The days are long, and that July heat wraps around us like a thick blanket! It makes us want to slow down, relax and enjoy all we can from this far too fleeting season. We know from experience, how quickly it picks up speed. Before we know it, we are trailing beach sand from our flip-flops while we cruise the latest have-to items in the back-to-school aisle!
But…
Summer is for Savouring.
So before we have to exchange our warm Summer days list for the one with Fall items, can we add a few more things? These items may already be on our lists, but we might want to look at them in a new light…
Sand shovel – For digging deeper.
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There are days I feel like less. Depending on the day, it might be less skilled, less useful, or less liked by others. And sometimes, I just feel like less. Just. Less.
It happens when I compare myself to others, leading to jealously, anger, and feeling like someone else is better than me.
Maybe you’ve been there too, feeling…
…like less of a mom when you watch other moms who seem to have it all together.
…less loved when you see other marriages.
…less valuable to God when you can’t do what He calls someone else to do.
…less talented when you read or view someone else’s work.
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Knowing my purpose makes decisions easier.
Have you defined your purpose? Your mission statement? Your reason for getting out of bed and doing whatever it is you do?
Rick Warren said the following in The Purpose Driven Life:
“The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point—ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.”
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Have you ever had to walk through a familiar room in the dark and rely on your memory to get you to where you are going with out stubbing your toe or hitting your knee on a sharp edge of something? It is kind of scary isn’t it? You have to trust your memory and hope nothing has moved since you last saw it, feeling your way through the dark.
Lately I have had a song stuck in my head, a song that I don’t mind replaying over and over again. It has brought me comfort and spoken truth to me on and off as my husband and I have had to walk through dark rooms of faith lately.
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The message I am getting every which way I turn these days is that God is the One in charge. That it’s seriously not all about me.
See, we all come pre-programmed to be independent, to seek affirmation, to do something great, to be right, to succeed, to somehow take this flesh-wrapped humanness and make something amazing out of it that will be applauded and made an example to others. We have dreams for what we can achieve, hopes for our future, plans for how we are going to take this one life and live it to the fullest.
I am.
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Live well, laugh often, love much . . . three short phrases from the poem Success, by Bessie Anderson Stanley written in 1904.
Live . . . well!
Do something you love. Do what you love with someone you enjoy. Do everything to the best of your ability.
Once you lived in the dark, but now the Lord has filled you with light. Live as children who have light. Light produces everything that is good, that has God’s approval, and that is true. Ephesians 5:8-9
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can.
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Imagine giving a gift and having it refused.
Maybe it’s happened to you like it’s happened to me.
It was a small gift—nothing major, but something I thought would be enjoyed. The response I received was No thank you; I don’t have anything for you.
My gift was refused because it couldn’t be earned or reciprocated. And it hurt.
I wonder if that’s how God feels when we refuse His gift of grace.
Grace…God’s free and unmerited favor toward sinful humanity (NLT Study Bible, Tyndale)
God’s love and forgiveness wrapped up in His gift of grace.
It can’t be earned and can never be reciprocated.
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GRACE IS…
the unexplainable hope
that washes away
the accusing whispers that dance in the darkness
and hide behind the mirror
and say, “You need to be thinner
and thinner
and thinner.”
Grace…
is the light that calls you
toward something so good that you’re scared to trust it.
You might even ignore it at first,
thinking it’s not for you.
Instead,
you try to get better
and fix things on your own.
You try to be strong.
Confident.
Perfect.
But hours of 3:00 a.m. sit-ups,
calorie counting,
dieting,
scrutinizing,
and hiding,
will make a person fall.
Yet Grace…
is the mighty hand that will catch you
and promise you
that you don’t have to be
perfect.
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