Wake up my Heart!

As I was reading A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 this afternoon (which is AMAZING), I read the verses from Philippians that are so often quoted, "I have the ability to be content in any and every situation." Which hit me like a ton of bricks. Just this morning I was saying to myself, "I HATE this...hate it. It's not what I asked for me...it's not what I asked for my family." So there you have it. A stretchable situation. Funny how we never seem to run out of those :). I need to learn to be content in the middle of this situation...which happens to be one I had hoped never to be in. How in the world can one be content in situations we dread? Grateful for suffering I can understand. Even joy in suffering I can understand. But contentment? Until an hour ago, my heart went EEEEEKS! NOOOOOOOOOO! My heart is hard. And I am stubborn. The glorious book states: "...[it] is made possible by the unrelenting effort of Christ on our behalf. How He works to clear...

Here's a poem, inspired by this painting yesterday. I haven't written a poem in probably 15 years! Eeks! But this one needed to come out... I See you There I see you there and can’t but think…you’re there because of me. Hanging, with thorns dyed red for all the world to see. And as you died, the curtain fell and suddenly human kind was free… Free to talk to the Father. Free to believe in the Son. Free to live eternally. Free from a battle won. Free to hope and be washed clean. Free to never have to run. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me,” Is what the Scriptures say. But sometimes I can’t hear and have a silent plea: “Lord Jesus, I am your sheep. Help me hear you over the cacophony.” The world is loud and wants to be my guide and my light. But the world is full of dark and seems to not comprehend right. Jesus, be my hope. Be my shepherd. Protect me. Hold this sheep tight. “He is Risen!” “He is Risen Indeed!” ...

Confession: I have been having some issues with the idea of God's sovereignty of late. And until recently I didn't even know I was! Since the fall, I've been saying, "I believe in a God who works miracles....but I don't believe in [a person] to want one." Then this week I got hit by a bus. WHAT?! Why in the world does God need anyone's permission to work a miracle? And the fact that I added that little addendum means that I was putting the person above God. The control out of God's hands. Thing 1, good thing I didn't get swallowed up by the ground. Thing 2, what a burden I had unknowingly placed on that person. So here is my soul-freeing, heart-tapping new saying. I believe in a God that can work miracles. Period. What is absolutely insane to me about that belief is that because I know it's true, (and I know that with every fiber of my being) it's okay if the miracle doesn't happen. Bring on the second WHAT?! If you read the Hall of...

Thanks to a small group I'm in, I had to memorize Psalm 103:1-5 recently. It is the last verse, "...who satisfies you with good so that your youth can be be renewed like the eagle's" that has been my saving grace this week. Life has been tricky of late. Not horrible, but not wonderful either. But every time I remember this verse, a sense of peace comes about. God can satisfy me with good. It doesn't have to be fantastic. Just "good." The new, NIV adds "things" to this, and that as well, simplifies my thoughts. For everything I'm going through, God can satisfy me with good things. Again, not necessarily phenomenal things. Just good. And good is enough. Good is more than enough for my heart. The reason God brings this satisfaction of the good is so that our youth is renewed like the eagles. I love this image of that above. Have you ever seen an eagle catch a fish; or fight another bird of prey for a fish? I have and it is magnificent...