Courage For Today

thought

Running From Things Not Chasing Us

Encouragement

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”  Matthew 6:34

I always enjoyed spending summers with my best friend at his grandmothers home in Middle Georgia.  It was my opportunity to spend a little time away from my normal home activities and enjoy hanging out with my buddy.   It was such a great time in life.  We swam in local swimming pools, played out on the farm, and even spent time fishing.  The local town was extremely small so it was an experience just walking around witnessing a taste of how life used to be back in the “good old days.”

I’ll never forget one of those days we decided to try our hand once again fishing.  We both enjoyed fishing a lot although we never had much success.  Honestly, I think we spent too much time talking and making so much noise that it scared the fish away.  When we finally had enough for the day, with no fish to brag about, we started our walk back to my friend’s grandmothers house.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, we approached a log that had a coiled snake sitting on top.  We both panicked and ran away from the snake, toward the house, as fast as our little legs would take us.

The snake was no danger whatsoever, but we didn’t stop to think otherwise.  We ran and ran and ran until we both were so out of breath we had to stop and rest.  Big mistake.  As we stopped to catch our breath, we both heard some crackling on the forest floor.  Our imaginations went wild and off we ran again.  Surely, there must be more snakes coming after us.  The faster we ran, the more we panicked.  Our journey home was filled with our imaginations gone wild.  Every leaf blowing in the wind and every stray animal noise meant instant death in our minds.  Our minds had convinced us to run from something that was never there to begin with, but you couldn’t have convinced us otherwise at the time.

Each of us goes through trials in our life.  For some of us, it is financial hardship.  For others, there are issues with family and relationships.  Many suffer from unemployment or medical concerns.  Whatever the burden may be in your own life, it is important to keep things in perspective.  The natural tendency is to jump immediately to the worse possible conclusion.  Instead of a cold, you have cancer.  Instead of missing a bill payment, you are in bankruptcy.  Instead of breaking up, you now are single the rest of your life.  I know because I’ve been guilty of doing this myself.

Don’t fall prey to running from things in life that aren’t even there.  Don’t manufacture and embellish facts that have never happened.  Concentrate on God’s plan for your life and let HIM worry about tomorrow.  We all have enough to be concerned about for this day alone.

Other Posts You May Enjoy

[pt_view id=”760f7e8uyf”]

Rest in His Sheltering Arms

Strength

Let’s face it, we’ve all been through tough times at one point or another in our life.  In fact, some of you may be going through tough times even now.  Life has a way of throwing us challenges that aren’t always what we want them to be and they seem to always be at the worst possible times.  During these inevitable times of adversity and struggle, what do we do as Christians to make it through another day?

I was recently sitting out on my terrace enjoying the beautiful sunny day.  It was a great time just to catch up on my reading and have some study time.  The sun was blistering hot but, fortunately, I was sitting in the shade under the sheltering arms of an overhanging tree.  The breeze in the shade was wonderful and while the heat of the day was all around me, I was totally comfortable under the sun-blocking arms of the tree.  As long as I stayed under the protection of the tree, life was good; let me have to venture farther out on the terrace away from the tree’s protection and my life suddenly became very uncomfortable.

As I look back on my life, I can think of many times of trials and set-backs in my life.  I often wonder why things happened the way they did and how (maybe) they could have been prevented or had a different outcome.  In every case, I can trace the problem back to not following God in a particular situation.  In every situation, I took it upon myself to do what I thought was right and not what God thought was right—and I suffered the consequences.  I learned the hard way that God’s Word is like a sheltering tree in our life.  If you stay under the umbrella of HIS magnificent grace, mercy, and strength, our lives are much more enjoyable.  Yet, when we stray out from under HIS protection, life becomes uncomfortable and unbearable sometimes.

Where are you in your life journey?  Are you underneath God’s sheltering arms, or do you simply see the tree off in the distance but are outside His protection doing your own thing?  The choice is always yours; however, life is much more enjoyable under His protective arms.

