Agape Love Archives - Page 4 of 8 - Catherine Nelson

Why do the bad guys keep winning? Why do neighbors hate each other? Why do cheaters win? Why do liars get their minute in the limelight? Why do children get cancer and good men die young and mean people live to be 100? I hate sin. I grieve over my sin. Why does God keep convicting and working on me while letting criminals and cheaters and liars off the hook?

These questions took over all my thoughts this morning as my prayers became aggressive shouts mixed with tears. (Poor Kevin and Donut. My tears and shouts made them very nervous.) Have you ever been there? Please tell me that I am not the only one who professes to be a Christian but still gets so mad at God.

Faith really is a miracle. The transformation that takes place in a heart, so that the eternal is more important than the temporal is amazing. This thinking is so unnatural; it just doesn’t make sense. When I look at the pattern of injustice and how evil continues to boast and take victory laps, I am astounded that I can still say, “I trust you, God.”

As I was moaning about temporal trials this morning, the truth that God’s ways and thoughts are higher than mine interrupted my tirade. I responded to this truth with, “I know (sigh). I know, but it just doesn’t seem fair!” I asked God to smite and discipline offenders and encourage and elevate the innocent, and I remembered that God doesn’t give us a stone when we ask for bread. Because I trust He knows better, I am humble enough to realize it’s possible I am asking for stones and He is giving me delicious and satisfying bread instead. As unpleasant as His discipline is, I know it is a display of His love for me. He disciplines those He loves.

As my blood pressure returned to a healthier level, I remembered this verse:

“Many, O Lord are your wonderful works which you have done; and your thoughts toward me cannot be recounted in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” Psalm 40:5 (NKJV)

… and then I wished I could read that list of His thoughts toward me.

This morning, you may feel like screaming at God. Your circumstances may feel like more than you can bear, or maybe not. No matter what is going on in your life right now, everyone needs to be reminded of that list. Here is a portion (in the vernacular of Catherine) of what God says about you:

I will never leave you. I will never turn my back on you (Josh 1:5) I will never lie to you. (Numbers 23:19) I am faithful. You can trust me. (Deut. 7:9) I think about you more than a nursing mom thinks about her baby. (Is 49:15) I am always with you and I will save you. When I look at you, I sing songs of gladness, because you are mine and I love you. (Zeph 3:17) I have great things in store for you. Be hopeful about your future. (Jer 29:11) I know you are hurting and I care deeply about it. (Psalm 78:38-39) You are the apple of my eye. (Deut 32:10). I will give you the peace that you so desperately want. (Hag 2:9) I know how badly you are hurting right no how you wish it would all go away. Hang in there. You are not going to believe how many awesome things I have in store for you. (2 Cor 4:17) You are worth fighting for. I am fighting for you. (Exodus 14:14) I will stomp on your enemies. (Psalm108:18). I can’t wait to introduce you to my father! When I do, I will tell Him that you are faultless. (Jude 24). The part about you that you think is the ugliest, I think is beautiful. (Romans 10:15).

When we live by faith and turn our eyes on Jesus, our screams of injustice can transform into shouts of praise. Dear friends, you are loved. You are worthy. You are precious and delightful. Be astounded by the miracle of your faith and the truth of what God sees in and says about you, and trust that He will deal with injustice. His ways are higher than our ways.

In the last few weeks, I have had a couple people ask me why I have not been sharing any new blog posts. The answer is pretty simple. My brain is so full and although I am in a season of intense learning, I am ashamed that I am failing in something so central to the Christian faith. I don’t seem to ever get a break from this lesson. This week I have been given 3 teaching opportunities; the lessons I have been assigned are on “Forgiveness”, “Suffering”, and “Love that never fails”. As I prepare, I have been grieved by my failure in each of these areas.

Easter was just a few days ago. I cried tears of joy and thankfulness for my salvation. My hope is secure because my sins are forgiven. I want to live like Jesus lived, love like He does and forgive just like He has forgiven me, but I fall so short. The truth is, I really really want to obey. I have sought advice from wise, Christian counselors. I have prayed and studied and checked every box on every list I have been given on what I need to do. I find a modicum of peace in my willing spirit, obedience and all the checked boxes, but as soon as I think I might be over the hump, I am reminded of the injustice I suffered and I get all riled up again.

