³⁴“So don’t worry about tomorrow…^32bYour heavenly Father already knows…”
Matthew 6:34a, 32b (NLT)

I’m tired today. I’ve been tired for awhile. I’m having some medical tests done in a few weeks, but in the meantime, I’m tired. And frustrated that treatment for the tiredness won’t begin until the tests have been completed. So I feel like I am looking at a (small) tunnel of tiredness and lack of productivity.

Do I have faith that God can interrupt that cycle? Absolutely and I trust that He will. I just don’t know if it will be today, tomorrow or six weeks from today.

So today I’ve been reassessing – what can I reasonably expect to do over the coming weeks, what’s most important to God, what should I put at the bottom of the list? I’m sorry to admit that this exercise has brought me perilously close to worrying! If you’re a regular reader of ApprehendingGrace.com, you know that I work hard at not being a worrier. It is the antithesis of faith and there’s simply no profit in it.

Which brings me to laying my schedule for the week before the Lord and asking Him what gets weeded out. As I was doing that, I was scrolling through my journal backwards, looking from today back through previous days to review God’s lessons to me. I came to an entry from a few weeks ago in which I had copied Matthew 6:24-34 into my journal thinking I might blog on it. That blog never got written – I guess God was saving it for today because when I came to it, I was so comforted by the Holy Spirit I knew I had to begin to write. Our God is such a God of peace. There is no stress, no uncertainty and no busyness in Him.

Let me share with you how I read the passage.

Since I was scrolling upward in my word processing document, I came to the last verse of the passage first:

So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Matthew 6:34 (NLT)

Sandy (the Holy Spirit said) – remember – don’t worry about tomorrow. I’ve got it covered. Don’t fret about that list of things you want to do and the list of things you have to do. I know about all of it, and I know about everything that hasn’t even hit your list yet. You deal with the immediate. Let’s talk about what you need to do right now. Let’s refocus.

Ahhh. I can let go of all my concerns for the week. I don’t have to keep track of it right now. I’m not saying that God doesn’t want us to plan. I strongly believe that good planning honors God. But as I said, sometimes planning brings me perilously close to worrying and that’s what was happening today.

So I scrolled up a bit further…

^32bYour heavenly Father already knows all your needs, ³³and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
Matthew 6: 32b-33 (NLT)

Ahhhh. My heavenly Father is so good. He already knows my needs. Before I knew about the first thing that was going to be added to my schedule this week, He already knew about it. In fact, He’s on top of it – and has been since the beginning of time.

He already knows all my needs. Not just some of them, but all of them. He knows about those things that I don’t yet know about. He’s on top of those things, too. He’s got me covered. He will give me all I need each day.

Wait a minute…didn’t I just blog about this? Yep. Less than two weeks ago!

Give us our food for today,
Matthew 6:11

And going back to read that blog, I see that I quoted verses 25 and 26 of the passage we’re looking at today. OK, God. I’m getting the message. Slowly sometimes, but I’m getting it! (Yes, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that after writing and living that blog so recently I am in need of its lesson again today…but we all fall short of the glory of God and I’m SO thankful that He is gracious and forgiving of sins.)

God knows all our needs – even before we do – and he will give us all we need…if we live for Him and make the Kingdom of God our primary concern.

That surely defines our priorities, doesn’t it? As I look at my week, there are still as many tasks as there were when I started this blog, but I can begin to create a plan in faith that God will supply all that I need.

⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)

Continuing my scroll up the passage, I see the beginning of verse:

Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things?
Matthew 6:32a (NLT)

Ouch! The Holy Spirit gently reminds me that pagans worry about what they will wear and what they will eat – because they have no God to trust. My God is faithful and worthy of my trust. Today, I can choose to trust in the Living God who will supply all my needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, NIV)

Finally, I scroll up just a little farther:

²⁸“And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you? You have so little faith!
Matthew 6:28-30 (NLT)

As I read this passage, I “felt” the care God has for the beautiful flowers. I was overcome with the emotion of an artist taking great care as He creates a great work. He or she moves slowly, tenderly, selecting the proper tools and shaping the work into something beautiful. Colors are mixed until they are the perfect shade and applied with the master’s touch. Things are worked and reworked until they are in complete harmony. God cares for the lilies of the field in this way. Scripture says He placed all the stars in the sky and knows them each by name. It’s not a far stretch of to say that He also placed each flower in the beautiful field of wild flowers. And He cares for me more than that.

As an added kiss on the cheek by the Holy Spirit, I remember that lilies are my favorite flower. I friend gave me some a few weeks ago. They are still beautiful in the middle of my table. God cares for me more than that.

Yes, even when my faith is strong, I have such little faith. Lord, increase my faith!

