The power of an idea – two thoughts that have changed my life recently

February 18, 2010

Maria Peace, Prayer , 1 Comment

A friend and I were discussing prayer, both having read Paul Miller’s book, A Praying Life.  She mentioned that she had started a prayer journal where each day she writes down the things over which she has no control.  That ‘title’ for one’s worries all of a sudden opened up a way to articulate so many MORE concerns in my life.  I hadn’t realized what resided in the bottom of the muck pool of my mind.  New topics to pray about and actually hand over to God started to leave this familiar, fetid place and venture into new territory.  I grew excited about the possibilities!

As soon as I got home, I found a diary with a few blank pages left and wrote the date and the title:  Today I Have No Control Over…..  As soon as I had written down 5-6 things, I said to God, “Here, YOU take and handle them today.”   It was easy and left me feeling lighter.

The next morning, I could hardly wait to get up and write down the new day’s concerns over which it was apparent I have no control.  Of course, one could get carried away with all sorts of situations..but I confined myself to concerns in my life that day: younger son’s projects at college, older son’s fears about supporting his family, husband’s discomfort stemming from a controlling & dysfunctional boss, in-laws’ declining health and their fears about making it to the wedding in June, a scheduling problem to be sorted out with a Travelocity rep located on the other side of the world, French classes’ scheduled for the day and their energy level and response to my input.

Several days create a habit.  What has surprised me is the spread of my new consciousness over items I really don’t control.  Apparently the very act of writing them down has trained my mind to respond ‘properly’ during other parts of my day.  I heard some bad news this afternoon and immediately thought – “I have no control over that, Lord, that’s YOUR department”.  No time in my in-box of worry.  So I have freedom to keep a mental diary handy, with its column already set up, ready to receive MORE items.  This is fun!

I did run into my friend and shared with her how much her brief 20 second explanation had changed me.  I wanted her to be encouraged about the positive influence we can have on those around us and maybe not even know it!

The other mind-altering thought came from a blog post by Ray Ortlund.  He mentioned in ONE sentence that ‘our okay-ness’ is located outside of us. I took that to mean that if there is anything worthy or beautiful about me, it’s because of Christ’s righteousness imputed to me.  There is nothing noteworthy about me beyond the fact that I am made in the image of God.  As Paul says several places and actually quotes (is that a retweet?) the Old Testament prophet – “, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord'” (from Jer 9:23; I Cor. 1:31)

The application for me was that I have no reason to defend myself – EVER.  The truth is, at it dawned on me; no one can hurt me with criticisms or put- downs.  If I already know that ‘no good thing resides in me’ – Rom 7:18 – then I am FREE.  I can give a logical response to a personal attack. “Yes, you’re correct that I………And your point is?”

All in one week, I have been given two gifts.  First, I can stop doing God’s work for Him – by worrying about things only He has sovereign control over and second, I can stop defending myself, since there is really nothing to defend.  What amazing power resides in ideas!

Hannah’s prayer reveals her treasure

January 16, 2010

Maria 1 Samuel, Prayer , 1 Comment

1 Sam 2: 1-10

Hannah longed for a child.  She made a deal with God, that if He would remove her barrenness and give her a son, she would dedicate the child to Him.   Eli, the priest, spotted her praying silently and interceded on her behalf.  Her long-standing prayer is answered…… and Samuel is born.  Her response, recorded in the first ten verses of chapter 2, stuns us.   It is remarkable in what it does NOT mention.  Not one reference is to her son or how God answered her prayer.  She doesn’t even explicitly THANK God.  She revels in Him instead.  Savor her words of praise for who God is and what He does.

“My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, because I rejoice in Thy salvation.
There is no one holy like the LORD, indeed, there is no one besides Thee, nor is there any rock like our God.
Boast no more very proudly, do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and with Him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are shattered, but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, but she who has many children languishes.
The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts.
He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles, and inherit a seat of honor; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and He sets the world on them.
He keeps the feet of His godly ones, but the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; for not by might shall man prevail.
Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; and He will give strength to His king, and will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

I think she was overwhelmed by the magnificence of a god who would actually listen to her and give her what she initially thought would complete her and make her whole.  Instead of JUST what she & Eli had prayed for, she received far more.   She got God himself, the one who is all-mighty.

