Tomorrow’s Troubles - Lectio Divina

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:34

Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Trouble filled my world this week, Lord

Worries about the future.

Canceling much-anticipated plans.

Heaviness with unexpected change and new responsibilities.

Yet I feel Your presence as I walk through each day.

You whispered to me this morning, “Don’t worry about tomorrow. I will be with you.”

Thank you Lord.

The weight of the future lifts from my heart because Your heart holds each coming day.

The tension from my shoulders and neck relaxes with Your tender touch.

As I peek out the window to the coming week, I know all time is in Your hands.

No matter what troubles bubble up tomorrow or the next day or the next – I will keep my eyes on You, not the difficulties.

You hold the future, Lord.  And that does not worry me at all.

Using Your Gifts – Quote of the Week – Henry Van Dyke

“Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the best."

Henry Van Dyke

One Question: What Would You Ask Jesus?

 Ice breakers!  Love  ‘em or hate ‘em – they do help to create a group spirit and build relationships. Sometimes they are fun. Other times, thought provoking.

I attended a retreat a number of years ago where the first night they had us line up in two lines facing one another. We had 60 seconds to talk to the person in front of us before a bell rang and we moved onto another person. 

We shared: If you were having lunch with Jesus, what one question would you ask Him?

I will never forget the answer I heard over and over again:

Am I doing ok?

Most people said the question with lots of hesitance and obvious self-doubt as if they weren’t doing alright, God wouldn’t love them as much.

Why is it so hard to bring the love God has for each of us from our head to our heart?

Why don’t we really believe, grasp onto and share with others this unconditional, overwhelming love?

Why can’t we accept ourselves, as imperfect as we are, as God’s children?

I watched a Chonda Pierce video last weekend where she ended her show singing a song about God’s love called "You are Beautiful to Me.” After listening to the lyrics, I thought about that retreat and the recurring question.

I couldn’t find a video to put here to share it with you but here are some of the words:

Every morning He sings over me:

You are beautiful to me

Just the way I planned

Just the way I see

You are beautiful to me.

Every hair I counted

Every tear I see

Just the way I created you to be

You are beautiful to me.

Take a moment and imagine God singing over you every morning.  He delights in just how much you mean to Him.  All He sees is His beautiful creation.

Are we ok?  In God’s heart, we are just the way He planned.  

We are more than ok.  

We are beautiful.

People are More Important than Any To-do List

I spent most of Monday in the hospital emergency room. Not for me, but with my 99 ½ year old best friend, Esther.   

 Esther, bless her heart, kept worrying about me.

  “You are so busy… I am keeping you... Just go... I will be ok… I am such a bother…”

 I stayed.

Then on top of the inch of ice that covered our area the night before, Mother Nature began to dump an additional six inches of snow.

“Go home,” her voice said, but not her eyes.

I stayed.

Yes my to-do list sat untouched all day.

Yes I still have lots to get done this evening.

Yes the pit in my stomach tightens with looming deadlines and others’ expectations. 

People are much more important than any list of things to do.

My tummy may churn, but today I listened to my heart. 

And I stayed.



PS I didn't write this to pat myself on the back.  I just wrote it from my heart with the message that people are the most important thing we have.   Some have asked about Esther and she is doing well today and being discharged.  Thank you for your concerns.

Seeking God’s Face – Lectio Divina

“Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Psalm 27:8b

Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Lord You know the truth.

I did not seek You much this week.

I let the world distract me.

My focus blurred with worries, fears, and to be honest, busyness. My busyness, not Your work.

I know when I seek You first, I see You more.

That is my deepest desire.

To look at my loved ones through Your eyes.

To see the beauty in my least favorite season of winter.

To find Your light in this dark world.

To really see another who I may with my own eyes ignore or don’t notice.

Open my eyes Lord, lead me.

May I always hunt for You in every circumstance.

Help me see the world through Your eyes.

Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Anticipating Spring in February – Quote of the Week

"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a 
bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl.  And the anticipation nurtures our dream."
   

Barbara Winkler

I’m Melting… I’m Melting

The prediction today is for Ohio to hit 50 degrees. The blanket of snow that has been like a permanent part of the ground since December is disappearing.

Here was my backyard a week ago:

Here it is today.  I think by day’s end, all the snow will be gone from the table.

Shhh, can you hear the snow? Like the scene in the Wizard of Oz it screams, “I’m melting…I’m melting.” Yes the EVIL snow is dissolving out of sight. Ding, Dong the witch is dead!!

But in reality the snow doesn’t resist how the Lord is changing its texture from a solid into a liquid. Quietly and unseen, the snow yields its present form, allowing God to use it in new ways.

Wow, I never thought I would want to be like snow! Yet when I think of how snow yields to its Creator’s ways, the image of melting warms my heart.

I hear the Lord whisper in my heart – “Melt into My ways. Yield to where I am calling you.”

I look at my backyard garden and see a small hand tool, buried all winter, reappear. 

The musical drips of water from the gutters create small glistening streams that quench the tiny birds’ thirst.

More and more I see beauty in this changing season.

