Pat was in his 60’s. In the middle of a bunch of amazing activities. Brokering deals. Volunteering. Developing property. Snap. Gone.
I asked hubby – he said “as long as it’s fast and painless.” Me? Snatched up like Ezekiel. You? How do you want to “go”?
Sometimes when I’m reading the Bible I hit on scripture that hits me back. This week, I was struck by the pure humility of Christ. If you have time, I encourage you to read John 5:16-47 in its entirety.
If anyone had a right to feel confident in his abilities, surely it was Jesus, the Son of God. Yet he says “I can do nothing by myself.” He sought not to please himself, but to please God, His Father.
It’s not that Christ’s humility is new news. Yet…somehow, in reading John and seeing the power and the might of miracles he performed, in reading of the recognition and glory he received from his “peers”, in seeing the fear he inspired in his enemies…I’m bowled over by his patient explanation in response to the people who wanted him killed. He never loses sight of his role. Of his place in the grand scheme of things. He is, always, our best role model.
How true is this for all of us?
What a blessing! The quiet confidence that comes from faith in God, not faith in ourselves.
For myself, I’m happy to give God the glory and to recognize His power and might. Without Him I am nothing. I have nothing. With Him, I lack nothing.
God, help me to remain humble throughout the day, every day.
I give You praise!
Amen
I am praying every morning for God to move in my life. To touch my heart, my mind and my spirit. This morning I prayed for “patience & grace” and immediate my work notebook/laptop began acting up. I know if I close it I’ll get a nasty surprise (shut down/lost work) so I’ve had to slowly. Slowly. Slowly. finish what I was working on so I can leave the house.
This activity has sorely tried my patience. Every action has required significant patience because the system is being incredibly slow in its responses. While waiting for responses, I’ve read John 5:19-47, studying some of the Word. Then I decided to write today’s post (in progress now). Trying not to lose focus on getting the work stuff done (I’m easily distracted) and to not lose patience. I’m struck by God’s awesome ability to answer our prayers.
God cannot give me patience, but he can create the work-out routine that will help me develop patience. He can plant people and situations in my day that will try my patience and help me build strength and endurance. Just as it takes training to get our bodies in shape, it takes training to get our spirits in shape.
And just as I finished writing this post, I finished my last action item for work so I could reboot my computer. And there, at the bottom of the stack on my computer’s desktop was a Microsoft error message saying something like “scripts on this web page may cause your system to run slowly. Do you want to abort the script?” That wasn’t Microsoft at work, that was God at work (maybe using Microsoft to His purpose).
I don’t feel frustrated or impatient. I feel blessed. And that’s a wonderful way to start the day. I have no doubt that God will continue to answer my prayers, and my patience will be tried throughout the day.
God, give me the grace to remain filled with your Spirit. Help me to grow strong through humble patience. Let there be no eye-rolling and deep sighs in my responses to the opportunities you provide. Help me be your witness by practicing the patience you’ve given me. Praise Your name!
Amen.
This real estate listing has 1 bedroom, 1 bath, a living room and a breakfast nook with a stove/oven. What more could a person need? It has everything. Private. Neat. Set apart from the world. Very tranquil, indeed. Only $850/month.
I’m not too sure about the stairs, though. I think getting the groceries up the ladder might be a bit of a challenge. This loft is described as “a separate part of a single family home.”
I’m reminded of how, at times, we set God off in a separate part of our lives. He can stay in the loft, out in the back corner of the lot. Maybe He’s somewhere quiet and peaceful that we can seek out when life is troubling or complicated. Maybe we have to be very committed to the effort to spend time with Him. Willing to climb a rickety ladder. Willing to put ourselves “out on a limb.”
Or, we could invite God into our lives. Let Him walk with us, sleep with us, watch TV with us, eat with us, work with us, Twitter with us, Blog with us….you get the idea. Then that precariously perched loft will be available for rent payers.
Don’t leave God sitting alone waiting for you in that quiet tranquil place. Let Him bring His peace to you, into the midst of the chaos and madness that is our world today. I dare you. I’m doing it. One day at a time I’m transforming my heart, my mind, my spirit; truly giving myself to God. And He is giving Himself to me. And I am wholly blessed and redeemed.
Amen.
I’m at work, wishing I was at home working in the yard. And not just because this has been a long day of dealing with folks not doing what they’ve said they’re going to do.
Today I’m stepping out in faith and trying something new. My first V-blog.
