THE SUN WILL COME OUT...TODAY!

There are a lot of "buts" in my mind when I read the following:

    ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

   ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

But....isn't it irresponsible to NOT think about the future?  do not worry about your life

But....shouldn't we plan ahead and make sure that there is food on the table? do not worry about what you will eat or drink

But....I want to look nice and I love new clothes - they give me a boost when I'm feeling down...besides - I go to my closet and I don't have anything to wear! And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow....not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these..... will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
But....But....   

I guess Little Orphan Annie had not been reading this scripture when she sang this:
 

She sings, "When I'm stuck with a day that's gray and lonely, I just stick out my chin, and grin and say - The sun'll come out tomorrow, so ya gotta hang on 'til tomorrow....it's only a day away!"

I don't think I want to wait until tomorrow, it never comes.

I have really been struck by this 'living in the now' subject recently. My sister has been speaking with me about living today... not in the past or the future... but just today. As I had been ruminating on it for a while, a new friend of mine told me about her surviving cancer. She was telling me about a post treatment retreat she went to where someone challenged her to live TODAY. Not in the past, where cancer was painful and frightening - nor in the future that asks whether the cancer will return...or should she return to work and what shall she do with the rest of this life that she has?


TODAY.... I do think I like the sound of that word. It makes me more relaxed. 

When I say "yesterday" or "tomorrow" I get a tightness in my shoulders from the load that sits there.

So what does this mean for me?

ABIDE  ...there is that pesky little word that keeps returning to me. ABIDE. If you have read anything I have written so far, you know that this subject continues to dog me. I am working hard at paying attention to it.


Back to not worrying about tomorrow... it says that if we worry about this stuff, we are no different from those who worship everything BUT God. The crazy thing is...he already knows that we need them and says he will give them to us as we look at him and his purposes.


It sums it all up with the phrase "Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Darn right it does!

So, for today - I am going to live now and not worry about the future. Apparently, it's already handled.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am still stocking up on Top Ramen when they are 18 cents at Red Apple and am certain to stand in front of my closet and wonder what in the world will I wear that will hide my muffin top, look cute, but not look like I am a 55 year old woman trying to look like a 35 year old.

But maybe I won't worry - oh me of little faith.


P.S. - I would LOVE to hear how some of you live today...some people have a knack for enjoying right now - what are some of the ways you do it?

LIONS AND FIRES AND KINGS, OH MY!

Are you lookin' at ME? I mean, really....what is there to look at? Oh...you mean the mess of my life? I know, I know....you always held me up as an example. But how many times did you see me climbing off of the pedestal you were putting me on?

I just remembered an incident that happened about 32-ish years ago when John was helping to pastor a small church in Burbank. There was a couple who were both wonderfully raw and innocent. They were new to faith in God. We were sitting outside talking after dinner one evening and I must have said something honest about my life (leave it to me to blow my cover...) and she said, with the utmost sincerity, "You mean you are not perfect?"

I still chuckle to remember it because perfection was nowhere in my dreams. I asked her why she would think I was perfect.

She answered with a bit of disappointment in her voice, "I just thought that, after you became a Christian, you would wake up one day and be perfect!" (Don't I wish...)

She truly and sincerely meant it! My explanation of it burst her bubble, but probably relieved her somewhat. But that is something I will never forget. Me. Perfect...HA!

THESE GUYS WERE MUCH CLOSER TO PERFECT

Now, if you want to talk about perfect...these guys were all bounding toward the perfection line.

You know the ones: Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego in the fiery furnace and Daniel in the lions' den. They were pretty well respected in their societal roles. But, they were ALL in trouble in the world's eyes. They were all headed for a place that would cause certain destruction.

However, there are two little phrases that struck me in these stories...

"the God we serve is able..." 

and,

"your God, whom you serve continually."

When the boys were headed into the furnace for refusing to worship idols, they said "the God we serve is able to save us from it..... but even if he does not, we want you to know that we will not serve the idols you have set up."

When Daniel was caught doing the big no-no (praying to the living God) he was thrown into a pit with some very hungry lions. The king (who liked him) was counting on "the God whom you serve continually" to rescue him.... and, of course, you know the end of the stories - they all came out unscathed.