In my personal study time, I have been working through the most boring stretch of books in the Bible. I cannot wait to get out of Exodus, Numbers and Leviticus. These books are full of lists and laws. God, through Moses, shares tons of specific and rigorous rules that must be followed for the Israelites to have fellowship with God. These laws were clear, absolute and the only way until Jesus came and introduced a new and merciful new way. I understand how it must have been so hard for the religious leaders to embrace Jesus’s radical and irrational new way. With my love for rules and box-checking, I am pretty sure that I would have made a pretty good Pharisee.

The radical and irrational truth is that Jesus did change everything. Rule following has its merits, but those merits only produce moral people. When we embrace Jesus instead of rules and morality, we become sanctified. The lesson I keep having to learn is that I can’t do it. I can pretend to be good, but I am just not good. I can say I’m sorry and ask for forgiveness. I can do the right thing, check the box, bake the pie, but on my own, I will fail. I can fool a lot of people and be sweet and contribute to a peaceful atmosphere, but we were all meant for something more. Morality and sweetness is the equivalent of taking a knife to a gunfight; knives and guns are effective tools, but they fall egregiously short when juxtaposed with true ammunition. Jesus knew that in this sinful world we would need the big guns. He gave us His powerful Holy Spirit to help us be what we could never be on our own. We can love and forgive radically and irrationally. I am weak and I am a moral failure and I am so thankful for this realization. I need Jesus. I need Him every minute of every hour. When I am weak, He is strong and His strength is glorified in my weakness. It makes no sense that He would choose me and forgive me and die for me. It is radical and irrational, and because of His radical love and irrational new way, I can do anything. Oh dear friends, rejoice. He is risen, indeed. Please pray with me that in my life He would increase and I would decrease. … Wouldn’t that be radical?!

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:4-5 (NLT)

 “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] I want to do what is right, but I can’t.” Romans 7:18 (NLT)

 

I woke up last night and didn’t know where I was. Somehow I forgot that we are on vacation. The room was very dark and the surroundings were unfamiliar. As wonderful as it was to be so deeply entrenched in sleep, I found the darkness unsettling and confusing. I have always been a little scared of the dark. I don’t feel in control when it is dark and when I wake up at 3a.m., I never breathe a sigh of relief that I can indulge in more sleep. When I see 3a.m., I am frustrated that a few hours of inactivity lie ahead.

This morning the sun climbed over the white sand and aggravated gulf. When the morning fog cleared, I could see the beach grass dance on the dunes and a bold little bird joined me on my balcony. The cautionary yellow flag from yesterday was replaced by a red warning one. The joggers were joined on the beach by some successful shell hunters who filled their buckets with fragile treasures.

As I soaked up my well-lit and beautiful beach surroundings this morning, imagine the blessing I received by discovering something new in my Old Testament reading. I am currently studying the book of Exodus. Pharaoh and Moses have been arguing back and forth. They have suffered through injustices, slavery and plagues and finally, Pharaoh has let the Israelites go. Moses has begun leading God’s chosen people out of Egypt toward the Promised Land, but God has decided to take them off the main road. Displayed as a protective cloud by day and a warming, illuminating pillar of fire by night, God led the Israelites “in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.” Ex 13:18 (NLT). Pharaoh regrets his decision of release and pursues the freed Israelites, and then God saves the maligned, confused, weak and frightened Israelites. He parts the red sea and turned the seabed into dry ground so that every single Israelite makes it across safely.

What happens next, I had never noticed before. Exodus 14:24 says,

“But just before dawn the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion.” (NLT)

And then, Exodus 14:27:

“So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the water rushed back into its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea.” (NLT)

Am I the only one who never recognized that one of the most celebrated and remembered miracles of the Old Testament happened in the dark? When the Israelites were being pursued by their enemies and were frightened for their lives, they literally had to blindly trust and follow God’s lead. They had no vision or assurance of how long their treacherous sea march would be. They couldn’t see the horizon or finish line. Enemies were on their tail and walls of destruction loomed on each side. Their only hope was to focus on the pillar of fire ahead of them. They had to walk by faith and not by sight. When they reached the end, God wasn’t finished displaying His glory. As the sun rose, God destroyed their enemies in plain sight.

