To Overflowing

I like to be in control. (There. I said it.) I guess that’s why God decided to teach me in recent years that, “Darlin’ it ain’t you holding the world together.” His longsuffering with us astounds me. And no He doesn’t always speaks to me in Southern twang.

For the vast majority of my life, I *needed* people and circumstances to fit into my neat little box in order for me to live peacefully.

flickr photo credit: noelas

My kids needed to obey. My husband needed to love like Jesus. Our finances needed to make perfect sense. And when they didn’t, my blood pressure would rise, my joy would deflate, and my peace would flee.

But there’s a problem with that logic. If the state of my soul depends upon what everyone and everything does, then everyone and everything else controls me. I allow the world to control me.

And that’s not freedom.

Freedom comes in the resting. When I rest in the fact that my God completely reigns, people and circumstance no longer dictate my inner-being. When I choose to trust that He faithfully sees and hears and moves for the good of His children and the glory due His name — even through the messy — my soul finds a stride that this world cannot steal.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack.
Psalm 34:8-9

Because kids will lick the Wal-Mart bathroom stall before we have time to intervene. Or worse. Our human spouses will fail us every, single day (just like we fail them). And finances will blow away like the wind. But it doesn’t mean that I have to give up and crumble into a heap. At least not for long.

Darlin’, you and I are not the ones in control. He is. And He does a perfect job without our hands trying to grab the wheel. Until Jesus comes back, life will happen. Some seasons will be down right excruciating. But He still reigns. He still calls you “my child”.

The gift of peace awaits. We can draw from the well of His character even when everything seems to be out of *our* control.

 
Fill me, Lord…

How have you struggled with “needing” to be in control?

 

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Filed under daily filling, the thought life

We drive by that familiar corner near the Target and the same man holds the tattered sign, “Lost a job. Anything helps.”

As soon as my kids notice, they holler, “Mommy, there’s a hopeless person. Give him a granola bar.” I’ve tried correcting, “Baby, it’s homeless. Homeless.” But they still say “hopeless”.

We sometimes pass a chewy, chocolate chip granola bar out the window and then pray for him. But when the light turns green we drive to our comfortable life, forgetting his face until we go to Target again for toothpaste and Pull-ups.

flickr photo credit: jim fischer

Suffering covers the landscape of our world, from homelessness to terminal illness to the travesty of sex trafficking. The burden of living on this planet can push us to the point that we raise our hands in surrender to the mess. We turn our eyes back to the latte we just bought and conclude with slight apathy that we just can’t save the world.

And we’re right. We can’t save the world. But we can do something. And though it’s good to give a granola bar, I want to do more.

That’s one reason I partner with OneVerse.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?… So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Romans 10:14, 17

In mere seconds I can pull up an app with 18 different Bible translations, including commentary and explanations of the original language. Not to mention the 10 Bibles sitting on our downstairs bookshelf gathering dust.

Yet millions have never read the words “God loves you and sent His Son, Jesus, to die on your behalf. To free you.” That’s a suffering that cuts my spirit deep.

Partnering with OneVerse is something tangible I can do. I can sponsor the translation of a verse each month and know that I’m handing hope to a people who truly live hopeless without the Words of their Maker.

I’m linking up with other OneVerse bloggers today trying to spread the word. You and I can’t save the world. But we can do something. We can help give the hope of Truth to those who have never heard.

Would you consider joining me in the effort? Would you help spread the word? Click here to find out more.

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Filed under daily filling, his word speaks, Savoring Living Water

I stare at the lists scribbled on the dry-erase board over my desk. Things need completing. Words need writing. Numbers and dates need remembering.

Then I step over stray socks and glance across the kitchen at the soggy cereal left in the bowls from breakfast. Little faces round the corner, feet running loudly to match the voices.

And I feel the need to simply breathe, slow and purposefully. Breathe. I remind my spirit as it faces the temptation to crumble under the weight of today’s list, “Lord, You know what You have for me to do in this day. I have the perfect amount of time to get it all done. In love.”

flickr photo credit: xava du

Yet too often we add things to our “must-happen” list that He never intended. We spend precious minutes on stuff that doesn’t deserve our devotion. It’s become cliché but I continually need reminding. In our culture we often stray from the Lord’s plan for our moments simply because we engage too much and we forget priorities. I forget.

I spent time in the short book of Haggai this week. It’s been years since I gleaned from his words. But one phrase kept jumping off the pages, “Consider your ways.” (Haggai 1:5, 7) Consider your ways.

With all the tugging from the world I have to take the time to consider my ways. A time to reassess my priorities. We all do.

Love God…with the first-fruits of my time, money, and thoughts.
Love my family…by looking at their hearts and serving in the overflow of Him.
Love the world…by following His lead and moving in the gifts He’s given.

Everything falls into one of those three basic categories. But if I miss the love, I miss it all. If I cross everything off the list but didn’t love through the tasks then I forfeit His blessing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

There comes a time to get before Him and consider our ways. We have time to do all He ordained for us to do. We have time to love those He places before us today.

 
Fill me, Lord…

Practically speaking, how do you keep your priorities straight?

 

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Filed under daily filling