 Anyone else have days that it all gets overwhelming? We have had a hard few months. One thing after another has happened. One day it was just all too much. Do I call someone for advice? Do I call someone for prayer? I realized only one person could help me. I told my children I just had to go for a walk. We have an acre of property and so it is perfect for walking. When I go for a walk, that is my quiet time and an opportunity to pray. No matter what advice I received or who I got to pray, it would come down to me and God. I stepped outside. “Ok God, it is just you and me. What should I do?” In my heart I felt, “Breathe and Walk.” So I took deep breaths and walked around my yard. As I walked I realized it wasn’t just for now. I need to breathe and walk every day.
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7 KJV
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 We sing a beautiful old song,
“Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary Pure and holy, tried and true With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living Sanctuary for You” I love this song and have many wonderful memories of singing it in church, but the phrasing of this song puts all the work of preparation on God. There are many in scripture where we see the importance of a person's preparation. It took 7 years to build Solomon’s temple. Even before that David had been setting up supplies. I am sure once the last piece was in place, Solomon didn’t say, “Ok let’s bring in the Ark of the Covenant.” 2 Chronicles 5-7 tells of the dedication celebration Solomon had. It says all the men of Israel assembled.  I am thankful to live in a part of Florida that still has seasons and we don’t live in eternal summer. We have the freezing temperatures of winter. We have pollen season; I mean spring. We have the blistering heat of summer and the mild cooling off of fall. Right now schools have let out for the school year and the number on the thermometer is rising. Seasons are changing. In preparation for summer course changes, I was going through previous memory verse passages I have worked with my kids on. One passage in particular struck me.
1 To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? 10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. 11 He hath made every [thing] beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. - Ecc 3:1-11 KJV This was an important passage of principles I want my children to learn. There is an appropriate time for everything. There are times to laugh and joke, but also time to be serious. There are times to give, but there are also times to keep things for ourselves. At first glance that is the principle of this passage but as I meditated on it there was a depth to this that is easily passed over. Seasons are important not just in nature, but God gave them to us for our lives.  Have you ever thought, “I am hanging on by a thread?” I know I have. One day I was praying and the weight of all the “things” was heavy on me. I said, “Lord, I feel like I am hanging on by a thread.” I remembered the saying, if you feel like you are hanging on by a thread, let it be the hem of His garment. This is referencing the miracle of the woman with the issue of blood. This saying has never meshed with my over analyzing mind. In the retelling of this miracle she didn’t hold on to the hem she barely touched it. Holding on to His hem would have kept Him from moving to the next miracle. While I love the imagery of the saying, it doesn't work for me. I felt God remind me of Rahab’s thread.
18 Behold, [when] we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. ... 21 And she said, According unto your words, so [be] it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window. [Jos 2:18, 21 KJV] All she had was a thread.  Every Tuesday morning our church has ladies prayer. Since most of our ladies work it ends up being my pastor's wife, her mother-in-law, and I. We have a couple ladies who come when they can but for the most part it's just The Three amigos. This has become one of my favorite times of the week. I feel like I have two mentors and my complete disposal. They have talked me through a few things and prayed with me. We have started working through the Psalms again before ladies prayer. When we read through this first song this first stuck out to me:
Psalm 1:3 KJV — And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. Luke 6:41-42 KJV
It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman. Proverbs 21:19 KJV A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. Proverbs 27:15 KJV I have always hated these sayings: “If Mama ain't happy, nobody is happy” and “Happy wife, happy life.” Personally I am not a toddler that needs to be pacified, but an adult who should know how to communicate and deal with her feelings. There is some truth to the statement, though. We, as women, created the atmosphere.  The first month of the new year is almost over. New year's resolutions are either becoming new habits or abandoned wants. I gave up the idea of resolutions years ago and went with a word for the year. A new year feels like a new chapter or a brand new notebook. It is full of possibilities.
My word for 2024 is Bloom. Some years I struggle and pray over my word, but this year as I studied for my ladies Sunday school class it felt like God just placed it in my heart. I had been working on my winter garden and noticed my marigolds. I planted one batch early in the season to help with pests. I was really frustrated with them though. The seeds sprouted and grew but didn’t bloom. I ended up pulling them up because they were taking over the garden but not blooming. One evening we were at the hardware store and I saw the small marigolds on sale. I grabbed a couple six packs that were already blooming. Even though it was late in the season I thought it might help some. They went crazy with blooms. While I was dead-heading the flowers, I realized that the seeds are the petals of the flowers. This pushed me to research the benefits of marigold. That research became a Sunday school lesson. The Sunday school lesson became my word for the year and now a blog post :).  When I was a kid, I remember having this cassette player that had microphones attached to it. I loved that thing. I played and sang along with cassettes all the time. My favorite cassette had a song that went, “You got to ask if you want to receive. You got a seek if you want to find. You got to knock. For the door to be open, ASK is God's way."
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Matthew 7:7 Asking has always been a hard thing for me. For some reason I cannot disconnect asking for things from discontentment. I get stuck on the Philippians 4:11 where Paul tells us, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” The Greek word used for content means sufficient for one's self, strong enough or possessing enough to need no aid or support. My mind gets stuck on that if I am content I shouldn’t be asking for things. If I am asking for more I must not be content with what I have.  Southern hospitality is legendary but it is also very real. I have been blessed to have learned from the example of my mother, grandmothers and aunts. To properly host guests requires preparation and forethought. You want those that come in to feel comfortable and welcome. The space should be tidy. The floor swept. The table cloth should be fresh. Refreshment ready to serve.
And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. 2 Kings 4:8-10 KJV 2 Kings tells us of a great lady. She could probably teach all of us a thing or two about hospitality. We don’t know her name, but her actions speak louder than any name. Elisha passed by her home on the way to Shunem. The Bible says she constrained thim to eat bread. The Hebrew word there is hazaq. It is the same word that is used for when the angels took ahold of Lot and his family bringing them out of Sodom. She had no intention of Elisha passing by without food and rest. This wasn’t a one time invitation, but the Bible tells us that any time he passed by he would stop in to eat with her. He had an open invitation.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. - Ephesians 6:12 KJV
Every morning we open our eyes and walk out onto a battlefield. The battlefield of our mind stretches before us. Battles will be fought there that will guide the course of our day and eventually our lives. Thoughts our mind entertains, moves to our hearts and then comes out through our actions. |
