Peace Beyond a Biscuit

What thoughts deluge your mind in the quiet of night and stillness of morning?

For years, my daily routine brought stress and anxiety. I’d stay up late, hoping exhaustion would override the to-do, didn’t-do, should’ve done lists waiting to flood my thoughts as my head hit the pillow.

Upon waking, another rush. It wasn’t necessarily unpleasant occurrences or circumstances, just everyday challenges of a working wife and mom, with bills and responsibilities too numerous to count.

You know that silly Jimmy Dean sausage commercial with the guy dressed as the sun? The familiar tune plays (dum, dadum, dadumdum) as he scolds listless planets for skipping a good breakfast. The planets eat a sausage biscuit, and suddenly revival takes place; a rotation dance ensues around the sun, and all is as it should be.

I thought, gee, I wish that was my job; rise in the morning, bring warmth and light, feed ’em all sausage and life is good.

Of course, although quite yummy, we know sausage biscuits won’t rid us of pesky, troublesome, and at times overwhelming thoughts.

It seems every negative and glass-half-empty circumstance in our life hits us hardest in the quiet of night, and the first light of morning.

These critical times of day and night can be gravely effected by these thoughts. When they come at night, sleep is robbed. When they come in the morning, joy of the day is robbed.

Would we allow someone to rob our home by intentionally leaving the door unlocked?

Too often, we allow the enemy of our soul free-reign of our thoughts. He can read our thoughts, but he doesn’t have to since we practically tell him. We leave the door unlocked, or worse yet, wide-open and vulnerable to his cunning attacks upon our mind.

As difficult as it is to ward off thoughts of troublesome circumstances in our lives, we can choose to replace them with blessing-thoughts. Surrendering our concerns and circumstances to God frees us from the impossible task of trying to fix everything we were never meant to fix in the first place.

This takes practice and discipline, but most of all, it takes a God-focused life. It takes God.

Before bed, when those thoughts come to rob our much-needed sleep, remember what is true. Remember what is lovely. Remember what is just and good. When we wake, we remember them again.                       

Pray with the power He has given us in the Name of Jesus.

Allow worship songs to wash over thoughts, meditating on words of truth.

Recite favorite verses that renew our minds and remind us of who God is; that He is faithful; that He is good; that He has plans for us; that He knows our name and sees us, always.

Name every blessing, every good thing by name. Seen and unseen. What is good in your life? Resist the lie there is no good, and even if you can only think of one good thing, think of one good thing.

I once asked a group of women what threatened to steal their joy. One woman wrote “LIFE” all in caps. That spoke volumes.

When LIFE threatens to steal our joy and zap our strength, we must seek the Giver of LIFE whose joy is our strength.

Here are a few encouraging verses to write on your heart:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.   Romans 12:2

and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:7

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.  Philippians 4:8

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.    Isaiah 26:3

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.  Proverbs 3:24

…Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? … Matthew 6:25-27

Breathe deeper. Love deeper. Seek deeper. Walk deeper.

A sausage biscuit can’t solve our problems, and the sun can’t fix our failures; but I know a Son who can. His warmth and light brings hope and life. Jesus.

What scriptures have you found particularly comforting in this season of your life? What has the Holy Spirit revealed to you through His words today?

Blessings and Peace In Him,

Doris

The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Storm Tracker to Strong Tower

Living in Florida, we have five seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall, and hurricane.  June 1 officially ushers in the 2014 hurricane season. Here we go again, from now through November all eyes will be watching the Atlantic for developing storms. Each storm is named, oddly enough, as if it were a child forming in the womb. Ironically, these storms have a few things in common with birth. In early stages of development, they are small and weak, there are showers, and they continue to grow larger and stronger.

Thankfully, the last few hurricane seasons have been uneventful, but that wasn’t always the case. When the storms do come, we evacuate or hunker down, and inevitably we lose power.  The power can be out for hours, days, or even weeks. When the power goes out, there’s not much we can do but pray for it to come back. We are thankful for the convoy of power trucks, many from out of state answering the call for help.

