Wipeout

After some laughs and catch up on the phone, a very good friend of mine and I were talking about God's timing. About letting go of control. And I said, "You know, sometimes I think that by me saying I am letting go of my control, I'm actually trying to fake God out. You know, it's like saying, 'Hey God...I know You're in control...so you don't have to give me that job right there...because I know You're in control...but it would be really great if I got it. Look!! I've let go of my control!'"

Have you ever tried to fake God out? Have you prayed for patience during a time of waiting to only find yourself more impatient?

These two go hand in hand for me. I am a pretty big control freak. Ask anyone. I am always early; I plan everything; I have the Mary Poppins purse; I pack for vacation a week ahead of time; I could live out of the trunk of my car for a month. But, have I ever really looked at my sometimes trying to fake God out and getting impatient from His point of view? When I am waiting on God, do I realize that He is waiting on me?

Isaiah captured this thought...
Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious unto you.. Isaiah 30:18

The timing of God's blessing is always perfect. He knows when we are spiritually ready to receive the blessing that He prepares for us. He knows what each of our lives needs and when we need it. He knows when our spiritual life requires the sunshine of His love. He knows too when we need a cloud of trial to cause us to cling more nearly to Him. Both sunshine and cloud bring blessings that are treasures for us.

Knowing that He waits to bless us...brings about hope. Hope that as long as we continue to strive for His will in all we do, He will pour out His blessings.

We wait in hope for the Lord. Psalms 33:20

Part of the problem of giving up that control...is giving up trying to fix it on our own. Ever watch the show Wipeout? I picture God watching us try and go through life on our own sometimes...and...well, you get the idea. People have a natural tendency to want to fix and do things on their own. And I think that men have a harder time with this than women. I have found that most times when I find myself pouring my heart out to someone, the automatic response from a man is to try and fix it. When all you really want is someone to listen. About 98% of the time, I just want someone to listen. About 98% of the time, they try to fix the problem. When we find ourselves involved in a problem, it's natural to want to do the following:

1. Seek out the best counsel
2. Try the best treatments
3. Pay the highest price for answers

When in all reality, we should be running toward God. Why is it sometimes that God is the last one we consult?

Having to wait on God forces us into submission to His will and timing.

He lets us exhaust all of our resources and energies until the only hope we have left is rest in His will and His plan. Sometimes it's easy to be impatient, but I have found that even though His answer isn't always in our controlled time frame, or alot of times the answer we wanted, it ends up being a sweeter one than we could have ever imagined.

Red Envelope

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I recently sent a birthday present...that for some reason was seen as a 'murse.' For the record, it was NOT a murse.

Consider...

As I was driving the other day to Target...because I really don't go anywhere else...I was cut off by a very anxious driver. I could feel my hands tense and my body get heated, and my first instinct was to start screaming! But I didn't. I took a breath, relaxed, and realized that the only person who was going to be harmed by my bad reaction was me. I chose to focus on something else. And then I started thinking that one of the most remarkable capacities of the human mind is to direct its own attention to something it chooses. We can pause and say to our minds, "Think about this, and not that."

We can focus our attention on an idea or a picture or a problem or a hope. Talk about an amazing power! Such a gift from God...part of His image in us. And it's an immensely powerful means of our becoming what we ought to be. Although this wonderful gift is instilled in us, it's difficult at times to use. Have you been ignoring this great weapon against sin? The Bible calls us again and again to use it...so let's start taking it out, shining it up and put it to use!

Paul says in Romans 8:5-6, “Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, [set their minds on] the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”

What you set your mind on determines whether the issue is life or death.

I think that we have become far too passive in our pursuit of change and wholeness and peace. I fear that in today's society we have fallen into the passive mindset of simply “talking through our problems” or “dealing with our issues” or “discovering the roots of our brokenness in our family of origin.” As great as these may be, I feel that we tend to slip into a passive way of thinking about change—that it may come to me one of these days as I “talk through” my problems. Coming to it one of these days just isn't good enough. It takes practice, determination, and a will to want to change. God is here for you. He wants you to be better, whole, changed, and at peace. But you've got to focus your mind to get there.

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” Colossians 3:2

“Enemies of the cross,” Paul says, “set their minds in earthly things” Philippians 3:19

Our emotions are controlled so much by what we consider - what we dwell on with our minds. Jesus told us to overcome the emotion of anxiety by what we consider:
“Consider the ravens … Consider the lilies” Luke 12:24, 27

Your mind is the window into your heart. What happens if we constantly think about things that are dark? Our heart feels dark. But if we open the window of our minds to the light, our heart will feel the light.

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8

Above all, this great capacity of our minds to focus and consider is meant for considering Jesus.

“Holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus … Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart” Hebrews 3:1; 12:3

Let's learn not to be passive with our minds...