Does life get in the way?

Life Just Gets in the Way

I woke up early today,

but life just gets in the way,

I had to wash my hair, make coffee, make a list,

life just gets in the way,

I needed to check for new posts, you understand,

life just gets in the way,

Then I got this Twitter feed from my favorite star,

life just gets in the way,

I am so busy, I have so much that needs done,

life just gets in the way,

I need to sweep my floor, and wash my clothes,

life just gets in the way,

I meant to find solitude to study and pray,

but life just gets in the way,

I just don’t have time to get away,

life just gets in the way,

I really did want to talk to you today,

life just gets in the way,

Now, I really just don’t know what to say,

life just got in the way.

Does this happen to you?  Do you put off communion with God because the life he has gifted you with is so full of things that ‘simply must be done’?  What happens when our children have a gift we have given them, a toy or game, which takes up all of their time?  It takes up so much time that they don’t keep their grades up, or don’t do their chores, or never come to talk to you.  We take it away, we limit its use.  What do you suppose will happen when we leave God out all the time.  He could take the blessings away, or worse yet, he could take himself away.  Our focus, our top priority, should be on him, everything else is just frosting.

Use your Guidebook

Everyone makes mistakes.  No one is perfect.  I have heard that Amish will leave a flaw in every quilt they make, because no one is perfect.  So, if no one is perfect, why do we emulate other humans?  I often find kids at school waiting for others to answer and then parroting that given answer.  This is a very common coping mechanism to appear busy and focused, or intelligent and interactive, and yet still not do any work. I don’t want them to follow other students – it is like the blind leading the blind.

Matthew 15:14 “So ignore them.  They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”

There is also a habit I have noticed of putting authority figures on little pedestals.  What we MUST keep in mind is that they are human too.  They will make mistakes too.  While they can often offer wisdom in a situation – we should still go to God first.  We should always seek our guidance from God before anyone – sound familiar?  Thou shall have no other gods before Me?  The commandment.  We often take the words of others, including a Pastor or teacher’s words, as law and true.  But teachers, pastors, elders, any authority figure – they are all human too.  And they CAN make mistakes.  God should always come first, in everything, even advice.  Who better can we ask for advice?  Who can offer us the best guidance for our situation; who knows our unique situations better?  GOD DOES!   Sometimes he will send us someone to bring us clarity, or direct us to someone who can help.  Trust God, just like the widow trusted God enough to feed Elijah from her last bit of food, and Elijah trusted God enough to continue to refill the food – we must trust God to lead us the right way.  (Read more in 1 Kings 17)

We do have a choice.  We can follow Jesus.  The right way to handle every situation is right there in front of us in the bible; in the Sword of the Spirit!  Jesus IS perfect!  His ways are shown to us in the pages of God’s Word.  We should be emulating Jesus in our choices, and behaviors, and words, and actions.  HE is the WAY!  God has given us our own instruction manual to life, our own guidebook for the wilderness of the world today….  We just have to choose to use it.  Don’t fall in the ditch.   Don’t copy the kid who blurts out the answers; copy Jesus!

The Legacy -a poem

The Legacy        

Where is God in all of this?

Look around at our world today.

How much time do we spend with our bibles?

How much time to we spend with our phone?

Which is more important?

How much time to we spend with family?

How much time do we spend in front of the TV?

How many conversations do we have with our kids?

How many conversations do they have with their friends?

Who is the influence in their lives?

Who is with them more?

What is important to give our kids today?

What kind of parent do we want them to be?

What kind of legacy do we want them to have?

Do we want them to be able search You-Tube, or do we want them to be able to use their bibles, their very own Sword of the Spirit, their only weapon against Satan!

You can’t throw and iPad at Satan.

You can throw scripture at Satan, Jesus did!

Where is God in all of this?

FIND HIM!

He is in your bible.

He is in the birdsong out your window.

He is in the blessings of family that he has surrounded you with.

He is in the trees swaying gently in the wind.

He is in the snow sifting softly to the ground.

He is in the love you feel for your kids.

He is the bonding agent in your family!  If he isn’t, he should be!

He is the glue of life.

He is our Savior.

He is our ticket.

He is our maker.

He is our Father.

He is our Redeemer.

If he is not around you, seek him, find him, love him, and teach of him!

He is the legacy to drive our futures.

                                                                           Angela Hiskett

Focus on the Son rise

The other day I was driving to work.  Before the time-change this fall I used to drive to work during sunrise – I miss that.  I should go to work an hour early just to watch the sunrise each day… but that’s not my point today.  Anyhow, it was a foggy morning, the light was dim and the sun was struggling to give its light to the world (yes you may see where I am going with this, but read on).  I saw what appeared to be little pink clouds zooming across the sky.  It really looked like they were floating by on some upper atmospheric air current, and they were pink!  It was cool.  I thought, ‘that’s awesome God, thank you for letting me see that!’  Then I noticed something, it wasn’t the clouds that were moving, it was bits of fog.  I realized what I was actually seeing was bits and pieces of a gorgeous and breathtaking sunrise that was hidden by the fog.  What I, at a quick glance, had thought to be moving pink clouds was actually holes in the fog, through the holes I could see this amazing color filled sunrise, the fog was actually hiding it from me, I was only receiving small bits and tastes of the glory behind the fog.

We don’t receive God’s full light.  How can God give his light to the world if we don’t even notice its missing?  How can God light our path if we aren’t even looking for it?  If I had glanced at the pink clouds and said – oh cool – and went on worrying about what I would need to do first at school that day – I would have missed the awesome sunrise – I would never had realized it was even there.  Think of that with a different homophone – I would have missed the awesome Son rise…   What is forever, what is beautiful, is an eternity with God – focus on God, don’t be turned by world, focus on God so your place in eternity is secure, brush away the fog and see the true beauty that God has in store, brush away the daily trials, and issues, and take a look at the majesty that IS God.   That is the true beauty of life; serve him, not the world.  Serve him and SEE the Son rise.

Psalm 37:5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.  Trust him and he will help you.

The fog is our daily lives, our worries, our business, our little ‘water cooler’ trials.  It’s all the little things that bring our focus to earth. 

Matthew 11:28 - 30  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

We get so caught up in the world that we miss reality.  Our time here is from God, our time here is fleeting.  We can’t take all our amassed ‘things’ with us when we die.  All of our ‘big deals’ and ‘I can’t believe she said that’s’ are going to be forgotten in a week.  The rough time or trial we are experiencing now will be gone and just a memory in a week or year.  Some things may still hurt, but they will still be a memory.  If we keep our focus on God, if we live for him and follow his way, we will still have these trials, but he will guide us through them.  If we give our worries to him, they won’t be worries anymore.  If we recognize the sunrise on the horizon for what it is, and not get caught up in the fog, we will be blessed with the glory of God.  If we recognize the Son rise for what it is, and not get caught up in the things of this world, we will be blessed with the GLORY of GOD!

Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.