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  

My Mask Smells Like a Diaper

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ejs2o-uhu4&list=RD-Ejs2o-uhu4&start_radio=1&t=12

No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus ~ Steffany Gretzinger

 

O God, you are my God,

earnestly I seek you;

My soul thirsts for you,

My body longs for you,

In a dry and weary land

Where there is no water.

~ Psalm 63:1 NIV

 

Have you ever had one of those days? The kind when you’re already running late for school and your kid suddenly can’t find their water bottle. You find the water bottle and dash out to the car, where she tells you she forgot her snow boots. You finally make it to school with the water bottle and snow boots, only to learn her glasses are in the bathroom and her lunch is on the kitchen counter…

 

Or maybe it was on Sunday: Everyone is up on-time, but as you’re trying to walk out the door, your younger child cries because her older sibling isn’t going to kids’ ministry, so she won’t, either. You rush around finding (and filling) water bottles, and scramble to make sure the kids have something to do – since they’ve both decided to sit in the sanctuary with you. Everyone is certain their masks are in the car, so out you go, hoping to still make it to church on-time. But then in the car, one child can’t find her mask. It’s OK, because you have spares, but she doesn’t like those. After digging through the console, you think you’ve found a winner until she says, “My mask smells like a diaper…”

 

While those examples were meant to add some humor to your day, some days feel really rough. Honestly, I wasn’t laughing in those moments (though looking back, they were hilarious). It’s the hard days that can really leave you feeling dry and weary. If you read Psalms, you’ll see David understood those days. But still, “in a dry and weary land where there is no water,” he longed and thirsted for the Lord, alone.

 

Jesus promised, “whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst,” (John 4:14). If you’ve been feeling dry and weary, it’s time to turn to the One who offers us living water. For only in Him will you find refreshing and strength to persevere.

©Heather Potts 2021