Help Me See

 On my kitchen windowsill I have a big mason jar full of flowers that I picked this week. My husband looked at it and said, "What a mess." I looked over at what he was referring to - the golden pollen and tiny white flowers and bigger different-colored petals that had fallen all around the jar and all I saw was nature's glitter and confetti. I thought it was pretty. Where he saw a mess, I saw beauty. 

I thought about how we see things so differently and perhaps why that is.

I'll be moaning and complaining about this mountain ahead of me that has overwhelmed me to the point of wanting to lay down and die at the base of it and my husband will ask, "What in the world is going on with you?" And from my prostrate position, I'll point up and say, "That mountain. I can't get over it." And he'll look and say, "WHAT mountain?" I point again more vigorously and say, "THAT mountain." And he looks at it and says, "What. You mean that little molehill? Psh!" I gape in surprise and look back at that dark looming thing and lo and behold, it IS a molehill!! With his simple declaration, that mountain shrunk to a molehill and I could suddenly get up and stomp right over it. Where I saw impossible, he saw as doable. Where I saw difficult, he saw as easy peasey. 

That's what we do for each other. This is what Christ does for us through each other. This is what Christ does for us. 

Often in the mornings when I sit down to have my daily talk with God, I'll hand over this impossibly tangled ball of yarn with tears in my eyes, knowing there is no way it can be untangled. I tried and it is such a hopeless mess. The Lord says, "Tell me about it." and I do. And while I am spinning out the story of my woes and burdens, fears and worries, He is quietly, calmly untangling that mess. When I am done He says, "Here. Look."  and to my (daily) surprise,  it's not a mess anymore. It's all laid out nicely and orderly and something I can now work with. I see things more clearly. Things that seemed impossible, I now see solutions for. Things that seemed overwhelming have been shrunk down to  manageable size. Things that scared me don't seem frightening at all now. Things that were completely out of my control are now sitting in my Father's big capable hands and I know they are in His control so I don't have to even think about them anymore. Sigh.... Oh that feels so much better. The burdens are off. I am free to skip through my day with peace and joy. 

Where I saw chaos, He saw order. Where I saw a tangled mess, He saw beauty. Where I saw fear and weakness, He saw strength and courage. Where I saw just poor old weak me, He saw Himself in me and that His strength is made perfect in my weakness. 

This is what Christ does for us and what He'll do through us for others - to help us see the truth, help each other to see that we can indeed do ALL things through Christ Who strengthens us. Amen. Thank You Father! ♡

I Can See!

 When you are raised in a home by people who are not Christians, who are not living by Biblical principles - who are broken, sin sick, confused, lost, seeking fulfillment and happiness in all the wrong places - your view of reality tends to be very skewed.

 You are seeing the world through someone else's dark, distorted lens. You don't actually see things for what they really are. You see them as you are taught to see them, how THEY learned to see them.

 It is the perfect picture of the blind leading the blind. It's like being given a map that has been turned upside down and half of it blackened out. It makes life incredibly difficult to navigate. In fact it makes it almost impossible. And you have no idea why you're having such a hard time, especially when everybody else seems to have figured this Life thing out.

 You have been taught and given this map to guide you, so why am I floundering around so badly? Why do I find myself in deep water and drowning a lot?? You don't know that your map is bad. You don't know that the teaching you received wasn't the truth. You have no idea that you're stumbling around in the dark and that the lessons you were taught to go down the road don't actually work. In fact, they make things harder. So you spend most of your life completely confused, like you were given a machine to run but with the wrong directions;  you still try to keep making it run anyway. You don't have any choice.

 Perceptions, attitudes, fear, worry, relationships, worth, work, fun, happiness, peace are all seen in the wrong light. And this is where Jesus comes in. He says, "I am the light" and He is. When He is invited into a life, usually because you just can't stand the darkness any longer, He sheds His light everywhere. You can finally see. The good and the bad, how things really are, what the truth is.

 For some people, like Paul in the Bible, this is a blinding, life-transforming light that changes everything immediately. For others of us, this is a glowing light that God uses gently over a great deal of time, change coming slowly but surely. 

He sheds the light of His love in you, showing you how loved and treasured you are. He sheds His beautiful light in your dark places exposing sin-sickness, disease, wounds, addictions, and He then heals and delivers. He sheds His transforming light in your mind and shows you what the truth is, how to view things, people, situations as He sees them. He transforms our thought-life, giving purity and wisdom and beautiful truth. 

And then you can see, really see for the first time. You throw out the old map. You replace the incorrect teaching with The Truth, His Word. You're not stumbling or flailing or drowning anymore. You're not in darkness anymore. The path is clear and so much easier! You can now see beyond the end of your own nose and suddenly see the deep need around you and amazingly, you want to do something about it. Relationships become better, you begin to understand how you can actually love your enemies, because you now see others as God sees them - lost, confused, stumbling, in pain, with a bad map and wrong directions - and you feel such compassion because you know exactly what that's like and how hard it is.

 You want to show them The Way.

The stress and anxiety are gone. The worry and fear are gone. You finally see your Provider, your Father, your Brother, your Friend. You see Him. And you are transformed. ♡♡♡♡

Christ's Light Shines in the Darkness

I went into my prayer time this morning with a heavy heart. I, like many of us, was grieving, disappointed, dejected and even a little fearful. 

I felt as if I was walking into a very dark dungeon, one which I knew I'd be in for quite a while, maybe for the rest of my life, and the dread and fear were real. 

But as the Lord has taught me recently, I knew I was not alone. I knew to thank God for this place He wants me to go. I knew to face it head on with His strength and courage. I knew to embrace it, knowing that the Lord promises to bring good out of seeming bad, knowing that He gives sweetness after the bitter cup. 

I walked in asking Him what He wants me to do here, how can I join Him in bringing His will to earth as it is in heaven. "Show me what to do to glorify You here, Lord." As I walked on I saw people in the shadows cowering in the darkness. "Lord, I want to help my brothers and sisters here too." 

I began to notice that as I walked further into this darkness, I began to shine like a light.  There was light coming off of me that I hadn't seen outside in the sun. The further in I walked, the more I let go and surrendered, the more obedient I became, the more I trusted, the brighter His light shone through me. It was His light of Hope and Truth and Peace. And there were others in that dark place with me whose lights were shining too. And together we shone brighter and brighter. We were lighting it up and people were drawn to that light. Hallelujah! 

~~~The light of Christ shines the brightest in the darkness. ~~~

We have a great opportunity here in the time of darkness we are now entering. It is time for us to take our place at the table. It is time for us to be Daniels. It is time to put away all compromise and rise up like the warriors we were always intended to be. It is a time to let Christ's light shine through us like never before, bringing men and women to Christ.

When I began to pray this morning, I felt grieved and fearful but I came out of that time in a way that shocked me. I rose up like a warrior, dressed in my full armor, strong, resolute, steadfast, face set like flint, prepared for what's ahead, saying, "Ok Lord. I'm ready."

Thank You Lord for this wonderful opportunity and for allowing us to work with You to bring others into the Kingdom! What an honor! I can't wait to see what You're going to do and all the good You're going to bring out of it! 😁