Sometimes Love Looks Like a Potty

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assumptions, christian walk, encouragement, family life, focus, getting the right perspective, God's love, God's practical love, having the right perspective of God's love, how God shows His love to us, love, perspective, practical ways to love, reality of family life, seeing God's love every day, seeing God's love for us, what love looks like

Yes, you read the title right. After 24 years of marriage, (I hate to break it to the newlyweds), love sometimes looks like a brand, spanking new, no clog, beautiful porcelain, name brand potty. Sometimes, love does look like you imagined growing up with all the candlelight, moonlight and any other light you can imagine, but oftentimes in the existence of everyday issues, a potty is involved.

Last week, we had an issue in our home and a new potty got moved from the someday list to the today list. After a few calls to my guy, he was able to buy, deliver and install said potty within a few hours. Wow! What a man! We teased each other about our “potty love” for the rest of the night. The really crazy thing is if he had brought me flowers that day and took me to a candlelit dinner I wouldn’t have felt as loved as I did with him installing our new potty. Love needed to look different from a fairy tale that day.

I wonder how often God shows me His love in practical ways every day, but because it’s not what I imagined, I don’t see it?

Believe me, the day of the potty I felt God’s love as well as my man’s. You see, my guy wasn’t even supposed to be able to come home until the next evening, but unexpectedly he finished what could be done on the job site and was able to come home…a whole day early! Our God is practical in His love.

If God had sent me a phone call from a friend that day when I really needed a potty, I wouldn’t have felt His love as much. He gave me what I needed and I was able to feel how loved and cherished I am to Him.

On other days, if a potty showed up at my door, I would have been thankful, but very confused. I’m sure those were the days that a call from a friend did come because that’s what I needed that day. You see? We need eyes wide open to see all the ways God shows His love to us just like I need eyes wide open to see all the ways that my guy shows his love for me. Some days, it’s candlelight and some days… it’s a potty.

Look around this Holiday Season and notice all the ways God is showing His love to you. Did your family’s favorite pie turn out just right? That’s God’s love. Did your pie get burned to a crisp, but your new daughter-in-law needed to see you’re not perfect? That’s God’s love to both of you. Did you have money to buy the ingredients for the pie? Did you have a stove to cook it in? All God’s love. Didn’t have any of that? Well, how about air to breathe? That’s God’s love. Water to drink? God’s love. A coat to wear? God’s love. A hug from a friend? God’s love. The ability to read this blog? God’s love. God shows His love in many, many ways we just need eyes to see it.

So, as you look around for all the ways that God is choosing to show His love for you over the next few days, pray that seeing His love becomes a habit. Pray that you will see and feel His love as you never have before and realize that sometimes God’s love looks like candlelight, but oftentimes times it looks like a new potty.

Seeking Hearts Ministries

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It Might be a Sausage!

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a good laugh, assuming, assumptions, calling, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, devotional, devotions, encouragement, expectations, family devotions, fixing our eyes, focus, gifts, God, God's plan, jealousies, Jesus, laughs with a lesson, perspective, perspective on spiritual gifts, spiritual gifts, trust

      For those of you who know my family well, you will not be surprised by the fact that as I was searching through my freezer last week I came across a bag of, well, let’s say, “unique, unlabeled weirdness”. My youngest son and I could not imagine what these items were, so we finally settled on the notion that they must be sausages. After all, they were gray, oblong, individually wrapped with care, no label anywhere, so (we decided) it must be my husband’s doing. If my husband cared enough to save it, that means it had to be meat. So, we deduced that these weird items must be sausages. I somehow recalled that my sweet man had come home with some kind of leftovers after a men’s meeting one night, so my son and I determined…this must be it. These sausages looked gross to us, but I knew my husband would be extremely excited. After all, how many times do you open a freezer and have sausages that you had forgotten were even there?

A few hours passed and my husband came home for lunch. I, of course, asked him about these sausages. He examined them and became quite excited (as perdicted). He couldn’t remember any sausages, but wow! He was not going to let that stop him from the enjoyment. He proceeded to take one to his office to microwave for a snack later. Let me tell you there was a bounce in his step as he went on his way!

I received a text just a few, short minutes later (his office is quite close) that read, “NOT sausages (frowny face) frozen bananas.” Yes, you read correctly, the offending “sausages” that had not been labeled were actually my cherished, frozen bananas. At one time I had big plans for these bananas, but alas… I forgot about them and now they just looked like a bunch of sausage.