So many people I know and love are in the middle of a modern day sea march. They are plagued by cancer or disease. Friends are suffering the savage pursuit of enemies to their health, heart and security. The threatening walls of brokenness, confusion and grief loom high on either side. It is difficult to cling to hope when you can’t see the horizon and have no assurance of victory. The darkness can feel overwhelming.

Like the Israelites, we are called to keep our eyes trained on God’s pillar of fire ahead of us. He lights our path and directs our steps. He never leaves us. On sunny days, when our paths are clear and enemies aren’t nipping at our heels, it is easy to take our eyes off of Him. Treacherous times fine-tune our perspective so that we focus on the pillar of fire.

The sun will rise. There is victory, but remember that God is doing miraculous things in the dark. When the daylight comes, we will clearly see how magnificent His works are. Hold fast. Stand Firm. Hang in there. We are called to walk by faith… not by sight and that is such a blessing!

A Song of Deliverance

15 “Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord:

“I will sing to the Lord,

for he has triumphed gloriously;

he has hurled both horse and rider

into the sea.

2 

The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has given me victory.

This is my God, and I will praise him—

my father’s God, and I will exalt him!

3 

The Lord is a warrior;

Yahweh is his name!”

Exodus 15:1-3

 

I am married to a very methodical man. He gets up at the same time 7 days a week. His calendar includes scheduling time for the week, month and year. He has an obsession with evernote. Our children have learned that the best way to get their dad to respond to a request is to e-mail him. He needs appointments and tasks set in a linear fashion. He sends me Google calendar invitations for date night. He has a 10, 20 and 50-year plan. He thrives on organization and gets juiced over pleasant lines.

He and I have both been studying the Old Testament this year. Where most of us are prone to skim over Levitical law, genealogies and land boundaries, he appreciates the methodical and clerical nature of these lists and lines.

In my study of Genesis this year, I also picked up an appreciation for the importance of boundaries, lists and plans. I’m most reflective at the finish line, and the ending of Genesis touched me. Genesis ends in Egypt with the death of Jacob (49:33) and Joseph (50:26); the last request from both men was to be buried in the promised land of Canaan. Jacob and Joseph understood and highly valued their promised inheritance. They held the promise of their inheritance in such high regard that it determined how they lived. God was clear about promising the land of Canaan to their ancestor, Abraham. God shows Abraham the boundary lines to the Promised Land in Genesis 13:

 And the Lord said to Abram, “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” Genesis 13:14-15 (NKJV).

Abraham’s grandson, Jacob cherished the promise of his inheritance and needed to be encouraged and pushed by God to leave Canaan when he learned that his long, lost, beloved son, Joseph was alive in Egypt:

 “So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again. ”Genesis 46:3-4 (NKJV)

God was very clear about establishing an inheritance for His chosen and special people. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph highly valued this promise. They believed God and continued to not waver in their belief when the circumstances of their lives threatened their security and understanding. Their hope and their foundation were secure because they took God at His word.

God is very clear about our inheritance. He promises eternal life with Jesus for all of His chosen and beloved children. He has established the path and set the lines in place for our inheritance. His testimony is that our sins are forgiven if our faith is in Him. He testifies that we are cherished and protected, no matter what craziness threatens our circumstances. He promises victory. He is coming back. His promises are clearly written out so that we can be sure and so that we can be encouraged by His clear and organized plan. He has given us life and He helps us maintain it for His glory. Understanding the promise of our inheritance should engineer how we conduct our lives. Y’all, we are so richly blessed. Rejoice in our inheritance! Celebrate our promised and pleasant lines.

“O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; 
You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; 
 Yes, I have a good inheritance.” Psalm 16:5-6 (NKJV)

 

“Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, 
 for they are the rejoicing of my heart.” Psalm 119:111 (NKJV)

 

The sun is shining through my bedroom window this morning. The icicles are shrinking from the easements on the roof. The last trace of snow is doing its best to cling to the top of my boxwoods and there should be no trace of any ice by this time tomorrow. Spring Break is just weeks away and with it comes the promise of warmth, sun, and longer days filled with newness and hope.

With the drip of melting icicles in the background, the words from my favorite hymn filled my heart:

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;

Drive the dark of doubt away;

Giver of immortal gladness,

Fill us with the light of day!

