Blind Spots

If I had not such a blind spot
Would I have a less difficult time
Surrendering my ways?

*~“Something Heavenly” by downhere

We often don't want to talk about our blind spots. I mean, who wants to admit to their flaws, foibles and simply put, our annoying behaviour? It's hard, to say the least. And the biggest part of the problem, too, lies in the fact it's a 'blind' spot. As in we're not seeing it. It seems easier to just not worry about it. I mean, no one's perfect, right?

The flip side of the coin (for me, anyway – yours may be different) is we can spend too much time looking for those blind spots, for things that could be wrong and therefore need to be fixed in us or by us or because of us. We can lose sight of God's goodness and grace, of the works He has done and is doing in us. This can open the door for condemnation, guilt, and an overall sour view of ourselves and the world. In short, it can hinder God's work in us.

The following verse has been brought to my mind today as I've been looking for what I'm, well, not seeing in myself:

What we read in Scripture is, “Abraham entered into what God was doing for him,
and that was the turning point. He trusted Got to set him right
instead of trying to be right on his own.”

*~ Romans 4:3 (The Message)

God knows where my blind spots are, what needs to be worked out of me and what needs to be worked into me. And He won't overwhelm me with changes. The prophet Isaiah wrote:

Whom will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message?
. . . For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.
*~ Isaiah 28: 9a, 10 (NKJ)

And we're also instructed by the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:8 to meditate upon good things, praiseworthy things. To get bogged down in all the things we see wrong does not help us remember God's goodness and grace, nor (as I'm sure many have experienced) does it help us to make positive changes in our lives.

God doesn't ask for us to be perfect. He asks us to trust Him and to obey Him, to go where He leads us and to share the awesomeness of His salvation through Jesus' death and resurrection with the world. Yes, we're going to stumble. We'll probably falter a time or two as well. But if we can keep moving forward by the power of God's grace and the world sees that . . . well, we'll all have a few less blind spots.

Don't Be Blue

The blessing of the LORD makes one rich,
and He adds no sorrow with it.
~Proverbs 10:22 (NKJV)

In the past two days, I've learned about two families who may to (or have already had to by now) give up the homes built for them by the popular ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. You can read about these two situations via the following links:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080728/entertainment/tv_extreme_makeover_foreclosure

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080506_Is_Extreme_Makeover_S_J__house_for_sale_.html

A friend of mine (who found the second article) brought up some pointed observations, which I hope she does not mind my sharing here (if you do, let me know!):

Perhaps EM ought to modify its approach and build more modest homes which are still capable of accommodating the special needs of family members with disabilities. A large, trophy-like home is obviously going to consume more energy, not to mention the tax burden. It's easy to understand that a number of EM families might be deeply in debt for other reasons. Giving a large, elaborate home to deserving persons is a lovely gesture, but what exactly is the advantage if old debt and new financial burdens render the gift untenable? The problem is - who cares when the show is over?

I find myself wishing I had a 'wave a wand' sort of solution for these families and others in similar situations. And there are many, giving the mortgage crisis north of the Canadian border. Though as we all probably know at this point, there is no magic wand or speedy cure. It's often the search for such things that land us in trouble in the first place, unless we go about things God's way.

See the verse at the top? God doesn't add troubles and grief and sorrow and burdens to the riches He gives His kids. Granted, there are times when we think (or maybe not -- I can't speak for everyone!) He doesn't give us enough or that He waits to long or He doesn't give things in the way we would like Him too . . . but look back on what you know to be the blessings and riches of God in your life. Are you sadder for having had them? Properly looked after, did you find yourself in more trouble than you were at first? Do you ever wish you didn't have them?

Oh, please note the 'properly looked after' portion. Again, I can only speak from my experience, but there have been times when God has given me something and I've squandered it. But like the prodigal son, we can come before God, confess our misdeeds and be restored into right standing with Him. And (hallelujah!) we can ask for the ability, the wisdom to steward what we do have and will have in the future. God is faithful, people, and He won't mock you or look down on you for asking for help.

Another thing -- we so often think of the referred-to blessings in Proverbs 10:22 as equalling money to spend on big houses, cars, toys and such because they're making us 'rich'. But a closer look at the original Hebrew* meanings of the following words:

blessing: a blessing, benediction, benefit, favour, peace, invocation of good, a happy, or blessed man. It is used in the sense of a gift or present to gain goodwill. Also, it had the sense of shālōm welfare.

rich**: to accumulate, to grow, to become rich

So we can accumulate and grow in things beyond money. We can grow in peace, in goodwill, in favour, in benefits beyond the monetary. And again, when we do it God's way we can avoid this (also from the original Hebrew):

sorrow : it is a thing formed or shaped . . . labour, toil, gain; trouble, grievance; the kind of pain which women experience when they are about to give birth

What sort of riches do you want? Do I want? Can shows such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition really give?


*As found in The Complete Word Study of the Old Testament, 1994 AMG Int'l Inc.; pp. 1594, 2307, 2351

**As found in Strong's Concise Dictionary of the Hebrew Bible (located in the back of The Complete Word Study of the Old Testament), p. 92

Relationships -- Take 'Em or Leave 'Em?

Ah, relationships. By many I am blessed and by some I am absolutely confounded. By some, it is both.

