Leftover Mess

SCRIPTURE: 

Proverbs 16:9New Living Translation (NLT)

9 We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

One morning, not too long ago,  I took leftover pot roast, rice, and carrots to work for lunch in the oblong glass dish with the blue top.  The top is not a snap lock and is merely a friction fit, which over time has worked its way loose.

When I typically transport lunch in my insulated lunch bag, if the container does not snap, I set it in so that I must carry the lunch bag horizontally.  Otherwise, I just strap it onto my satchel and it hangs vertically.

Before leaving the house, I'd taken great care to transport the delicious contents to the car, and had set it on the floorboard for the twenty minute ride to work.  

During the ride, life and its accompanying distractions made their claim on the priorities of my mind.  Before exiting the car upon arrival at work, I strapped the lunch bag onto my satchel and began walking toward the office.

After about twenty seconds, I realized what I had done, so I immediately corrected the orientation of the lunch bag, and carried it like a tray the rest of the way in.

I knew that when I got to my desk, and unzipped the lunch bag pocket, I'd find a juicy mess. Yet, I hoped that by some miracle, it had not leaked inside the pocket.

Of course, when I got to my desk, it was just as expected, and I spent the next twenty minutes cleaning the inside of the lunch bag, as well as all the other contents that were along for the ride.

What a mess! 

However, there was one redeeming aspect to this otherwise annoying experience.  It was immediately brought to my mind that this mess illustrated what happens when we get ahead of God's will for our lives.

QUESTION:

Have you ever felt like you were walking right down the fairway of God's will? You're certain that God has put you on course towards the next destination on your journey with Him.

Then life happens, and instead of pursuing God's plan for us (by staying in constant communication with Him through prayer and the reading of His Word), we simply get complacent. We think we know the destination, and figure we'll eventually get there if we simply keep walking (that might be a "man" thing, but for the sake of illustration...).

We get comfortable with our day-to-day routine of our new path, and before we realize,  we are veering off into another venture.  Or worse, we begin accelerating our action, thinking if we work harder towards the goal that God has placed before us, we will succeed more quickly. 

How ludicrous is it that we think we can accomplish something quicker than what God has planned (than what he has preordained)?

ANSWER:

Proverbs 16:9 tells us, "we make our plans, but (it is) the Lord (that) determines our steps".  Yet, we seem to always get it backwards.  We think the Lord determines the course (or destination), but we plan our steps...and we are wrong!

God seeks everyday communication (communion) with us (His creation).

It is important to have a continual conversation with God. My grandmother taught me that from a young age.

"You can talk to God all day long.  If you get a good parking spot at the grocery store, tell God thank you."              

 - Emily Theola "Mema" (Humphries) Ammons

If you and your best friend were riding on a cross-country trip, and he was navigating from the passenger seat with a map (not a gps), would you ignore him for the last 3/4 of the trip? No.

And if your friend noticed that you made a wrong turn, and was attempting to turn the radio down so that he could inform you of your mistake and suggest a course correction, would you turn the radio back up and say,"I love this part!". Maybe, but even a good friend would eventually turn the radio off and tell you what you needed to hear.

And, there you go.

Going Forward:

When I pray the Lord's prayer, I often pray "...and lead us not to the point of trial that you would require to get our attention..."

Lord don't let us drive to the end of this road, only to discover a "road closed" sign. If we have to turn around after traveling so far, we'll certainly run out of gas and be in a mess, trying to get back on the right track.

And now back to the messy lunch bag analogy...

We set out with the knowledge that our steps must be taken with certain provisions in mind (we must keep the leftover dish inside our lunch bag in the upright position).

When we get distracted, or forget what we decided when we set out, we'll often create a real mess for ourselves.  We need to continually remind ourselves of the most important detail, which is the goal of what we are trying to accomplish (getting that pot roast into the fridge at work without spilling any of it along the way due to carelessness).

When God blesses us with an opportunity to serve Him, let's continually remind ourselves of the goal of serving Him.  

He knows the way, and will determine our steps.  We'll receive peaceful instruction via God's Holy Spirit, if we seek His guidance each day before setting out.

And, perhaps more to the point of my journey, and the struggles reflected in this blog, let's not be so quick to expand upon the opportunity that God has put before us.   In choosing to pursue other things that we may be interested in, or that seem (to us) to fit into God's plan, we may begin walking ahead of (or worse,  away from) God's will.

I've chosen to start Parallelables, because I felt called into service by our Lord.

In the process of learning how to start a blog however,  the entrepreneur in me wants to blog about several other subjects alongside. Meanwhile, parallelables are still sitting in "rough draft purgatory".

This doesn't mean we can't do lots of things for God. It means, we should test everything we do through the filter of "is this what God would have me to be doing right now?"  Or put another way, by one of my new favorite preachers (Pastor Brian Biggers - The Lamb's Chapel in Haw River, NC), "Is this flesh or is this Spirit?" 

So, talk to God often...every day. Ask him to guide and direct your steps. The closer you get to Him, the more clearly you'll be able to hear His voice, when He let's you know you've veered off track. 

Thank you Lord for always being close to us. You've said that you will never leave us nor forsake us, and we're gonna hold you to it, by checking in every day to see what you have to say.

"Let Daddy Help You"

Scripture:

Matthew 7:7 (NIV) 

7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Question:

My children often cause me to see how I am acting when approaching God...and maybe how God sees me sometime.

