Over It

I admit, there are times in my life, when I am stressed and stretched to the max! It’s safe to assume that most people find themselves in this place at multiple times during the course of a year, maybe even a week or day. Unfortunately, not even the Christ-follower can avoid these seasons. Many times my own frustration rises at the hand of others. I realize I am not supposed to allow this to happen, but the reality is, it does happen! I let people and circumstances “get” to me!

In these seasons, I have a lot to say because my natural sinful response is anger. My girls just roll their eyes at me and tell me to go write a letter, which is another one of my threats in these instances. I am just sure that if the person responsible for this annoying situation would just realize through the written word their error, all will be well! One of my most dramatic phrases is, “I am sooooo over it!” (“so” must be fully drawn out for the most dramatic impact) This phrase is sometimes uttered out loud in a rush of emotion, or it just explodes inside my head, usually followed by hot flashes, tears, and maybe a trip to the bathroom!

My “go-to” phrase can also be directed towards a person. I am not proud to admit that there are times I allow others to penetrate my defenses and negatively influence my thought process. Sometimes it is as simple as focusing on a mere phrase spoken by another that echoes inside my brain. The danger is the way that adverse verbiage seeps into the cracks of my confidence and begins to erode my faith. As those rocks of bitterness and resentment begin to split, there is a landslide of wreckage that rumbles down the mountain of my faith. In its destructive path the pristine valleys of peace that I have worked so hard for, are nicked and scared by these boulders. The beautiful evergreens of steadfastness are bent and broken. Where there was once a meadow of boundless wild flowers that sprung forth from the ash after God’s purging wild fire, there are only divots and smashed petals. Once this avalanche of annihilation begins, it cannot be stopped.

“I am soooooo over it!” Really, what I am saying is, “I am soooo under it!” When I step aside and let that first rock begin to roll it is as if I have just jumped on top of it begging for a wild ride down the hill. As that rock spirals downward, with me hanging on for dear life, I become my own worst enemy as I lie motionless on top of it careening out of control down the steep slop of life. After a while, I am so dizzy and disoriented that I don’t even realize I have just plowed over the beautiful things in my life that God has ordained and designed!

How does this process end? Well, it was concluded when Jesus voluntarily went to the cross and laid down His all. The cross is where we realize He is over it all! There is not one thing in this life, nor one person that we come into contact with that is accidental. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8 NIV) The truth of this verse is what should be allowed in our lives. Our thoughts need to be His thoughts and we have to welcome His ways as our ways. When those frustrating circumstances arise and begin to peek over the ridge of our souls, we have to stand firm and remember, “. . .God placed all things under his (Jesus) feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.” (Ephesians 1:22) Did you catch that? All things are under His feet, not His people, even the ones who are creating havoc in our lives!

There is a song that has resonated deep in my soul for the last several weeks. The bridge says,

The mountains shake before You, the demons run in fear
At the mention of the name King of Majesty
There is no power in hell,
Or any who can stand,
Before the power and the presence of the great I AM!
(“Great I Am” by Phillips, Craig, and Dean)

The next time you feel the pull of frustration and anger and you want to repeat my little phrase, remember that the Almighty Himself is repeating it along with you, “I AM sooooo over it!”

Broken Cisterns

For some reason, when I am going through difficult times, I gravitate to the Old Testament. Yesterday, I found myself in Jeremiah, one of my favorites!

The book of Jeremiah was written after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. My Women's Devotional Bible says, "The people of Jerusalem used to love God with the love of a new bride for her husband; now even the priests, lawmakers, leaders and prophets have begun to worship Baal and other false gods. God has warned the people for 23 years, and now his patience is coming to an end. Judah is about to go into exile for 70 years."

Do you feel as if you are in exile? Has your love for God lost that new bride feeling? Do you find yourself worshiping "things" rather than God? Shamefully, I have to admit yes to each of these questions.

There is nothing more powerful than drama in our lives when it comes to revealing our inadequacies! Yet, drama is also powerful in revealing just how adequate God is in addressing those needs!

As I read chapter two yesterday, these are the observations I made:

1. God warned and pursued His people for 23 years before His patience ran out! He is a patient God, isn't He? He waits for us, not wanting even one to parish! I love that!

