Fix Your Eyes

"He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light." (Job 33:28 NIV)

Upon first reading this passage you may think that it is only talking about our salvation from the pit of hell and our eternal life in heaven surounded by the light of God. While this is true, we do not have to wait until our body dies to enjoy the light of God. He has given us His light to enjoy while we still live here on this earth. His light is everywhere. It is even in the darkest of the dark corners in our lives. All you have to do is open your eyes; your spiritual eyes. "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2Corinthians 4:18 NIV) Focus on the eternal. Focus on the Lord.

God cares for us. He gave us His word, the bible, for instruction and comfort. It is filled with His promises to us. We need not be distressed about anything. Our Father in Heaven will supply all of our needs. Have you become accustomed to the darkness that you are in? Or are you just being drawn into the pit of depression? Take heart, the Lord will refresh your soul so that you can again enjoy the light of living!

Have you ever watched how a plant grows? It will always turn its "face" toward the direction that gives the best light. A good illustration of this is a commercial of a popular glass cleaner. In the ad, there is a plant hanging in the window. Half of the window is cleaned with one cleaner that leaves streaks and looks cloudy. The other half of the window is cleaned with the advertised product which leaves the window streak-free and nearly invisible. The plant, then, wraps one of its vines around the curtain rod and pulls itself toward the cleanest window, therefore receiving the best light. Has a particular situation left you behind a cloudy window streaked with doubt and despair? Then reach out your hand and let the Lord pull you into the best light; His light!

We do not have to stay in our darkness. We do not have to go into the pit. God is there for you, even when you cannot feel his presence. He is reaching for you. All you have to do is grab ahold of his hand. When you feel like you have nothing left to hold on to, hold onto the Creator, the Comforter, the Healer, the Maker of Light!

Lesson Learned

Stress has a way of ruining a perfectly good day. If you let it. I did just that Sunday. We had a great day planned to celebrate our oldest daughter's birthday. Everything was in place. I thought that I had too much to do so I decided not to go to church. Then it all started to unravel. My husband was called in to work for Sunday and since he works evenings that meant he would miss the party. My stres level had risen and I went to bed early only to wake up with an asthma attack--brought on by the stress.

I felt much better in the morning and went ahead prepping the food for the evening's meal. After washing up the dishes, I got a knock at the door. It was my downstairs neighbor. He said that both his sinks in the kitchen filled up and overflowed onto the floor. He called the landlord but thought it best for us not to use our water until we found the problem. Being Sunday we had no way of knowing how soon the landlord would get here to fix the problem. It was already after 1:00 pm and I had so much left to do. I began pacing and basically having a meltdown. At 3:00, I decided to call my daughter and cancel the party and reschedule for Monday evening. She started calling guests and I started calling guests. By the time we had called everyone, the problem downstairs had been fixed and I had one of the worst migraines I've ever experienced. When I looked at the clock, it was only 3:30! We could have had the party that evening after all. But in my stressed out, freaked out state, I couldn't think past everything going on.

When the day was coming to a close, I realized something. I never once stopped and prayed. In fact, I had put all the busyness of the preparations first and didn't go to church. I had defeated myself before I even started. Oh, all my plans would have worked out as far as time goes but I didn't ask God to bless my plans or the day. The same situations may have still happened anyway but I would have been better able to handle the stress. I would have been filled with peace and would have known that God would work everything out in the end. He knows how important it is for us to celebrate our family and I believe that that blesses him also. But I chose not to include him.

Why do we do these things to ourselves? Why do we forget to ask God's blessing on things? We just go on and make our own plans without remembering Proverbs 16:3, which says:

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

And:
"For God is not a God of disorder but of peace." 1Corinthians 14:33.

And especially,
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

I am absolutely positive that if I had remembered my Lord from the very beginning of the day, I would have had a beautiful, peaceful day--even with all that went wrong! Lesson learned, Lord!

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day. There are mixed emotions about this day in our home. I’ve always enjoyed this day, especially when my children were little. They would plan all week long what special thing they were going to do for “Mommy”. My oldest daughter is an artist and was from the beginning. So, her special gifts to me have usually been handmade. My son and youngest daughter always followed suit. If big sister gave me a coloring book page for the fridge, I got 3. If I got a flower pot, hand painted with a single marigold in it, I got 3…and so it went. I’ve been served breakfast in bed; given coupon books for extra chores around the house; jewelry; and always, always, always a card with a pastoral scene drawn by fat little fingers and the words, “I love you, Mom” across the whole page, folded down the middle. I still have every one of those cards.