So I tell you, friends, as Jesus told His disciples – don’t worry about every day life – it consists of way more than whatever you’re worrying about. God has it under control. He knows all that you need and will meet (even surpass) them. Keep your focus on Him and His priorities. And when even those priorities are about to overwhelm you, take a step back and refocus. He’s got you covered!

^9bOur Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.

¹⁰May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done here on earth,
just as it is in heaven.

¹¹Give us our food for today,
¹²and forgive us our sins,
just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.

¹³And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:9b-13 (NLT)

As I read Matthew 6 recently, the Holy Spirit whispered into my spirit “Do your prayers reflect Jesus’ Instructions?” I am sorry to admit that often my daily prayers do not reflect the same priorities as Jesus’ prayer. I so easily fall into the pattern of praying needs – my needs, the needs of family members and friends, and needs that touch my heart from around the world. Jesus includes a pray for God to meet our needs, but it’s almost incidental compared to the other elements of the prayer.

I am reading through the Bible in the New Living Translation this year. While I have a favorite translation, I like to read other translations because the different phraseology sometimes draws my attention in a new way. That can be especially true when I am reading well known passages like the Lord’s prayer. It’s easy for my eyes to skim over the words that I’ve heard and read so often. When I read the Lord’s prayer in the New Living Translation, it came to life in a new way.

Before looking at the prayer in more detail, however, let’s look at how the prayer was introduced in Luke’s gospel:

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Luke 11:1 (NLT)

Luke tells us that it was after the disciplines saw Jesus praying that they asked Him to teach them to pray. What’s interesting is that the disciplines presumably knew how to pray. They had been raised in Jewish homes and were regular attendees at their local synagogue. Prayer was not something they were unfamiliar with. The disciples recognized something different about Jesus’ prayers, however. They saw prayers that were more vital than any they had seen before. They saw lives changed as people were healed – physically, emotionally and spiritually. They were stirred in their spirits when Jesus prayed. They recognized that their prayers didn’t carry the authority and power that Jesus’ prayers did…so they asked Him to teach them.

And the prayer He prayed in response to their request is surprising in its simplicity and power. Let’s look at it a bit more closely.

Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.
Matthew 6:9

Jesus begins by exalting His Father in heaven. The New Living Translation says “may your name be honored.” The New International Version has a better translation: “Hallowed be your name.” The word translated “hallowed” or “honored” means holy, consecrated and sanctified and is derived from a word meaning “sacred.” In that single phrase, Jesus recognizes and declares God as above all things and completely holy.

I frequently begin my prayers with the simple statement “God, you are so good.” Somehow that beginning centers me – it’s like breathing in a breath of fresh peace and it pulls me from the chaos around me into the center of God’s presence. The beginning of my prayer isn’t meant to get God’s attention, it’s meant to place my full attention on God and His goodness. Jesus’ prayer goes a step further. It exalts the Lord beyond His goodness to His perfect holiness. “Oh, Father in heaven – hallowed be Your name.” The phrase itself steps me into worship.

An aside: I began this blog a couple of days ago. It got interrupted and I am now returning to finish it. It’s early in the morning and quiet in the house. The day hasn’t gone crazy yet. As I whispered the words I wrote – “Oh, Father in heaven – hallowed by Your name” – tremendous worship filled my heart. I am so glad we serve a holy God. It is His holiness that makes His goodness possible. If He were not perfectly holy, He would not be perfectly good. “Oh, Father in heaven – hallowed be Your name.” Wow!

May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done here on earth,
just as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10

After declaring God’s holiness, Jesus speaks into the spiritual realm and asks God to bring His Kingdom to earth – here and now. He asks for God’s will to be accomplished on the earth. Jesus knew two things as He prayed this prayer: That God’s will is good – it is His will that all be saved; and that God’s will meant great personal sacrifice for Jesus. Jesus knew He was praying into His journey to the cross and He knew He was praying into His journey of making it possible for all to be saved. When I pray God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven,” I don’t know what that means for my future. What I do know is that I serve a perfectly holy, just and good God. I can trust Him with my future.

So let’s step back from the immediacy of our lives and pray into the future. “Lord, I want Your will to be done.” Praying into that future affects the immediate. Lord, if You don’t want me to have this job, I don’t want it. If You don’t want me to have this ministry, I don’t want to have it. If You don’t want me to have this spouse, I don’t want him or her.

I know. Those things are easier to write than to live when we really want the job, the ministry or the spouse. What I really want more, though, is Jesus and His life for me. “Father, Your will, not mine.”

