Stop, Drop and Worship

Scriptures: John 14:27, John 10:10, Romans 8:28, Philippians 4:6-7

Stop, Drop and Worship!

Do we actually know when we are drifting toward anxiety or depression? Is there a specific “knocking at the door of our heart,” so to speak, that is obvious? Do we invite these feelings or are we simply a victim of them? Do they intrude like a sneaking, crouching lion? Such deep truths to ponder.

Philippians 4:6-7  tells us to be “Anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Then to add the cherry on top, it says “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Could we actually live and walk in a “peace which surpasses all understanding”? If so, I want to live that way!

So, what is the disconnect? Why is our world dominated with anxiety and depression? Do we have any choice in the matter? Who is in charge of me? Scripture says in John 10:10 that the thief comes ONLY to steal, kill and destroy, BUT that we have an option for abundant living as well. What upsets me even more than an enemy seeking to rob, kill and destroy is that I often participate with him! I actually buy into his lies about my identity and allow him to disempower my life and my heart. But what about abundant living? Is there still a choice here? Once again, who is in charge of me? Blaming has never worked and will never work. Change can only begin when and if we take personal responsibility for where we are today.

I am aware that many of our lives have been riddled with uninvited trauma and circumstances. But we must tether our peace of mind to the faithfulness and the character of God and not to people, events, and circumstances. His promises are our only solid ground for tomorrow’s hope as we believe that He actually can work all things together for the good of those that love Him and are called into His plans.

When we feel our hearts drifting, or thrown straight into anxiety, we could learn the power of “STOP, DROP AND WORSHIP.” I have tested this idea. It is a game changer. During the times when news or information sends my heart skyrocketing, I am keenly aware of anxiety “knocking at my door.” At these times, I purposefully remember “be anxious for nothing.” It seems a paradox to simultaneously have extreme anxiety while recalling the scripture to be anxious for nothing. It’s a situation devoid of peace and abundance. In my childlike attempt for obedience to Proverbs 4:6-7, I start to pray and be grateful. This is totally an act of my will as my feelings are not in line……YET! As I have stopped to drop and worship, I am actively, by my will, choosing to put my sovereign God back up on the throne of my heart and not the ISSUE that is drawing me to anxiety. I am choosing obedience. I am not participating in the schemes of the sneaky enemy to rob, kill and destroy my joy in the moment or the day (or the season of life).

I am not saying that this is easy, but when I choose obedience, I find that I step out of my emotional self and I step into His truths and greater purposes for the moment. I want to participate with the Lord and not with the enemy. I invite you to consider the same.

Scriptures: Psalms 139:13-14, Ephesians 2:10, 1 Corinthians 12:25-28, John 14:5

Mindless living

Are you mindlessly walking through life? Most of us live our lives simply doing the next thing. We are not really THINKING about the next thing, we are just doing it. I doubt if many young children live with an ounce of intentionality going about their day and their play. Habits mindlessly start in our youth without a real thought of the future consequences of such. Often, we end up wasting our precious time as habits creep into our lives unnoticed… Habits like watching TV, eating junk food, drinking cokes, roaming on the computer, developing poor posture or health choices and spending money on things that we really don’t need. We are not intending to waste our days, but nothing seems pressing when we are children or young adults mindlessly developing these poor habits. 

Since our enemy is set upon destroying all relationships, mindless living is his dream spot for us. He would love to “rob, steal and destroy” all things pertaining to abundant living or the fulfillment of such. Mindless living is his subtle masterplan for humankind. The enemy of our souls does not want us to know that we were created ON purpose, WITH purpose and FOR a purpose. Nor does he want us to know that we are each “uniquely” gifted to serve and bless others. He wants us to be arrogant and self-indulgent about our gifts because our enemy knows that pride does come before a fall. Our greatest satisfaction, our sweet spot of fulfillment, comes when we actually serve and live in all the beautiful and good works that God assigned us for ahead of time. The same God that made the mountains, the galaxies and the oceans chose to make YOU! We are each created fearfully and wonderfully. We are each called “beloved.” We are each called His masterpiece, sent and assigned for “such a time” as this. 

