The Eye of The Storm

  • Eternity – Past and Future

    God – He’s all around us. He is eternity future and eternity past.

    But something that I am still struggling to wrap my head around is the fact that the holy trinity is also eternal – both in our future and in our past. The holy spirit existed in the Old Testament. He hovers over the waters in Genesis 1:2. And He guides and protects the Israelites (Isaiah 63:10-14). There are so many examples of the spirit of God being active in the Old Testament.

    Jesus is there too. Yes, he’s there; even before He came to us in the form of a baby. He is mentioned all through the Old Testament. Genesis 3:15 predicts the crucifixion. The Passover Lamb in Numbers 9:12 can be cross-referenced to John 19:36 where we learn that Jesus’s bones were never broken.

    God knew when He specifically required the lamb for the Passover sacrifice, that in roughly 1500 years, His son would be referred to as “The Lamb”. And that is just one example of so many.

    What an amazing God we serve and worship. One Who providentially lays out our lives and coordinates events and circumstances in ways that are just awesome. Yet we doubt Him. And we question Him.

    And over and over He gives grace and mercy.

    Thank you, God, for all that you have been, are, and will be.

  • He meets you where you are.

    “Just go sit in the pew”. Those were the words from a friend who met me where I was. And where I was, was a heavy, lonely place. Parenting a strong-willed child was only part of the problem. She had rebelled. She had made unthinkable choices. She was only 13. But I didn’t know who she was anymore. And it was killing me. Literally.

    I had shut down. The stress and anxiety had choked out my faith. I felt like a failure. I felt unwanted. I was lost. Even people who were close to me didn’t understand. One person even said, “I think you missed the boat with her.” And I felt that way too. The ship of parental wisdom had sailed. And I wasn’t on it.

    So I went. And I sat in the pew. And He met me there. And I cried silently as the congregation sang worship songs. And I let Him hold me. And I didn’t feel so lonely anymore. Circumstances didn’t change, but my heart did.

    Maybe you find yourself in a similar place. You’re carrying heavy burdens. You might even feel physically ill. You get through the day-to-day routine. But even that can seem like too much. You are lonely, even though you’re happily married. And it feels like you’re in the way or unwanted everywhere you go.

    If you’re struggling just to get out of bed in the morning, give yourself grace. Throw on some cloths, brush your hair, and just go sit in the pew.

    He will meet you there.

  • Palm Sunday Encouragement

    If ever there was a time to reflect on the sovereign God we serve, it’s on Palm Sunday. What a perfect time to consider His power, and kingship! We can reflect on that alone and find peace and comfort.

    But, there’s more to the story…more evidence that God is providential. And more confirmation that He has control over all things.

    The prophet Zechariah told the people that their King would bring salvation and that He would be on a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey 500 years later. This event is one of many examples of God’s existence. It also shows His power and sovereignty. It reminds us of His ETERNAL love…both PAST and FUTURE.

    Sweet friend, may you find peace and comfort in remembering what Palm Sunday represents. Remember what Holy Week represents. And consider how blessed we are to be chosen to serve Him. We are so very loved by a powerful, awesome God.

    Take a minute: Read Zechariah 9:9 with your kids. Discuss how this relates to Easter. Ask for thoughts on Zechariah’s words and when they think he shared this prophecy.

  • Connecting Biblical Events: God’s Providential Plan

    As a child, I learned all the traditional Bible stories. These include stories like David and Goliath, Adam and Eve, and Jesus walking on water. I knew the stories well. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I understood there was more depth to them.

    As I have become more sanctified in Christ, I have gained a richer understanding of His providence. I have learned (and continue to learn) how every event in the Bible connects to other events in the Bible.

    Every event in the Bible connects to other events in the Bible.

    There are so many examples of God’s providence in the Bible. The Old Testament books lay the foundation for stories that start and finish there. They also help in understanding the entire New Testament. When we understand that we serve a providential God, we can start to see Him in between the lines.