Other Posts You May Enjoy

[pt_view id=”760f7e8uyf”]

Managing the Slippery Slope of Pride

Self-Worth

My athletic days are long behind me but, at one time, I was fairly active in many different sports.  I often played tennis—and was fairly good.  I could hold my own in a game of basketball and loved playing baseball.  One sport that wasn’t so kind to me was snow skiing.  Of course, growing up in the South meant that snow was a rare sight.  To ski meant that I had to travel to a ski resort of some kind or another.  While I didn’t have a chance to do this often, it was always an adventure when I hit the slopes.

I’ll never forget traveling, as a teenager, to a particular ski resort.  I was part of a church youth group and had the bright idea that slaloming down a mountain would be a great way to show my church friends what a great athlete I was.  After what seemed like a terribly long drive, we finally arrived at the resort and got settled in our respective rooms.  Everyone was excited and wanted to do something to burn off some excess energy.  So, our chaperones decided to take us to the actual slopes where we were to receive some basic skiing lessons.   Our instructor looked like he had been born on a pair of skis, but I had already decided that there was nothing he could teach me.  His pretty sunglasses and shiny boots and fancy equipment—along with proven expertise—were no match for my natural ability.  We didn’t have much time to actually ski that day, but just receiving those brief lessons was enough to mentally convince me that I was ready for the next Olympic trials.  I knew that skiing could not be that difficult and I didn’t need some know-it-all instructor telling me how to prepare.  I couldn’t wait until the next day and demonstrate my natural skiing ability to anyone that would watch.

I thought that next day would never arrive, but finally we were all aboard the church van for our short drive to the ski resort.  Each of us got our ski boots and skis and the all-important ski poles to help you change directions on the slopes more easily.  Most of the newly outfitted youth were off to the chair lift that led to the beginning slope.  I had no desire to waste my time with the less athletic.  I jumped on the chair lift that climbed to the top of the highest trail.  No beginner slopes for me.  I had received my one lesson and had no fear.  It was to the top I went.  I should have known this was a mistake when I crashed off the chair lift almost getting hit in the back of the head by the chair behind me.  Somehow, our instructions the day before left out the intricate details of how to exit a chair lift safely.  Nonetheless, I was undaunted and just looked at the near death experience of the chair lift as simply a mechanical failure and was not related in any way to my skill level.

The moment finally drew closer for my first flight down the hill.  As I stood at the top of the hill looking down, I envisioned the wind blowing in my hair as I swished from one side to the other, effortlessly navigating around other less talented skiers.  I dreamed of becoming airborne over small moguls and landing perfectly on the other side with no loss of balance.  I saw myself racing to the bottom of the slope, approaching the ski lodge, complete with a final spray of snow as I stopped so eloquently at the finish to a chorus of cheers.  Boy was I wrong.

I slowly used my ski poles to push over the starting point and began my descent.  Immediately, I was not concerned about the wind blowing in my hair or landing perfectly at the finish.  I was worried about survival.  Nothing I heard from the prior day’s ski instructions mattered.  All I saw was a wooden picket fence lining the side of the course approaching me at what seemed to be the speed of light.  There was nothing I could do.  There was no where I could go.  There was no way to “look good” at what I was doing.  I was going to crash.  I was going to be embarrassed.  I was going to be the laughing stock of the resort.

As I lay there in a pile of snow with the tips of my skis between two panels of the fence, I wasn’t sure what hurt worse—my legs from the impact or my pride.  As much as I wanted to impress my friends, there was no way to “look cool” as the fence and I became one for a few moments.  Suddenly, a ski patrol rescue worker came to my aid and helped me untangle and get things back in order.  He made sure I was OK and shadowed me down the rest of the slope until I reached the bottom.