I think it’s very easy to make this portion of Jesus’ prayer over spiritual and not apply it to our own lives. When we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are praying two aspects of the prayer. There will come a day when God’s Kingdom will be on earth so we’re praying “come quickly, Lord Jesus.” Until that time, however, it’s important to recognize that we’re praying for His will to be done through us. God isn’t just going to superimpose His great and glorious Kingdom here on earth (at least not yet) – he’s going to work it out in our lives. And that’s a good thing – what a glorious opportunity God gives us to live the life He (in all His holiness) has purposed for us!

Give us our food for today,
Matthew 6:11

God cares about our physical needs. In this simple phrase, Jesus’ prayer tells me two things: (1) ask God for what you need today, and (2) don’t worry about tomorrow’s needs. If we always trust for God to meet our needs today, is there any reason to worry about tomorrow’s needs? No. Yet we are very good at turning tomorrow’s needs into today’s worry, aren’t we? Just a few verses later Jesus encourages the disciples to trust God for everyday things:

²⁵“So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds. They don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. 
Matthew 6:25-26 (NLT)

As Jesus taught the disciples to pray, He included one phrase “Give us our food for today.” Implied in that sentence is our trust that God will provided the food we need – every day. “Lord, give us the food we need for today and I will be satisfied.”

and forgive us our sins,
just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.
Matthew 6:12

The phraseology in the New Living Translation is a little different from the more traditional phrasing of this verse. It puts our forgiveness of others in the past tense – “Lord, forgive my sins just as I have (already) forgiven others.” There is a relationship between God’s forgiveness of us and our forgiveness of others. Unforgiveness hinders our relationship with God.

In Matthew 18 and Luke 19 Scripture records one of Jesus’ teachings about forgiveness and reinforces this point. A King had a servant who owed him a great debt but could not pay. The King forgave the servant’s debt. The servant then went to those who owed him money and insisted on payment. Even though they begged for more time to pay, the servant showed no forgiveness and had them thrown into prison. The King was not pleased:

³²Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. ³³Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴Then the angry king sent the man to prison until he had paid every penny.
Matthew 18, 32-34 (NLT)

Christ died so that our sins (and they are many) could be forgiven. Shouldn’t we have mercy on our fellow servants as well?

Remember that previous line in Jesus’ prayer – “May Your kingdom come, may Your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven”? Forgiving one another is part of the working out of God’s Kingdom on earth.

And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:13 (NLT)

I like this translation of Matthew 6:13. It reinforces that I have a responsibility here – to resist temptation. James tells us to resist the devil and the devil will flee from us (James 4:7b). I like that verse!

God will deliver us from the evil one, but we must resist him. Satan tempted Jesus in the desert. Jesus had to resist the temptation. He battled it with the Word of God and satan fled.

As we walk purposefully through life, honoring God’s name and making His will our highest priority, yielding to temptation becomes less and less desirable. We will battle our fleshly nature as long as we are in the flesh, but the closer we draw to God, the less tempting those sinful natures become. The passage in James 4 continues with a key verse:

Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.
James 4:8 (NLT)

Draw close to God today – through the prayer His Son taught us to pray. Make it your own.

“Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. May Your kingdom come on earth, may Your will be done on earth – as it is done in heaven. I trust You today for the food, clothing and shelter I need. Forgive my sins, Lord. I forgive those who have sinned against me. Help me to resist the temptation to sin today – deliver me from satan’s snares.”

“For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.

Look upon our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
Psalm 84:8-9

I love the way the Psalmist throws a prayer into his Psalm. He has been writing (singing, actually) about how wonderful God’s dwelling place is and how He blesses those who walk His path. Then the Psalmist turns and directs a quick prayer to God. I want my life to reflect that. (What I really want is for my life to reflect this entire Psalm.) I want to be one who longs for His presence, who experiences His peace, who ever praises Him, and in the midst of it all, who turns my heart toward Him and whisper a prayer. “Hear my prayer, O Lord. Look upon our strength, O God. Look with favor upon your anointed one.”

The prayer seems to reflect a secret intimacy between the author and God. The Psalmist doesn’t dwell on his request or pray a long flowing prayer. He is in the midst of singing to the Lord about His wonderful fellowship, and He simply pauses to address God directly. It’s that pause and looking at God and asking for His blessing that carries the sense of intimacy for me. I’m reminded of conversations with my husband in which we are talking along about one subject, interrupt ourselves for a quick request, then move back to the original subject. No, my husband and I aren’t typically singing praises to one another (although we’ve been known to do that – try it some time, you’ll like it!), but the passage is reminiscent of a shared intimacy that allows for conversations to be interrupted and continued. Of course, the intimacy factor is ramped up in the Psalm because of the subject matter here.

Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
Psalm 84:10

The Psalmist returns to the theme he started with in verse 1. How lovely is God’s dwelling place! It is so lovely, that the Psalmist would rather spend one day with God than a thousand elsewhere. Lord, if I only have one day, let me spend it with you. Is that your heart’s cry?

Then the Psalmist goes a step further. The word translated “doorkeeper” is only used once in the Old Testament, and that usage is here in this verse. That makes providing a true definition difficult. It comes from a root word that used more commonly, however, and the root word can be translated “threshold.” The Psalmist may be saying that he would rather live one day in the thresholds of God’s courts – notice that’s just outside the temple – just outside, but very near the presence of God – the Psalmist would rather live there than inside the tents of the wicked. Again, it begs the question: Is that your heart’s cry? I so want it to be mine.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

O LORD Almighty,
blessed is the man who trusts in you.
Psalm 84:11-12

The Psalmist ends speaking adoration and truth. The Lord is a sun and shield. He will enlighten and protect. He will bestow favor and honor. He will withhold no good thing. Truly, the person who trusts in this Lord is blessed.

Wow! What a Psalm! I said at the beginning of our meditation and I’ll repeat it here – it is a perfect psalm for calming frayed nerves, soothing weary souls, and bolstering waning faith. We live in a rapid-paced world (is that the understatement of the century?) and we have an enemy who seeks to defeat our faith at every opportunity. Psalm 84 is a place we can go to combat both those enemies of our soul. Its twelve verses whisper volumes to my spirit.

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty!
Psalm 84:1

If ever there was a great Psalm for meditation and for calming one’s nerves, heart and soul, it would be Psalm 84. And wanting to write a blog about it, it seems often I can do nothing other than quote or rephrase the Psalm. Yet I feel compelled to write. Let’s see where this leads.

How lovely, how pleasant, how loving, is the place that the Lord dwells — the place He lives, the place He inhabits. Lovely seems like an awfully weak word, yet it also seems perfect. If I were writing the Psalm, I would probably have written how awesome, how WOW, how incredibly WOW is the Lord’s dwelling place. (Not much of a writer, am I?) But in his word “lovely,” the writer of the Psalm has caught the very essence of being in God’s presence – sweet, peace that overrides and carries through everything else. Yes, God’s presence is awesome and full of the WOW factor, but when all is said and done it is the sweet peace of the Lord that remains. How lovely is the place that the Lord inhabits.

My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Psalm 84:2

Having tasted that sweetness of the Lord, nothing else satisfies and we long for His presence again. Lord may I experience the sweetness of Your touch, the loveliness of Your presence so regularly that when I stray, I remember it and long to return. Lord, may my heart and flesh cry out for the Living God in the darkest of times and in the brightest of times.

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
Psalm 84:3

Can you hear the psalmist’s heart? I hear jealousy that even the sparrow and the swallow can dwell near God’s altar, living there when the Psalmist must leave to attend to life. I also hear reverence – a place near God’s altar where she may give birth to and raise her young. What a privilege to do so near the heart of God.

Notice, also, that the Psalmist has begun to make a shift here, from God’s dwelling place to created beings dwelling near God. We’ll see that shift fully materialize in next verse. First, I want to look at the concept of the altar a bit more.

What’s the purpose of an altar? Altars were where the sacrifices were made. We think of an altar as a nice clean kneeling bench or something similar, but it was a place where blood was shed for the temporary forgiveness of sin of the Israelites. It was a bloody, gory place…yet it was lovely to David because He had experienced the forgiveness of sins. It’s a wonderful thing. It’s a lovely, sweet, place because it represents the presence of God as the One who forgives sins.

Do you know that mighty presence of God? Do you know that sweet Spirit that follows the “WOW” of God’s awesome presence? Do you know that your sins have been forgiven? Scripture teaches that God is faithful to forgive sins when we ask (1 John 1:9). If you’re unsure, ask today. He will faithfully forgive your sins and you can begin to experience the sweetness of peace with God.

Then spend some time in God’s dwelling place – His presence. Don’t wait for church on Sunday or prayer meeting on Wednesday night or your next small group meeting. Enjoy your own private audience with the Lord today.

The next blog will look at the blessings that come from dwelling with God according to verses 4 through 7.

My friend went home to be with the Lord Tuesday morning. Today, I’d like to share some reflections with you. I’m looking over the past month and simply musing on life here on earth and God’s interruptions in it.

