No need to be upset in your search (for gold)..."Fool's gold is what you find when you're panning for the real thing." In other words, you're on the right track. Keep on tracking.
"Do not neglect the gift that is in you."
=============================================
REFLECTIONS
The most noted and repeated verses of Proverbs 3 are verses 5 & 6: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
There are many nuggets one can take from Proverbs 3, but I'm going to focus on verse 13:
"HOW BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO FINDS WISDOM, AND THE MAN WHO GAINS UNDERSTANDING."
I'm often sought out when it comes to providing logical, spiritual/christian, what-would-Jesus-do advice. Relationships, children, career decisions, relationships, transitions, education, relationships, conflicts, scriptural references, etc. You'll notice there was a word that kept surfacing...RELATIONSHIPS. While I appreciate that young and old trust my words and thoughts when it comes to choices, obstables, life, the topic of relationships is always a puzzling one for me considering I'm single and that would appear to be a poor indicator of my having success in the area!
Truth be told I think people have watched me get burned time and time again and still carry on with dignity. How do you do it? Why are you so calm? How did you overcome the hurt? Should I confront him/her?
Simply put: Love seeks to understand.
While I cannot answer any of those questions, I know a few things to be certain when it comes to God. He cares. He does not desire for us to live a life of hurt. And, he has a purpose and plan for our lives. All this to further say that when trials come, we must seek to understand from a perspective of love. On a deeper level, I often think of how frequently grace and mercy are offered to us despite how we mistreat the relationship we have with God. He loves us even when we don't spend time with him, trust in him, or ignore his teachings.
In my personal life, I am struggling presently to understand and love. We are able to experience emotions: anger, love, joy, peace, frustration, impatience...What matters is how we choose to respond and react based on our feelings. I have some frustration with a certain someone, but I also know that I've hurt people in my life--not intentionally, but to do what I knew was best. Knowing this, I am looking for the blessings in this recent outcome--trusting that it was done for the good.
Seeking to understand is hard--it takes work. The word used in the verse is "finds." It is active and means we cannot just be stagnant. As a reminder, God seeks to give his children good things (Matthew 7).
"Trust and obey. For there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus then to trust and obey."
No comments:
Post a Comment