Consume, consuming, consumed

And, don’t forget, consumer.

While I fall into the category of a consumer, I think there is so much more about me. So it bugs me that this is a title that sticks to all of us. I can’t shake it. And I want to know why it is that it bothers me.

I don’t want to be consumed, unless it is by something of God.

Our economy is based on us consuming all kinds of things. And we seem to be doing a lot of it. My goodness. How did we get to this point?

How did I get to this point?

Dictionary.com defines consume as: to destroy or expend by use; use up. Synonyms: deplete, exhaust. to eat or drink up; devour.

Hmmm…..

I guess that defines me a bit.

It is easy to fall into the trap of “I want this.” or “I deserve this.” Or maybe even, “I earned this.”

Lord, let me consider all the consuming I do. Where would You have me contribute? What would you like me to contemplate? When is enough enough? And, most importantly, what is consuming me to the point that I am unable to seek you? Amen.

Prayers and Petitions

I can easily go down a rabbit hole of the things that can go wrong in nearly every situation. It doesn’t do me any good — and, in fact, it does me harm. So, I have been working on retraining my habitual response.

This has been a work in progress for at least 30 years.

That seems so ridiculous on one hand. Most of the things that I stress about have never come close to happening. It’s such a waste of my energy. But it seems to be a habit. And even if as I retrain my response, this seems to be my default reaction.

And, at this point in my life, I am recognizing that I don’t have as much energy and stamina as I previously had, so I really don’t want to squander it away!

I am thankful that God isn’t annoyed with me. He is patient and knows this is an area He is growing in me. He is in it for the long haul. This verse is such a beautiful invitation:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

In everything….in all circumstances…

Let your requests be made known…talk to God about them…

God’s peace…even though it makes no sense on a human level…

The peace of God will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus…He protects you from your own overthinking…

There is so much going on in the world that I have no control over. That is easy to see. There is a lot in my little life circle that I don’t have control over either. My day can be filled with prayers and petitions to my Creator. That seems to be the very best place to start.

And those things I do have control over? I can still pray for wisdom in how to proceed. The answer to my questions is prayer.

That peace of God — that is what I am after.

And that is why this verse keeps coming to mind for me.

Do you have a Bible verse that comes to you regularly? I would love to see it!

Little things add up

Every day I walk in my neighborhood I take my trash grabber with me and a bag for collecting trash while I walk. It is amazing how much trash there is floating around on a daily basis. The worst days are when it is windy on trash pickup day. Things blow all around.

Here and there, it all adds up. These all can be labeled in different ways:
Cigarette butts
Little alcohol bottles
Fast food trash
Yard trash
Tools
Masks
Gloves
Candy wrappers

Every day I walk around the neighborhood I come back with a plastic grocery bag full of trash. And it is a result of a variety of contributions from the neighborhood and as well as the people who drive through it.

And it makes me think about the daily things in my own life. I have my own bad habits, good habits, dangerous habits, healthy habits, careless habits, caring habits, mindful habits, and mindless habits….

As I gather up the collection of things in the neighborhood “on the daily” or “on the weekly” it is a bit of a reflection of what I am doing with my own life. Am I being intentional about cleaning up some of those bad habits? Have I become so accustomed to them that I don’t even see them anymore? I bet the people in my life notice them even if I don’t. And I have some little eyes and ears around every week who see and hear my reaction to things. I don’t want those little ones to catch bad habits from me.

As you think about your daily habits, be encouraged by your healthy ones. And consider working on one of the unhealthy ones. We all have some of both. But, if you find a habit that is blocking your progress in another area of your life, it might be time to make a change.

Establishing a new pattern can help bust an old habit. God knows how we are, but He also desires us to be moving towards healthier choices and better ways of communicating. If you take an honest assessment of how you are doing and offer it to God, He will surely equip you with resources to overcome those areas where you need a little help. He absolutely loves you just as you are. And He wants to be with you as you grow in love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness!

THE Root

I have been interested in genealogy for a while and the language around family trees can be helpful in explaining family dynamics and relationships. The Bible also talks about who Jesus is in terms of ancestry. And this is where that shoot that grows out of THE root is a very good thing for you and me.

“Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” Isaiah 11:1

This is good news for us! Jesus is here with us and for us.