2. In verse 6 He reminds them where they have come from, Egypt. How quickly I can forget that! ". . . brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives" Here lies the key; we are LED, not left! He is there and was there with them all along, even in a place where no one wanted to be! Hello, I have arrived in that place where I really don't want to live for very long, but I am promised I will be led through it, not left to die in it! What a promise!

3. Verse 7 is where I want to be, "I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce." That is what is on the other side. We all know we will experience pain, sadness, and sorrow, but sometimes we forget that there is an end to it, and not just heaven. There can be closure for those who return to that "new bride" love for the Lord. This leads me to my next observation.

4. Verse 13 states that the people had forsaken God, the One with springs of living water, and instead dug their own cisterns. How many times have I replaced God's plan with my own ideas? Too many to count! This verse goes on to say that not only had they replaced Him with their own cisterns, but the vessels were broken and could not hold water. That is exactly what happens when we try to replace His plans for our lives with our own; broken promises and broken dreams ,that cannot possibly hold anything else. You would never give a thirsty child a glass with cracks in it, yet that is exactly what we hold up to God. I want my vessel whole and ready to receive all that He has for me not missing one single drop.

5. Lastly, verse 19 states that forsaking God is evil and bitter, "Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me." Do I want to live my life with out awe for God? NO, I do not! All I have to do is simply look around me and I see examples of God's presence in the smallest things. That is where I am in awe of Him; in the gentle whisper of summer nights, in the silence of the dawn, in the flash of lightening that accompanies the rumble of thunder, in the tender touch of a child's hand.

Difficult times come in waves and in seasons. God wants to lead us through those and we have the promise we will not be left alone or behind. Eventually, we will arrive in a place of fruitfulness again, but it is because of those desperate times that the fruit is so much sweeter. I am choosing to believe that I am not in exile, nor have I been forgotten, and to seek out His grace and goodness in the midst of my own barrenness. I will not reside here for long. I see His hand in it all!

I'll Change When I Get There

I have a daughter who loves to go on trips in her pj pants. Even if we are taking a short trip to visit family a few hours away, she gets into the car sporting her pj pants. When I ask her about it, she replies, “I’ll change when I get there.”

Ever said that? Oh, I don’t need to address that issue today because I am not “there” yet. When I am closer to “there” I will change; I’ll change when I get there.

In the English language the word change can have many meanings each one depending upon its use in a sentence. If used as a verb with an object, it can mean to transform or convert, to transfer from one to another. For example when Jesus changed the water into wine, “ . . . and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.” (John 2:9, NIV)

If used as a verb without an object, change can mean to become different, altered, or modified. I Samuel 10:6 says, “The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.” (NIV)

Procrastination is not our friend. “Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer, in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.” (I Corinthians 7:17, NIV) Waiting until we are positioned properly in our own minds to make God inspired changes creates a dangerous pathway for the enemy of our soul to tread upon. In fact, it actually opens the gate for him to enter. King Jeroboam is a perfect example of disregarding heaven’s warning, “After this happened, Jeroboam kept on doing evil, recruiting priests for the forbidden shrines indiscriminately – anyone who wanted to could be a priest at one of the local shrines. This was the root sin of Jeroboam’s government. And it was this that ruined him.” (I Kings 13:33 The Message)

Our Heavenly Father does not desire changes within us merely for unnecessary alterations; He wants to transform us into something beautiful. As the caterpillar waits snuggly wrapped in its cocoon, so we should wait expectantly for the changes to come.
Metamorphosis is a spectacular event. The word "metamorphosis" derives from Greek μεταμόρφωσις, "transformation, transforming",[1] from μετα- (meta-), "change" + μορφή (morphe), "form".[2]

Is the process of change painful? It certainly can be; however, we have the ability to ease that pain by submitting ourselves mind, body, soul, and spirit into the Lord’s hands and trusting His guidance. “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19 NIV)

The ultimate purpose of change is to produce something amazing. If we go back to the banquet at Cana we see exactly why Jesus chose to make that change. “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory. . .” (John 2:11 NIV) This verse reveals the purpose of all God ordained change in our lives; so His glory can be revealed to the world. In the process, we are transformed into that beautiful butterfly that can now suddenly fly. My daughter’s phrase of “I’ll change when I get there,” becomes, “I am being changed for when I get there!”

1. ^ "Metamorphosis, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A, at Perseus". Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
2. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2012-08-26.