Stirred

 It’s not that I have some sort of insight into the future regarding exactly what the days ahead hold for my mom, but I do have a hope and expectancy I have not had in a while.  And for anyone who was at the same prayer meeting I was tonight, how could you not have been stirred up?  Pretty powerful stuff! 

God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever

Imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

-        Ephesians 3:20 (Message)

It can be far too easy to forget in impossible situations that I serve a God who specializes in impossibilities.  He parts seas, heals the blind, causes previously crippled legs to jump and dance, raises the dead . . . He has and does and will do so much.  Big.  Small.  Whatever it is, for Him it’s never impossible.  And because of this we really can give thanks in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18). 

Pack Up Your Troubles

Worry is a misuse of imagination.
- Tommy Tenney

As it has often been said in one way or another by several people – Do what you're good at. Well I'm good at worrying, so does it not follow that is what I should do? At least that's is what I've told my husband on more than one occasion when he has told me not to worry about something. (Matthew 6:27 is true, otherwise I would be as tall as my 6' 3” husband . . .) Yet, Christian or not, there is an inherent flaw to that logic for anyone who thinks they should worry because he or she is good at it. And that would be this:

It accomplishes nothing good or productive.

Think about it. Does it make the situation you're worried about less scary? Do you feel better prepared for a test when you go into it with worry nipping at your heels? Does it give you confidence? Peace? Hope?

Oh, be honest now – you know it doesn't do any of those things. In fact, worry only serves to amplify the scariness of the unknown; it muddles your memory and can leave you uncertain, unsure, agitated, and bordering on hopeless if it's not properly checked and reigned in. But looking at what you're worried about and why can lead to some positive actions if dealt with properly. Worried about an upcoming test? You can choose to study more for it. A new situation have you on edge, uncertain? Research it as best you can, prepare for what you can prepare for and leave what you can't do anything about with God.

Yes, God – Christians are instructed in Proverbs 3: 5-6 to trust in the Lord with all their heart, mind, and soul and to not lean on their own understanding. And the best thing Christians can do is take their worries to God in prayer. He knows all the things people have need of, all the longings in every heart. And He know the way in which those needs and wants can best be met for the benefit of the individual and all those around him or her. Eugene H. Peterson expresses it succinctly in The Message, his popular paraphrase of the Bible:

Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
- 1 Peter 5:7

So we have a choice. Do we pack up our worries and leave them with God? Or carry them with us, day in and day out, weighing us down with every step?

And if you need some help, some hope, here is an excerpt from a letter sent to the Jewish leaders in the midst of their Babylonian captivity:

For I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of
peace and not of evil, to give you
a future and a hope.
- Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJ)

Set My Course Upon the Stars

I have often commented to those in my peer/social group how as a child there were days that couldn’t seem to go by fast enough (typically the days before a holiday, Christmas, and/or a birthday), but as an adult the days -- the years -- just seem to go whizzing by.

Take today, for instance. I spent four hours at work before having a nice lunch out with my husband, after which we ran some errands and then headed home. Amazingly, two hours have gone by since then in which I’ve done some good things and some things that were, just, well, a real waste of time to be honest.

:P

And I am a bit boggled to think another year is drawing to a close! It seems with each wedding anniversary, each birthday, each year, I marvel at the amount of time behind me. I look at where I am with things in life compared to my parents, my siblings, my friends and acquaintances. Sometimes I feel like I’m in the right spot, other times I feel like I’m off the mark by miles. But through it all, time keeps moving forward. There is no time machine or magic wand to allow me a trip back in time to correct my mistakes, take a different path, to speak up or quiet down.

And in every part of every day, there is God. Unchanging. All-knowing. Unfettered by the things which we mere mortals so often desire to change. He is absolutely unsurprised by anything I do. He knows me better than I know myself, and through it all His love remains steadfast and sure. God’s blessings are conditional, His love is not.

So as we all look ahead to 2009, I hope we all look to the Maker of the stars, to the Giver of every good gift, to the One who truly loves us warts and all and who loves us too much to leave us struggling with our own particular set of knots.

Happy New Year!