• Life is precious. It is so easy to get bogged down in the trials and challenges, even the minor annoyances, of this life. Don’t let it happen! Each day is a gift from God. Over the past few years I have struggled often waking up not being as joyful and thankful as I want to be. I have committed over and over to say to the Lord “Thank You!” each morning. After a few days I forget. I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure out what trigger to use to remind myself to be thankful first thing in the morning. During this process, I’ve realized that the first thing I look at each morning is the clock that is next to my pillow and at eye level. I’ve put a simply sign on it that says “Thank You, Lord, for today!”
• Enjoy moments. Don’t let the challenges of this life be your focus. Even as my friend’s strength was growing weak, we went for a “walk” around the hospice house (she in the wheel chair, I in the driver’s position). I wheeled her up to a glass door to look out. She motioned for me to move her closer. Assuming she couldn’t see out the window, I did so. That wasn’t her intention. She immediately pushed on the crash bar and turned to me motioning for me to join in the fun of her “jail break.” She was determined to have fun in her last days.
• Remember God’s promises. We talked a lot about the promises of God over the past month. Yesterday, I was reading a book by Philip Yancey called Finding God in Unexpected Places. It’s a great book full of short chapters about finding God in all walks of life. He quotes a former pastor of his as saying this:

As churches grow wealthier and more successful, they’re less likely to sing “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through” and more likely to intone “This is my Father’s world.”

God has given us many precious promises, and it seems that the better this world gets, the more we put our hope in it instead of God’s promises. Let’s focus more on God’s promises than what this world may or may not have for us.

• Leaving this earth is often quite difficult. The dying process is long and arduous for many people. I’ve often wondered at that. One thought I have is that we were made for everlasting life – our bodies resist dying because we weren’t meant to die. Death is a result of sin. Praise God that He has made it possible for us to pass from this life into eternal life – because Jesus died in our place. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
• Family and friends are more important than most other things. Hence, I’ve neglected my blog and to a lesser degree I neglected my business. I also neglected my husband, but he was totally understanding and encouraged me to do so. Now this was an “emergency” situation, but I am sorry I waited for the emergency to get to know my friend better. I’ve called her “friend” throughout this blog because she was. But she was also my cousin and after high school we moved away from each other and barely largely lost contact. About eight years ago we moved to within two hours of each other, but still only saw one another once a twice a year at family gatherings. I so enjoyed getting to know her again and am sorry we didn’t make getting reacquainted a priority sooner.
• Be forgiving. Among the many conversations we had, my friend made the comment “we need to make room for one another’s craziness.” We’re all a little crazy, and family relationships can make us even crazier. What she was saying, a bit more colorfully perhaps, was “love one another” (John 13:34).

• God is in control. So many, many times over the past month, I watched God control my schedule to accomplish His purposes. Unfortunately, in my heart I didn’t always respond positively and in faith. Sometimes I grumbled. God is so gracious that He did it anyway and then unfolded His plans before my very eyes.

• Our enemy, satan, comes to steal, kill & destroy. Christ came so that we might have abundant life. (John 10:10) I hate the cancer that took my friend’s life (and the lives of five other family members in the past five years). Satan is the author of that cancer. God, in His abundant grace and overwhelming love, is the author of life. He created it, sustains it and He makes it possible for it to never end. I choose life! I hope you do to!
• God is our peace. The circumstances of this world might give us a temporal joy or happiness, but God gives peace. I love the temporal joy and happiness, but I’ll take the abiding peace over it any day. Out of that peace grows an abiding joy and strength. Thank You, God!
• God is good. When all is said and done, God is good. Period. No question, no doubt. God is good.

³ You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,
whose thoughts are fixed on you!
⁴ Trust in the LORD always,
for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.
Isaiah 26:3-4

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

I woke up in perfect peace this morning. What a wonderful thing! I honestly can’t remember when the last time was that I slept so well and woke up in such peace. Which is a huge God thing because a little more than three weeks ago I had some routine tests that led to some less-than-routine tests that are leading to surgery to rule out some serious medical issues. There’s an 80% chance that I’ll be fine…and a 20% chance that I won’t be so fine.

And the very-cool-very-God-thing is that (for the most part), I have been able to not be anxious about it. No, it goes beyond that – I have had a supernatural peace surrounding me and filling me. Sure, I’ve had my less peaceful moments when I needed my husband to hold me and tell me he had a feeling everything would be all right! But there have been very few of those moments and in between them I have a strong confidence in my God who has promised so many things to me.

I’ve always wondered how to have this kind of peace! I know I don’t have all the answers and I don’t pretend to have it all together, but I am learning some things through the process that I’d like to share. God has been gracious enough to open my eyes to things I’m doing that help me experience what He’s doing in me – giving me peace beyond my wildest expectations! Maybe some of these things will help you keep the peace.

• Purpose to pursue God in your situation. I remember as my husband and I were driving somewhere shortly after my second test. I looked at him and said, “I so want to do this well. I want to trust God in a way that I haven’t trusted him in the past.” God saw the desire of my heart and is giving it to me.

Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart
Psalm 37:4

• Don’t be so proud – ask others to pray for you. I am absolutely certain that the prayers of faithful friends have a lot to do with my peace. I think it was in the same conversation when I said I wanted to do this well when a few minutes later I said something about not doing so well with all this. That’s when my husband reminded me that when I’m weak others will stand in the gap for me. His comment restored my peace. Share your needs with friends, and don’t ask them to pray just for healing. Ask them to pray for God’s presence to be manifest in your life.
• Remind yourself of the promises of God. I wrote the blogs on Ephesians 1 shortly after I learned that more testing was needed. I have been so blessed when I meditate on Paul’s words that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms simply because I belong to Christ.

• Have a rhema Word from God to hold on to. The Bible uses two different words that are translated “word” – logos and rhema. There is not complete agreement on the definition and use of these words: many evangelicals believe there is no difference; many charismatics believe there is a substantive difference. I fall into the camp of the charismatics on this one. Have you ever read the Bible and a specific passage came alive to you and seemed to have supernatural application to your life at that time? That is what would be called a rhema word. A rhema word is a word from God that has immediate and significant, even supernatural impact in your life at that time.

One of the characteristics of a rhema word is that it is life-giving. It is the word used in Matthew 4:4:

But he answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

Guess what! You and I can’t control God (for which I am quite thankful!). That means we can’t demand or manufacture a rhema word from God – He has to reach down and give it. But you can put yourself in a place where you are more likely to receive it. We all hear from God differently, so pursue God diligently in the way you are most likely to hear from Him:

• • If you most often hear from God through His Word, be especially diligent to study God’s Word.
  • If you hear from God most clearly during worship, add times of worship to your week. Listen to worship music, attend your church’s worship team’s practice session.
  • If you experience God most often while serving others, serve wholeheartedly.
  • In all these things, ask God for a word or promise to hold on to. God will speak to you.

• Stay connected with the Body of Christ, particularly those people who tend to hear from God prophetically (or those who are prophetically gifted). My pastor prayed for me last Sunday and during the prayer he spoke prophetically that God was going to show me His goodness and grace in the coming months in a way that I haven’t known in the past. WOW! Does that mean my diagnosis will be the one I don’t want but He’ll walk through it with me, or does it mean I’ll be in the 80%, which would be showing wonderful goodness and grace to me? I don’t know. But I know He’s going to show me His goodness and grace beyond what I have known in the past and that’s a promise that fills me with hope and peace. It is a promise that makes me look forward to whatever God has for me in the coming months.

• Limit yourself when it comes to learning about what might happen in the future. I’ve talked with doctors and they are very careful to only give you enough information to get you to the next test. The Internet, on the other hand is happy to let you spend hours reading about all the what-ifs that might come into your life. The doctors know what they’re doing in this regard. I’ve learned to recognize when I’m approaching that tipping point where information is about to rob me of my peace, joy and faith, and I back away from the edge. I’m not deceiving myself or not facing the truth. I am just acknowledging that dwelling on the details can quickly overwhelm me so I back off and run to my storm shelter. I know the truth about my situation and choose to dwell in the shadow of the Almighty instead of staring down the barrel of possibilities that may never materialize. To do the latter is to invite the enemy to wreak havoc with my peace.

• Limit yourself when it comes to talking about your situation negatively. This is very similar to the point above. I process things verbally, so the temptation for me is to talk, talk, talk about it. Anytime someone says “how’s it going?” or “what’s new?” my mind immediately jumps to these tests which occupy the major portion of a couple of days each week. It doesn’t take many sentences, though, before I can hear the strain in my voice. There’s that tipping point again. Back away from the edge – most people don’t want that much detail anyway.

• Throughout the day when my mind wants to dwell on the what ifs, I return to the rhema Word, other promises God has given me, and the goodness of the God who loves me and blesses me beyond my ability to comprehend.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9

I’m reading a book about grace. In it, I read that Charles Spurgeon, the famous British pastor, once described faith as:

“believing Christ is who He said He was and that He’ll do what He promised to do – and then living accordingly.”*

I want to live in such a way that people see that I serve a God I trust. Otherwise, why would they want to meet Him?

* Captured by Grace, No One is Beyond the Reach of a Loving God by Dr. David Jeremiah, Thomas Nelson, © 2006, page 36.

So mostly, I’ve committed to not worrying (the theme of our retreat, coincidentally) and to do my best to sit back and watch God work it all out…all the while moving with what feels like warp speed from one task to the next. Are those two things possible in the same moment? Can I sit back and watch God work while I’m working and moving at a high rate of speed? Well, watch this space for more on that. There’s bound to be a future blog about it.

