Write Words

Yikes! It doesn't take much to get the stress levels rising these days. Just waking up to check the weather turns into newsfeed streams of protests, natural disasters, COVID and other hot topics that seem to drag one into a spiral that leads to despair.

What's the remedy for surviving life in 2020? I'd suggest there are several tools that would help us all cope, but if looking for a long term solution for stress, be it 2020, 1920 or 2220 ... the only solution this writer has come to find effective, long lasting, and sustainable is turning to the Creator and His Word.

I know. That sounds so 1985 Sunday School"ish". However, I've got over 30 years of doing life with Jesus to back up my hypothesis. God truly is the foundation for everything in our lives. To deny His ability to set my spiritual GPS in this crazy life to His ways is to go through life with deficit.

In ancient Israel, there was a King, King David, who was spectacular. His reign ushered in a new era in the life of the Hebrew people. He had, at his disposal, anything he needed. Yet, he was so in tune with the Creator God that he had a rhythm of life that caused him to default to seeking God. Enemies on the horizon? Seek God. His deference to seeking the divine brought him great success. Was he crisis free? No way. However, when the crisis crept onto the front porch, he knew to whom he could ask what to do for help.

I am learning to reset my default to defer to the Divine. I'm a 3 on the Enneagram. I'm a Melancholy based on the four temperaments personality test. I like order and structure and planning and security. Good luck trying to keep all of that in check in 2020! I know I can't find nor keep order, structure, plans or security on my own. I certainly know I can't find nor keep order, structure, plans for security externally. I can only depend on the sure foundation of faith in a Creator who's very nature IS order, structure, plans and security. King David knew that.

On any given day, there is so much chaos surrounding our lives that we will run ourselves silly and probably to the funny farm trying to chase order, structure, plans, and security. We can work harder. We can try to figure it all out on our own. But oh, dear friend, I can assure you that all the work and all the strategy to try to figure out life on your own will result, %100 of the time, in failure.

So I've given a lot of words to define a delima and propose a solution. Lovely. But what does that look like in the life of a human? Last week, this human was living a week full of hard. If you go to my post you can read for yourself the issues we faced squarely in the face. This side of a treacherous week, I can tell you we survived. We didn't work harder. We didn't try harder to figure everything out. We surrendered. I, personally, knew I was powerless to muster my own sanity. I turned, very often without words but rather with deep despair in my inner self, to recite prayers to the One who could give me exactly what I needed. And guess what, He did! I am here. I am alive. I am not bound by the adrenal rush of stress. I am living in a place of peace because I took my trouble to a loving Father and He carried me.

What's your stressors today? I can assure you, if you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, He can carry them. Place them ... or hurl them if you need to ... into his capable hands. His return is peace. And oh my word, don't we need peace in a time like we are living?!

Be blessed ...

I've never traveled by ship. I've never taken a cruise. I've never hoisted a sail. I've never weighed an anchor. I do look cute in nautical colors but that's the extent of my sea faring experience.

Yet, this morning, I am intrigued over ships.

I want to propose that by reading the story of Paul and his experience of riding through a storm on a ship, we can gain valuable insight into how to weather the storms in our own lives.

I love the way the Bible describes the events that go down in Acts 27. Paul, a prisoner headed to Rome, is on a ship that is facing a terrible storm. So terrible, in fact, that for many days sun nor stars appeared. So terrible, in fact, that the crew didn't eat, were tossing cargo and gear over the sides of the vessel, and trying to take a skiff to save their lives.

In the middle of the severe storm, Paul eats. Paul, unaffected by the chaos that literally raged around him, urged the crew to eat as well. Before the crew put bread to lips, they watched as Paul took the bread, thanked God for it, and ate it. How oddly strange.

Once they saw Paul engaging in such a profound yet simple act of personal self-care in the middle of sea waves pounding a wooden ship and dark sky hovering above their heads, they were "encouraged". So encouraged were they by Paul's odd actions they, too, ate for the first time in 14 days.

Can you imagine the scene? Imagine 276 men, crew and prison passengers, having a picnic on board a ship during the middle of a northeaster. It sounds very Mutiny on the Bounty.

To be a student of the Word of God and a follower of Jesus, I feel it important (and Biblical) to pay attention to the stories that have been recorded for our benefit. So when I read Acts 27, I heightened my awareness and ready my fingers to write down my impressions from the Holy Spirit as I read.

May I suggest that as most of us living in 2020 will not be escorted to Rome on a ship, we can gain incredible life application from Paul during this time in his life.

Storms happen. In 2020, most of our storms come in the form of relationship strife, financial crisis, personal failure, family dynamics, world events, and unknown viruses. This list could be personalized and lengthened to fit your own situation. Storms come. Always. Life is never without storms.

But, when everyone else around us responds to the terror of the storm, do we need to respond the same way? We, who know Jesus, are called to live by different standards. In fact, I think if ever there was a time when God's people lived according to His principles, the time is now!