Holden, who is 2, hasn't grasped the concept of "Let Daddy help you". He thinks I am trying to take something away from him. Like opening a cheese stick or something similar. 

 As I reach down to try to open it for him, he says,"I can do it, I can do it," and he will scream and pitch a fit, until you let him try to do it on his own.  Inevitably, he follows up with, "Daddy help?"

Aren't we just like that with God?

Don't we want to do things on our own?

Answer:

A great example of growth (and understanding) in this area, is mirrored in one of Holden's favorite past times...snacking on "squeezy fruits".  (In our household, we refer to those squeezable, apple sauce based fruit pouches as "squeezy fruits").

Since before he could talk, Holden has been diggin' the sqeezy fruit.  When he needs a fix, he encourages me to meet him at the refrigerator, so that I can open the refrigerator door for him.  Once the door is opened, he knows exactly which  crisper to go to get what he needs.

He also knows how to close the crisper door (unless it has been pulled a little too far (requiring a wiggle start) or is too full (heavy)). Then, he asks me to help him close the drawer.

As soon as he closes the refrigerator door he says,"Daddy, open squeezy fruit".

Then I open it, and he says. "Thank you," and goes on about his way.

Imagine how much more fulfilled our lives would become, if we could learn to approach our Heavenly Father this way.  Not having to worry about the more difficult details of our provision, would certainly free us up to serve others. 

Picture this:

"Lord, I would like to receive extra income that would free me up to write more for you. However, I'm going to need your help getting the first step of this blessing (door opened) in place."

So, God opens a door for us to receive more income.

Recognizing an opportunity and relying on our own experience, we gladly do our part to go after and receive the income (we open the crisper drawer, and grab the squeezy fruit).

Then, we hand the income back to God (to be opened) (Glory! I love it when God shows me something on the fly- "handing it back to God" is good) . 

 Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

So, we hand the income back to God. Then,we ask God to open the income to make it available to us, as something we can use.

God gladly opens it. (He's not taking it back after giving it to you...relax) and then hands it back to us.

We grab the income and say thank you, and then close the door. Then we are on our way, and both God and us are happy.

Occasionally, when Holden has been playing for several hours without a juice drink...and I give him a juice to drink, he takes one sip and sets it aside as he goes back to playing. The juice will usually go unnoticed after that.  

I've learned to suggest to Holden that he meet me at the fridge for a squeezy fruit, when I know he needs it (it's sort of like juice).  And, I'm certain he'll finish that.

Thanks be to God that He knows our every need, even before we do. He's watching us while we go about our business.

Whew! Eye opening.

And, I'm almost sure it is just that simple.  

Going Forward:

Involve the Lord; utilize His help in your serving Him, doing what you can, but ask for His help with the hard stuff. 

Understand and know (TRUST) that God will be there to open doors and blessings (squeezy fruits) when you need Him.

And don't forget to thank Him.

Thanks be to God for my children, and to my Heavenly Father who reminds us that His love for us is very similar (in many ways) to our love for our children.

Study. Learn. Do. Teach (In That Order).

Psalm 119:33-36 (NIV)

33 Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
    that I may follow it to the end.

34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
    and obey it with all my heart.

35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
    for there I find delight.

36 Turn my heart toward your statutes
    and not toward selfish gain.

Question:

For a couple of nights last month. I was distracted by watching big wave surfing videos on youtube (while parallelables remain unpublished...I know, priorities, right?) Big wave surfing in the Pacific Ocean at the end of January 2014 (specifically "Jaws" in Hawaii on January 19,2014 and "Mavericks" in California January 24, 2014 Billabong XXL tournament) was epic.

In searching for additional big wave photos, I came across a Kelly Slater quote overlaid on a surfing picture regarding studying the waves.

I tell you this, because it balances well with something else that I am currently struggling with.  As I study the concept of blogging, in order to be able to publish Parallelables, I am also learning a lot about how to monetize blogs (with advertising, etc.) in order to increase income and pursue blogging full time.  Despite my pledge to not monetize any blog that focuses on content derived from God's Word, which is freely given, I have been tempted to explore monetization further. Why is that?

This is not only counter to my mission of merely sharing God's messages, but it also serves as a distraction by taking time away from my goal.  In my wanting to get ahead of God's will by establishing and monetizing an affiliate site, in addition to parallelables, I am actually walking further away from God's will for me.  I am also not allowing Him to bless me.

Answer:

"We study to learn. We learn to do. We do to teach. Study to do or study to teach and you will fail."

I know (I've studied)  how the pros are able to ride those massive waves, by finding their line on the wave. But, that doesn't make me qualified to hop on a surfboard at one of the big wave spots, and attempt to find the line. I'd be in a lot of trouble and would quickly find the bottom!

We must always start with the basics.

Ask yourself, "From what I've learned (by studying), what should I begin doing...and how do I go about that?"  Then learn that. Then go do that.

Studying gives us a big picture overall. Then, we must break things down into basic components, in order to get started properly, if we want to succeed.

Going Forward:  

I will continue to attempt to remain faithful in posting the parallelable messages that God provides. And I will continue to study God's word more deliberately, in order to learn what He would have me do to more fully serve Him.

Thanks be to God for his perfect timing. Thanks to Him who called me, before I was born, to do this (what He would have me to do today).