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I’m Stuck

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I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.  He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.  He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.  Psalm 40:1-3

In 1995 I had a grand mal seizure and was put on seizure medication without a thorough investigation of the circumstances.  We would learn later that I did not need it.  Problematically, if you take seizure medication and don’t need it, it can cause seizures.  Consequently, for the next nine years I endured petit mals or absence seizures.  The first one occurred after my wife and I returned home from a dance.  While we were talking with our children, Marie noticed that my expression changed to a vacant stare.  In order to avoid alarming our children she moved close to me, took my hand, lead me to our bedroom and had me sit down.  In a few moments I returned to normal function.  Through experimentation and discussion, we learned that while I could not initiate movement or speech, I could be led by others and I could nod faintly in response to yes or no questions.  However, for the most part I was immobilized and temporarily stuck in a very confining world.  As I think about those seizures, I’m reminded of times when I’ve been stuck in life.  Usually, I’m immobilized by one of three things:  fear, fatigue or indecision.  Can you relate?

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. . . it is presumptuous in me to wish to choose my path, because I cannot tell which path is best for me. I must leave it to the Lord, Who knows me, to lead me by the path which is best for me, so that in all things His will may be done.

Teresa of Ávila
goodreads.com
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Lord of Our Dance

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

My wife and I like to dance.  Considering all of the choices, the waltz is our preferred dance.   I’m not talking about the basic box step, but rather moving down the line of dance with whisks, weaves, turns, etc.  When a couple is dancing, the male leads.  It is his responsibility to employ good technique to move the couple around the dance floor and to lead his partner in the various moves.  It is up to the woman to follow.  Well done, it is very beautiful and graceful.   Poorly executed, it looks clumsy and can be somewhat dangerous. When I contemplate my relationship with God, I often compare it to the waltz.

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Trials should not surprise us, or cause us to doubt God’s faithfulness.  Rather, we should actually be glad for them.  God sends trials to strengthen our trust in Him so that our faith will not fail.  Our trials keep us trusting; they burn away our self confidence and drive us to our Savior.

Edmund Clowney
christianquotes.info
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Clay Pots Revisited

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For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10

Producing art, whether for functional use, aesthetic value, or some combination of the two, takes effort and skill.  In my youth I used to tool leather.  I made belts, purses, bible covers, etc.  At times  I used kits, regularly I used precut pieces such as belt blanks while the remainder of the time I started with a piece of tanned hide.  Obviously the latter required the most effort in that I had to decide what I was making, its intended purpose, its shape, and its dimensions.  From there the cutting had to be precise which was not easy with a utility knife.   Once cut, the leather had to be moistened to keep it pliable so that the stamping and carving could be done properly and evenly.  After being tooled it had to be died and finished.  Each piece was unique and an investment of time, effort, and creativity.  The process was a very faint imitation of how God has created each of us.

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A man may be perfected through suffering or be made worse through suffering; it depends on his disposition.

Oswald Chambers
The Quotable Oswald Chambers (Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers, 2008), 281
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Good vs Bad

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“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”  Genesis 50:20

When starting a new support group, I ask participants to define a few words.  Two of those words are good and bad.  A quick google search provided me with the following:  good – “to be desired or approved of”; bad – “of poor quality; inferior or defective” and “not such as to be hoped for or desired; unpleasant or unwelcome”.  The synonyms are more direct with words like healthy, fine, sound, fit, robust, sturdy, strong, and vigorous versus substandard, poor, inferior, unsatisfactory, inadequate, unacceptable, imperfect, defective, faulty, and miserable.  These are consistent with most participants’ responses.  Admittedly, for a significant portion of my life, I would have agreed with these definitions.   However, God has brought me to the place where I understand that, in our haste to categorize, we are often missing two key components: complete information and perspective.  Specifically we often lack all of the finer details and regularly forget the eternal perspective which can significantly change our overall view of any given condition, situation or trial.  In that light, my health may be substandard, poor and inferior, but I would not classify my situation bad.

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Our Temples Revisited

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“They assembled their brothers, consecrated themselves, and went in to cleanse the house of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king by the words of the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 29:15

It’s February and for this month I’m doing a “best of” series to allow time for me to update the website, get ahead on some writing and spend some time on my soul.  In a sense these plans are a type of resolution.  By now some people are still pressing on with New Year’s resolutions, some are faltering, and still others have given up.  Resolutions vary widely but common ones are getting organized, taking better care of their bodies, overcoming bad habits and seeking better attitudes in the New Year.  Some are successful while others are not.  The difference is diligence and fortitude.

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No one enjoys feeling weak, whether it is emotionally, spiritually or physically. There is something within the human spirit that wants to resist the thought of weakness. Many times this is nothing more than our human pride at work. Just as weakness carries a great potential for strength, pride carries an equally great potential for defeat.

Charles Stanley
whatchristianswanttoknow.com