Souljourn

Is it really just another day off?

Lest We Forget  

Monday mashup

Here are a few random items:

1. I'm looking forward to reading this book.  

2. I'm not in favour of easing the new drinking and driving laws because of some economic impact.  

3. I like what Andy Stanley has to say (and I think if I said some of it I'd cause quite the stir).

4. I just look at a salad and can gain weight and this guy, unbelievable!

5. Just in case you're planning to high five someone this week...

 

Tough questions

We have probably all been asked, or have asked ourselves, questions which really cause us to look inward and examine ourselves. (Not, "Would you like fries with that?")  I was reading in my devotions this morning a couple questions that the Psalmist repeatedly asked himself.  I've read these questions before but I don't think I have paid them that much attention before, or saw them in this light.

Three times in Psalm 42 & 43 the author asks,  "Why am I so discouraged?  Why is my heart to sad?" 

As I read these questions this morning I realized that the author was fully aware of his physical circumstances and the difficulties they posed.  He wasn't asking what was causing the emotions he felt, he was asking himself why he had allowed invalid emotions to overtake him.  My first thought at reading this today was amazement at his emotional (spiritual)  maturity to be able to take stock of his own emotions and recognize them as invalid.   So many times we automatically assume that the emotions we feel in any given moment are valid and appropriate and that someone else needs to change in light of them.

But this wasn't the case with the author.  With a keen awareness of what was causing his negative emotions, he evaluated them in light of God's goodness and unfailing love and he comes to the recognition that he did not have any right to allow those emotions to remain.  From this place of awareness he takes a necessary step forward in the opposite direction of his current emotions.  He sums up those actions with these statements,  "I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again-my Saviour and my God!"  Once again, I'm challenged by this example of spiritual maturity.  

I don't think there is a problem when negative emotions occasionally pop up in our lives (unless of course the same negative emotions are repeatedly occurring).  The problem comes from how we choose (yes, it is a choice) to respond to those emotions.  Do we allow them to influence our speech, actions and attitudes or, do we evaluate them in light of God's goodness and grace.  

This is never an easy question to ask ourselves because in the heat of the moment the emotions we are feeling usually feel so justified.  But true growth and maturity comes when we our lives are lived in response to God's goodness in our lives versus the difficult situations we may find ourselves in.  

All of a sudden 'would you like fries with that?' seems like a much more desirable question doesn't it?  It doesn't cost me that much or significantly challenge me.  But I also won't grow in a way I want to grow if that's the only question I'm willing to wrestle with.

Anyways, those are just some thoughts from my devotions this morning.  

Are we there yet?

Growing up this was a question I would ask frequently as we travelled.  I didn't want to be on the journey I wanted to be at the destination.  I saw the journey as a necessary evil to arrive at the destination. The journey wasn't for enjoying, it was for enduring.

I wish that I could tell you I outgrew that perspective as I got older (notice I didn't say 'grew up'?).  God in His infinite wisdom (I think there's a sense of humour in there too) saw fit to bring a gorgeous woman into my life who, throughout our nearly 20 years of marriage, has regularly encouraged me with the statement, 'the living is all in the getting there'.  

I think that I am slowly learning this lesson. I do know that I appreciate the journey much more today than I have previously.  

Last night at a prayer meeting I was doing some journaling and just listening to God and here is an excerpt of what I felt He said to me:

    "...do not be in a hurry.  Be patient.  There is enough time.  Relax and rest in me.  Slow your pace while you increase your passion..."

And then to top it off, this is what I came across in my devotions this morning:

Psalm 37:7 "Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act."

Do you think God is trying to tell me something?

Feel good story

Here's proof that a healthy heart can extend your life.   115 years old and still going strong.  I like the statement at the end of the article:

Sanborn has credited her long life and good health to her belief in Christ and her salvation.

(read full story here)

What is in the margins?

My artistic ability is very limited but this didn't stop me from filling the margins of my school notebooks with scribbles, geometric shapes, a googly eyed character I created, and various other line drawings. The imaginations and machinations that went on in that margin were often so much more interesting than what was being presented at the front of the classroom.  Now don't get me wrong.  I was still listening to the teacher, it's just that I had other things going on as well.  Sometimes I got caught spending time in the margins when I should have been focussed on the lesson, but many times it went unnoticed.  The teacher would carry on giving their lesson, but my listening was tainted by what was in the margins.

Sometimes I wonder if my response to God's Word isn't like that?  If my hearing, and responding, to what is being taught to me isn't tempered with margins I have created?  At this point in my life the margins aren't full of geometric shapes and googly eyed caricatures, but they can get quite full of rational sounding excuses reasons for not fully responding to the clear instructions of God's Word.  God's Word provides such clear instructions on how to live (Psalm 19:8 The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living.) but it is so easy to fall prey to thoughts like, 'but my situation is different...you can't really expect me to do that...what I'm doing isn't really that bad...this doesn't really apply to me...'

When we do this we are creating a life in the margins that supersedes  the instructions of our Teacher.  It's not that we don't hear His lessons, it's just that we've decided that what is going on in the margins is more interesting and it is going to shape our response to His lessons instead of His lessons shaping our response.

I'm not assuming you have margins like I have mentioned, but I would encourage you to not too quickly assume you don't either.  Why don't you take a few moments and consider your response to God's Word.  Are there outside factors influencing and limiting your response?  

I want to live a life of faith like Abraham in Genesis 22.  When God spoke to Him, Abraham responded right away (v.3 ...Abraham got up early the next morning...).  No hesitation, no margins, just obedience.