Abandoned & Afraid No More

I am going to come out and just say it. I am a couch potato and certain shows just grab my attention. Lately, I catch myself watching this one show on the Discovery Channel where a man and a woman have to survive 21 days in the wild with little or no resources. A few things scare me about my fondness of this show. One, I am fascinated with the premise of the show, but do not really understand why if you found yourself in the wild and had to survive I am not sure why you would be nude. Secondly, I might like to watch people choose to make themselves miserable.

 I really enjoy the show because it makes me reflect on my own. Face it. Life really sucks sometimes and situations in life can really make you feel miserable, confused, alone, and abandoned all without being naked and in the wilderness. Frankly, I just want to know how I can keep my head above water before I drown in all life’s stress and misery.

The one thing that has worked for me has always been prayer. Now, it is not for everyone, and I encourage you all to find out what works for you. I can only attest to my own experiences and my beliefs. Too many times, I have been so distracted in my own needs and wants that I placed God in the back burner only to find myself feeling miserable, alone, and afraid. However, when I remember to put God at the core of everything I do, there is nothing to fear.

Remembering to put God first is hard work. It is a constant daily challenge where some days I lose out to my selfishness. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus invites us into His way of life, which entails abandonment of a former way of life. That former life being where God was put on the back burner and God was placed second and our needs came first. We need to break out of our selfish shells and return to Him.  That is why, Jesus tells us to “Repent, for the kingdom is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) Because God has always been with us. We are not alone.  It has always been our choice to accept Him. It is important to remember that placing God first doesn’t mean that you will automatically become a millionaire or get that new car. It means that in whatever we do we choose love first and our needs last. It means taking the time to placing God in everything we do.

Loving Father,

Help me battle my selfishness today. Help me to shed away my former life and look to you as the focus my life. Help be mindful of your presence and love so that I can be your humble servant.

Amen.

God has no Favorites

As a child, I had a favorite toy that I brought everywhere. That toy was a teddy bear named Jeffrey. Jeffrey wasn’t my only teddy bear, but he was my favorite. I packed him up in my oversized backpack and brought him to school, to church, to restaurants, and most importantly, he was always there right next to me when I went to bed.

As I grew up, I spent less and less time with Jeffrey. I also moved him to his own little spot on my desk where he could read and watch me do my homework. As I entered high school, my father was cleaning up because we were having family coming over to stay with us for a few weeks. That day, I stood there and watched as Jeffrey was put into a cardboard box and shuffled up into the attic. If he was my favorite, why didn’t I keep him with me? Why didn’t I watch over him?

I think all of you notice it too. We live in a very great and awesome time, but with that greatness and abundance comes very scary times. The news networks report terrible things happening all around our world. Every channel or internet article focuses on new details about the Australian brush fires, news about protests and the brink of military war, and massive earthquakes crumbling our world like a puff pastry.

I watch all of this and ask. Is God still watching over us?

In Acts 10:34-35, Peter states, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”

God is always with us, but the true question we all need to face. Do we favor God every day? Do we place God at the forefront of our everyday living? From personal experience, this is a constant battle for me every single day. At different decisions I make during a course of a day, I know I somehow place God second to my impatience. For example, at the grocery store a new cashier opened up and said I was next. I noticed the person behind me had only a few things so I let her go before me. Of course, that she had to pick up the one item that needed a price check. Internally, I was fuming with impatience ready to burst into anger. It was so fast. I had placed God on the back burner. I had acted selfish and that selfishness got me all disturbed and worked up for really no reason.

This happens to us all. For some, many times a day at work or at home. The truth is when we place God, as our favorite things get easier. When we remember that He is with is in everything we do we can live with no fear. God is love and there is no fear in love. 

Loving Father,

Help us to put You first in our lives. Help us to favor love first and everything else second. Help us to keep the fear out of our lives so that we can only feel your warming love over us.

Amen.

Keep Moving Forward

I recall being a child and constantly getting yelled at for running around everywhere. My father and mother had to be embarrassed because I would run up and down the aisles at movie theaters and at church. I was just being a kid enjoying the notion of never looking back. What happened to those days? As an adult, I notice we aren’t as adventurous or daring as we once were. Maybe its wisdom, or maybe we are just too lazy to be curious again – to look at things as if we were seeing them for the first time. As adults, we also find ourselves constantly being haunted by our pasts. Yes, we don’t want to make the mistakes of yesterday, but instead, we dwell in fear and we find ourselves paralyzed not being able to act. In some cases, it is simply just easier not to look ahead.

Life is filled with ongoing choices of sorting out priorities, which are important to us. For some us, we don’t seek to look what is ahead because we are too distracted with so many tasks in front of us. We wake up each day being a zombie going through the same schedule as the day before. Others, plan the day to the exact detail filling their itineraries to the max, and they too are distracted to see what still lies ahead – God.

Jesus calls us to follow him and to not look back. He wants us to make him a priority in our lives. He wants us to experience our life plans with Him in it. He wants to be apart or our decision making so that we can prepare for what is ahead in life- our eternal salvation. Jesus has the power to fill you with his grace so that we can be freed from our past so that we can live with him for God’s glory.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) Jesus speaks about the severity and the unconditional nature of Christian discipleship. Jesus wants us to live in him at all times so as not to be distracted from our purpose of glorying God.

Every person has the choice to accept God into our lives. God calls us each differently and individually. We can choose to accept the love and grace He has provided for us or choose to continue to look backward and live in the past. God is what is forward in our lives. When we acknowledge that God is in everything we do our lives are filled with opportunity. When we place God as the most important priority in our life, things just get easier. Our daily activities become acts of glory. When we choose God first, we choose to the important work of proclaiming his kingdom. Will you accept this opportunity?

Dear God,

Help me to move forward in my life. Help me not to dwell in the past. Grant me strength and courage to make you a priority in my life. I understand that placing you first in my life allows me to offer up all my obligations and duties for your glory. Send forth your Spirit that I remain steadfast in proclaiming your everlasting kingdom.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.