So she rejoices in her new treasure (not her son) and wants everyone to know.  This new relationship with her Maker far outweighs the son she thought was her heart’s desire.  Her passions have changed.  She no longer worries about being harassed by ‘the other wife’, Peninnah, who constantly lorded it over her with her God-given children.  Hannah has God Himself.  That is why she is so easily able to honor her vow and hand Samuel over to Eli for temple service.

And God’s response to her sincere worship of Him?  1 Sam 2:21a records, “And the Lord visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters.”

She didn’t even ask God for more children.  Having God Himself was enough for her.  How lavish is our Father with His love.

Making decisions – God’s way

January 3, 2010

Maria Prayer, Reflections , 1 Comment

Prov 16:9 – A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.

Prov 21:31 – The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance and victory are of the Lord.

Psalm 33:22 – Let Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping for You.

Lamentations 3:25 – The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him

My question as I start the New Year – when do we submit and assume that present circumstances, however painful they are, are from the Lord and are being used for our sanctification?  And when do we work to change our circumstances?    Or to pose the question another way – do we do nothing in a trying situation and trust the Lord to bring about change?  Or do we do something and trust the Lord that He will guide our strivings?

Maybe I’m committing the fallacy of bifurcation, setting the question up as an either/or dilemma.  It’s hard to know.

In past decisions that we have made as believers, my husband and I waited for a sign and then acted, all along trusting that God was in the whole process, guiding it.  For example, three years ago I asked God for a sign to leave my former school and it eventually came (the waiting and trusting part).  Then I had to find another job (the action and trusting part).  More recently, we wanted to leave our former church.  We waited until my husband felt the time was right.  We looked (action) for another church and settled in quickly.

Now we are in a situation that feels heavy with import.  My husband is in a job that is unbearable most days – it sucks his soul dry.  He dreads it.  Through it all, he has depended on God for a good attitude and to help him to make a contribution.  And God has sustained him.  Is this ‘wrong’ job part of the sanctification process and therefore it would be a mistake to seek out something else?  Or maybe the whole trusting God through the job search adventure is the sanctification process?  Scripture seems to counsel both:  waiting and doing.

I think a situation similar to ours would be one in which a couple would like to have children but can’t seem to get pregnant.  Do they take things into their own hands and try fertility treatments?  Do they start the adoption process?  Or do they just accept they are childless and leave it as being their ‘chosen, assigned portion’, their cup or lot.   What do we do with those desires – the desire for a child, the desire for a job that brings joy?

At times I don’t know what to think.  As a wife, I want to give my husband good, biblical counsel.  I don’t want to steer him wrong and fall into traps similar to those that tripped up our first mothers (Eve, Sarah, Rebecca).  I can be encouraging to him one night and then fearful in the morning.  Nonetheless, here is how I leave the dilemma at the end of each day.  I remind myself and trust myself to God’s hands and His unchanging sovereignty.  After all, we are just pilgrims on His journey.  He IS directing the journey.  He put us on this planet at this time, in this country, among these people, with this skill set and outlook.  He, alone, has the plan.  This impatient traveller wants a glimpse at the map!

How do we have peace when we’re caught up in anxiety about XYZ!

December 24, 2009

Maria Peace, Prayer, Reflections , 2 Comments

John 14: 27 b – Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

14:27a – (because)….Peace I leave with you: My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you.

I’ve switched the order of verse 27, you’ll notice.

My husband is anxious about his job.  In fact, he hates his job.  It has been a source of intermittent disappointment and frustration for years.  His mood goes up and down depending on what happens at work.  His body manifests physical reactions when he especially feels stuck in his job.  In sum, he views his whole life through the lens of his feelings about his work.