But back to loving the Lord. Now that you know the back story, let me tell you how the Lord is surprising me with joy. Sunday was the last day for signing up for our ladies’ retreat. There were at least 50% more people signed up than we expected! Praise God! (Right?) Well, we had planned a retreat that was going to be small and intimate in nature – one in which we sat together and shared what God was teaching us. One with lots of time for laughter and tears. No lecture format. There’s a point at which that format doesn’t work, though, and I’m afraid we’ve passed that point in attendance, so I’ve been wondering how to deal with it. It’s the top item on our prayer list for our next and last retreat planning meeting (which begins in less than two hours).

Yesterday as I mused about the situation (notice I am specifically not using the word “worry” because I am refusing to do so – I was simply wondering what God might do and I was beginning to pray for creativity) – anyway, yesterday as I mused about the situation, God made me laugh! He impressed upon me what His perspective must be of all the little plans we make. We’re almost like children playing grown-up – like the little girl playing “mommy” or the little boy playing “daddy.” He’s not deriding our efforts, in fact, I believe He is blessed and honored by our best efforts to bring Him glory. But we are His children, and I think sometimes He watches us in amusement as we “play” grownup. I’m OK with that. In fact, I am happy to bring my Savior amusement!

Then this morning…Late night, early morning, but I sat at my desk, bowl of oatmeal/12 grain hot cereal in front of me and water at my side, ready to greet the day. I took a deep breath and opened my Bible. I took a deep breath to help me resist the cry of all that was to be done and decided to continue my reading in Isaiah. I made it nine verses. Isaiah 19:9 struck me:

^“Those who work with combed flax will despair,
the weavers of fine linen will lose hope.”

Improbable verse to be struck by, right? Well, what struck me was not some deep spiritual significance or detailed meaning of any of the words…well maybe some of the latter…what struck me was that I read the first line as “those who work with com-bed flax will despair.” What in the world is com-bed flax? What is com-bed? Is it some different kind of flax? (That would be the two syllable kind of flax – you know the com-bed flax!) I must have blinked then because as I was scrunching my brow try to figure out what the word com-bed meant, I finally saw that it was the word “combed” – as in comb your hair which is something I barely did this morning! It made me laugh out loud.

Thank You, Lord, for laughter in the midst of deadlines. Thank You for helping us see that life is not so serious and important that there’s no time or room for expecting  joy and laughter.

Now I’m going to go greet the day with a smile on my face. How about you?

From the Mouths of Babes…
One young friend came up to me recently and stood looking at me expectantly. When I asked how she was doing, she launched into a long, animated (in my mind, anxiety-producing) discourse about how busy she was. She didn’t say anything wrong, per se, but remembering the conversation hits me like a slap in the face. As I re-hear her words and remember her demeanor I realize that she was reciting her crowded schedule (which included being too busy for breakfast) to impress me and win my approval.

She is not alone. God brought to my mind other interactions in which teens have recited their busy schedules in an attempt to seem more grown-up or to impress the adults in the room. In each case, the things they were doing were good things, but what has come clearly into focus for me is the very high value that has been placed on having a busy schedule, rather than placing the high value on the activities themselves or even lack of activities so that we can spend more time face to face with the eternal God.

…Come the Values of the Adults
Children learn to value what the adults around them value. Our children are learning that busy-ness carries a high value. I wonder if they also see that quietness is a high value. I wonder if they see that sitting at the feet of God is a high value. I think in many cases they do not, because they see the adults around them willing to overload their schedules and adjust their time with God to do any of a number of things, most of which do not rise to the level of interrupting our time with God.

As I recall these conversations, I’m convicted about the part I’ve played in reinforcing the value of a busy schedule for these young followers of God. I’ve reinforced it by the way I’ve responded to them and by the example that I’ve set. I’ve communicated that having a busy schedule carries a high value. Perhaps more to the point, I’m convicted about what my over-busy schedule says about me.

What Does Your Over-Busy Schedule Say About You?
Our over-busy schedules may say a variety of things about us:

• We need to be busy and involved in many things to feel important.
• We need to fill every moment of every day so that we don’t have time to deal with the hurt that’s inside.
• We don’t know how to identify those things God has called us to so we jump into everything without first attempting to discern how God wants us to spend our time.
• We know what God has called us to, but we don’t know how to say “no” to those things He hasn’t put on our plate.
• We have a large appetite for activity – we enjoy many things – but we haven’t disciplined ourselves to make only the best choices.
• We are unwilling to trust the results to anyone else, including God.

The list surely isn’t comprehensive, but I get stuck on that last one.

