Wrestling With Something?

Child of God,

When outsiders (close to you, or strangers) look into your world and see your hurts and your struggles, it may seem a slight thing to them. They may see that your blessings so much outweigh your complaints that they scoff at how ridiculous you sound; especially in light of all they suffer. They don’t see you, they compare your world to theirs, never stopping to consider that what you wrestle with is the very trying of your faith.

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As others grapple with their own faith and get frustrated with their own doubt and unbelief, they may hold you in high esteem and wonder how you could even bring up your struggles in light of theirs, whether you know how much they struggle or not.

But, know this, God sees your heart. When no one else seems to understand what you’re going through or how much you hurt, God sees you and understands. He’s not ignoring you or playing on His cell phone there on the sidelines while you’re getting tackled on the field.

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God sees you. He holds your breath in His hands. He’s continuously pouring His life into you, even when it seems you’re at your weakest.

God hears you. He saves your tears as treasures, because He knows how much they cost you. He knows when it’s a battle to even shed those tears, when they won’t quite breech the surface of your eyes.  (Psalm 56:8)

God feels your heart break. He’s forever joined to your spirit, facing your pain and anguish with you.

No matter how you read Isaiah 59:19 – God is there to rescue you.

“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”

“When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” 

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Moving the comma only accents where the flood is coming from; do you feel the raging flood of your enemy? Or do you allow the flood of God’s raging rescue?

No matter how small your struggles feel when you compare them to the struggles others face – they are the trying of your faith.

Stop comparing battles, don’t be discouraged if others don’t take you seriously.

God is in this with you all the way. ---All. ---The. ---Way.

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“…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

The trying of your faith proves the power that’s within you. God already knows how strong you are; He IS the power that’s within you. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead – LIVES IN YOU!  (Romans 8:11)

He’s merely exposing that power, so that you can see it and use it!

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” – Luke 12:32 (KJV)

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Correction

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Okay, nothing as embarrassing (but, clearly needed) as a spiritual time out.

Not too long ago, I woke up complaining. It’s a nasty habit I need to break, for sure. But, I clearly heard God say to me, “If you’re complaining about someone, you’re not praying for them. If you were sincerely praying for them, you wouldn’t want to hinder those prayers with doubt, unbelief, grumblings and complaining.” Ouch!

Proverbs 3:12 tells us plainly, “For whom the Lord loves, he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delights.” (KJV)

Of course, He’s right. He’s always right. Those are the arguments we can’t win, there’s no defense when God points out something like that. Conviction sets in, repentance falls from your heart and you start over, yet again.

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Makes me ponder the point: how many of our prayers go unanswered because we ask amiss. (“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss….” – James 4:3 KJV) Surely, it would be considered asking amiss to pray and complain about the same person/situation.

Do you have that one person or situation you find yourself complaining about a lot? In the Old Testament, God became so angry with the Israelites for grumbling and complaining that the ground opened up and swallowed a bunch of them. (Numbers 16)

Thank God for the covenant of grace!

I just wanted to share this “spanking” with all of you, so that God doesn’t have to chastise you, too. Or, perhaps, so that He can use this blog post to do the chastising for Him.

Heads up: Complaining and praying do NOT go hand in hand.

Mark 11:24-26 “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:24-26 (KJV)

Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go they way; first be reconciled to they brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” Matthew 5:23-24 (KJV)

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Complaining In The Cocoon

I’ll guess our cocoon experience seems longer than that of a butterfly, but, proportionately, maybe it’s not.

Though some may find caterpillars fascinating little creatures, few would say their beauty and abilities even rival that of the butterfly. I’ll admit, I don’t have a clue what goes on in that cocoon to cause the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. But, when life courses through the veins of their newfound wings, beauty and power take on brand new meaning.

I have no idea if the butterfly remembers life as the caterpillar, crawling on her belly in search of food, eating as if the buffet will soon be over.

I don’t know if the caterpillar knows that she’ll be hidden away in a cocoon, changing phenomenally, or if she has any appreciation for the freedoms of the butterfly. Or for that matter, if she’s ever even seen a butterfly. Perhaps her eyes are only on the task at hand, acquiring the fuel she’s driven to take in.

Does she know transformation awaits her?

Can she imagine how much of a change will occur?

Is it dark in there? Can she see at all?

Can she move in that cocoon? (Seems quite cramped to me.)

As she grows and develops, is she at all comfortable, or stressed beyond recognition?

Or – does she sleep?

Does she question what’s happening to her?

Does it hurt?

Does she know she has a future, or does she await death?

When the urge to break out overcomes her, is she afraid?

Never having had wings before, what does she think is crowding her into the cocoon?

What does she think has happened to her slimy (or furry) little body, the one she wore into the cocoon?

As her wings stretch out to their full measure, does it hurt? Does it feel good, like stretching our arms and our back after a long night of sleep?

Is she afraid of the foreign objects we know are her wings? Of their need to soar through the air?

Does she even think about what’s happening or just enjoy the newness?