My husband was sorely disappointed, but I was left laughing my head off and then, well, I was convicted. It made me think about how many times I have mislabeled things in my life. I have often looked at a gift from God and labeled it as a “sausage” when in reality it was a beautiful banana. I have often taken the talents that God has instilled in me and refused to look at them as He desires. I view them as worthless and meant for someone else when in reality it is my heart’s desire with a different look than I expected. I have often looked at my gifts as an offense when God sees the beautiful plan He has designed for just that ability.

I was also convicted because I have often caught myself looking at other people’s “bananas” with longing, but labeling my own gift as a sausage. I see their talents as beautiful, yellow, perfectly ripe bananas, but look at my own as a grayish, unappealing, unrecognizable concoction. I need to be reminded that I Corinthians 12:4 – 6 says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.” These verses tell me that no matter the gifts, we all have the same Lord. That’s what matters, our God. He is the One that sees us through, not our gifts.

Remembering this makes me unconcerned about someone else’s gift and not ashamed of my own because I know God is my God just as He is their God. My face is continually looking to Him and when His hand moves, or His voice speaks. I am enthralled because He is my all in all. I don’t see bananas, or sausages because my eyes are filled with Him. The psalmist says in Psalm 27:8, “When Thou didst say, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to Thee, ‘Thy face, O LORD, I shall seek.’” That needs to be us. That needs to be our focus…God alone; not whether or not our gifts look the same as someone else’s.

I was convicted in another way when I began to think about how often I have labeled experiences that God has given me as “sausages”. In reality, these experiences were in God’s plan to nourish me and to make me become a healthier person, spiritually speaking. Sometimes, I have taken God’s beautiful banana and frozen it with my bitterness so that it turned into something gray, gross and distorted. Instead of remembering that “His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts” as Isaiah 55:8 says, I deemed His ways as hurtful, unhealthy and not for my good. In reality though, He was molding me and shaping me into His beautiful likeness.

Hebrews 12:1 tells us to “…lay aside every encumbrance [think sausage] and the sin which so easily entangles us [think comparisons] and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” This verse tells us clearly to lay everything down, get on with our Christian race and fix our eyes on Jesus. He’s at the finish line and He’s with us every step of the way.

When are eyes are fixed on Jesus, whether He chooses our gifts to be sausages, or bananas we are thankful because we know He can be trusted. If He chooses our talents to be meaty, or a little fruity, it’s okay because we are not fixated on the gift, we are fixated on Him.

Let’s encourage each other today to re-examine the labels that we have place on things in our lives. Let’s re-examine the labels we have place on ourselves, our talents and our experiences. What you have deemed a “sausage” might be a banana after all. It might be the very thing that God has bestowed on you to reach this generation. So, fix your eyes on Jesus, unthaw your gift and finish your race.

My Story       Seeking Hearts Ministries

Committing Adultery

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adultery, adultery against God, assuming, assumptions, basics, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, devotions, encouragement, faith, family, family devotions, lusts, temptation

The other day I was reading in the book of Proverbs and came across a lot of warnings against the adulteress. I almost skipped over it thinking that it had no relevance to me, but I am so glad I didn’t. As I was reading, I remembered that God often called Israel an adulteress when she turned to other gods. He warns Israel (and us) that when we turn from worship of Him to anything else, we are in fact, committing adultery against Him. The Church is the Bride of Christ and when we act like we are not, we are adulterers and adulteresses.

We must ask ourselves why it is so easy to stray from being true to our Lord. Why is it so easy to commit adultery against Him? Proverbs 5:3 says, “For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and smoother than oil is her speech;” We must realize that anything that pulls us away from God seems like a really great thing. We view the payoff as worth it. Our perceptions tell us that the opportunity, decision, or temptation drips with honey. It awakens our desires. It might even look godly on the outside, but at the core it is destructive because it is not God’s best for us.

For example, we have been offered a leadership position at the church, or in our community. It looks like a great opportunity. It would be beneficial to have this position in place. The church, or community, would really benefit. You can see all the good that it would accomplish. You assume it is God’s will because you are excited about it. You accept the position and move forward only to realize that things looked good on the outside (it dripped with honey), but in the end it was bitter because it was not God’s best for you. Proverbs 5:4 says of adultery, “But in the end she is bitter as wormwood…” You thought you were getting delicious honey, but it was wormwood in disguise and you realize you are worshipping a position and people’s opinions more than your God. It’s so easy to fall into a trap like this.