As I thought about this episode all those years ago, it reminded me how dangerous pride can be in our lives.  I was convinced that I knew everything there was to know about skiing.  I even received some instructions, but refused to really listen to what I was told simply because my desire to impress was greater than my willingness to prepare.  I was willing to sacrifice even basic preparation for what I thought would be a great reward.  Life is like that.  Sometimes our pride of wanting to be more and do more outweighs our desire to prepare.  We all have the greatest instruction book in the world with the Bible.  Many of us have great leaders, parents, and teachers who are great resources for your preparation; unfortunately, sometimes we think we know best.  Listen, learn and prepare so that you’re viewing life as a successful journey down the slope and not a failed crash from the start.

Other Posts You May Enjoy

[pt_view id=”760f7e8uyf”]

Don’t Allow Yourself to Flicker Out

Grace

I love campfires.  I especially love to sit around a campfire with good friends and a bag of marshmallows to roast.  Our family has done a lot of camping over the years and I have to admit that there’s just nothing better.  The coolness of the night; the stars shining up above; the warmth of the fire; and the gooey, sticky mess of roasted marshmallows on a stick.  Just the thought and the imagery makes me want to go camping right this minute.

I can vividly remember one particular camping trip and sitting around the campfire that evening.  For some reason, I was the only one sitting around the campfire.  Everyone else had already gone to bed.  It was so peaceful.  The reds and yellows and oranges of the fire and the crackling of the wood slowly burning.  There’s something quite peaceful and relaxing about watching a campfire at night.  I must have been sitting there alone, watching the fire, for half an hour or so when my eye caught one small coal streaking from the body of the fire, landing just short of my foot.  In fact, I thought for a split second this hot ember was going to land on my foot.  But, it didn’t.

I watched this coal, separated from the body of the main fire, flicker and burn for some time, probably 15 minutes.  It would alternate between a dull, barely visible yellow and then quickly burst into a bright orange as a gust of wind blew over it.  From dull to bright, I watched this lone ember seemingly fight for it’s survival.  While the main campfire burned steadily and brightly, the single ember finally lost its fight and flickered out.

How often my Christian life has mirrored this single ember.  For a while, I was prayerful with Christ and leaned on him for my every need.  For a while, I was reading God’s word regularly.  For a while, I was praying regularly.  For a while, I was having fellowship with other Christians and witnessing to non-Christians.  Then, over time, I became like the ember separated from the fire. I became isolated from God.  I couldn’t find time for God anymore.  I didn’t need to pray as often; I just tried to fix everything myself.  I didn’t fellowship with other believers and didn’t bother myself with witnessing to others.  Just like the ember, I spiritually began to burn out.  I flickered.  I fought.  I tried to survive.

God, with HIS mercy, graced me with a fresh breeze of HIS love that rekindled my desire for HIM.  For the first time in a long time, I felt part of the main “campfire” again.  I wasn’t a lone ember struggling for survival.

How would you describe your relationship with HIM today?  Are you burning brightly, or are you the lone ember waiting for a gust of wind to reignite your flame?  The Lord never turned His back on me; I turned my back on HIM.  He’s there at this moment with arms open wide, waiting for you to come Home to HIM, just as He welcomed me.

Other Posts You May Enjoy

[pt_view id=”760f7e8uyf”]

Playing Hide and Seek With God

Encouragement

When our children were pre-schoolers, they loved to play “hide and seek.” I’m not sure why they loved the game so much.  I guess it was the thrill of hiding somewhere and, then, having Dad become frustrated trying to find them hiding in some obscure place.  My daughter, especially, took the game to its most extreme level. She took hiding serious.  So serious, in fact, she was disappointed if she was found.

I remember one particular occasion we were playing hide and seek indoors and she hid in some small space between two dressers in our bedroom.  A space so small, I wouldn’t have even thought she would fit.  I searched and searched and searched.  In closets; under beds; everywhere.  She was as quiet as a mouse.  I was actually beginning to think she may have gone outside or gotten hurt.  I searched continuously for several minutes until, finally, I saw her wedged into this small place that no one would have thought to hide.  As soon as I found her, she burst out laughing knowing that she had “won” this particular battle.

