Sweaty Gym Socks & Wilting Roses

But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.” ~ 2 Kings 5:11

Has the following ever happened to you?  You went to church or small group and you hear a success story about how someone’s marriage was revived after being nearly dead and you think, “We need that.  I will find out what they did and do that and my marriage will also be revived.”  So you get your spouse to wherever you heard the message with the full expectation that because your spouse has arrived, the “magic” will happen and they will see all that they’ve done wrong.  So you bring them to the person who had the success story, waiting for them to “wave a magic wand” over your spouse—or perhaps you’re waiting for the person to beat your spouse with it—so that BAM! your marriage can be a success story, too.

But it never seems to go that way, does it?  In fact, it usually turns out worse and you end up leaving in a big fight, still pointing fingers at each other.  Why is that?  We do we look at our spouse as if they were sweaty gym socks or wilting roses?  I once heard a pastor say that the reason we don’t see the beauty in each other is because we judge them by their shortcomings and ourselves by our intentions. 

How do we restore sweaty gym socks and wilting roses to beautiful treasures? Through perseverance.  The dictionary defines perseverance as, “steady persistence in a course of action,” (dictionary.com). Perseverance produces character, which leads to hope, (Romans 5:4).  It also produces godliness, maturity, and a sense completeness-that you would not lack anything, (2 Peter 1:6; James 1:4).  When you got married, you entered into a covenant-relationship.  One of the main differences between a covenant and a contract is that you’ve got the laws of God in your court vs. only the laws of man.  If God is the one who is in your court, call upon Him to help you.  He promises He will.

Father God, help us to see our spouses as beautiful treasures.  Help us to see past mistakes and hurts.  Help us to forgive them and to cling to You so that we will be able to completely forgive each other for shortcomings.  Father, forgive us for each time we have fallen short.  Help us to persevere to the end, to finish this race.  In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Therefore…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ~ Hebrews 12:1

© by Heather Potts

Cast All Your Cares

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. ~ Psalm 139:23

It’s easy to say “I trust God” and “I’m not anxious at all” when you’re not waiting for anything.  Just a few days in on waiting on God to move and I found myself mentally pacing (it’s more exhausting to pace in your mind than to pace the floor).  But then each night as I put my daughter to bed, I sing to her a song about casting her cares on the Lord.  If I’m going to teach my little one to give up all her anxious thoughts and burdens to the Lord, shouldn’t I start by first exemplifying what I’m telling her to do?

Thank you, Father God for sending me a reminder of how my life should be lived in such a cute and cuddly package like my daughter.  Help me to teach her to follow after you by first living out that example in my own life.  And Father, help me to remember that my shoulders are not big enough to carry all that the world wants to pile upon them, but yours are.  Thank you, Lord.  It’s in Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ~ 1 Peter 5:7

Peeling Oranges

I was trying to get, what I was told, was a simple answer to a complex question.  I went to the most logical "go-to" person first.  That lead me to another somewhat logical person, which lead me to a third party, which sent me doing research on my own, which got me nowhere.  Frustrated as I was, I looked at my co-worker and said, "Trying to get this answered is like trying to peel an orange with purple paint!"  It seemed impossible.

But then I prayed and said, "God, you make the impossible possible.  Show me what I'm missing.  Show me the way to get the answer."  And I believed He would.  A few more "go-to" people later, I had my answer.  And the answer came to that person very easily.  She walked me through the process and I was able to get done what I needed.

Are you looking at a situation or circumstance that feels like trying to peel an orange with purple paint?  Put it all down and say to God, "You control everything.  You can even make peeling this orange with paint possible.  Show me the way."  When you believe He will, the answer will be yours.

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." ~ Matthew 19:26

Painting Glass Jars

I’ve been following instruction from a friend who said if you need and desire something from God, you must clearly state what you desire, what seed you will sow to have it, and then you must spend at least one minute visualizing it.  My problem wasn’t in writing the statement, or even deciding to sow the seed, but it was in the visualization.  Being asked to visualize something I’m not sure I understand or have ever seen is like being handed a glass jar with the instructions of painting something beautiful on it.

If you know me at all, you know that while I’m creative in writing, painting and drawing are certainly not my fortes. It’s been frustrating when it came time to visualize, because I didn’t know what I was looking for.  It wasn’t a lack of creative license, but more a lack of something familiar to assimilate to.  So, a good friend asked me to ask God what this vision looked like through His eyes.  That helped to push me in the right direction, but I still had no real picture…Until today.

This morning as I was having my quiet time, the time came to paint my glass jar and I was given a small glimpse of a portion of the drawing on the jar.  And then I was given instruction as to how to begin the drawing on the jar.  Painting on a glass jar takes great preparation and care.  If I were to begin painting right away without the full vision, I might be scrambling later to clean up a sloppy job.  I wasn’t told that painting my jar would be easy.  But God promised that if I sought Him, He’d show me both how and what to paint on my jar.

What do you need God to do in your life?  If He's calling you to paint your own glass jar, ask Him to show you how.  He promises He will.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ~ Matthew 6:33

Don't be a Distraction

For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ~ Romans 7:22-23

A few years ago, my husband and I made plans with another couple to go see a movie.  As we were getting ready, the Holy Spirit convicted me about sneaking in snacks to the movies.  I wasn’t sure what to do—as we’d always taken in snacks and it had never been a problem before—so I called up my girlfriend for wisdom and advice.  She told me that if the Holy Spirit was convicting me that I shouldn’t do it.  She couldn’t tell me why He was convicting me now and not previous times.  She also couldn’t tell me if, in the future I’d “be allowed” to sneak in my snacks in the future.  She even said that she was going to continue to sneak in her own snacks to the movies, “But since the Holy Spirit is convicting you, you shouldn’t.  You never know what the Holy Spirit is trying to do in this other couple’s lives and you don’t want your actions to distract from it.”

And that’s the key thing with “to sin or not to sin.”  God doesn’t want me to not sin simply because He said so.  God desires that I would so cherish my relationship with Him that it would hurt me to know I had hurt him and our relationship.  That’s exactly what Jesus was getting at when He said, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men,” (Mark 7:8).  For the Pharisees it wasn’t about a relationship with God or encouraging others in their relationship with God.  Unfortunately, it was more about a check list: Woke up √, Washed my hands √, Said my prayers √, and so on.

God, I pray that I will never be so far from you that I will miss how you want to use my life to speak to and touch someone else’s life.  But mostly, Lord, I pray that I will always be close to your heart.

In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.