Let’s let His love for others take root in our lives. Let’s be open to His pruning. Let’s trust Him to provide what we need to grow our faith while also being intentional about learning more about God through His Word. Let’s plants seeds. Let’s water the faith of young or struggling Christians. Let’s think about our faith soil — are we surrounded by life giving nutrients?

Has a lot of manure (difficulty) come your way? As stinky as that can be, it truly can grow you like nothing else can. God can use every last bit of our personal struggles to deepen out faith.

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV

The Root

Finding the root cause of something often takes time, dedication, skill, and usually money.

That grinding noise every time your car is running? There is a reason for it.

That water leak in your basement? Where is the breech?

That relationship struggle? What is behind it?

Everything ugly starts somewhere. But, sometimes we can’t see the origination spot because there are too many other presenting issues that make it difficult to find the root cause.

Sometimes there is a generational issue in a family. Sometimes an incident in the life of someone throws things off for a bit. Sometimes it is just the sin that is in the world and inside each of us.

But it all begins with sin. And sin began long ago in the Garden of Eden.

How many times I thought I was so sure that I never would have…

taken a bite of that apple…

denied I knew Jesus three times…

built a golden calf…

Yet, I have done all this and much more.

Chopping something down to its root is not enough because there are still sprouts that can come up from there. We need to dig out the root. Otherwise we think we conquered that thing, but it is still very much alive.

This thing — this sin that has taken root in our life can affect our health, our relationships with humans, and, most importantly, it will cause challenges in our relationship with God.

Is there something – some sin or some form of it – that keeps coming up in your life? Do you think you have conquered it only to have it rear its ugly head once again? Is it consistently causing issues in your life?

Ask God to help you understand the root cause of the pattern that seems to be on repeat in your life (aside from just acknowledging that we live in a sinful world and we are sinners). Ask for His direction in healing or resolving that issue. It may be good to talk to a trusted friend or a healthy Biblical counselor. Getting to the root of it doesn’t mean little sprouts won’t show up here and there. Of course, we are all works in progress. But as God does His work in and through you. you can be sure that He wants that situation to have healing and closure, too.

Sometimes it might involve forgiving someone. And that someone might even be yourself!

Always adding…

I love new opportunities. But, with a packed schedule, if I add something, I need to say “good-bye” to something else.

This sounds like my wardrobe. And my book collection.

I cannot keep adding to what I do without allowing some space for it. So, I am going through a bit of a re-evaluation.

What are my priorities?

There are only so many hours in a day, in a week, in a month, and in a year.

And, it would be foolish for me not to include time and space for the unexpected. Sometimes those unplanned things are super amazing and sometimes they are super intense and draining. But, the truth is, we all have them. This year we started off with what was probably Flu A for two months.

Two months. Yikes! We had to just do the bare minimum to get by.

But we are finally healthy in that respect. In terms of business, I am always evaluating what is working and what is not. Or, even if something is “working” is it where I should spend my time? Maybe the things I added during a season were meant to be there for only a season. What gets to be a part of my “permanent collection” and what needs to be pared down.

Pruning doesn’t only mean you are trimming dead stuff. Pruning is also cutting off the living branches because they are growing in undesirable directions or they are crossing another branch or even rubbing on another branch. Trees and bushes burst forth with lots of possibility. We can shape and tame them. Proper pruning can encourage stronger, healthier growth and prevent future problems.

We can also shape and tame our schedule. And, similarly, proper pruning of our schedules can encourage growth and strength and prevent future conflicts.

So, if you have been adding to and never subtracting from the demands you put on your life it might be time to think through that a bit. I typically don’t make rush decisions unless I am pressed. But I do trust that God will give me insight either through those around me or just “that feeling” that something needs tweaking in my schedule.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Impending doom

That sounds so defeating, but it is that dread of the complications in life that seem to be just around the corner.

It is very possible that they are around the corner. But I try not to give them life or more power over me by saying that they are lurking or think of these situations as waiting to pounce on me.

Stuff happens. And my response to my circumstances makes all the difference in the world. I may not be able to change the situation but I can change my outlook.

We can’t clean up every situation and have it turn into something amazing. It just isn’t something we can do. Unfortunately, there are many painful losses that we experience in life. They can be devastating. And we can feel lost.

