Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Heb 12:1-2 (NLT)
When my son was a little boy, he was diagnosed as ADD. For those that have been under a rock for the past 20 years, ADD is Attention Deficit Disorder (without Hyperactivity). The classification for this diagnosis has changed two, maybe three, times in the past twenty years, but we will discuss ADD or ADHD in terms of how God must see His own children. The writer of Hebrews is talking to a bunch of spiritually ADD people(and us as well)! In 12:1-2 he says, "let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up." Every weight. Sin. Every weight. Sin. Things that hinder our relationship with our heavenly Father.
When I was fourteen, I gave my heart to Lord. I remember it was real, because I wanted others to have the same peace that I had been given. I even started taking my Bible to school with me and if you knew me back in those days, that was huge. I knew I had been rescued and I wanted others to experience what I had come to know to be real. I started reading my Bible every night and every day at school. I started going to the devotions that were held on school campus and even LED one. Huge! I mean HUGE for me.
I lived out in the country in a community called Fiske Union. It was a suburb of the parish seat, Oak Grove. When you live as far out in the country as I did, communities blended together much like a 3 year old's finger paint. It was a great place to grow up. The church I attended was in one of those blended communities called Beulah. It was in that little church that I came face to face with my need for a Savior.
One Saturday night in the Spring of my fourteenth year, I was invited to a party in Beulah community. Since I had been saved by Jesus, I was not on the popular list very much anymore. I had gone from very popular to "not so much" in seconds flat! So, when I got the invitation to go to the party, I went. Oh, I took my Bible! I sure did! And I left it sitting on the front seat of the truck. Now can you say "ADD moment"! I took my eyes off of Jesus and looked at what I was "missing". All my old friends were gonna be there and it was a senior party and I was a mere freshman. Can you sense the dilemma? I went telling myself the whole way there that I would not participate in ALL the party, but I could at least be sociable. And sociable, I was! When I left to go home, I barely even noticed my Bible, but by the time I made it home I realized just how far and quickly I had fallen back in the race!
You've heard it said that it takes years to build a reputation, but one act can tear it down. This is precisely what I did that night. I had been "sold out" to Jesus, until it started costing me something. My attention was firmly fixed on Jesus, until...It doesn't matter what draws your attention away from Jesus, the results are detrimental. If worry, dissatisfaction, prestige, etc. draws your attention away, they have a way of making you hyper-focus. This is another trait of ADHD. When you ruminate on the worries of the day, how can you focus on the faithfulness of God to provide for all your needs? If you are dissatisfied with your life and your circumstances, aren't you spitting in the face of God Almighty Who holds you in His hand? And if prestige and wealth have your attention, how can our God Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills bless you?
Yes, we are all ADHD when we look at it from a spiritual perspective. So, what do we do about it? How can we "medicate" our condition? I tell you, routine is the answer. I have seen first hand that routine can help someone with ADHD, but they were intrinsically motivated to change. That says that first, you must want to change the depth of your relationship with God. And second, just start DAILY spending time in His Word and praying. I suggest you pick a time and make it the same time everyday. Routine will lead you to a deeper relationship. How could someone spend time reading His Word and conversing with Him NOT fall deeply in love with Him?
One last word of caution.......
A rabbit!
Lori
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Bullies
1 Samuel 1:6 So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children.7 Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
1 Sam 1:6-7 (NLT)
When I was a young girl, I was not very "girlie". I prided myself in being as rough and tough as the boys in my class. In fact, I was rougher than most of them and the problem with that is that I knew I could outdo them. Power is a dangerous thing, even at the age of 8 or 9 years old. I recall one boy particularly smaller and weaker. As I think back on him now, I see a kind, sweet-spirited little boy who was taught to be polite and kind by his parents. When I was a child, I saw an easy target to unleash my wounded spirit.
Children, suffering from abuse by someone they are powerless to, will, in turn, spew venomous anger in the form of abuse on those weaker than themselves. This is a Polaroid snapshot of one facet of my life and a subject I am too well familiar. You've heard it said that kids can be cruel, well I was "that" cruel kid, that is until the subject of my wrath's Mother caught me.
My elementary school was in a VERY small community and had a Mom and Pop grocery store right next door to it. After school, all the children would ride the bus home, regardless of how far you lived from school! When there were after-school activities, we could walk across the dirt road to get a snack (if we had a note from our parents). I have such warm feelings when I think back to that little country store. The owners were a precious older couple and they knew who we were (and our parents and our parents' parents!). They had "tickets". It was a store credit for farmers, mostly, to buy fuel, lunch, etc. and the family could buy a few groceries. The Carroll's had the store back when I was in elementary school. They knew I was Clarence and Odies' granddaughter and so if I came in without money...I guess I felt like "somebody" when I said "put it on the ticket" and they didn't even have to ask my name! Those were the days.
One afternoon, several of us were hanging out in the front of the store waiting for everyone to finish up when I looked up and my "bullseye" is walking over from a house across the main road! There I was. I had just had myself puffed-up as someone privileged because I charged food to my parents' bill AND all my peers were there looking up to me. I began blocking his entrance to the store. There were enough kids between the two of us and the door that the owners couldn't see what I was doing, but his mother could! The thing is...I didn't know his mother could see what I was doing and I wasn't aware of her until she stood behind him. He was crying by the time his mom got to him, so the embarrassment for him was already huge. When his mom was finished with me, my face burned with embarrassment! She taught me a lesson that day, one that has stayed with me to this day.