I invite you to tune into wisdom and intentional living as you seek to understand that your days are numbered and He has a magnificent plan for you. A plan filled with “more than you could hope for or imagine.” There is nothing mindless about that!

Scriptures: Joel 2:25, Romans 3:23, Philippians 2:12, James 1:5

Knocked and Shocked 

How is it that we can all be so surprised by that which is predictable? Life can be difficult but who ever said that it wouldn’t be so? The naivety of young adult living leads to a rude awakening when growing up and “adulting.” Even the physical Law of Entropy says that everything is decaying or becoming disordered if there isn’t some force offsetting this. Things are likely to decline when left undermanaged or not propped up by some intention otherwise. 

Life takes WORK. Of course, marriages are hard when they are composed of two human beings coming from two completely difficult lives and childhoods. Both of those individuals had distinctly different parents raising them and influencing their lives and decisions. And, not to mention, each of these individuals have been raised in a fallen world filled with abounding sin. Hmmmm… This would lend one to easily think that marriages might take some hard work. But creating a beautiful love affair and relationship is possible. 

And then there is parenting! Would we have ever thought that parenting would be easy? Two sinners making love and birthing other sinners. Yes, we have the marvelous hope of sanctified living, but we are also daily reckoning with the “flesh condition” that, left to itself, fosters a tendency towards sin. So, take the thought that these two people that married are now birthing individuals with different God-given personalities, purposes and strengths unbeknownst to the mother or father at birth. Often, I ended up parenting my “round peg to live in my square hole” because I had not yet discovered their true personality and giftings. Thank goodness for a Redeemer that can redeem and restore all that the locusts have eaten through misguided imperfect parenting from perfectly imperfect people. 

We often expect education to be hard or certain jobs to be hard. We must “come to grips” that our lives will drift off course if we do not intentionally WORK on course correcting them. Some people end up knocked off track and shocked with the results of their lives. Let’s open our eyes today and roll up our sleeves and invest in the lives that we want to live. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Choose to make today and the rest of your days… the very best of your life! 

Let’s prioritize our choices. Let’s ask for wisdom. Let’s get to work. Yes, relationships take work but they are worth it.

Scriptures: Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Job 12:12

It Wasn’t Supposed to be This Way 

Coming from an engineering background, I learned a simple yet powerful thought that 2+2=4. All kidding aside, math makes sense to me and 2+2 really does equal 4. Just as easily illustrated, it is reasonable to think that when you go to a coke machine and put in your dollar and push the button…a coke would come out. These are two completely rational thoughts. So how do we reconcile when the math of our lives doesn’t make sense so-to-speak? When 2+2 does NOT equal 4? When you put your money in the coke machine, but a coke DOES NOT come out? Is that ever a real possibility? What happened when life doesn’t turn out the way you thought it should? I love Lysa Terkeurst’s recent book titled It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered. I feel shattered when 2+2 does NOT equal 4 in life. I feel shattered when I go to the “coke machine of life” and put in my dollar but I do NOT get a coke. 

So, who said that life was ever supposed to be fair? Life is not fair. It never was and it never will be. How come we didn’t learn this when we were young? Praise God for all the goodness and beauty He has created. But our sin condition has compromised life which can often be discouraging. Praise God that he sent Jesus to save and sanctify us in all our messes. I have learned that He truly can bring ministry out of misery, purpose out of pain, beauty from ashes and He can restore what the “locusts have eaten” in our pasts. Even though “it wasn’t supposed to be this way” and 2+2 was supposed to equal 4, I have learned a new thing. He is always doing new things and making a way where there seems to be no way. There is always hope on the horizon. These things shall pass. We will become stronger and wiser. We will become better or we will become bitter. Tomorrow is a new day filled with His grace and tender mercies. His math doesn’t make sense! And it certainly wasn’t “fair” that He would die for my sins. His math doesn’t make sense when He takes those 2 fish and the 5 loaves to feed the multitudes. How could there really be 12 baskets of left-overs? No, this math doesn’t make sense! And how could my simple 2+2=4 thought end up being 2 plus “I have no idea what in the heck is going on” and it end up equaling “more that I could have hoped or imagined?” This math doesn’t make sense, but I trust the Knitter and the Knower of my soul to redeem and restore. My best choice is to lean not on my own understanding, but to acknowledge Him and His sovereignty and then to surrender and trust.