This morning, I was reading Colossians Chapter 3, Verse 1.  It says: ” Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ” Of course, the logical question is, what are the things above we should keep seeking?  I continued reading through versus 12-17 in the same Chapter and it was there I found the answers.  The Lord lists such things as putting on a heart of compassion; kindness; gentleness; humility; and patience.  But beyond all these things is love.  It was a true blessing this morning to be reminded of these “things above” and my responsibility in finding these “things above.”

Speaking from experience, I sometimes just expect the Lord to pour these “things above” on me in a mighty way, without any effort on my part.  I lose sight of the fact that it is I that should be seeking those things.  And, I should be seeking those things continually.  Not just once or twice, but continually.  Seeking these things in Christ is a Goal, not a destination.  I’m always working toward the goal, but I’ll never fully reach it.

I never stopped searching for my daughter all those years ago until I found her.  In Christ, I am reminded to never stop seeking those things above.

Other Posts You May Enjoy

[pt_view id=”760f7e8uyf”]

Avoiding the Shortcut To Trouble

Encouragement

I loved the neighborhood our family lived in during my Elementary School years.  Now, granted, this was in the 1960’s and times have changed, but it was a wonderful time and place.  All the neighborhood kids knew each other; even the parents knew each other.  We couldn’t get into too much trouble because other parents would call my parents and—well—–the rest was history as they say.  Times have certainly changed.  Most of us don’t even know our neighbor’s names today.

We would stay outside and play from sun-up to sun-down.  It was football, then basketball, then we would “play army,” then we might ride our bikes complete with baseball cards clipped to the spokes so we would sound like motorcycles.  No video games for us.  We had to entertain ourselves and didn’t ever seem to have any difficulty doing so.

One of the things my friends and I loved to do was walk from my house to a Shopping Center that was behind our neighborhood.  Occasionally, we got our hands on a shiny new Quarter or sometimes a Dime and you would have thought we had a million dollars.  At that time, a Dime or Quarter would buy a week’s supply of Pixie Stix or Hubba Bubba or Milk Duds, or maybe a Nutty Buddy or Eskimo Pie.  No one during those times had any reservations about letting a group of kids walk alone up to this Shopping Center for our shopping spree.

It was a fairly long walk from our house to the Shopping Center IF we walked the long way around on the major streets.  We soon discovered that there was a narrow storm drainage ditch that ran between two houses in the neighborhood that miraculously opened up in the back of the Shopping Center.  We would cut through this drainage ditch and be at the Shopping Center much quicker.  All we had to do was walk around to the front of the buildings and we were there!! Suddenly, the “shortcut,” as we called it, was the greatest discovery since Lewis and Clark went West.  You would have thought we had discovered Gold.  Being able to get to the all important Shopping Center within a few short minutes, as opposed to taking 45 minutes, when we walked the long route, was life changing for Elementary School kids.

It wasn’t very long after our great discovery that we began realizing the “shortcut” may not have been as great of a discovery as we first thought.  We began getting scratched by briers and cut by broken glass.  We sometimes ran into stray animals and neighborhood “bullies” who hid in the bushes waiting for us.  We tripped and fell. We soon became faced with a decision of whether we wanted to take our chances with the “shortcut,” not knowing what was lurking for us, just to save a few minutes, or go ahead and take the safer route, even though it was much longer.  Most of us chose the longer, safer route.  It just wasn’t worth the trouble.

Our Christian life is much the same way, or at least mine has been at times.  I tried to take the shortcut with my prayer life and only began praying when I thought I needed prayer.  I slowly realized that I couldn’t take a shortcut with my prayer life.  I tried to read my Bible only occasionally, mostly on Sunday’s when the Pastor asked us to.  I slowly realized that I needed God’s Word every day, not just once a week.  I discovered that there are no shortcuts with God.  He wants our all, ALL the time.  When we take shortcuts with God, danger is only a short distance behind.

Is your Christian Life taking too many shortcuts?  You can change that starting today.

Other Posts You May Enjoy

[pt_view id=”760f7e8uyf”]