I learned to respect my peers more. I empathized with this guy that day after his mother helped me see the error of my ways. That day shaped me to be an empathizer rather than an abuser. The school of thought that the abused become the abusers has some credibility, that is unless someone intervenes. I was fortunate that someone intervened very early in my life.
Our feelings of inferiority can be projected onto us by our peers. Just like Peninnah was a member of the "haves" and Hannah the "have-nots", we as singles can see ourselves like Hannah. Sometimes, we bring those feelings onto ourselves. We compare ourselves to the people around us that have fulfilling marriages. In the words of Paul Harvey "And now for the rest of the story", 1 Samuel 1:19 tells us that the Lord "remembered" Hannah. The Lord has not forgotten you either. If it is your heart's desire to have a fulfilling marriage, He will meet those needs for you. Stay strong in your faith and trust that God has your future firmly sealed.
Our God is just. He has a way of leveling the playing field for us, but it is in His time. Just as that mother came and answered the taunting I was dishing out, God will step into your circumstance and meet your deepest needs if you are asking in line with His will! The enemy of our souls will constantly try to bully you by reminding you of the things you do not have as a single person. Dear brothers and sisters, embrace your stage in life with the exuberance God deserves! Indulge yourselves in the presence of the Lord and you will find the peace that comes when God closes the mouth of your "bully"!
1 Sam 1:6-7 (NLT)
When I was a young girl, I was not very "girlie". I prided myself in being as rough and tough as the boys in my class. In fact, I was rougher than most of them and the problem with that is that I knew I could outdo them. Power is a dangerous thing, even at the age of 8 or 9 years old. I recall one boy particularly smaller and weaker. As I think back on him now, I see a kind, sweet-spirited little boy who was taught to be polite and kind by his parents. When I was a child, I saw an easy target to unleash my wounded spirit.
Children, suffering from abuse by someone they are powerless to, will, in turn, spew venomous anger in the form of abuse on those weaker than themselves. This is a Polaroid snapshot of one facet of my life and a subject I am too well familiar. You've heard it said that kids can be cruel, well I was "that" cruel kid, that is until the subject of my wrath's Mother caught me.
My elementary school was in a VERY small community and had a Mom and Pop grocery store right next door to it. After school, all the children would ride the bus home, regardless of how far you lived from school! When there were after-school activities, we could walk across the dirt road to get a snack (if we had a note from our parents). I have such warm feelings when I think back to that little country store. The owners were a precious older couple and they knew who we were (and our parents and our parents' parents!). They had "tickets". It was a store credit for farmers, mostly, to buy fuel, lunch, etc. and the family could buy a few groceries. The Carroll's had the store back when I was in elementary school. They knew I was Clarence and Odies' granddaughter and so if I came in without money...I guess I felt like "somebody" when I said "put it on the ticket" and they didn't even have to ask my name! Those were the days.
One afternoon, several of us were hanging out in the front of the store waiting for everyone to finish up when I looked up and my "bullseye" is walking over from a house across the main road! There I was. I had just had myself puffed-up as someone privileged because I charged food to my parents' bill AND all my peers were there looking up to me. I began blocking his entrance to the store. There were enough kids between the two of us and the door that the owners couldn't see what I was doing, but his mother could! The thing is...I didn't know his mother could see what I was doing and I wasn't aware of her until she stood behind him. He was crying by the time his mom got to him, so the embarrassment for him was already huge. When his mom was finished with me, my face burned with embarrassment! She taught me a lesson that day, one that has stayed with me to this day.
I learned to respect my peers more. I empathized with this guy that day after his mother helped me see the error of my ways. That day shaped me to be an empathizer rather than an abuser. The school of thought that the abused become the abusers has some credibility, that is unless someone intervenes. I was fortunate that someone intervened very early in my life.
Our feelings of inferiority can be projected onto us by our peers. Just like Peninnah was a member of the "haves" and Hannah the "have-nots", we as singles can see ourselves like Hannah. Sometimes, we bring those feelings onto ourselves. We compare ourselves to the people around us that have fulfilling marriages. In the words of Paul Harvey "And now for the rest of the story", 1 Samuel 1:19 tells us that the Lord "remembered" Hannah. The Lord has not forgotten you either. If it is your heart's desire to have a fulfilling marriage, He will meet those needs for you. Stay strong in your faith and trust that God has your future firmly sealed.
Our God is just. He has a way of leveling the playing field for us, but it is in His time. Just as that mother came and answered the taunting I was dishing out, God will step into your circumstance and meet your deepest needs if you are asking in line with His will! The enemy of our souls will constantly try to bully you by reminding you of the things you do not have as a single person. Dear brothers and sisters, embrace your stage in life with the exuberance God deserves! Indulge yourselves in the presence of the Lord and you will find the peace that comes when God closes the mouth of your "bully"!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)