God is our forever friend. He knows us and he loves us. We qualify for his love…
Where we are born…
I have noticed that when we go through hard times, we often withdraw emotionally and physically. Yet, in our hiding places, God is working. He talks to our hearts. He reasons with our heads. He is training us in the silence until we are ready.
It is then we can emerge as unexpected heroes. We have overcome ourselves. We have dared to move out despite the fears we might carry. And we discovered that with God we can move on – step by step – in his strength.
(Based on the story of Gideon in Judges 6 – where he hides in a winepress and God calls him for there.)
Our constant Repositioner
Verses about how God can change/reposition our perspective, even though our circumstances might remain the same…
‘Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.’ (Micah 7:8)
‘The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create.’ (Isaiah 65:17-18)
‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’ (Matthew 11:28)
Whatever our situation, there is always another perspective – God’s. He will take us to impossible places and say, ‘Trust me that all things do work together for good.’ (Romans 8:28). He can reposition our hearts.
(photo by Lucas Martins: pexels.com)
Finding the courage to leap
I had a decision to make, but no courage to do it. So I went for a walk to think things through. But as I did, a squirrel hopped beside me from tree to tree. Then it leapt out into space, its little arms flailing. It wanted to reach a tree on the other side.
I stopped to watch, holding my breath. Would it make it? Would the branch break? Would it fall to its death?
It managed to grab hold of the tip of a branch. The branch sagged, but the squirrel pulled itself up. It scurried off… This was a message for me. Courage wasn’t a feeling. It was a choice. It counted the cost, but still took the first step. So I hurried back home and made that phone call. God kept me safe…
(photo by Catherine Dempsey: ww.pexels.com)
Don’t be afraid when life changes…
We can write out the perfect script for our lives. We can live out our story with all our heart. We can set the scenes, but things don’t always go to plan.
We cry out to God and he hears our prayers. And then he steps in with his clapperboard. He tells us that the script is in need of change and that he has known it all along. But it takes us time to accept the pause and to realise that our first script was riddled with plot holes.
So, now he is writing and keeping it secret. Now he is changing the narrative. Don’t be afraid. Go with God’s plan.
(photo by Matin Lopez: https://www.pexels.com)
‘It wasn’t your fault.’
Sometimes people tell us, ‘It wasn’t your fault,’ especially when we struggle with our past. But we might push them away, for they obviously don’t know what went on.
But often those on the outside can see our lives better. They hear our stories and the guilt we have assumed. They see how we were made to feel responsible. We feel guilty for things we never did.
It takes a journey to move from shame to freedom. It takes accepting the invitation our friends have extended. For they long to see us living OUR lives and leaving behind the lies.
‘It wasn’t your fault,’ are releasing words. We can move on.
(photo by Pixabay – www.pexels.com)
That dangerous weapon called anger…
It can happen so fast. Out of the blue, someone can blame us for their relational problems. ‘It’s all your fault that people don’t talk with me.’
It happened to me and it surprised me that they give me so much sway. In another, it horrified. They wanted me to take responsibility for their actions and anger. They wanted me to smooth things over.
I declined the job offer, so they instantly changed tactic – using shame. Maybe now I would fulfill their wishes if I felt they were the victim.
I had to walk away. I read the Bible. It said, ‘I have heard the insults.*’ I could rest, because anger isn’t the way to make friends.
(photo by Piet Bakker: pexels.com) *Zephaniah 2:8
When taken hostage by gaslighting…
It can be deeply painful when someone hates us for doing good. It hurts when our sense of justice is mocked, because it doesn’t bow to their demands. The Bible puts it so well. ‘You have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness’ (Amos 6:12). These kinds of people will try to poison us, to gaslight us into agreeing with their reality.
But the Bible guides us when we are in danger of being taken as a hostage: ‘They shall never enter my rest’ (Psalm 95:11). We can say, ‘NEVER!’ We can say, ‘No! You can’t come in! You will not disturb my rest.’ We can choose who we let into our lives. We can choose those who love good.
(photo by Leonie Fahjen: pexels.com)
We can see…
In the beginning, God was there in the darkness and confusion. But then he spoke, ‘Light, come!’ And what he set in motion still is.
Each of us had a beginning and it was in darkness. But then in our births we came into light. God set us in motion and we still are. Yet, he wants to speak again today, as we experience other darknesses and confusions. He says, ‘Light, come!’
He sets in motion something new, if only we could stop and look – a scary new path, a unexpected opportunity, or an undiscovered talent we never knew we had. And if we walk in what we see, we can share that light with others. For, beginnings are a gift we can accept and give.
(photo by Pixabay: www.pexels.com)
Bible psychology – How to live
A small sign pointed up, so I stopped and looked. High above, on the church tower, it said: ‘Do not forget to live.’ It hit me hard.
I do it all the time. I get caught up in work, business, in pleasing others – my head down, my life filled with concern. I forget to live. And sadly, I forget HOW to live, because the pressures of life pull me down.
God, however, isn’t ‘the God of the dead, but of the living’ (Mark 12:27). So, today, I stop and pray: ‘Please show me what living looks like and remind me what it feels like.’
Today, I watch the sun and shadows, the sparkling dew. The world rushes by, but I stop.
(sundial of a Warwickshire church tower)