"YOUR GOD, WHOM YOU SERVE CONTINUALLY"

Continually means: without cessation or intermission; unceasingly; always.

 

For me, it means that no matter what my circumstance is, what time of day or week, where I am and with whom, I will trust God. It means that I am still following God when my life seems to be in a mess, I will not stop serving him. It means that it goes without saying that I will make godly decisions and others will already know that because I "serve him continually."

I'm not sure about you, but sometimes, I am just not in the mood to trust God. I have had days lately when I get up in the morning and just say, "Really? Lord? Again? Can you just cut me a break?"

Now mind you, there has never been one moment of time when I thought about NOT following God. Somehow, it is in my DNA. However, do I serve him continually? Or have I bowed down to the idols that have been presented in my life?

I'm going to have to think about that one for awhile, because frankly, my life circumstances have been rather messy lately.

Did you know that Daniel was at least 80 years old when he was tossed into the pit? I suppose I should take comfort in the age part.... but I thought when you got older, you were perfect!

No?

Rats.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: DROP DEAD OR HAVE PEACE

 Well, it's official, I am stressed! I just took the HOLMES-RAHE LIFE STRESS INVENTORY and am pretty sure I have far surpassed the "drop dead" mark on the stress chart. The website says:

What Your Score Means
When you add up your total number of all the stressors combined, you receive a result of how likely you are to develop a minor, moderate or serious illness in the next two years. Here is the severity scale:
    •    A score of 300 or more, puts you at serious risk of illness or breakdown.
    •    A score of 200-299 puts you a moderate risk of illness, such as headache, diabetes, fatigue, hypertension, chest and back pain, ulcers, and infectious diseases.
    •    A score of 150 or less has you only at a slight risk of illness.

 My score was 738. Bright future, eh?

As I was feeling rather stressed this past week, while in Seattle and graduating one of our sons from college and burying my mother-in-law, I was getting this out-of-the-blue onset of panic and anxiety. If you don't know me then I should tell you - this is not me. I have often and summarily pooh-pooh'd those sort of things with a "just get over it or I will slap you" sort of thinking.

I guess I am the one who needs to be slapped now.

Go back up to the last paragraph where I said "rather stressed" - let's change that to "enormously" to better reflect my score of 738. Anyway, as I was getting ready to walk out the door of my friend's home (who so generously let me stay) I felt like I was not going to be able to get through another moment without bursting into tears and a bundle of nerves.

So I asked the Lord....

I literally only had about 30 seconds, but grabbed my little pink travel Bible and "lucky dipped" (as John calls it) to Isaiah 8:6. I quickly read,

"Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah..."

So, in that 30 seconds, I quickly remembered that "Shiloah" meant peace. I thanked the Lord for reminding me of the peace He wants to give me, asked Him to show me how I was rejecting His peace and promised to chew on this later.

Later, when I had time (from my stressful week :) I studied the whole passage and learned a lot about what this all meant. Mind you, I do NOT consider myself any sort of Bible scholar whatsoever. But I do like to learn the context of what I am reading.

Shiloah means "gentle, quiet." The root word means "rest."

The waters of Shiloah refer to a small fountain sending forth a little stream to the city of Jerusalem - a brook bubbling up from Mount Zion which flowed quietly and peacefully through the city.

God had provided these peaceful waters while His people were under siege by their enemies. They ridiculed that little brook that ran through Jerusalem and, instead, boasted in their enemies' kings! The very people who were planning their destruction were their heroes!

They were more impressed with the mighty Euphrates river that could give better protection during battle. They looked at their enemies and admired them for their courage and resources.

Of course, this all comes back to: What does this mean for me?

I believe that this river of peace and mercy is flowing within me but I have been rejecting it and replacing it with my own strengths and abilities. I have been admiring the resources of my enemies, while not recognizing what has been provided to me...now.

Psalm 46 says:

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
   he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.
and then later:
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”
 The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

So, among all of this chaos in my life, I have a river of peace and rest that flows in me. To reject it means victory for my enemies:  confusion, stress, fear, mistrust, trauma, anxiety, worry, hardship, tension...you get the idea.

To accept the waters of Shiloah means peace. Why would I choose anything else?