Proverbs 5:8 says, “Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your vigor to others, and your years to the cruel one;” This verse reminds us that we do not need to go near anything, or anyone, that could cause us to stray. Even if we are aware, we can be easily swayed if we are running too close to the enticement. Galatians 6:1 tells us that when we are helping others to get out of an enticement, we also need to aware. It says that we could be drawn away as well if we are not careful. Why? Because we are getting close to the door of the adulteress. We can smell the honey and be easily swayed. But for the grace of God go us, people, but for the grace of God …

So, I’m keeping it short and sweet this week to allow God to penetrate your heart with any areas that you may be committing adultery in. He is a precious Savior willing to take us back time and time again, (read the book of Hosea), let’s allow Him to make us His pure, spotless bride once again.

Seeking Hearts Ministries

We Didn’t Mean for it to Happen

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assumptions, battles, bitterness, burdens, calling, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, devotions, encouragement, exhaustion, faithfulness, fertile soil, God, laziness, overgrowth, sluggards, thistles, thorns, unkept fields, weeding, weeds

Proverbs 24:30-32 says, “I passed by the field of the sluggard, and by the vineyard of the man lacking sense; and behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles, its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked and received instruction.”

When I read this the other day, I couldn’t help but think of a lot of areas in the lives of Christians today. I thought of the state of our families, our personal testimonies and our churches. We didn’t mean for things to become this chaotic, it just somehow happened. We didn’t mean for our lives to become so busy that the thorns and thistles of life took over, but now we look around and so many minor things have become major. We didn’t mean for our church fields to become fallow and weedy, but that’s exactly what they are. We didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did.

This passage in Proverbs tells us that the people involved didn’t mean for things to get as bad as they did, they just weren’t paying attention. They were tired. They were idle and the weeds grew. I’m sure the sluggard would have much rather the field still be ready for a harvest, but he had rested too long and things had gotten out of hand. He didn’t actually go out to his field and sow the thistles. He just didn’t do anything, or if he did anything, it sure wasn’t enough. Thistles took over and one day I’m sure he looked at his field and was shocked to see the work that it would take to remove all the overgrowth. He must have thought, “Is it worth it? Do I even need to bother to try to get this mess fixed? Is there still hope for a harvest?”

I think a lot of Christians feel this way today. We didn’t mean for a standard to fall. We just didn’t stop the progress of the weeds. We got tired of pulling the same stinkin’ thistles over and over again. We wanted to rest, but just for a little while. After all, that video game isn’t really that bad for our kids. That book is supposed to have great educational properties, so we’re sure it’s okay this time. We got tired of always being the parent that says, “No.” Or, we got tired of always being the one to apologize, so we decided that relationship was finished until they apologize. Unfortunately, they never did, so we allowed a root of bitterness to grow (Hebrew 12:15). We didn’t mean for it to happen. We were just too tired to continue the work.

Do you see how easy it is? How easy it is to simply do nothing? When we do nothing, the weeds come quickly and in abundance. The nettles grow and the next thing we know our wall is tumbling down due to the pressure from the weeds. Our ancient landmarks simply vanish (Proverbs 22:28) because we forget that our strength is in the Lord. We grow weary in well doing because we forget that God makes our feet like hinds’ feet to make us walk on our high places (Habakkuk 3:17-19). We forget that He is our Source and our Deliverer (Psalm 37:40). We forget and the weeds grow.

I’m sure all of us remember the famous quote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Well, in the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah decided that he was going to stop doing nothing. We read that the Lord told him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. We see that Nehemiah was granted favor from the king, but of course, he had quite a bit of opposition throughout the process.

This is our plight as well. We have the favor of our King to rebuild our walls, but the opposition is great. When we start pulling the weeds of bitterness, anger and unforgiveness, it is going to get Satan’s attention and the opposition will be strong. We have to be determined to not give up. I Thessalonians 5:24 says, “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” When you are willing to start pulling the weeds, the Holy Spirit’s rain will fall and soften the soil. Hosea 6:3 says, “…His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” The Word also assures that He will be pulling right alongside you and He will refresh your spiritual muscles when things get too rough. He is so faithful!