Lord, make me like snow. Help me accept who You made me to be and help me to let go when it is time to change. I long to hear your whisper to come into Your hands and be whatever You ask in this season and in next. I melt to You, Lord.

I’m melting… I’m melting…..

The Joy in Simple Pleasures

  If you visit this blog often, you know I am not a winter person – difficult for someone living in the Midwest. I struggle with finding the beauty in this stark, raw time of year. I have shared some of my discoveries in past posts as I try to appreciate this season in new ways this year.

   This is the first winter being in my new office in the house and I am blessed with a wonderful window that looks out onto my snow covered garden backyard. The highlight this year though is the bird feeder with its many visitors – sparrows, finches, cardinals, and doves to name a few.

I realized this morning how the pleasure of simply watching the birds this winter fills me with joy.

·      Full of energy and celebrating in the delight of finding seed to eat, they dance on my porch.

·     They look after one another. Often the female cardinal will come for seed while her bright red companion watches from the bare lilac bush 20 yards away. One sparrow sits on the banister while the rest of the crew indulges in breakfast.

·      Though I love the brilliant red of the male cardinal against the white snow, I have been fascinated by all the shades of browns on the sparrows when I studied them closely.

“When you finally allow yourself to trust joy and embrace it, you will find you dance with everything.”
- Emanuel

Details I normally ignore in my complaining about the long cold winter.

Features of this season I have missed that warmed my heart this year.

 I am grateful for the joy I am discovering in simple pleasures. I am learning to dance with everything God brings into my life.

How about you? What brings joy to your heart? What are you dancing with?

God’s Text Message – Lectio Divina

Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord.  Lamentations 3:40

Let us test.

Lord, today’s verse made me smile.  When I first read it I thought it said, “Let us text.”

Yep, I thought you were finally giving me the go-ahead to add text messaging to my phone.

I am so sorry. I am too much of this world and not of Your world.

I wonder what else I assume about your living Word, Lord.

Clear the mud from my eyes, Lord, to see You better.

Help me test my thoughts and my behaviors, and examine my ways more closely.

Turn my heart and mind back to You and not the traps of the world or the snares of my ego.

And Lord, if you did text me, I think your message would be LOVE.

God’s Remodeling Project – Quote of the Week by C. S. Lewis

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. 

At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.

But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? 

The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."  C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

Soul Print by Mark Batterson – Book Review and Reflections

Self-discovery and reflection are surprising spiritual disciplines. But God knows us better than we know ourselves and learning to be our true selves, as God created us, is a lifelong discovery we are all called to do.

I recently received Mark Batterson’s new book, Soul Print, as a blogger book reviewer for Multnomah. I enjoy reading this type of book that doesn’t focus on being self centered in our exploring our true identities, but God focused in living lives for Him.

“You are unlike anyone who has ever lived. But that uniqueness isn’t a virtue. It’s a responsibility. Uniqueness is God’s gift to you and uniqueness is your gift to God you owe it to yourself to be yourself. But more important, you owe it to the One who designed you and destined you.”

This book empowers the reader to look deeper and discover the joy of who you are and the freedom of who you are not. Batterson fills this easy to read book with interesting stories and thought provoking questions. You can tell he loves the stories of David as he uses him as an illustration throughout the book.

“When it comes to the will of God, we tend to focus on what and where, But what you are doing or where you are going are secondary issues. God’s primary concern is who you’re becoming…The end goal is not a revelation of who you are. The end goal is a revelation of who God is. The only way to discover who you are is to discover who God is because you’re made in His image.”

One interesting chapter is titled Life Symbols and the author challenges us to surround ourselves with items that reflect our life. These ordinary objects help us remember who we are, what shaped us, and how these life experiences form our present and future.

Take a look around your home. What life symbols do have now? What would you add? Interesting to think about, isn’t it?

I must say, though, I was disappointed that this book quoted other people and other than Batterson’s anecdotal stories, didn’t add much new material for me.  I like “meatier” books and kept looking for a great “a-ha” that never materialized.

"Who Am I?" is an age-old question we all struggle with. This quick-read book may help you discover who God created you to be.

Lessons from the Road to Emmaus

Do you have a favorite Bible Story? One that draws you back to read and read again?

The story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus after Christ’s crucifixion is one story that I continually discover new insights that touch my heart and feed my soul. Often when I don’t know what to read I meditate on my favorites verses to guide my path.

Oswald Chambers used a verse from this passage in My Utmost for His Highest on the February 7 entry:

“But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.” Luke 24:21

Chambers writes, “Spiritual lust causes me to demand an answer from God instead of seeking God Himself who gives the answer…The purpose of prayer is that we get a hold of God, not the answer…If we will only obey and do the task that He has placed closest to us, we will see Him.” 

Chambers asks us what have we been praying for, expecting an answer from God? Is today the ‘third day” and God still has not done what I have expected Him to do?

Convicting questions, aren’t they?

I have recently whined to God about my thirst to grow in devotion to Him and my lack of clarity on how to do this.  Three days? Try three years I have been praying about this. What have I learned?