Scriptures: Isaiah 43:19, Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 8:31

Who is Driving this Car? 

We know who is driving the car. We can see them. But when it comes to our life, we must question “who is driving this car and where is it going?” I don’t know about you, but I am not a car designer or manufacturer. I know very little about all that goes into automobile production. I just simply get in and drive my car. Oh, how easy this simple undertaking is to transport myself from one place to another. Get in and go. 

Let’s imagine that our life is a car, and we are going down the road. Do we know anything about the design of the engine that would take us there? Can we confidently drive this car for very long if we don’t actually know where we are going, what turns to make or how to fix the car if it breaks down?

In this analogy, we would be amiss to drive without directions, or knowledge of the actual vehicle that we are driving, and yet we often do that exact thing with our very lives. Life often humbles us with the realization that we actually should rethink our direction. 

If God designed each of us ON purpose, WITH purpose and FOR purpose for such a time as this, then are we aware of such? He created us each fearfully and wonderfully, calls us His masterpiece, equips each of us and assigns us good works ahead of time so that we could walk in them. Are we aware of such? Who is driving this car and where are we going? I beg you to consider asking the “Knitter and the Knower” who formed you and assigned you. He is sovereign and He has a good plan for our lives. He has good things in store for you and wants to “drive your car” into all His best plans for your life. It makes total sense to me that I should quickly jump out of the “driver’s seat” of my car and allow Him to lead, guide and direct me. This is an issue that will address our internal control freak. Letting go and letting God is always a great idea as His plans for us are more than we could hope or imagine. 

God is FOR us. He loves us. He has a good plan for us. Let us jump out of the driver’s seat and jump into rest and a relationship. Today! Let’s follow His lead!

Scriptures: Philippians 4:7, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Luke 22:42, Deuteronomy 28:1

Releasing and Receiving

In order to live from a place of peace, joy and a quiet resolve in His purposes, one has to release feelings and emotions that simply don’t line up with HIS truth. I am not saying that our emotions are not real. I am not saying that they are not founded. I am saying that we need to consider if they serve us well. Our emotions are real, but they are actually indicators of other issues. Often times, our emotions absolutely do not line up with the truth of God’s word. I am confused and challenged by that thought, so, I ask why? You should too! Is there a lie that we are believing to be true? Likely so. 

I simply do not have enough emotional margin in my life to waste my precious and limited energy on thoughts and feelings that do not add value to my day. We must know the truth of our identity as believers and then walk in that place. Let’s not forfeit our Christian privilege to do so. Let’s tap into His power and purpose over our emotions. 

In recent years, I have started a new practice. Each morning, before I get out of bed, I open my hands with palms up. I decided then and there, BEFORE I even get out of bed, to give God control of my day, you know…”not my will but Thine be done.” I RELEASE things like control, anxiety, fear, doubt, depression, unforgiveness and I RECEIVE things like peace, hope, patience, joy and trust. I even choose ahead of time to forgive people that may hurt or offend me that day as I “ain’t got no time for such.” It is too exhausting to be offended. My life and my purposes are thwarted by this giant waste of time. 

What I choose to release are actually feelings that disempower me. I choose to receive the options that empower me. Is it really this easy? No! I find that I have to repeat this beautiful life-giving process all day long. Open hands! I have to constantly be aware of my moment-by-moment choice to walk in life-giving truths versus alternatives like depression, anxiety and victimization. Open hands! 

Each day is full of choices. Some are life-sucking. Some are life-giving. Let’s continue to ask ourselves “Who is in charge of me?” Then take a holy action of obedience to receive all that He has in store for us. 

Open your hands. Let go. Receive. Worship the King of peace.