I'm blessed by my relationship with God. Blessed by His love, saving grace, and just by . . . Him! Though I'm confounded by it at times, too. I mean, how does the holy, omnipotent, omniscient Creator of the universe have the time for me? Why does He desire to spend time with me when I muck so many things up? And there are so many things He provides as well. It's mind-blowing, really. And life-altering.

I am blessed by my relationship with my husband. We've been married almost 13 years, have known each other for almost 15 and I know there are still things I don't know about him. This could be mainly because of one of two things: a) He doesn't tell me and b) I don't ask. Ha, ha! But seriously -- he's a treasure. I know I'm not always the best as a wife. Shoot, neither one of us is perfect, but I am amazed and what a good fit we are as a couple.

My familial relations bless/confound me (biological and marital). 'Nuff said there, I think.

Friendships are another tricky thing. There are people you think (either accurately or through some form of denial) you are 'in good standing with' only to find out you're not. Or those you think of as casual acquaintances only to discover in a crunch there's a stronger bond there. Then there are the friendships which have withstood ebbs and flows, fights, periods of silence and what-not and have been full of blessings received and given. What a treat!

No man is an island,
This I know to be true.
For God by His hand
Has given a precious gift through you.

A Thousand ???

Sometimes . . . okay, many times . . . well, there are times when I wonder why God bothers with me at all. I mean, really. I can get myself stuck in a bad rut faster than you can say "Quit spinnin' your wheels!"; I have missed my share of oppurtunities to do the right thing and generally have made many, many messes.

Then I have those times when I'm working with the kids at my church or I'm working on a writing project or am out with my husband or doing any of a myriad of things and I know, I know I'm where I'm supposed to be with Him, doing what He wants me to do.

The trick, I'm thinking, is to carry the lessons I've learned in the past and keep on moving forward without constantly looking over my shoulder. When I honestly and humbly come before God, admitting to Him my screwups and ask for His forgiveness and His help to change, I need to trust and believe changes will happen.

I'm blessed to teach Sunday School with a wonderful lady at my church, and today she did the coolest demonstration of how completely our sins are erased from God's record. What she has done is have the kids write their sins on a piece of flash paper she purchased from a magic store. Then she set it on fire and, being flash paper, soon it was gone without a trace. No ashes. No smoke. No record at all of the sins recorded on it.

And that's how it is when we ask God to forgive us. Our wrongs are gone without a trace. So when the devil or other people or our own selves try to bring those things up again, we need to remind them and ourselves to God, it's as if we never did those things.

And that can put a lot of ??? to rest.

Good Timing

I arrived at work this morning after having Monday off and found my desk sort of in order. There were papers here and there, mentions made of X not getting done and some other what-nots to sort through. All in all, I was stressed for a little bit but by the end of the day, things were getting back on track.

But as I am at times inclined to do, I was thinking about all the things I haven't done yet (ranging from around-the-house stuff to school assignments to relationships) and feeling a bit discouraged. Until I went to my church's weekly prayer meeting, that is, and after praying for things I knew I needed dealt with beforehand and things I discovered there I needed dealt with, my pastor did a short teaching after on Proverbs 16: 2-3:

2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

But the LORD weighs the spirits.

3 Commit your works to the LORD,

And your thoughts will be established.

Now we humans like to think everything we're thinking is a-okay. But God weighs the spirits or, in other words, what is motivating our hearts. Now my pastor did some word studies which I should really look up as I can't 100% remember how he explained this verse. So in order to not mess it up, I'll just leave that one alone for right now.

In verse three, the word "commit" means in the original Greek that we are to 'roll off' our works -- the things we do in our day-to-day lives -- onto God and then our thoughts will be correctly established (this last part ties into the previous verse, which (again) I'll have to do some studying on). Much like a camel would lower itself down and tilt to one side to roll off its heavy burden, so are we to kneel down before God and roll off onto Him the heavy burdens we are carrying. Then our yoke will be easy and our burdens light.

I'll add more on this when I can, but what I did share really touched me and encouraged me tonight. Sometimes I get really frustrated with myself and/or others and/or (I'm sorry to say) God. Then something like this happens, leaving me so thankful to know a God who knows my heart so well.

:-)

Signs

There is road work going on just outside of the town where I live. And because where I live is not where I work, I get to drive through the construction zone twice a day, five days a week. No, wait . . . hubby and I are in the city often on the weekend, so it would be two times five plus three more . . . no, wait . . . four . . .

Yeah, I drive through it a lot.

And it amazed me one morning how many people put off getting into the correct lane. There are signs, big signs letting motorists know there will soon be the one lane of traffic. Yet many a person will pull out from behind you, go speeding off and then basically budge in front of you because (surprise!) there is now only one lane of traffic.

Then I was thinking how often do I do the very same thing when it comes to doing the things God has planned for me. I see the signs where He is telling me to slow down, wait a second (or however long) yet I go barrelling on ahead only to end up having to wait. Or things are mucked up because I had to budge in. (Then there is the reverse, where you wait and wait and wait (aka procrastinate) until you have to go speeding off to try and catch up. Only to be thisclose to your destination and delayed further because you're getting a ticket.)

So the trick is to read the signs. Then obey them. It will really safe you time, frustrations and (depending on the circumstances), cash.

We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it.
Proverbs 16:9 (MSG)