    One of my favorite examples of this is the story of Moses. The story of Moses begins during a time when pharaoh orders the death of all Hebrew male infants. To save him, Moses’ mother placed him in a basket and set him afloat on the Nile River. By God’s providence, the pharaoh’s daughter discovered the basket and decided to adopt Moses. Unknowingly, she hired Moses’ own mother to nurse him. Fast forward to Moses as an adult. He ends up delivering the Israelites from bondage.

    God’s providence can be seen in several ways in this one story. And there are many more like it.

    Take some time today to read your favorite bible story again. In what ways does that story connect the dots to other biblical events?

    Photo by Kelly on Pexels.com

  • A prayer to know God more deeply…

    Dear God,

    I want to surrender every aspect of my life to you. But the routine and mundane puts boundaries around my joy and squelches it. I settle into the day-to-day tasks that continue to repeat and lose sight of you. Help me to remember whose I am and the mercy and grace that comes with being a chosen daughter of a holy God. Amen

  • How’s Your Onion/AKA LIFE?

    Have you ever considered how an onion is a metaphor for life?

    Bear with me here.

    Onions have many layers. There’s a super thin layer on the outside that isn’t edible and can’t be used for much. The thin outer layers are formed by the environment, and are shaped by the behavior and growth process. Usually there are 2 or 3 of these layers that go to waste.

    Once we get the outer layers off, we start to get into the thicker part of the onion. This is where we find product that we can work with. This is also where we need a sharper knife and maybe some tissues. The inner layers are harder to cut through and the deeper into the onion we go, the more tears tend to develop. We also find that the person we become is much different than the person we were, much like the center of an onion, which is far from the perfectly shaped circle at the outer layers.

    In our journey through life, we have multiple circumstances, and experiences that shape the layers of our personal onion. And as we get older, some of the layers get pretty thick. It’s important that we keep our layers peeled back so that we can still find the root of who we are, and so our our onion/aka life, remains healthy and productive.

    2 Cor 4:16-18 says: So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

    As we work through our layers, we get closer and closer to the person God wants us to be. But the thing is, it’s really hard to work through the hard things. We don’t like to cry. We don’t like to hurt. It is much easier to tread through life and stay where it’s comfortable.

    When we choose to stay where it’s comfortable, we could be choosing to miss out on the prize. Tough choices are often the ones with the best consequences.

    Be encouraged today. Start peeling your onion.

    The good stuff is there. And you will get to it!

     

  • Make it about Jesus

    What books of the bible do you gravitate to? For me it’s the middle of the new testament. Books like Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians.

    When discussing this with my husband this morning, he asked me why I gravitate to those books. After some thought, I came to the conclusion that it’s because I can make those scriptures more about me than Jesus. The book of Ephesians for example starts out with Paul telling us about our identity in Christ. He then goes on to teach us what to do with who we are in Christ. Ephesians 1:4 says, “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” That is encouraging and reassuring scripture. It’s also very easy to make it about us, and not Christ.

    I am guilty of choosing the easy stuff in scripture. But we need the hard stuff too; maybe even more.

    I’m challenging myself to study scripture that is hard. Maybe that means dissecting a chapter from Isaiah, or Revelation. What ever that might mean for you, let’s work on finding Christ in scripture and getting to know more about Him so we can be more like Him.

    Let’s make it less about us, and more about Who’s we are.

  • Thankfuls

    My daughter spent 2 years living at a residential treatment center. Her testimony is worthy of a post by itself; so I’ll just say she needed some guidance beyond what we could give her at home.

    The girls at this treatment center are surrounded by the word of God. They are counseled daily on giving God control. One of the concepts that was used with my daughter was writing “thankfuls”. She would be required to keep a journal and each day she would sit down for 15 minutes and list things she was thankful for. When my daughter told me about this, I was intrigued. So I tried it. Wow, does it change your perspective! It’s such a simple thing. But being thankful really helps keep our minds and hearts focused on how blessed we are.

    What if we took time every day to write down 5 things we are thankful for? The catch is that you can’t repeat anything. Would you run out of things to be thankful for? I think it would be hard, but I bet there are far more things to be thankful for than things we wish would go away.