Is God All Sufficient or Isn’t He?
An over-busy schedule sometimes denies the sufficiency of God. Too often I realize that my schedule becomes over-busy because I feel like I have to do it all myself. If I don’t do this, who will? If I don’t work on Sunday, who will put food on the table or how will everything else get done? If I don’t plan this church event, who will? If I don’t take the kids to this ball game, how will they get there? The answers may very well be:

• God will provide it or maybe I need to do with less food, things, or activities!
• Someone will step up or the event won’t take place (and that’s OK)! (If no one wants to plan the event, perhaps it’s just another activity that increases our over-busy schedules instead of bringing us closer to the peace of God.)
• Another child’s mom or dad will take the kids to the event or maybe they shouldn’t go! (We begin teaching our children about wise schedule choices when we choose wisely between activities, not attend all events.)

I like most of the things in my schedule. They are there because they have value. But sometimes the value of God is eclipsed by the clutter in my life. And when my highest value is blocked by the clutter, my life gets scrambled and the misfires in my brain increase exponentially.

God Has a Solution
God woke me up early one day last week while and I found myself with a whole extra hour and a half before I had to leave the house. I spent it with Him. It changed the course of my day. I confess that when I got out of bed, I was afraid that getting up so early would cause me to collapse before the day was over, but I consciously trusted God to carry me through the day. I was fine all day. God is speaking to me and demonstrating to me the value of an uncluttered life. It allows me to REST in His sufficiency. It allows me to walk in peace through stressful situations because the responsibility isn’t really on my shoulders.

I’m certain this is the beginning of many blogs about de-cluttering our lives and trusting God with what we can’t do –because we can’t do it all and still keep an uncluttered life. Peace eludes us when we rush franticly from one activity to the next. At least it eludes me. You can’t chase after peace, you must wait for it.

I invite you to join me in this journey toward God’s peace. I’m not sure where it’s leading, but I know that God has grace to carry us through.

And an Assignment
De-clutter assignment for this week: Pick a day during which you will purposefully set aside everything that screams to be done and everything else that you want to do, and sit before the Lord for longer than you would typically spend in devotions. Be sure it’s a place and time that is quiet. Trust God to handle all that needs to be done while you rest with Him for awhile. Read a little more Scripture than you normally would. Listen to the quiet. Breathe in the quiet. Whisper prayers to God. Seek His peace. If you like, play soft worship music in the background (that puts me to sleep, so I don’t do it). Don’t come with a long prayer list. Don’t spend the whole time reading Scripture. Just rest with God. This is a time for you to be restored and refreshed by the peacefulness of God’s presence. Resist the temptation to leave God’s presence too soon. Your goal (for those goal-setters out there) is to experience the peace God can bring into a cluttered life if you push away the clutter to focus on Him.

You might not accomplish your goal! If you’re new at pushing away the clutter, it might be difficult for you to rest in quiet with the Lord. That’s OK. Try it again next week. Spiritual formation is a process. You will get better at it if you commit to it. You will begin to experience the peace God can bring and that peace will do two things:

1. Enable you to face the cluttered life with more purpose and peace.
2. Cause you to desire a less-cluttered life so that you can more easily find God’s peace regularly.

Those are things I want in my life. They outshine the having a brain that misfires because it’s going in too many directions at once. They come with a price – a weeding out of the clutter in our lives. Is it worth the price? You bet!

Grace & peace, friends.

The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
          Psalm 25:14 (NIV)

How cool is that? The Lord confides in those who fear (honor, revere) Him. God has been whispering to my husband and I lately. Many of you know that my husband, Phil, had a heart attack last week. It was a very serious one, but it appears that he will fully recover from it. I’m not ready to blog a lot about the experience, but in today’s reading I read Psalm 25:14. And I want to express to all of you my incredible thankfulness to a wonderful God of mercy, grace and power, who confides in those who fear Him.

During and since the heart attack God has spoken to us  – through other people, through His Word, through strong impressions in our heart, and through dreams. All have been consistent messages – Phil will be fine. Coupled with that was often a reminder of God’s promise of salvation  – the covenant He has with us  – that He will be with us always and that when this life is over, we will be with Him forever.

For today’s blog, let me just be one of those people who reminds you of the Covenant God has with you. If you have made Jesus the leader and Lord of your life, He promises that He will be with you through the most difficult times, that He will be there at the end of those times when you walk back into the sunlight of “normal” living, and that He will be with you when those times are ultimately over and your true life begins in heaven. In the midst of those difficult times you can experience peace. In the midst of those difficult times, and in between the difficult times of life, you can experience joy.

God will confide in you. What a wonderful promise. There’s another verse like it that often amazes me…

Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.
       Amos 3:7 (NIV)

God wants to speak to us. What a wonderful, personal God we serve! Stay close to Him and listen.