Chambers is so right:  I am to focus on God, not the answer and to do what He has placed in front of me for my next step and not worry about the end results. 

The disciples on the road to Emmaus experienced God, not all the answers to their prayers.

On my road to Emmaus, I chose to focus on God too, not the answers.  This is not easy as I slip back into old patterns of wanting to control the outcomes in MY timing. But once again, God’s Word gently prods me back onto His path.

Do you have a favorite Bible verse that keeps you on the right path? 

P. S.  I just realized that this is my 300th post for Healthy Spirituality. Please invite others to check this blog out and subscribe if they wish.  Thank you for reading this and walking with my on this journey.

God Knows our Hearts – Lectio Divina

He knows the secrets of the heart. Psalm 44:21

He knows the secrets of the heart.

Lord, You know my heart.

  You see what is deep inside of me.

    You wired me, You molded me and understand me better than I understand myself.

And just think: You still love me.

You see every dark nook and cranny.

   The tiny bits of dust hidden in the corner.

      The holes I can’t mend and the stains I can’t remove.

And You still love me.

You are aware of my strengths, that I do try at times to follow only You.

You also get my weaknesses, when I wander from your pasture into a dangerous world.

Your light penetrates every corner of my being.

And You still love me.

I slink into my closet, hiding from Your love.

I turn my back, close my eyes, and hang up the ‘private” sign on my heart.

I tuck away secrets – my dreams, my desires and my lustful ways – into dark pockets.

And You still love me.

Thank You, Lord. 

Thank You for taking all of me into Your boundless, loving arms.

Thank You for shining Your gentle light and slowly invite me from my hiding place.

Thank You for knowing, accepting, and understanding  all the secrets of my heart.

Thank You for still loving me.

Prayer – Thomas A Kempis – Quote of the Week

Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know,

    to love what I ought to love,

      to praise what delights you most,

        to value what is precious in your sight,

           to hate what is offensive to you.

Do not allow me to judge according to the sight of my eyes,

        nor to pass sentence according to the hearing of my ears;

            but to discern with a true judgment between things visible and spiritual,

 and above all things, always to inquire what is the good pleasure of your will.

Thomas a Kempis

Winter Psalm – Joyce Rupp and the 2011 Blizzard

Quite a bit of snow blanketed in my area this week and the news tells me many of you experienced the same blizzard. As you know I am not a fan of winter, yet there is a stark beauty to this.

Joyce Rupp wrote a psalm about winter that fits the weather this week. Its words drew me out of my self-pitiful whining about the weather to new perspective of its beauty. 

*Prayer: Psalm for a Winter Day*

Lord God, creator of all seasons and ages,

I praise you for all that is beautiful in this winter day of February coldness:

the strong, black patterns of trees standing tall,

the utter whiteness of snow as it layers the lawn,

the stillness broken only by the sound of a brave snowbird,

the bush under the rainspout drenched in ice.

Oh, all that is glistening with cold this morning, praise the Lord!

All creatures snuggled away in nests, caves, and trees, praise the Lord!

Oh, all peoples bundled in winter wear, scurrying to work, praise the Lord!

Cars, trucks, and buses chugging along the freeway, praise the Lord!

Cows, steers, and sheep on hillsides, braving cold, praise the Lord!

Oh, crunch and crackle of shoes on frosty snowfall, praise the Lord!

All ponds and lakes deeply frozen and lovely formed, praise the Lord!

Little rabbits leaving deep footprints 'neath my window, praise the Lord!

Yes, all the winter world, whose beauty we so often miss,

whose weather we so often condemn, praise the Lord,

and bless God's holy name,

for our world has wonders and tiny miracles

if only our hearts as well as our eyes are open to see.

                                                       Joyce Rupp

My prayer today is her closing words and dovetails to my Tuesday post about seeing as God sees:

   Bless God's holy name,

for our world has wonders and tiny miracles

if only our hearts as well as our eyes are open to see.

God’s Eyes

We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.  ~Anaïs Nin

As regular readers of this blog knows, I have some of most honest, open conversations with God in the middle of the night. My restless prayers this past weekend focused on seeing people and situations through God’s eyes, not mine.

My perspective is blurry, out of focus, and often skeptical. I see only the broken sharp pieces of ragged glass, not what God sees: the completed magnificent stained glass masterpiece.

Lord, help me see as You see.

Awaken my heart to others longing to be noticed.

Shake my complacency to notice where they hurt.

Slow me down so I notice, actually pay attention, to whoever is in front of me and look at them with love.

Lord, help me hear as You hear.

My ears are clogged with my own thoughts, fears, and chatter.

I know You hear the deeper meanings hidden in conversations reflecting hurt, loneliness, and pain that I fail to comprehend.

Lord, help me feel as You feel.

I hesitate in fear You will answer this prayer - but do break my heart with what breaks Yours.

Give me courage to intercede when You shine Your light on injustice and to speak up when gossip and rude remarks dominate.

I know You are everywhere,

       Lord. Help me see You more.

            Help me see through Your eyes.

"I look at God, I look at you, and I keep on looking at God." Julian of Norwich