Winter is a fleeting season. Some days, it feels like it will never end, but the sun has a way of consistently returning to warm the earth every year. Even more consistent than the changing seasons is the love of God. He has blotted out our sin. He shines light in the darkness so there will be no more confusion or doubt. He illuminates, loves, protects and gives life. Do you know how blessed you are? There is no reason to hang out in the dark clouds of guilt. Your sin and reason to be sad have been removed. God is the giver of immortal gladness; claim that gift and get to rejoicing. Be filled with His light.

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;

Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;

Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,

Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.

Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,

Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,

Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!

Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;

Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;

Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.

Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,

Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

 

Henry J. van Dyke 1907

I miss the sunshine. The dreariness and cloudiness of winter have me longing for time by the pool and in my garden. I don’t have Seasonal Affective Disorder, but I can appreciate its impact. I love sunshine and light. Our home always looks so bright from the street that one might assume we are having a party every night of the week. As my eyes have begun to age, I need more light to read everything. The brightness of my phone is set as high as it will go, and I have spent a lot of time recently on that bright phone googling pictures of warm and bright vacation spots.

On this cold and dark morning, I studied the last chapter in my chronological Bible. Revelation is a difficult book to understand, and I am too simple minded to grasp most of it, but what I could wrap my mind around was beautiful. Revelation talks about wars and punishment, prophecies and plagues, beasts, dragons, warhorses, fire, death and destruction, but it also clearly paints a picture of the contrast between darkness and light.

As I will not try to pretend that I understand the prophecies in Revelation, I am equally confused and stumped by things going on right now in this present day. There are so many things done in darkness of the heart and soul that wound for no apparent reason. There are so many times when it seems like evil has won. These wounds and this depravity are beyond my understanding and they make me long for the light.

I have found that confusion and uncertainty are the biggest drain on my energy. When I try to make sense of wickedness, I am exhausted. My confusion mimics Seasonal Affective Disorder. The overwhelming darkness of depravity clouds out the warmth of the light. The cure for Seasonal Affective Disorder is exposure to light.

Immersing ourselves in light is where the healing begins.

God’s word reveals to us truth and light.

 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105 (NKJV)

“The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” Psalm 119:130 (NKJV)

When my own understanding fails me, scripture doesn’t. When I lay my confusion before Lord, He opens my mind and gives a peace that passes understanding. His light exposes the darkness.

I long for summer and sunshine, but I have a much greater longing for heaven. I can hardly imagine how wonderful it will be. My imagination and joy were energized as I read these verses about heaven today:

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” Revelation 21:23 (NKJV)

“There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 22:5 (NKJV)

Our God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. Isn’t that such a comfort? Doesn’t it lift your spirit to know that one day God’s brightness will permeate all darkness so that it is obliterated? The brightness of His glory will clear up all confusion.

As we drag ourselves through winter months of our souls, His light can bring the joy of summer. His countenance shines upon us. We need exposure to the light and we can get it any time just by opening up and meditating on His word. His word will not leave us cold or numb. His word is wisdom and truth and light and the only real cure for the affective disorder that darkness tries to wreak on our lives.

Tomorrow, when I open my Bible to Genesis 1, I will be reminded again of God’s light. Light was the first thing He created. His glory is so bright that it will light up heaven for eternity. His word is light and truth and it is the brightness we need every day. Dear friends, May the light of His countenance shine upon you. Open God’s word and get some exposure to His light.

“You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” 1 Thess 5:5 (NKJV)

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:17 (NKJV)

“So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit.” Genesis 37:27 “Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.” Genesis 37:29 “And Jacob recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.” Genesis 37:33-34 (NKJV)

Isn’t it interesting that within the span of a few verses, the 3 main characters in this well known bible story ended up naked? Joseph was just doing his job. He was just being himself and his brothers attacked him and stripped him naked. Reuben did not have the backbone to stand up against the crowd and when it was too late to fix his mistake, he ripped off his clothes in the shame of his cowardliness. Jacob suffered the heartache of incredible loss and in his all-consuming pain; he ripped his clothes as he suffered inconsolable pain.

The thought of actually being naked in public is nightmarish to me, but I understand the sensation of feeling so vulnerable and exposed, that it seems like everyone is staring at you.

