and knows us the most, and not only knows the future but has actually premade it, then we can be assured our steps will be steady ones. As children, we may have played follow the leader. Perhaps that didn’t turn out very well. However, don’t let that deter you. Following The Leader is always the right way to go.
None of us know what lies ahead. We have limited vision. But when we rely on the One who does know and choose to follow Him, even those trials can become trails of glory when we gaze back down the path where we have trod.
One of my friends repairs and then resells discarded furniture. She found a “Parlor table” that she loved but it wobbled. She purchased it anyway and took it home. She tried squirting wood putty into the place where the top screwed into the pedestal base. It still wobbled. Next, she inserted stints on either side to see if that would hold the tabletop in place. Nope. Finally, taking it to a professional woodworker who inserted two “L” shaped steel braces did the trick.
Sometimes in life, our stance can get a bit wobbly, too. Not totally out of control but definitely off-kilter. A call from the doctor saying our lab results were not normal. Our car breaks down and the repairman says repairs will run about a thousand dollars The police phone in the middle of the night to say our child has been arrested for drunk driving. Our employer informs us that we are the victims of downsizing.
We can try to handle it ourselves. We can become anxious and toss and turn. Or escape reality through sugar highs, carb binging, drugs, or alcohol, but perhaps we need more — we need bracing. And that’s okay. Moses did, too.
The Hebrews were attacked unawares. As long as Moses held his hands high they were winning the battle, but when he became tired, his legs became unsteady and his arms drooped. The enemy suddenly had the advantage.
When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. Exodus 17:12
God could have supernaturally strengthened Moses’ arms. Instead, He allowed Moses to weaken so his family and friends had the opportunity to come to his rescue. Faith in action. But it was more than simply helping their tribes win. They saw what happened while Moses raised his hands, and they knew this was a divine intervention. They acted in faith and allowed God to use them.
Do we act in faith? When something comes suddenly upon us to off-center our world and after battling it on our own we grow tired and wobbly, do we seek to be braced by God? Do we lean on Him?
He may brace us in many ways – He may send faithful family and friends to pray for us and assist us. He may send an unexpected check in the mail, which happened to me when my car needed Megabucks service a few weeks ago. Perhaps seeking out a Christian counselor is the best solution.
God never allows tragedy or trials to come our way without a reason. He will be there if we call upon Him for divine intervention. And it may be in a way we had not anticipated. One thing is certain, there is always a lesson to be learned. For Moses, and perhaps for us, it is that we need God. We can’t walk this world alone, much less be His advocate, on our own strength.
I recently had a friend who needed my prayers. But I felt she needed more, so I referred her to one of the therapists I work for. I knew this therapist was a believer and a prayer warrior so my friend would be in good hands. Then I realized she was in more than that! And so was I.
An image came into my heart. When we pray with people we often hold hands. But what happens to our other hand? Our Lord holds it. According to Scripture, He joins in, so we become a conduit. His love, mercy, and grace flow through us into the person we are praying for and with at that time. And because we have both approached the Throne, we are both blessed by His presence.
Perhaps that is why Scripture tells us: “For where twoorthree gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20.)
In Deuteronomy, it states two or three people are needed to be a viable witness. So, the next time you hear someone say, “As God is my witness” you will understand exactly what that means. The Trinity, Three Persons in One, is your advocate when you pray, when you act in faith, and when you bend to His will.
And there is more… Our Lord isn’t just sitting on a cloud listening, but because His Spirit is praying with us, He is actively involved.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God (Romans 8:26-27).
If you ever feel inadequate to pray with someone or for someone, perhaps this image of God holding your other hand will help you understand that you are made adequate by our Lord’s presence in the prayer. We all are.
God hears every prayer and answers it–perhaps not the way we want, but He does respond in His perfect timing. The important thing is not that we “get our wish” but that we know in our hearts, minds, and strength that when we pray He is there and He cares.
So in every aspect of your life, handle it with prayer.
“Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Then Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. Now during the blessing he departed and was taken up into heaven. So they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple courts blessing God.” Luke 24: 44-52
Something in this passage got my attention as I prepared my church’s bulletins. It wasn’t until Christ died, rose, and returned that his followers finally were so gobsmacked that they drop their conception of what the Messiah would be and began to see Jesus for what He is … and listen. Really listen. His actions opened their minds, finally.