I am working on a series of sessions focused on the book of Judges. There’s plenty of drama there. I’m feeling called to share. I’m confident this will get easier with time. For now, know that I’m trusting God and following the Spirit. Please keep me in your prayers.
Today’s topic:
When you read the quote above, especially the last part of the quote, do you agree with the author or disagree? Why did you answer the way you did?
I agree with the author.
“In the eyes of the world” is key. I recently noted that God is following us on Twitter and Facebook. Meanwhile, anyone with Internet access can see what you have to say, whether they are “following” you or not. How will the eyes of the world see you?
I am striving to be one person, presenting one face and one voice to the world. I will not let myself be satisfied with a life of Sunday morning Christianity. I will not seek popularity in the blogosphere, Twitter, Facebook, the workplace, home, etc. and thereby sacrifice who I am. I am a child of God, adopted into His family. He chose me and has a purpose for me.
The more openly I talk about my relationship with God, about my faith…the more important it is to live it! The world loves to call out hypocrites. We cannot be perfect as Christ is perfect, but we can live our life in relationship with Him, loving Him and seeking Him in all things. If we love everyone as He loved everyone, we will go a long way toward resembling Him.
My last post was a witness to my search for wisdom. I wanted to ensure that my response to the situation at work reflected my faith and my life in Christ. My prayer for guidance was answered, “Say what you need to say.” So I did. I said it lovingly, with patience. After a reasonably healthy conversation about an assignment, I asked “Can we have a heart to heart? I’ve been praying about this every day. I want to address this openly, with a pure heart.”
I prayed an “arrow prayer” before I changed the subject. I’d asked others to pray for me/us. My Twitter/Facebook status read “ignoring the lies and seeking the voice of Truth.” He said he had also been praying about it. I believe him. We are both seeking to obey God’s will for us.
For myself, I stayed calm, patient, focused on the aspects that we could address, avoiding the past which we cannot change. I felt the Spirit with us. I don’t know where things will go with this situation but I will continue to seek guidance throughout the day, letting the Spirit direct me. Being humble and removing my will from the equation and seeking only to serve Him. Listening and obeying, even if I don’t understand the strategy or see the value of my actions.
I just realized! This is the message I was delivering Friday! Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Praise God, for all that he does for us in our lives.
To really appreciate how powerfully this song hit me this week, picture me drifting off to sleep at the end of a long and emotionally challenging day. I’d been praying for the spirit of wisdom to guide me to a response. To help me navigate as an apostle. To be a witness to God’s love and mercy. To humble myself and give glory to God. “How?” I asked. And I felt the spirit with me and listened. On the radio a song played, repeating (almost) endlessly “Say what you need to say.” And the spirit added, “with love, from the heart.” You can read about it in this week’s Thirst for Wisdom and Cafe Chat.
Say, by John Mayer
Take all of your wasted honor
Every little past frustration
Take all of your so-called problems,
Better put ’em in quotations
Say what you need to say [x8]
Walking like a one man army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you’d be better off instead,
If you could only . . .
Say what you need to say [x8]
Have no fear for giving in
Have no fear for giving over
You’d better know that in the end
Its better to say too much
Then never say what you need to say again
Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open
Say what you need to say [x24]
First, this sign appeared on the vending machine at the end of our hallway. Someone decided it would be more efficient to have fewer snack machines. This is not really about what is efficient for the average employee. This is not about being able to grab a convenient snack when you’re working through lunch. This is about a bean counter somewhere crunching the numbers on their end (the service provider) and deciding their bottom line was better served with fewer snack machines. Will they run the numbers in a year and determine that their margin was reduced because fewer snacks were sold as a result of less available tempting noshes? Probably not.
Then, soon after, this sign appeared on all of the bathroom doors. “A New Way of Office Cleaning is Sweeping Across ‘The Company’…” How exciting? This is just the sort of message that really gets you feeling good about your situation. Who wouldn’t love a housekeeping service that is more personalized, efficient and environmentally friendly? Who knew that what they really meant was that all employees would have to empty their own waste baskets. No joke. There are now centrally located trash cans in the main hallways and everyone is expected to make the trip from their cubicle to the main trash cans. And they cut the hours of the housekeeping staff. Stay tuned. I’m sure I’ll soon have photos of overflowing waste baskets in the cubes of the slovenly.
It warms my heart to know how much ‘The Company’ is looking out for us. Not every employer would be so sensitive to our needs.