    There’s a book by Ann Voskamp titled “A Thousand Gifts”. In it, Ann guides us to write down 1000 little things we are thankful for. You can learn more about it here: http://www.annvoskamp.com.

    I have learned to find joy in so many little things. As I sit here writing, I can easily touch 5 things I am thankful for: my sweet furbaby Bella, the fleece blanket covering my legs, my bible, the ottoman that allows me to elevate my sore feet, and the pizza rolls I’m having for dinner, (don’t judge me).

    What about you? Have you done your thankfuls today?

    Share some random things in the comments that your thankful for!

  • Disciplines vs Distractions

    In my devotions this past week, we have been looking at spiritual disciplines. Let me just say it’s been eye opening and a bit convicting! Bible intake is the most important spiritual discipline because it enhances all the other ones. And bible intake is the one spiritual discipline that I struggle with the most. I get distracted so easily.

    One of the questions during my reflection time was, “Does reading the word of God feel more like a duty or a delight?” If I’m being honest, I have to say it feels like a duty. Why? We have THE WORD OF GOD at our fingertips, and we (I) feel like it is a duty rather than an honor to study it?

    Psalm 19:7-11 says the word of God is perfect, right, pure, clean, true, sweeter than honey. Yet not only do we not turn to it’s words, we look elsewhere for answers.

    Let me segway for just a moment. What are your idols? Have you ever really looked at what you gravitate to for comfort and satisfaction? I have thought about this and studied this a bit. I have found that there are 3 major idols in my life: laziness, approval, and shopping. Now those are not specifically named in the scriptures, but all three are things that I have willingly replaced God with. At first, I didn’t give it a second thought. If I wanted to sleep in on Sunday morning, I justified it by saying “I can worship at home”. But if I wanted to go shopping on Sunday morning, you can bet I’ll be up and out the door without hesitation. Approval – that’s a tough one. Within the first chapter of the bible, Genesis 1:27, it says God made us in HIS own image. So our identity is anchored in Him. Yet we (I) still seek validation and approval from people. That’s just silly.

    The things that we idolize in the world, are the things that distract us from practicing spiritual disciplines. Once we get a rope around those, (which is a constant daily battle), practicing spiritual disciplines can become more habitual.

    What can you do today that will help you move toward more routine practice in spiritual disciplines?

  • ALL the things

    This past week has been rough. Actually the past couple of months have been rough. Don’t get me wrong, there have been a multitude of blessings in the muck, but sometimes the muck turns into quicksand before we realize it. All of a sudden we are up to our necks with “stuff”. Is there a better way to navigate life than to blindly sink into the muck? I think there is. It’s simple really. Spend time daily with God and sort it all out.

    I am guilty of skipping time with God. I say little prayers over the course of the day like, “Okay God, help me to be loving; or “Hey God could you just NOT put that person in my personal space today?” And while there’s not really anything wrong with that, it’s not all God wants from us. He wants our hearts. Yes, he already knows what’s in our hearts, but He wants US to evaluate what is in our hearts and lay the yucky stuff at his feet. Likewise, we need to praise Him for all the good stuff. Because, all of it is ultimately good, right? ALL OF IT.

    Romans 8:28 says ALL THINGS work together for GOOD. It doesn’t say, “All the fun things”, or “All the things that feel good”. It says ALL things. That means even the things that don’t make any sense. Even the things that really REALLY hurt.

    There is a lot to unpack from this one verse. But the bottom line is this: When we trust HIM, when we follow Him, and when we live to serve Him and please Him, we can have peace in knowing that all of life’s circumstances circle back to His purpose. And we know that His purpose is far better and fulfilling than any purpose we could invent on our own..

    I recently read a post on a sister blog where the analogy of baking cookies was used to explain Romans 8:28. When we bake cookies, we use all kinds of ingredients. Some of them are tasty, like chocolate chips, sugar, and peanut butter. And some of them are not so tasty, like oil, raw eggs, and flour. But when mixed together, all those ingredients create a delicious treat, with a pleasing aroma.

    Have faith that your life will ultimately become a pleasing aroma to our gracious GOD.

    Find true joy in life – even in the yucky stuff!