Like Joseph, you probably have just been minding your own business or doing your job as best as you know how when you get blindsided by an attack that leaves you shattered and laid bare. You are made aware of rumors being told about you or you get wind of gossip in which you are the principal character. It sucks. You leave the comfort of your home feeling stripped naked with the eyes of the world staring in on your personal life.

Reuben made some big mistakes. I know you have made mistakes. I have made millions and sometimes, I have screwed up publicly and been left riddled with shame and embarrassment. Even though we are all sinners, it is awful to give the world a visible reminder of how messed up and sinful we are. We end up feeling helpless and undressed in front of everyone.

Jacob felt the intense grief of losing his precious son. The grief that comes when we ache over the loss of a loved one is universal, but we long to keep it personal. We live in a world filled with kind people who want to comfort and help ease the pain, but receiving consolation exposes our private wounds. When our heartbreak is raw, we feel unprotected and stripped bare.

We don’t usually picture Jesus being naked. It seems outrageously disrespectful and crude, but He was stripped bare for us on the way to His crucifixion.

“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him.” Matthew 27:27-29 (NKJV)

Jesus, the Son of God and King of glory came down from heaven and was beaten, lied about, abandoned, mocked, whipped, spat on and stripped totally naked for you. He was left vulnerable, grieved and exposed. He despised the shame but endured the cross because He loves you.

He is the one who will help you when you are attacked. He understands the pain of grief and loss and He longs to comfort you, and He is the one who died, naked on a cross, for you. He promises to forgive you for all those embarrassing mistakes and sins. He sees every part of you; nothing is hidden; you are naked in front of Him and if He is the one you call “Savior”, He replies, “You are Beautiful.” Let Him cover up your nakedness with His robe of righteousness; there is nothing better to be clothed in.

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, 
My soul shall be joyful in my God; 
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
 He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” Isaiah 61:10 (NKJV)

An Excerpt from “The Hiding Place” by Corrie ten Boom:

“Fridays–the recurrent humiliation of medical inspection. The hospital corridor in which we waited was unheated and a fall chill had settled into the walls. Still we were forbidden even to wrap ourselves in our own arms, but had to maintain our erect, hands-at-sides position as we filed slowly past a phalanx of grinning guards.

“How there could have been any pleasure in the sight of these stick-thin legs and hunger-bloated stomachs I could not imagine. Surely there is no more wretched sight than the human body unloved and uncared for.

“Nor could I see the necessity for the complete undressing: when we finally reached the examining room a doctor looked down each throat, another–a dentist presumably–at our teeth, a third in between each finger. And that was all. We trooped again down the long, cold corridor and picked up our X-marked dresses at the door.

“But it was one of these mornings while we were waiting, shivering in the corridor, that yet another page in the Bible leapt into life for me.

“He hung naked on the cross.

“…The paintings, the carved crucifixes showed at least a scrap of cloth. But this, I suddenly knew, was the respect and reverence of the artist. But oh–at the time itself, on that other Friday morning–there had been no reverence. No more than I saw in the faces around us now.

“‘Betsie, they took His clothes too.’

“‘Ahead of me I heard a little gasp. ‘Oh, Corrie. And I never thanked Him…

Oh Dear friends, We need to thank our precious Jesus!

You and I were created to praise the Lord. The more I study scripture, the more I see how important this is to God. You see it from the very beginning. Every time God created something, He declared that it was good. It seems clear that we should follow His example and praise Him for how great His creation is. The psalms are full of praise. Moses, David, Daniel, Jacob, Abraham, Joseph, and Mary made a habit of praising the Lord. The Lord’s Prayer begins with a declaration of praise. The disciples and Paul and New Testament saints praised the Lord even when doing so was threatening to their lives. We are told to rejoice always…even in our suffering.

At the end of the Bible, we see in Revelation that every tongue and tribe and nation will praise the Lord forever and ever.

We are told to confess our sins and love our neighbors and honor the Sabbath and tithe and forgive and do lots of things, but more than anything else, we are told to praise The Lord.

The most important thing is to invest in our eternal relationship with God through the means of praise. Praising Him is not dependent on how well things are going or how good we feel. We are to praise Him before we see how He has “used it for good”. We praise Him because He is good and He is God.

