(no subject)
Hey! I know alot of people are dealing with different things right now and some are discouraged. I know God has taught me quite a bit about this over the past couple of weeks so I wanted to share it with you. A week or so ago I read Jeremiah 45 (only like 5 verses). One particular verse stuck out to me about this guy named Baruch and how he felt it was verse 3. It says, "I am overwhelmed with trouble! Haven't I had enough pain already? And now the Lord has added more! I am weary of my own sighing and can find no rest." I know I've felt that way and my guess is you guys have or currently are. The thing that hit me though was Baruch's focus. His focus was completely inward and not outward onto God. I don't want to minimize the fact that Baruch was experiencing trouble and pain but that he wasn't allowing God to carry his burdens for him. He was trying to do it on his own. This is one of my issues. I tend to take things completely on myself and when I can't handle it and it gets to be God-sized and not Emily-sized anymore I freak out. Many of you have been around during my freak outs :). I know that it is very hard to completely depend on God. It requires us to put ourselves aside, consciously refocus our thoughts and even remind ourselves. My guess is we all tend to try to take control of the situations at hand, especially those perfectionists out there like myself who like to ensure success, see a job well done and know we've taken part in it (that moves into my issues with pride but this email isn't about that :). The big thing that gets me is our lack of letting God shoulder our difficult situations shows that we aren't focused where we need to be and we aren't trusting God to handle our junk, which is really his junk anyway. The continued cool thing in this passage is how God responds. Other than saying that he is going to take care of Baruch's enemies, he tells him not to be discouraged and that he will protect him wherever he goes. Then he concludes this promise with, "I, the Lord, have spoken!" I like the confidence that is assured in that statement. How come it is so hard for us to be that confident in what God says he will do? I guess because in general it's hard for us to comprehend that kind of confidence, we obviously don't have it. My encouragment to all of you is to let God share your struggles, let him carry your burdens, let him do what he continuously asks us and tells us to let him do...be our strength and guide. Taking that away from him, not only holds him at a distance because of what he wants to do but it is also disobedience because it is what he tells us to do.
Ok, I want to finish up with a couple of reminders from Philippians 3. "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."
I want to encourage you guys (and myself) to keep your focus off what things aren't, or how they should be or what should've happened, or what did happen but you didn't like. I want you to remember where Paul instructs us to focus our energies, our relationship with God, becoming more like Christ, and remaining completely obedient to him. That is what God asks of us, don't waste your time (we don't have much of it). Be obedient to God. Allow him to take care of you and all the junk going on in your life. He created us and our lives so I know he is big enough to handle it.
Ok, I want to finish up with a couple of reminders from Philippians 3. "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."
I want to encourage you guys (and myself) to keep your focus off what things aren't, or how they should be or what should've happened, or what did happen but you didn't like. I want you to remember where Paul instructs us to focus our energies, our relationship with God, becoming more like Christ, and remaining completely obedient to him. That is what God asks of us, don't waste your time (we don't have much of it). Be obedient to God. Allow him to take care of you and all the junk going on in your life. He created us and our lives so I know he is big enough to handle it.