Satan will be an opposing force, but so will those we affect. If we have let our standards come down with our family, (our walls if you will), they will be a forceful opposition as well. If you have allowed a television show, a video game, a song choice, a book, or anything else in your home that shouldn’t be there and now you are pulling those weeds out….watch out….opposition is headed your way. Be sure and explain your stance and pray together about the situation. You may even need to ask their forgiveness for letting those particular weeds in, but don’t grow weary in well doing (Galatians 6:9). Keep pulling the weeds. Nehemiah said to the Israelites in Nehemiah 4:14, “… ‘Do not be afraid of them; remember the LORD who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.’” I know that nothing can cause more fear in the heart of a parent than a confrontation with a child about removing something they have fallen in love with, but it will be worth it. It may feel like you are fighting with your children, but remember you are really fighting for them. They are worth the work.

Another opposing force will be yourself. Weeding is hard work! And, the longer the job has been left unattended, the harder it is. Everything not of God must be cleared out and then the boundaries must be reset. Not only that, but once everything had been re-established, things must be maintained, or you are right back where you started. It sounds exhausting, but remember this is your calling. We are called to fight for our fields of influence. We are called to protect the land the Lord had entrusted to us. We are called to keep our fences up and our weeds out. But, we are not alone in the endeavor. We are never alone. Hebrews 13:5 tells us that our God will never leave us or forsake us. He never gets tired, or lazy. He never sleeps. Hebrews 13:6 goes on to say, “…we confidently say, ‘The LORD is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?’”

So, no matter how bad the prospect of weeding looks, God is calling you to get to it. Your fields are at stake. Your family is at stake. Your church is at stake. Your life influence is at stake. Determine not to be a sluggard. Determine to be the workman that He has called you to be (Ephesians 2:10) and know that the day you look at the garden of your life and just see beautiful, pliant, fertile soil that you will know that your God can do exceedingly, abundantly whatever you can ask, think, or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Then, you will be able to sing at the top of your lungs, “To God be the glory great things He hath done!”

Seeking Hearts Ministries

Guilt or God?

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assumptions, Good Shepherd, guilt, guilty Christianity, helping others, sheep, wisdom, wolves, wolves in sheep's clothing

A really odd thing happened to me the other day. As I was writing a blog about being God’s light where you are, having a passion for others and that kind of thing, my doorbell rang. There stood a teenage boy and his small sister asking me about trimming my trees. They wanted to know if I could pay them to clean up my yard. It was in the middle of a school day, my dog was barking to beat the band and there stood a boy and his sister asking me about my lawn. To say that things didn’t feel right would have been an understatement.

As I was speaking to him, I thought about human trafficking issues that I have heard about in regards to children coming to your door. I also thought about the fact that they should have been in school and wondered if I should call someone. In a moment of complete honesty, I would have to say that I even thought, “Would you please leave so my dog will shut up.” Yeah, if you haven’t guessed it by now, my spiritual gift is not mercy, but the whole situation was just really strange.

When I turned down the offer to have my yard picked up, things got weirder. I won’t go into any more details, but the boy kept asking me about things and I just kept saying, “No”. At this point, it was so strange that I even thought about calling the police. Things just didn’t add up. Even the way they were standing seemed calculated and just a little “off”.

They eventually left and I sat back down to my computer to finish writing about sharing Jesus. As you can imagine, the guilt was strong. Here I was writing about having a passion for others and a few moments before I couldn’t wait to get a couple of strangers out of my yard. I sat at my computer and asked God if I should have helped. I almost got up and ran after the strangers, but do you not what He said? He said, “No.” As clear a voice was in my spirit as I have ever heard from Him. The guilt was still really strong and so I kept asking and He kept saying the same thing, “No.”

As I mulled the situation over the next few days, I remembered Matthew 10:16. It says, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” God’s Word tells us that we are sheep among wolves. The sad part is many wolves look just like the sheep. That’s why we must be so close to the Shepherd that we can hear His warning to flee, or His admonition to help.

Sheep are not naturally wise. They are a little too trusting at times and so are we. James 1:5 says, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach and it will be given to him.” We need to ask God for wisdom daily and in every situation that comes into our lives. We need to be armed with the wisdom of God in advance.

The sad truth is that the world thinks the church is stupid and oftentimes they are right. Some individuals truly need help and we need to help them. We are called to help them (Mark 9:41), but others simply view the church as a piggy bank. We have been entrusted to do God’s work with God’s resources and we need to be wise.

So, I’m not giving you an excuse to be selfish and not use the resources that God has given you to help individuals in need. But, I am saying please be wise. Please never assume that a person needs help because they appear to need help. Remember that in Joshua chapter nine the children of Israel were tricked into taking care of people that did not need to be taken care of. God wants us to be wise and not let our guilt rule us. Satan knows that Christians are commanded to help those in need. Don’t think that he won’t stoop so low as to manipulate us into situations that are not of God.