We must always remember that the only thing we ever contributed to our relationship with Jesus is our sin… that’s it. We should never forget how He painfully paid for our contribution. He is worthy of praise for His sacrifice and power over death.

We are to thank Him for all the gifts He has generously given us, and we are to praise Him for being generous and kind and gentle and forgiving.

When I don’t feel very “praisey”, it is because I am focused on me or the gifts He has given me, or the painful effect that sin has dealt on my life. My soul is eternal and I will be praising God for eternity; my life is out of focus if the temporal keeps me from praising The Lord. When our lives are crowded with junk, we need to remove what is junking it up. We can get blinded by junk and lose sight of the savior.

I have also learned that I can and should clean out my life closet of the junk that is crowding it up. A couple times a year, I clean out the closets in my house. I throw or give away the things that don’t fit, are worn out or just not worn.

I have begun to do this with “my life closet”. I have purposely cleaned out things that wear me out or have no value. I have had to clean things up and let some unclean things go. When we clean out our clothes closets, we see all our pretty clothes and we smile over how neat and organized they are. Our lives will never be totally neat and organized, but when we clean out our life closets, our vision is not cluttered by the overcrowded mess of things that don’t fit in the eternal.

We were created to praise the Lord, and if we are not doing that, our lives are overcrowded. Oh precious friends, get to cleaning. You were created for more than an overcrowded life. You are precious and valuable. Praise the Lord for declaring that to be true. Praise Him today… no matter what. It is time to get started. Praising Him is something we will be doing forever.

“The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.” Exodus 15:2 (NKJV)

 

Let All Things Praise the Lord

“Praise the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!

Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!

Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!

Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150 (NKJV)

 

“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV)

 

“After these things I heard[a] a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord[b] our God! 2 For true and righteous are His judgments.” Revelation 19:1-2 (NKJV)

I am pretty certain that nothing in my life is very unique or out of the ordinary. I am not saying that I am not unique, because of course, there is only one of me and I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I just have recognized that my days are filled with unremarkable lessons and expectations. There is a sweet freedom in knowing that my successes, failures, heartaches and celebrations are not particularly noteworthy. The fact that life seems to repeat itself connects us to one another. We are able to share joy, empathize and advise as we walk along side each other through shared experiences.

My husband walks more closely along side of me than anyone and recently he was wise enough to help me see that I was stuck in a pattern that I needed to break free from. I have been confused and broken over a situation outside of my home and outside of my control. Because of my confusion, I have obsessed over it. I have felt the need to understand something that I just cannot make sense of. I pray and cry about it. I think about it all the time and journal and want to talk about it. I engaged in yet another conversation about this with Pat the other day and he responded with this advice:

“Catherine, You have grieved over this for long enough. The time for grieving is over. It is time to move on.”

As risky as his instruction was, he was so right. There is a time to grieve, but I needed to recognize when to let the grief go. When heartbreak happens, we need to deal with it. We need to cry and be consoled and be quiet. We don’t have to shake it off, but the grieving season cannot go on forever. When we get sucked into all-consuming grief for too long, it is hard to climb out. I think we need to be purposeful about how we rise from the ruin. I also think the first step is to acknowledge that we have been in a grieving season. There is a time to cry, but there is also a time to dance. There are so many reasons to dance. I have to remind myself all the time of our instruction to rejoice. We rejoice because this is the day that the Lord has made. We rejoice when we go through trials and when we are disciplined. We rejoice because we woke up today and because God is on the throne. We rejoice because it is what we were created to do.

If this is your time to grieve, take the time. Grief time is healthy and important. Heartache, loss, and confusion are so common. You are not alone and just about everyone on the planet understands grief and pain. You are surrounded by people who get it, and you have the ear and affection of THE ONE who understands better than anyone and who can comfort you like no other. He cares about your tears and will be there to lead you when it is time to dance again.

To everything there is a season, 
A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,
 And a time to die; 
A time to plant,
 And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,
 And a time to heal; 
A time to break down,
 And a time to build up;

A time to weep,
 And a time to laugh; 
A time to mourn,
 And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,
 And a time to gather stones; 
A time to embrace,
 And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,
 And a time to lose; 
A time to keep,
 And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,
 And a time to sew;
 A time to keep silence,
 And a time to speak;

A time to love,
 And a time to hate; 
A time of war,
 And a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NKJV)