The experience of the butterflies vary, some never make it out of the cocoon.

Though her story is one of rebirth and transformation, one that we can see with our eyes over a very brief period of time, does she realize it?

Ours is an ongoing story of change and rebirth, too.

What stage are you in right now?

I have no clue if the caterpillar, all wrapped up in it’s transformational habitat, can complain. I rather doubt it. But, sheesh! Us humans have that mastered!

Whether we’re still chewing leaves, crawling along on a branch, ignorant of the plant it’s growing from, or we’re closed off from the openness we previously enjoyed, seemingly trapped in a closet of darkness – change is coming; freedom and beauty and abilities await us in experiences we haven’t yet imagined.

Just as the caterpillar may have no idea what a butterfly is, or can do, we look around us and see other caterpillars or the dark looking cocoons they’ve crawled into, and may not be able to imagine what we can be.

I don’t think a caterpillar can perceive that a glorious butterfly is already in the making.

What is inside of you?

While we complain about the leaf we’re chewing on, or the darkness of our cocoon, a breathtaking butterfly is in the making!

We’ll have such freedom – to fly further than the caterpillar knows there are places to fly.

Go to a butterfly house and observe; ponder what’s happening there. 

When you rest from the busyness of your day to talk with your Maker, wait on Him; listen.

Don’t let your insatiable hunger scare you. God is there.

Don’t let apparent darkness overwhelm you. God is there.

When you feel the urge to stretch and spread out your newness – use bold force! God is right there, too! He’s waiting on you. Crawl out onto His finger and begin to explore and enjoy your freedoms and all you discover you’re capable of.

Trust Him with the preparations of today.

Trust Him with the darkness that closes in around you.

Trust Him with tomorrow, He’s already there.

The Words of My Mouth

I heard this morning that faith is released through your mouth. Makes sense. Reportedly, the Bible says more about what you say as opposed to what you think. I imagine that’s because we tend to speak what we believe. We must believe a few things we don’t really realize we think about.

One of the first things our common enemy does is try to mess with our confession. Instead of talking about the good in our lives, we often wind up murmuring and complaining. Without some grace, the ground might have already opened up and swallowed us alive!

Sometimes we feel hard-pressed to find things to rejoice about, until we sit and take a moment to think about it. But even then, the rejoicing is often slow in coming. But the complaining? Most of us find it quite easy to complain.

I’ve had a terrific day with my husband today – no agenda, just enjoying each other’s company. But still, my mouth finds a way to complain about one thing or another.

Praise and worship involve sacrifice. Something’s gotta die. Clearly I need to sacrifice the pettiness that drives to complain when so much of my life is praiseworthy.

Not only will that negativity be absent from my days, but it will be replaced with the strength that comes from joy. Plus, my friends will find it a whole lot easier to chat with me!

Another place I see myself making negative confessions is when I find myself singing along to the radio or with others singing a song that isn’t really what I profess to believe. There’s a country song with a catchy tune that declares: “love don’t live here anymore.” Now why in the world would I want to come into agreement with that? Sure, some may say that I’m not necessarily agreeing that the song is true in my life, but what is my spirit picking up? How long will it be before love stops living here? Though that may sound superstitious – it’s not. We are what we think – and we think what we pour into our souls.

Just a few points to ponder on when we’re asking why things aren’t going like we want them to in our lives. What confessions come out of our mouth when we’re not really watching for them?

Do you have any favorite scriptures about our words?

Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”

Romans 10: 8-10 “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Me? Complain?

Today in an exercise in being grateful, I paid attention to things around me in a focused way. While driving around to do my errands I sought convenient parking places and grumbled at the cars parked closest to where I wanted to be; then I stopped. Thank You God that I don’t have a handicapped placard to hang in my window – thank You that I’m able to walk the distance from my car parked in Timbuktu.

As I braced myself against the cold, shivering and complaining that my coat wasn’t keeping me warm; I stopped. Thank You God that I have a coat and I’m not out in the cold shivering like this all the time. A man stood at the door I needed to go through but didn’t open the door for me, “Some gentleman,” I mumbled under my breath.

As I walked into the building a woman on crutches approached the door so I held it opened for her with a smile even though I was racing myself to the bathroom. I looked down at her bare feet and shuddered, Thank You God that I don’t have a broken leg and bare feet.

I dashed over to the ladies room angry with my tiny, weak bladder, bursting through the door like I was on official business. Sigh. Thank You God, I made it in time.

I scurried up the stairs to my second floor appointment and noticed a gray-haired lady hunched over heading my way with a scowl on her face. Thank You God that I can smile at strangers and stand up straight when I walk.

I couldn’t help but notice that every single murmuring complaint was countered by at least one thing to be grateful for. As the afternoon passed I looked for, and found, even more things to be grateful for on the shadow of my complaints. Sheesh. Who knew I complained so much? And those were only internal complaints!

Thank You, God, You love me anyways. I’ll try to do better tomorrow.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. (NKJV)