But, we can ask God to show us where He is and ask Him to let us know what He is doing in and through the situations. He is surely doing something even though we may not have the eyes to see it.

But, there are times we are so busy anticipating doom that we are not able to enjoy where we are at the moment. We dread that the other shoe is going to fall and ruin everything. I suppose it can be important to prepare, but we can also make ourselves crazy by trying to prevent anything terrible from happening. We lose sight of the life right before our eyes.

It is important to practice handing all of our cares and concerns to God. Whether you start the day by handing them off or end the day asking God to take the concerns and grant you His peace, I encourage you to do it.

He neither slumbers nor sleeps. Psalm 121:4

The voice of Truth

There are voices all around us. Which ones carry the most weight?

Do you have a voice you hear that speaks encouragement? A voice that regularly speaks harsh judgement?

Have you found the voice worth listening to?

Let me encourage you to consider the voices around you. If you aren’t hearing words of encouragement from the people in your life it is important to dig into God’s Word. Find a healthy place to worship that shares the truth of God’s grace, forgiveness, love, and mercy.

Once you are settled, look for others who need the voice of God’s Truth in their lives. Be sure to share it with them.

God loves you.

Jesus died for you.

And He longs to be in relationship with you.

But don’t stop there. Dig in and fill your heart and mind with God’s Word and God’s Truth.

It is the voice worth paying attention to.

Conflicting opinions

Have you ever had an opinion of someone and have someone tell you they have the complete opposite experience or opinion of the same person?

I know there are multiple sides to people — human being are complex — but to have someone see the person you love (or cannot stand to be near) in the completely opposite way is fascinating.

It’s come up quite a bit lately for me so it seems to be something that God is encouraging me to pay attention to.

I have watched this from a distance. Of course, I have been a bit smug when someone gave me the willies and it turned out they were, indeed, someone whose behaviors would make anyone squirm.

That 360 view helps — all angles does give a better prospective. But, to what end? And, truly, maybe the heart is the most important aspect of it all and only God knows what is in the heart of man.

So, we are left with what we see. And, I don’t know about you, but my vision is not perfect these days.

Discernment is so important. Considering the opinions and experiences of others can also be important but should be taken with a grain of salt.

When I see wildly different opinions on someone I tend to assume that the truth falls somewhere towards the middle. Some people are polarizing. Some people can really be a chameleon. And we are left trying to figure out what is true. And maybe all of it is true.

Maybe ________________ [fill in the blank] showed mostly be their rough exterior but a grandchild was able to experience their tender, loving side.

Maybe ________________ [fill in the blank] grew to be loving and patient and trustworthy but had burned a lot of bridges early on so people who knew them and were impacted by that earlier behavior will not ever trust them again.

Maybe ________________ [fill in the blank] showed a lot of love to a certain group of people from a distance but couldn’t quite muster up any of those warm fuzzies for their family who lived close to them.

Some things are not for us to solve or know. When I hear conflicting opinions about a person, I pay attention. There might even be conflicting opinions about me. I am much slower to change a good opinion to a bad one. But, if there is enough evidence to show the positive in someone I previously would have seen in a negative light, I am open to readjusting my opinion.

We all have our opinions and experiences. It is important to run all of it through God’s perspective. Ask Him to show you what you need to see. Why is all of this coming to your attention? What would He have you learn in this circumstance? And where do you go from here with the knowledge?

God’s perspective is the most important.

Detours

I often think about those that wandered in the desert for 40 years.

I have done my fair share of wandering.

I ask for sustenance and then whine about it. I get impatient with God’s timing and make my own idols to worship.

I can’t poke fun at them because I am them!

Some of my detours are short and some are, sadly, a bit long.

Sometimes I get derailed when life throws me a curveball. Other times I willfully run into the briars or tumble down a ravine. And then I have some bumps and bruises and scars.

God knows my tendencies. And He gives me warnings — if only I had ears to hear.

Thankfully, He never slumbers nor sleeps. I probably am a full time job. And I am thankful I am on His mind and heart and He pursues me. God wants me connected to Him and on a fruitful path. And, thankfully, He can bear fruit from the more challenging decisions in my life’s journey.

Thank you, Lord, for loving me in and through my detours and for Your steadfastness!