Wrong Thinking....Say WHATTT?!.

Sometimes we get to a point in our lives where we think, "Enough is enough already!"  Am I right?  Its at this juncture we have to truly be careful of who we listen to.  The devil is wiley creature who, for some reason, has a good idea of what is going on in your head!  I do, however, believe he does not actually KNOW what is going on in your head, but he knows humankind pretty well and tends to get a good read on whats happening in that head space!

So what happens at this juncture?  A person who you love and cherish, or someone whose opinion you respect, or someone whose life looks all perfect, comes and questions you, asks you what you really want?  They speak into your frustration and suddenly, the road ahead looks clear.  Right?  Well, I suppose this is often the case.  But before you act, test what you think, what your well-meaning friend/family member/colleague has said, against God's word.

Prov 3 v 5-6:  Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.  (6) In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

Ask the Lord, "Is this a path to take? It looks good, it sounds good, it feels good, but somehow I'm thinking You won't approve?" There is that little spot of doubt! Why? Because His Holy Spirit is not going to let you get away with not knowing the truth before you act! Read His word on the subject, or really, just read the Word. I am always amazed at how what I am reading suddenly squashes a path I want to follow.

Now, I say this knowing we don't always get the answers we want straight away but usually when we are desperate and about to make a wrong move!  

I also say this knowing that we don't always like the answer God seems to be sending our way.  But when you make enough decisions against what you feel God wants, you eventually realize that choosing His way IS ALWAYS THE BEST OPTION!  Because His way leads to blessings.  Even if you cannot imagine that to be true!  IT IS TRUE! 

1 Thess 5 v 21:  But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast.

I have found that when I choose God's way, I have immediate peace in the situation.  Even if the situation is far from resolved, even if it is an ongoing healing in body or relationship, God's way ALWAYS brings peace into your heart and a knowing that one way or another, with God as your strength you can get through this thing.

It also clarifies for you the motives of the one giving you "advice"!  Often times that advice is selfish and aimed at their comfort and possibly yours.  God's way is often not the easy way!  But it truly is the most rewarding.  It brings great peace to feel you have chosen wisely, based on God's word!  Often its not a popular choice, often even those who are your closest Christian friends feel you have chosen wrong.  But if it lines up with God's word, and their motives are pure, they will see it if God wants them to.

I hope this encourages you to always test what you think and feel, or what you have been advised to do, against God's word.  You WILL know the truth and then the choosing of the path is in your hands.  God has given us free will, but He has given us His user manual to guide us!  He knows our every need, thought and desire!  Lean on Him, not on the world!

God bless

Tracy

With each post I do this year I am going to end off with #wisdom. This will be where I try to understand the wisdom of what the Lord is teaching here.

#wisdom What is the Lord teaching me here about wisdom?

I believe the wisdom the Lord has for me here is that even if something looks like a great idea, it isn't always and that the wisest thing to do, is to test it against His word!  That is the wisdom I see here today!

Up Wayyyy Too Early!!!!

I never get up in the middle of the night and stay up.  When one of my daughters gets home late, I make sure its them, I make sure the lights are off, and go back to bed!  If my husband is out doing a neighbourhood watch, same thing, I check its him when he gets home, I make sure the lights are off and go back to bed.

That does not necessarily mean I go back to sleep.... I do, eventually..... but, asleep or not I am back in bed!

Not last night!  My daughter got home and set the alarm off accidently!  So of course I woke up and was vertical in a flash, with the alarm off and down the passage to investigate.  All was well, checked the doors, the alarm, the lights, and back to bed!  BUT I JUST COULD NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP!  I had so many angry thoughts, unrelated to being woken up, going through my head.  And I was not groggily awake!  I was WIDE awake!

So I decided to break the tradition of staying horizontal until I eventually fall asleep!  I got up at 3am, made a cup of tea (with sugar, and an extra half a spoon at that), got a blanket, my bible and some hightlighters and began to read!

I did this for an hour.

I can't say that any major issues were resolved in the wee hours of this morning.  I can't even say I had any epiphanies!  Only that my anger disolved, my tea tasted calming (if that's possible), and the words I read touched home.  I started out furiously writing in my journal, followed by writing the verses that got to me and finished off by highlighting a couple of chapters of my bible so that right now, it could probably glow in the dark.

I'm not really sure what the point is of my woeful story of being up and wide awake so early other than to say it felt good to use this time productively in the Lord's word.  It felt good not to lie awake mentally grumbling and playing those useless mind games that truly gets one no where!

I felt victorious (in that "I can barely keep my eyes open" kind of way) in those early hours because I turned to the Lord instead of silently accepting all the condemnation I could heap on myself mentally for all I could have done differently the day before.

So, my encouragement to you today is if you are being kept awake, by worry, anger, frustration, loud or scary noises, use that time for good!  Go make a cup of tea/coffee and read the Word!  That is it!  Reading God's word is NEVER a waste of time and He says His word NEVER returns back void! (Isaiah 55 v 11).

This verse is one of those that struck me in my early morning sojourn into the Word:
Isaiah 57 v 19:  Peace, peace, to him who is far off [both Jew and Gentile] and to him who is near! says the Lord;  I create the fruit of his lips, and I will heal him [make his lips blossom anew with speech in thankful praise].

Two things hit me while reading this, firstly, God wants peace for us, no matter how near or far we are from Him.  Secondly, He will heal us as we praise and thank Him.  I'm not sure if I am reading that right but it sounds awesome to me.  It hit me then that no matter how I feel, no matter what has gone wrong in the day, I need to praise Him and be thankful.

So, as I write this post, (in the NORMAL morning hours) I am thankful for God's word, for His mercies new every morning, for tea, (seriously), for a new perspective even if I don't have any new answers, for the lovely sun, for my bed, for my family....

And so the list will go on during the course of today....

God bless you my friends
I hope you are encouraged
Tracy


With each post I do this year I am going to end off with #wisdom. This will be where I try to understand the wisdom of what the Lord is teaching here.

#wisdom What is the Lord teaching me here about wisdom?

The wisdom I find here today is that it is never a waste of time, tea, or tears to go read God's word, any time of night or day.  His word heals, restores, refreshes and renews.