Where Do You Find Security?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoL2W9MuA9k

Peace ~ We the Kingdom

 

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord… ~ Jeremiah 17:7 NIVUK

 

The other day, one of my nieces tried to help Elizabeth clean the top of her dresser. Because it’s become her treasure trove, Elizabeth cried when anyone suggested throwing away anything. The incident reminded me of a time, when I was about Elizabeth’s age, that several of my treasures were found in the garbage. After a sewage backup, I remember discovering boxes of my things at the curb. I was hurt and angry at my parents for throwing away my things. I was a kid and didn’t understand that things couldn’t just be cleaned and returned to the house. All I knew was that it happened, and I had no control to stop it.

 

Many of the people we see as heroes are those who suffered experiences outside of their control. Though the experiences affected them, they didn’t stay in a place of hurt and didn’t let “victim” become their identity.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

The overwhelming desire to wallow in the muck of the things that happened to them died when they surrendered their hearts to Jesus, as it is with us when we surrender. The draw to dwell on the past continues to lose influence as we surrender more of our hearts and minds to Jesus.

 

At some point in life, we’ve all lost things, whether physical or relational. Loss tears at our sense of security, which comes from God’s design, that only He can fill. Trying to fill it with anything else leaves us feeling empty and alone.

This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will… dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.’ ~ Jeremiah 17:5-6 NIVUK

When we tire of what the world cannot guarantee and get to a place of surrender, the “cursed” one becomes “blessed.”

‘But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water… It does not fear when heat comes; … It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.’ ~ Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIVUK

 

If you’ve been living in the “parched places” in any area of your life, it’s time to surrender it to God. Trade in the salt lands for a life planted by the Living Water and watch as that area begins to bear fruit.

©Heather Potts 2022  

Something Different

…You have seen with your own eyes all that the LORD your God has done…The LORD will do the same…where you are going. Do not be afraid…the LORD your God himself will fight for you. ~ Deuteronomy 3:21-22 NIV

Change: something different.

Growing up, things were constantly changing. I felt like nothing could be trusted. For a non-military family, we were moving all the time. When I grew up and moved out, all I wanted was stability, consistency.

We’re currently in a season of change. This season has had “immeasurably more” blessings (Ephesians 3:20-21), but also mountains of crushing stress. Unfortunately, my response has been to try to hold everything together. The other day, the stress was so overwhelming that I felt tightness in my chest. The following morning it was still there. But I climbed into my God-chair and put on worship music. And in natural response to my God, I lifted my arms to worship Him. It was with my arms lifted that I could take a deep breath and all the tightness was alleviated. That’s when I remembered what He had said to me during our fast at the beginning of the year, “When you’re choking, you lift your arms to open up your airways and receive oxygen, which is needed for life. When you’ve choked out life by trying to hold it so desperately in your own hands, open your hands and lift them up to the Lord in surrender. For only then can you open yourself up to receive His life.”

Life taught me to try to hold it all together. But Holy Spirit has taught me to surrender it to Him. If you’ve been holding on to something so tightly that everything within you is bound up, lift your hands in surrender. Draw in God’s sweet breath and exhale, allowing everything within you to release. Releasing everything to Him is safe, for He is trustworthy.

©Heather Potts 2017

Posture to Receive

 [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith… Just consider and meditate on Him… ~ Hebrews 12:2-3 AMP

Sick babies.

Sick and/or worn down parents.

Little to no sleep.

Exhaustion has given way to…anxiety…and worry that tonight will be like the previous two: awakened every hour…

And at 10:33 tonight I find myself asking my Father, “Why?” And He stirs worship—a need for worship—in my heart. As the music sweeps over me, I hear the lyrics, “Would you come and tear down the boxes that I have tried to put You in / Let love come teach me who You are again /…/ Come and do whatever You want to,” (In Over My Head, Jenn Johnson). As the music crescendos into the climax, I can feel Holy Spirit rush into the room and crash over me.

Control. All my life, I’ve liked control. But God told me to let go. During a recent fast, God showed me I have been holding on to too many things too tightly. And He said it was cutting off my life’s supply. He showed me that a clenched hand can neither give nor receive life. He reminded me of when I would choke on water while swimming as a child. When choking, you’re instructed to raise your hands above your head, which opens up your airways to receive oxygen, to receive life. The same is true in spiritual matters. When we lift our hands in surrender, turning over control to Jesus, we have finally put ourselves in a posture to receive from our Father.

Let Go. In his book, Circle Maker, Mark Batterson said, “If you seek answers, you won’t find them, but if you seek God, the answers will find you…You need to let go and let God…by resisting the temptation to manufacture your own answers to your own prayers,” (65). Trust and surrender go hand in hand. If I never let go, I can never expect to be amazed by all the ways God wants to answer my prayers.

If, like me, you’ve found yourself holding on to things you need to let go of, simply lift your hands in surrender to Him. Breathe His life in deeply, fill your lungs fully, and exhale slowly. Now rest and receive from Him.

©Heather Potts 2017