As I have journeyed with him for almost 30 years, I have learned a great deal.  Today, as I was meditating on what seems like unanswered prayer, it occurred to me that every believer has something in his or her life that can be a huge distraction to peace with God.  We could have a child born with autism.  One of us could have cancer that doesn’t respond to treatment.  We could have an aging parent with Alzheimer’s.  Our children could be without faith.  So how does one obey Christ when he commands us NOT to fear, NOT to be anxious?  How does His imparting peace to us make a difference?

My conclusion, today, is that we have to compartmentalize the pain, to contextualize it in such a way to gain Christ’s perspective.  He has told us that each will have trouble in this life, but that He has given us His peace.  How are we to learn to RELY on His peace, unless we have very distracting trouble?  His peace cannot be made real to us, unless we HAVE to depend on it and see for ourselves that it is enough.  This is called living by faith.  The peace we all seek out, however, is the kind the world gives, circumstantial peace:  in my husband’s case – a solution to his career disappointment (a satisfying job).  In the other scenarios – a ‘normal’ child, a cancer-free spouse, an alert aging parent, born-again children.

How do we live so that His peace is real to us?  I think that we have to take time each day to soak in truth: to mediate on the grace we have been given, to look forward to the hope that is stored up for us in heaven, to remind ourselves of the promises/the guarantees that God has given us in faith.   Recalling these truths has to be the first thing we do each day, along with asking through prayer that the Holy Spirit remind us of the reality of Jesus’ promised peace.  Then as we are assaulted throughout the day by fear and doubt and discouragement, we can respond with faith as Jesus did when confronted by Satan.  “No, it is written…”

So, dear brothers & sisters let us seek to nurture Jesus’ peace in our hearts.  Let us make it ours, continually.  Just as soldiers are not passive, neither can we be passive in our pursuit of peace.  Nothing is static.  We are either moving toward God’s peace in our thoughts, or we are moving toward the discouragement that Satan sends our way.  His discouragement, based on lies, SEEMS to be the truth, because we live in his world.  However we don’t belong to the devil anymore.  As exiles in his world, we are living members in the Kingdom of Light (Truth), though for now living in the world controlled by Satan.

Anxiety is unbelief

December 16, 2009

Maria Philippians, Prayer 5 Comments

Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you. 1 Pet 5:7

The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil 4:5b-6

So I went to bed anxious and woke up anxious – a Charlie Brown fog hovering, blocking out the joy.  As I walked and talked to God, I argued with myself that God means for us to obey him in these commands.  They are not suggestions.  And that if he commands something, then he will give us the power to follow through.  What were my anxieties?  They involved relationships and job situations among people I love very much, for whom I pray and then obviously stay worked up about it.

Anxious me:  I HAVE prayed, but I just can’t get my mind off of these situations.  I really care about these people!

Sane me: But don’t you believe God?  He says that we are to pray about everything and GIVE him the situations and then get on with our job.

Anxious me:  what could be more important than these relationships and situations?  After all, I really LOVE these people!

Sane me:  but God has promised that he will take care of them.  Pray about them once first thing in the morning and then get on with what he wants you to do!

Anxious me:  and that would be….?

Sane me:  you’re an ambassador for Christ, you are to reflect the glory of God.  How can you sparkle and bring joy to others if you’re so worried about something?   You’re a walking billboard for there being NO GOD.

Anxious me:  so, I pray about these things first thing in the morning and then forget about them?

Sane me:  well, do you think your being anxious will HELP the situation?

Anxious me:  no..but sometimes I can’t help them popping into my mind

Sane me:  you’re right – and when they do nag at you, just remind yourself that you have entrusted them to the care of the one Person who CAN actually do something and will do the absolute BEST thing, because he loves them perfectly and knows what is best for their sanctification.

Anxious me:  okay..I will confess my anxiety and lack of belief and try again.

**

And Praise the Lord – by the end of the day, 2 of the situations had improved and I had spent the day out in the world doing my job of being an ambassador of Hope.

Now it’s a new day, and with God’s help, I will make the same decision so that this casting problems and leaving them in God’s hands becomes a new pattern.

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