Relax~

Greetings,

My son has a best buddy who is known for saying, “Relax!” in response to everything and anything.  The ironic thing is that he says it so much and for the most dumbest of reasons, that I get agitated just waiting for him drop the “R” bomb.

“Relax, I’ll be there soon.”

“Relax, I have enough to eat.”

“Relax, the movie wasn’t that great.”

I get it; it’s just a saying.  But to our Lord, it’s an actual legit, meaningful, necessary, and beautiful word for our weary souls!

“GOD is a safe-house for the battered – a sanctuary during bad times.  The moment you arrive, you relax; you’re never sorry you knocked” (Psalm 9:9-10 The MESSAGE Version).

I can definitely get behind God promising me that in His presence I can relax, calm down, recline, rest, breathe easy, and put my feet up – for real.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We are knocking at Your safe-house today seeking sanctuary.  We have arrived, and therefore we RELAX! We take a breath and a time-out from our worries and concerns.  Fill us with Your peace, joy, protection, and health. We are so happy we knocked! In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

Chaos to Calm

"Why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? I call out to you every day, but you do not answer.  I find no relief. Trouble is near and no one else can help me. My enemies surround me...my strength is dried up...You have left me for dead...I can count all my bones...Don't stay far away. Come quickly to my aid. Save me. Spare my precious life."

Gee, tell me what you really think!

Those words were written by King David and are found in Psalm 22.  He makes sure that God knows EXACTLY how he feels, and does not hold back.  His outcries border on the irreverent.  Who is he to accuse God of abandonment and leaving him for dead?

And yet, those verses appear in the Holy Bible as an invitation to tell it like it is. God would rather have our outbursts than our hypocrisy.  He would rather deal with someone who has made an honest assessment of their heart than someone who lives in denial. 

God works with our straightforwardness.  The proof is found toward the end of the Psalm where there is a sudden transition from chaos to calm.

David calls upon us to praise the Lord, show Him reverence, and declares that God has not ignored our suffering nor turned His back on us.  In fact, he assures us that God listens to our cries for help and that our hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.

The only way to have such a change of heart is to have experienced it firsthand.  We can experience chaos to calm too, and it starts with prayer.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Since we are being honest, there are have been times where we wondered where You were.  We felt like You weren't listening and that the answers would never come.  But we thank You because You have never left us nor turned Your back on us. Prayer is so beautiful and important because something miraculous takes place every time we talk to You.  We receive Your peace and goodness in our lives.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Send the Wind~

Jonah 1:4 "But the LORD hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart."

Sometimes He calms the wind; sometimes, when it suits His purposes, He sends the wind. In this case, it was to get the attention of one of His children, Jonah, who was running away from what God had asked him to do.

Ultimately, Jonah jumps ship and goes where God wanted him to go in the first place. But not before he got swallowed up by a great fish and pitched a tent in its slimy belly for three days and three nights.

 Eventually, Jonah gets barfed up on the beach. And as difficult and mind boggling as his experience was, all those circumstances nudged him along until he made the right decision.

We will look at Jonah this week as his life will greatly encourage us and teach us a thing or two. But for today we ask ourselves: How do we know whether to pray for calm seas or stormy waters?

Last week when we read about the disciples fearing for their lives in the midst of the storm, Jesus ordered everything to be calm. This week we see that rather than calm, God purposely sent the storm to get Jonah's attention.

The difference between these two scenarios is that the Bibles tells us in Matthew 8:23 that the disciples were following Jesus. Jonah 1:3 tells us that Jonah ran away from the Lord.When you are following Jesus, when you are living His way, when You trust Him through prayer and the storms arise, pray for peace!

When someone you love has turned their back on what is right, has chosen to ignore our Lord, is causing heartache and pain, then CHOP CHOP!!! Pray for God to unsettle their life until they come to their senses.

I am liking this topic already!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You and You alone control the wind. You know when to send the calm and when to stir things up. We desire for you to keep us in peace, but we also know there are times when we need a strong wind to get us or someone we love back on course. In Jesus' name, AMEN~