So, please pray today and ask for the wisdom that only God can provide. Don’t be scared either. Yes, there are many wolves, but there are many precious sheep as well and as long as we stick close to our Good Shepherd He will tell us the difference.

Seeking Hearts Ministries

It Might be a Sausage

Tags

all things for good, assumptions, bananas, labels, sausages

                                     It Might be a Sausage

For those of you who know my family well you will not be surprised by the fact that as I was searching through my freezer last week I came across a bag of, well, let’s say, “unique, unlabeled weirdness”. My youngest son and I could not imagine what these items were, so we finally settled on the notion that they must be sausages. After all, they were gray, oblong, individually wrapped with care, no label anywhere, so (we decided) it must be my husband’s doing. If my husband cared enough to save it, that means it had to be meat. So, we deduced that these weird items must be sausages. I somehow recalled that my sweet man had come home with some kind of leftovers after a men’s meeting one night, so my son and I determined…this must be it. These sausages looked gross to us, but I knew my husband would be so excited. After all, how many times do you open a freezer and have sausages that you had forgotten were even there?

A few hours passed and my husband came home for lunch. I, of course, asked him about these sausages. He examined them and became quite excited. He couldn’t remember any sausages, but wow! He was not going to let that stop him from the enjoyment. He proceeded to take one to his office to microwave for a snack later. Let me tell you there was a bounce in his step as he went on his way!

I received a text just a few, short minutes later (his office is quite close) that read, “NOT sausages (frowny face) frozen bananas.” Yes, you read correctly, the offending “sausages” that had not been labeled were actually my cherished, frozen bananas. At one time I had big plans for these bananas, but alas… I thought they were sausages.

My husband was sorely disappointed, but I was left laughing my head off and then, well, I was convicted. It made me think about how many times I have mislabeled things in my life. I have often looked at a gift from God and labeled it as a “sausage” when in reality it was a beautiful banana. I have often taken the talents that God has instilled in me and refused to look at them as He desires. I view them as worthless and meant for someone else when in reality it is my heart’s desire with a different look than I expected. I have often looked at my gifts as an offense when God sees the beautiful plan He has designed for just that ability.

I was also convicted because I have often caught myself looking at other people’s “bananas” with longing, but labeling my own gift as a sausage. I see their talents as beautiful, yellow, perfectly ripe bananas, but look at my own as a grayish, unappealing, unrecognizable concoction. I need to be reminded that I Corinthians 12:4 – 6 says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.” These verses tell me that no matter the gifts, we all have the same Lord. That’s what matters, our God. He is the One that sees us through, not our gifts.

Remembering this makes me unconcerned about someone else’s gift and not ashamed of my own because I know God is my God just as He is their God. My face is continually looking to Him and when His hand moves, or His voice speaks, I am enthralled because He is my all in all. I don’t see bananas, or sausages because my eyes are filled with Him. The psalmist says in Psalm 27:8, “When Thou didst say, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to Thee, ‘Thy face, O LORD, I shall seek.’” That needs to be us. That needs to be our focus…God alone; not whether or not our gifts look the same as someone else’s.

I was convicted in another way when I began to think about how often I have labeled experiences that God has given me as “sausages”. In reality, these experiences were in God’s plan to nourish me and to make me become a healthier person spiritually speaking. Sometimes, I have taken God’s beautiful banana and frozen it with my bitterness so that it turned into something gray, gross and distorted. Instead of remembering that “His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts” as Isaiah 55:8 says, I deemed His ways as hurtful, unhealthy and not for my good. In reality though, He was molding me and shaping me into His beautiful likeness.

Hebrews 12:1 tells us to “…lay aside every encumbrance [think sausage] and the sin which so easily entangles us [think comparisons] and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” This verse tells us clearly to lay everything down, get on with our Christian race and fix our eyes on Jesus. He’s at the finish line and He’s with us every step of the way. What a beautiful Savior! When are eyes are fixed on Jesus, whether He chooses our gifts to be sausages, or bananas we are thankful because we know He can be trusted. If He chooses our talents to be meaty, or a little fruity, it’s okay because we are not fixated on the gift, we are fixated on Him.

Let’s encourage each other today to re-examine the labels that we have place on things in our lives. Let’s re-examine the labels we have place on ourselves, our talents and our experiences. What you have deemed a “sausage” might be a banana after all. It might be the very thing that God has bestowed on you to reach this generation. So, fix your eyes on Jesus, unthaw your gift and finish your race.

