Trust pt 2

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! ~ Psalm 40:4 ESV

REST is the result of a decision to believe God ~ Alex Anderson, Pastor and author. The emphasis isn’t believing in God, but believing Him, taking Him at His Word, and trusting it.

Numerous sermons have been given on being Mary (sitting at Jesus’ feet), and not Martha (working at His feet). We all long to be Mary, free to sit and rest in the blessing of His teaching, but too often we find ourselves working, instead. I will confess, as of late, I haven’t been doing such a good job of resting, or trusting. Instead, I’ve been struggling, striving, and stressing. When God told me to go back to work, the first thing I did was to pull out our budget and figure out how much I needed to earn. If I don’t have to pay for childcare, I only need X amount. But if I do, then I need to make Y amount. Understanding the budget is great, but it shifted the focus from God—how He was going to provide—and put all the emphasis on me—how was I going to do it.

Trust: to have confidence in another; to be secure, to fear nothing for yourself. Rest: to give permission for one to cease from labor in order to recover and collect her strength; to refresh. Jesus calls to us in our Martha-mentality and says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls,” (Matthew 11:28-29 NIV). Rest. Trust. Sitting. Freedom. Is it really that easy? YES! We can be Mary, even in Martha seasons. We can choose to shift the emphasis and focus from ourselves and put it back on Jesus, allowing Him to teach us.

Father, forgive me for working, for thinking I had to do it all, when You called me to trust and rest in You. Holy Spirit, remind me to rest, because it’s when I’m attentive to Jesus’ words and teachings that I’ll know what He wants me to do and how He wants me to do it. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

©Heather Potts 2017

I Hate Pantyhose

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing…absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. ~ Romans 8:38-39 MSG

I hate pantyhose—and tights too! 

Early in my pregnancy with Savannah, I wanted everything to be perfect, so I got pregnancy tights… And then I cried! I cried because I couldn’t get them on comfortably. Later I cried because once I did, I had to go to the bathroom, and then I cried because I had to start all over! I was so afraid that I’d failed my whole pregnancy because I couldn’t make the tights work. But then a dear friend reminded me that my husband would love me whether I wore the tights or not. She even told me that she hated tights and refused to wear them herself.  It’s so freeing when you know you are loved! When I realized that my husband would love me even if I didn’t do everything the pregnancy books suggested, it freed me from a lot of stress!

My husband’s love for me gave me freedom. It freed me from pain, frustrations and a lot of wasted of energy—energy needed for developing a baby. But my husband first had to experience this kind of love. He experienced it through Christ, through unconditional love. He learned that nothing—not his past or his present, nothing within or outside of his control—absolutely nothing would separate him from God’s love. And once he had that revelation, he was free to not only love God, but to love me, too.

If you’re still fighting with the pantyhose—the things that cause you undue stress—in your life, just remember things will go wrong, circumstances will go awry, plans will fail, but nothing will ever change how much God loves you!

©Heather Potts 2016