It’s been an absolute hell of a week. To even try to go into detail about it would be both too difficult and too personal for all people involved. The devil was surely nipping at our heals this week, nearly blowing out all our lights that shine our way on God’s path. It’s amazing how one small thing can be interpreted so very differently and, therefore, get crazy out of hand because of it. Sometimes I believe we, as a society, are losing the art of communication with one another, and the ability to understand each other. It’s detrimental.
Couples should take classes once a year, health care providers should take classes on how to communicate with patients, people, in general, should take a class on normal expected human behavior, and the world would be just fine. The amount of disrespect and misunderstanding between people is almost criminal in this world lately.
And it’s so easy to get caught up in it all, to get caught up in the bantering, or acting like you’re better than the person who is supposed to be providing you with a service, and letting your mind get over-run with that conversation in your head where you say everything on your mind but your mouth fails to actually filter it, thus hurting people’s feelings around you and scaring people around you because they have no idea what to expect of someone who just doesn’t harness their behavior at all. And when people lack the ability to discern what is troublesome and what is not, it can get some people into worse situations, emotionally, mentally, or otherwise.
God gave us a voice, brothers and sisters, but He first gave us Love. I’m pretty sure the voice was to express that, not anything less than.
Be prepared, however, when you speak of God and His glory. There are some that find that troublesome as well. As if believing in God, and His ability to pull you out of rough waters, is a mental disorder that is something that needs to be dealt with. But isn’t that the way it’s always been?
Earlier this week, I was helping my mom through a Bible study in Acts 1-4, which I had never read before. In the later parts of it, I learned that Peter and John had been arrested for, what my understanding is, preaching about Jesus and His good works and what He is capable of. This did not sit well with the boss men, so they had Peter and John arrested, telling them they could never do that again. It was something interesting to learn, and at the time, it was knowledge, at best. However, the other night, telling somebody that nobody could help me through what I was going through but God landed me in quite the conundrum, one in which my rights and control were completely taken away. I won’t say that the catalyst to this event didn’t play into that decision, however, my statement did not sit well with the one in charge of my fate at the moment.
So for quite a while, I found myself with only God to call upon for strength, remembering the verse from Philipians 4:13, which happens to be my wife’s favorite Bible verse, and the one I played over most in my head during my time of trial, so to speak…”I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” And I waited, and prayed, and meditated, and Trusted, and relied on truth, and the Truth of God…and thought about this song.
Many thanks to God for renewing my strength during that time.
My mother-in-law’s birthday was on Friday, we had a wonderful family meal at Outback. It was great to be around everyone, although afterwards, it was nice to come home and just call it a family night around the television. Saturday we started the day off lazy, although much deserved after the week we had. We decided to go tubing down the salt river, however, after an hour of getting ready, getting in the car and hopping on the expressway, a phone call to the recreation park revealed that they were no longer renting out tubes for the day because the weather conditions weren’t favorable. That was a kick in the junk, since we were trying so hard to take a mental vacation and just have fun, regardless of how much it cost that we shouldn’t spend. We were quite disappointed, but eventually, the day went on…even though we had some battling to do with our daughter. Some things never change.
Sunday…yep, church. Nope. We played hookey today and reclaimed our opportunity to take that mental vacation and just do something, dammit! We deserved it…and it was the last day to go for the season. We got all of our stuff together, drove up the mountain, got in the water, said our prayer, thanked God for bringing us all together, asked Him to forgive us for not going to His house today, as we were working on forgiveness with each other, and proceeded to float on down the river. It was a blast…we had so much fun. It was peaceful, beautiful, exciting…offered up a time for trust, and just…well, time together, and a break from the monotony of our daily struggles.
For some reason, I have a calling to the mountains, and I feel the closest to God when I’m in them. I had the time to just be close without thinking too much, just plug in and get recharged, and hopefully, I’m charged enough to face the week ahead. I have Christ in me, I hear Him, through music, through the Word, and He holds me close….so too, shall I hold Him close.
~Dear Lord, please forgive me the sins of my week, as my weakness overcame me. Thank you for your protection and for guiding me back to you, Lord. Please continue to wrap your arms around me and my family as we face struggles of daily lives that the world imparts on us, help us to overcome them and to lift our family and our selves, our own hearts and lives above anything else. Thank you for your blessings, and for allowing us to have this wonderful day together. In your most precious and Holy name, I pray. Amen~
Rockin' Walk to Faith 