Are we any different? How often do I pray for God to instigate things the way I think they should happen instead of opening my heart, mind, and soul to His will–trusting He will come through in the best way possible, no matter how weird or hard it seems? I can recall times that He has literally taken away my breath. All I can do is drop to my knees and gaze up at His glory. Then, I am humbled by His Majesty and become attentive…
Then I am willing to let go of the reins and let God lead me.
See what happens next–He takes his followers as far as Bethany. Not up into heaven with Him. Nope, they had a mission to fulfill here on earth. But He promised to send a Helper–the Holy Spirit, to guide them through the tough times ahead.
Jesus still does the same today. He teaches us, then takes us so far and tells us, “Here is your assignment. I will equip you in time, at just the right time, so hang in and wait for my signal. And by the way, you are not alone in this. I know this world is a tough one. I will be with you in Spirit. Rely on me. I will guide you every step of the way.”
What will it take to get your attention so you drop your agenda and take up the cross instead? The road will probably not be an easy one, but if you open yourself to His will, you will walk side by side with God and be blessed (content in His presence) despite the circumstances that face you.
So they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy… Lord help us to do the same. Stay when You say stay, go when You say go and be open to learn from You every step of the way.
I had just paid rent and utilities, then I had an unexpected expense. There were ten days left until my widow’s check came in. If I was really frugal I could get by without dipping into my savings. But I needed ink and paper to print 100 funeral bulletins for the church (of which they would reimburse me later) and the guinea pig was almost out of hay. Hay is the main staple of their diet.
I stared into the fridge. Okay, I could still get by without going to the grocery store even if there was a slight echo inside it.
(Okay- it wasn’t this bad…yet!)
So, off I went on my mission … paper, printing ink, hay. I got to the office supply store. Paper was on sale – buy one get one free. Cool. I needed at least 800 sheets and a ream held 500 so that worked. I got the ink, grabbed two reams of paper, and headed to the cash register. The cashier let out a hmmph. She glared at me wide-eyed. “I see you have accumulated enough points to match your total. These are all free.” What?
Yep, all free.
Then I went to get the hay for my guinea pig. The cashier rang it up. “Good news. This is your twelfth bag, so it is free.” Okay. I didn’t even know about the twelfth bag-free offer.
On the way home I get a text asking if I would like a book booth at a women’s conference that weekend. Last minute, she knew but was hoping … YES!! A chance to make a bit of money.
Call it luck, call it whatever you wish, but I call it God’s love. The Bible says the Lord has a heart for widows and orphans. He is a father to the fatherless and an advocate for widows (Psalm 68:5). I can tell you that during these past twelve years of widowhood, He has come through time and again for me. This errand run is just one example.
But He will do the same for any believer, as any loving father would provide for his child. I love it when He quietly reminds me of that fact. It is like a warm hug.
Today I found God in two errand trips. Where will you find Him moving in your life today?
Note: I wrote this in September of 2012…it is still true today. God, in His merciful grace, has never failed me. I have a great freelance, virtual job, and even though my circumstances have fluctuated over the past 10 years, His providing for my every need never has.
I’ll admit there are days I just do not feel His presence. Usually, those are the days I am stressed over something- probably the one thing I keep laying at His feet and then snatch back. Finances. Freelance work and being your own boss are wonderful. Yet, most of the time I feel like Indiana Jones in the scene where he is searching for the Holy Grail and steps out in faith over an abyss. God does provide the ledge I cannot see with my eyes, but at times I still look down and my knees become wobbly. That is the time I should get down upon them before trying to take another step. I don’t always do that.
Years ago I was given a book that was similar to the old Where’s Waldo series, except you had to look for Jesus in each scene. Sometimes He was easier to spot. Sometimes, not so much. I’d call over a friend or family member and say, “Can you help me find Jesus?”
Ah! Slap on the forehead time. Friends and family can often help us find Jesus working in our lives when our eyes are just too filled with tears or clouded by our own circumstances. They have a wider perspective. And God can use that to draw us back to Him.
Then there are times, He reveals Himself in a way that makes me suck in my breath. Like the Bible verse of the day which popped up on my cell phone app today after I stressed over finances … again-
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eyes upon you. Psalm 32:8
Yes, Sir. On I go over the abyss. Let me keep my eyes on You and trust.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8----
I believe God reveals Himself in many ways-
through Scripture, the wisdom of a friend, a soul-stirring
hymn, an ant dragging ten times his weight,
a squirrel romping in the autumn mist, a parent in a
giggly embrace with their child, a sunset after a storm,
or in a whispered comfort as you cry into your pillow.
He promised if we seek, we will find.
Where Did You Find God Today? 