When storms come, they aren’t always the kind meteorologists track. Storms in life can be just as devastating as a hurricane. Our storms have names too, don’t they?  Worry, anxiety, fear, addiction, sickness…

When we release and surrender our storms to God, He pulls down the strongholds, there is change within us.  The storms may wreak havoc, but they cannot crush us.  The storms may feel threatening, but God will never abandon us. Storms can be destructive, but they will not destroy us.  When we are weak we are strong in Him. He is greater than a convoy of power trucks. He dispatches Angel Armies.

So what can we do? We can:

• Pray for the courage to surrender all to God.  It’s time to be free.
• Turn off our inner Weather Channel, and tune in to God’s Word.
• Trust not in man or circumstances; trust in God He Is our Strong Tower.

These jars of clay we are in contain Power and Light and no storm can destroy what God has planned for us.

Not Designed To Be A Towel Rack

After coming home from the grocery store last week, I found my shower curtain, rod and all, sprawled across the shower floor.  At first glance, it startled me since I knew it wasn’t that way when I left the house.  Had an intruder gained access to my home while I was out?  Looking around, nothing else appeared to be out of place; nothing seemed to be missing. It was highly unlikely that someone had crawled through a window just to take a shower or something from it (although, those Venus razors cost more than some of my jewelry!).

Upon further investigation I realized what had happened. The poor rod had collapsed under the weight of three water-logged bath towels that had been flung over top of it. One towel might have been okay, but three? That was just a little too much weight for my shower curtain rod to bear. After all it wasn’t designed to be a towel rack, right?

At first I tried lifting the whole thing at once, get that mess off the floor and fix it…

I soon learned that this “quick-fix” method obviously wasn’t going to be the best approach. Those towels were huge!  Have you ever tried carrying a bunch of huge, wet towels?  If so, then you know what I mean.  I could feel the heaviness that caused the collapse.

Lifting the towels off, one by one, I restored the shower curtain, rod and all, back to it’s rightful place to once again serve the purpose it was intended to serve.

The burdens of life can sometimes feel as if we’re carrying a ton of wet towels on our shoulders.  Ever feel that way?  Like when we can’t let go of the past; all that old baggage that can weigh us down: past relationships, a career that ended, a wrong choice…

Or maybe it’s what’s happening in the here-and-now: illness, financial issues, job loss, the loss of a loved one…

So much heaviness to bear, as one towel becomes two, then three…. As we know, my shower curtain rod reached its breaking point at three, so how far can we go carrying all of that heaviness?  To the point where we could just collapse under the weight of it all?

We were not designed to be towel racks, well, you know what I mean. We don’t have to carry all of those heavy burdens.  We don’t have to fix everything, because frankly, we can’t.

Here’s the good news, the hope:  we have a loving God who can.  We were made in His image; we have a God who cares so much for us, He became flesh and dwelt among us.  Jesus paid the price and took our sins to the cross, yours, mine…  It’s personal and it was for me and it was for you.

So pack up that baggage, including those wet towels and lift it all up to Him; He’ll take it from you, that’s a promise, His promise.  Let Him lift it from you so you can move forward to fulfill and serve the purpose you were intended to serve.

“Cast your burdens on the Lord, And He shall sustain you;  He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”                              Psalm 55:22

Prayer Prompt:                                                                                           

Lord, thank you that I can cast my burdens on you; and when I feel overwhelmed with the cares and worries of this world, Your Word tells me I can lift my requests to you in prayer, and the peace that passes all understanding will be mine.  Thank you Lord, that you have plans for me and through You I have a hope and a future.  Direct my steps Lord, as I trust in You; make clear the path of life, so I may serve You and others, doing the good works you prepared in advance for me to do according to Your will.
In Jesus Name, Amen.  

*Please feel free to share a testimony or praise report on how the Lord lifted a burden in your life…. you never know how He might use those words to encourage someone who is hurting…