The crew responded like good sea men should. They set out the first anchor to slow the speed of the ship. They threw off cargo followed by the ship's gear. They did all they could to lighten the load of the ship. A heavy ship sits deep in sea waters. They needed a ship to sit high in the midst of the storm. Some even tried to flat out escape the terror of the seas by taking a skiff (small boat attached to the body of the main ship) to fend for themselves.

Yet, Paul. Paul responded as one who knew the One who had created the storm. He knew a promise that had been made to him. He knew that despite what he saw with his eyes, God was going to protect him (see Acts 27:21-26), and bring him through the storm.

What if we were more like Paul? What if we lived by the promises of God’s Word? What if, during a potential pandemic like is currently occupying the airwaves around the world, we did not walk in a spirit of fear? What if, during a personal crisis, we cried out to God, first, and sought out His wisdom for what steps we took next?

Instead, I have found myself very much like the crew members. I’ve tried to lighten the load of my difficult situation by throwing things overboard. I’ve tried to jump ship through escapism or denial of my situation. Come on, am I the only one who has relied on my own understanding and tried to fix my predicament my way and according to my plan? I sit as my own jury and judge myself guilty when trying to chart my own course, pray but seek others opinion, and rely on God and something or someone else.

I’m hearing the voice of the One I call Father to dare to live by His Word - alone. I’m hearing Him call me into deeper places that require me to trust Him - alone. Before I send out propaganda calling for help for personal insight into painful places, I’m calling on my Father, first. He often tells me to call a friend or reach out to others for prayer. He most often does not call me to live life alone or as a lone ranger fighting my own battles. He’s good at surrounding me with others who can carry burdens and lift tired hands and strengthen weak knees. However, that comes after I’ve come to Him, first. That comes after the falling on my face before Him, alone. That comes after I seek out direction through His Word knowing He is my answer. Only Him.

Paul knew the storm was ragging. He responded by the promise of God’s protection. He didn’t engage the problem. He stayed engaged with the One who would solve the problem.

And just in case you aren’t familiar with how this story ends … “everyone safely reached the shore.”

Paul held on to God’s promise and actually saved the lives of everyone on the ship. He was not affected by what he saw with his physical eyes. He was motivated to action by what he saw by faith. By upholding the standard to live by God’s word alone, he survived the storm.

May we have the courage to live today with rock solid conviction and courage to live by God’s word alone.

Don't jump ship!

Christina

Last night, as I drove home from a ladies Bible study, reflecting on the discussions of seasoned female warriors who have stood firm on solid principles, I flipped through radio stations. I landed on a talk program as it was ending. Sadly, no name and identification were given to attribute these wise word: "Jesus developed the habit of prayer."

Prayer was a habit.

Hmm. If prayer was a habit, thought I in the dark as I drove, then not all habits are bad. The English word for habit has lots of meanings:

A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. (noun).
An established disposition of the mind or character. (noun)
Customary manner or practice: a person of ascetic habits. (noun)
An addiction, especially to a narcotic drug. (noun)
Physical constitution. (noun)
A tendency or disposition to act in a particular way. (noun)

Special thanks to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.)

Ever since I made a commitment to follow Jesus, I read my Bible as a means to and end: to know Jesus. It has become my habit. Over time, the habit is now based on an established disposition of the mind - I want to know this Jesus and the power that now belongs to me. What may have begun, in part, as a legalistic exercise spurred by my brand of church at the time, morphed into a beautiful ritual that has drawn me away into quiet spaces and private moments that have defined who I am and how I know God.

In the beginning, as I read, not always did I understand. As I read, not always was there a beautiful "ah ha" moment. As I read, not always was there time enough to dive into words and study and ponder but simply read them for information gathering. But, as I read, I was unknowingly developing a habit. This habit has now become a passion. I must know God's Word. God's Word is life, and power, and spirit, and correction, and gentle instruction, and raise my head off the floor hope, and means everything to me.

God uses His Word in powerful ways to develop us. God's Word, because it is a living thing, grows. However, the effort of growth happens supernaturally. The role of the Holy Spirit is to bring life and power and recall to the words we've ingested. The Holy Spirit breathes life into the black and white words that are spiritual truths that transform us.

How do I know? I'm living it. A habit has given me the "it" factor for living. I'm like a superhero yielding a secret weapon in which to navigate life. God's Word is the filter through which my life circumstances get translated. When I forget my cape ... and slink into forgetfulness of the power which lays in the words of the One who made me ... it's my kryptonite.

Not all habits are bad. This habit of reading God's Word is a good lesson, a valuable lesson, a lesson that has taken me through every season of my life. It's the one lesson that will propel me into the unknown seasons that lay before me. Friend, develop the habit of reading God's Word. You, my dear, will be a superhero!

Form a habit,

Christina

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