Now my kids are grown and living away from home. I still see them all the time. We get together for Sunday Supper every week. They’ve all grown into beautiful, caring people. I know this is the natural order of things ~ babies are born, kids go to school, they grow up, and young adults walk out the front door to their new lives. And, I’m good with it all the rest of the year. It’s Mother’s Day that’s hard for me. It’s a bittersweet day. I love the grown up people that my children have become. I just miss my babies. I miss the mess at the front door where the kids dropped all their stuff after school, practices, or just being out. “If I have to pick up these shoes once more!” still echoes in my mind, but what I’d give to walk in the door and trip over 3 pairs of shoes, 3 book bags, football pads, soccer cleats, soccer balls, a clarinet, a bag of library books, track gear, softball gear, 2 purses and 2 big dogs who are sure this is their new bed!

I don’t get coloring book pages colored with fat little fingers anymore. I seem only to get one gift now, with one card signed by all three. But it always, always, always says, “I love you, Mom”, across the whole page, folded down the middle.

Back to Basics

I just got off the phone with my aunt. She and my husband used to work together. That was about two years ago. Their company was the first one in our area to close its doors when this present economic crisis started. She found another job and felt secure. She was making decent money and things were finally getting back to normal. Six months ago the new company she was working for closed its doors! She was unemployed again. Now I believe she has every reason to be depressed and angry. She has only had one interview in six months, then found out that the best they can offer is part-time hours. She had to turn it down because there's no way they can make it on that salary. I would be so discouraged.

But, do you know what she said to me? She said that maybe this is God's way of getting us back to the basics. Instead of going out two or three times a week, they only go out on Friday nights. And, most of the time, one of the three couples cooks and they have game or movie night at their home. She said they are spending more time with their kids, doing things like playing games or just having good conversation. She said, "I know things (meaning the economy and job situations) will get better eventually. But for now we are making a bad situation better. We are making good use of all this time we have on our hands."

What an attitude! I was reminded of a time in history when spending time with friends meant going to their home or they came to yours. You played games, talked and just enjoyed each other's company. Neighbors got together and had backyard cookouts on weekends. People actually sat on their front porches and invited others to come "sit a spell". And people went to church on Sunday and then went to Grandma's or Mom's home for Sunday supper. It was like our evening meals when we were kids only instead of talking about your day, you talked about your week. People kept in touch with each other. It truly was a kinder, gentler time.

With the things the way they are we can no longer afford to do all the things we're used to. Parents can't put their kids in three or four different activities. They might be able to afford one. Now we have all this extra time on our hands. We are forced to slow down and spend time with each other. We are forced to cook at home and gather at the dining table once again. We are forced to find free things that we can do together. We drag out the movies, dust off the games, and actually make popcorn! I think there might be a lot of truth to what my aunt said. Maybe God is trying to get us back to the basics. He's trying to bring us home. We've been gone too long.

Who Can You Trust?

These are very trying times. The news is rarely good. People are falling into depression. Crime rates are up. People are panicking. They are killing each other. They are killing their own families. They are killing themselves. In the chaos of the here and now, we've lost sight of what is truly important.

What makes a man take a gun in his hand, go into each of his childrens' rooms, pull the trigger and then turn the gun on himself? He has forgotten who to trust. He was trusting in the people who promised him great riches if he threw in on the next big scheme. Or he was trusting in the corporation that he worked for to see him through to his golden years. When the things he trusted in failed him, he lost all hope and he panicked. In a state of utter desperation, he did the unthinkable.

The man above placed his trust in the wrong direction. He trusted man--fallible, flawed, fickle man. Humans can be too easily swayed from one thought to another. Humans act on emotion. No, humans aren't trustworthy. There are too many variables. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." There are no variables with God. So where do we put our trust if we can't trust humans? We trust in the One who doesn't change. We trust in the One who will always bring us through. "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes." Psalm 118:8-9.

God is our rock. He is the One in whom we should place our trust. Our Father gives us everything that we need. He will get us through tough times. Even when the tough times are of our own making he will provide a way out. We never need to go into panic mode when we are trusting God because we know that he is already at work bringing the situation around.

Yes, these are tough times. But God is in control. We need to stop, take a deep breath and remember what is really important in life and know that the One who created all things has our backs. Man will fail. It's not a matter of "if" but "when". God never fails. Who will you trust?

Here are some additonal scriptures you might like to look up. You can use the Biblegateway button on the right if you like.

Job 15:31; Psalm 112:7; Isaiah 2:22; Psalm 28:7; Proverbs 3:5-7