Assumptions

Tags

assuming, assumptions, daily trust, God, God has our back, God's ways, manipulation, religion, trust, trusting God with our children

 What is my automatic reaction to trouble in my life? What is my automatic assumption when issues come up? Do I automatically think that something is trouble? Do I assume that the slightest whispering in our church family is going to be a massive fissure? Do I truly believe that God has my back, or do I ASSUME that I must figure things out for myself?

I began asking myself these questions as our Sunday School studied through II Samuel some time ago. In chapter 4 of II Samuel, we find the story of Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was one of Jonathon’s sons. You remember that Jonathon was one of King Saul’s sons and heir to the throne of Israel according to man’s law. God anointed King David instead, but God gave Jonathon and David a deep friendship where no jealousy erupted. Jonathon agreed with God that David should be King. He willingly submitted to God’s choice.

II Samuel 4:4, states, “Now Jonathon, Saul’s son had a son crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the report of Saul and Jonathon came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.”

You might be asking the question, “What report? What happened to Saul and Jonathon?” This is where you find the transition in leadership of Israel. King Saul and Jonathon had both died on the battle field and a new king was coming into power. Mephibosheth’s nurse ASSUMED that Mephibosheth would be killed. She ASSUMED that the new king would be as other kings and kill any perceived threat to his throne. She ASSUMED that she would have to protect her charge. Her love for Mephibosheth caused a chain of events that could have been prevented had she stopped, prayed and listened to God’s take on the matter. If she had simply stopped, looked up and listened, God would have told her to be still and allow the new king to find them. In II Samuel 9, King David searched for a son of Jonathon to honor. He took Mephibosheth as his own honored son. She would have saved herself and Mephibosheth years of anxiety and physical impairment if she had just stopped, looked to God and listened for His voice.

Psalm 46:10 tells us to be still and know that He is God. Sometimes, the only way to know whether our trust is in ourselves, or our God is to be still in His presence. We can know then if we are trusting, or assuming. Our trust is going in the right direction if we are good with Him working without our “help”. If we are fretting and stewing and trying to figure things out on our own, well, we confess that as sin and ask Him to help us truly rest in Him. He has our back no matter what circumstances look like around us. Job 23:10 says,“But He knows the way that I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

How many times have I ASSUMED things as Mephibosheth’s nurse did? How many times have I ASSUMED that my choice was God’s choice? How many times have I let a false urgency dictate my reaction and ASSUME a way was God’s way because I saw no other option? How many times have I crippled those around me because I ASSUMED?

I am so convicted by these questions. So many times I hear God’s leading and submit to the role that He has called me to, but in the day-to-day grind, I think it’s up to me to figure things out. I am so wrong. I must be still and hear Him daily, if not hourly, if not every single minute.  Isaiah 55:8-9, tells us, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” How is He to reveal His thoughts to me if I am not still enough to listen? How does He instill the mind of Christ in me, as II Corinthians 10:5 says, if I am in a constant state of assumption?

Have you ever noticed a night sky filled with stars? Have you noticed the peace and encouragement of each twinkle? What about those nights you haven’t noticed? Why are some nights different from others? I know in my own life when I have actually looked up, I notice.  When I stop and am still in the moment, I see. When someone is pulling me in all directions to hurry up, or I’m thinking of what’s next instead of being in the moment, I don’t see the same stars that are there every, single night. So it is with God. His ways are always there for me to see. His thoughts are always open for me to hear, (Isaiah 30:20b-21), but, am I in the moment with Him? Or, am I rushing around ASSUMING He agrees with me?

My heart breaks every time I hear the name Mephibosheth. I am reminded that an assuming nurse caused a lot of heartache. Yes, everything is beautiful for him in the end, but God’s original plan for his life was so much better. God did not just want him sitting at King David’s table, but frolicking in the courtyard as well. As a mom, this really makes me stop and think. I need to allow God to work His perfect plan in my children’s lives as well as my own. I do not need to ASSUME anything where they are concerned. God has their back just like He has mine. I do not need to manipulate circumstances so that they are doing my will for their lives, but God’s alone. Mephibosheth reminds me that God not only wants my children sitting at His banquet daily, but frolicking in the courtyard as well. I need to loosen my grip, stop running around in a panic assuming the worst and simply place them in the arms of the King.

Let’s stop assuming and simply trust.

Seeking Hearts Ministries

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