Calling All Perfectionists

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

-Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus calls us to take his yoke upon us. A yoke, as he refers to it, is a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull.  In today’s lingo Jesus would be saying, “You look tired.  Come with me, I will give you rest.  Let’s hook up and do this deal together.  I will do the heavy work; you just stay by my side and watch what I am doing.  Watch how my every step is tender and kind.  You don’t have to be perfect.  Just walk with me through this.  As you walk with me you will start to walk like me.  I will bridge the gap between your imperfection and God’s perfection. I will carry the load, just stay by me.”

This is a verse I have gone to often when I am feeling overwhelmed and overburdened, especially verse 28.  I cling to the fact that Jesus can give me rest.  I love that about Him.  But it wasn’t until about a year and a half ago that I understood the how found in the next two verses.  I was at my first women’s retreat in the Colorado Rockies.  That first morning during worship I found myself distracted.  I was distracted by my almost Pharisaical legalism.  I wanted everything I was doing to be perfect.  I wanted to be perfect for Jesus and I was worried that all I was bringing Him wasn’t enough.  I was constantly striving toward perfection and wondering if I was doing enough.  That morning during worship I clearly heard from the Lord, “Stacie, quit striving for perfection.  You are beautiful and acceptable in my eyes.”  I felt this peace rush through my body and I was free to come into the presence of Jesus just as I was.  Throughout the remainder of the retreat the Lord continued to speak those words into my heart.  He shined light on my desire to be perfect and made sure that I understood that He never called me to be perfect; He just called me. Period. He called me just as I am.  He just wants me to walk with Him.  And as I do, He will teach me His ways.  He will teach me to be gentle and kind and humble.  He will carry my burdens and bridge the gap between my imperfection and His perfection. Is that good news or what?! 

My dear sister, if you are exhausted, overwhelmed, and burdened from trying to be enough stop right where you are.  Call on Jesus.  Hitch yourself up to His cart and let Him carry the load for you.  You don’t have to strive for perfection as the Pharisees did, for Jesus doesn’t require perfection.  He just wants you.  He will lead you and teach you along the way. Just go with Him.  He is enough for you.  His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Go and find rest for your souls.

Lord Jesus, Come.  I need you.  I need your help.  I can’t carry my load by myself.  It is way too much for me.  Thank you, Lord, for helping me carry all that I have to carry.  Forgive me for thinking I could do it on my own.  Forgive me for thinking that I could ever reach perfection on my own.  If I could, you wouldn’t have had to come and die on the cross for me.  Thank you, Jesus, for being perfect and for bridging the gap for me.  Thank you for loving me just as I am.  Teach me, Rabbi, to walk in gentleness and compassion as you walk.  Teach me, and make me more like you.  I love you, Jesus. Amen.

For those of you who are curious about how our retreat went…it was phenomenal.  Jesus was definitely experienced by all who attended and I think our ladies found rest in the presence of our Lord.  I know I did!

Come Away With Me

                The baby is crying. The three-year old is throwing tantrums.  The husband is working. Dirty laundry freckles the bedroom floor.  The dishes stacked high in the sink resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

                This worn out, overwhelmed mama stands in the center of it all and feels like the room is spinning.  The demands of my everyday life whirl by me like the debris in an F5 tornado.  I’ve reached my breaking point; I’m well beyond my limit.  

                “I can do this, I can do this,” I coach myself, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Oh Lord, please strengthen me.” 

                As my focus shifts to the Lord I hear a gentle whisper, “Come away with me.  Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for a while.”  (See Matthew 6:31)  My tense shoulders relax as the gentle words of my love, Jesus, are sung into my heart like a lullaby.  Again, I shift my gaze, this time to the church’s women’s retreat coming up this weekend.  The room stops spinning, and suddenly the never ending to-do list seems a bit more manageable.  

                I am going to make it through this week.  I am going to make it through this week because the loving arms of my Sustainer are going to carry me through the piles of laundry and into the retreat, like a groom carries his adoring bride.  I am going to make it through this week, and at last I will go away with Jesus and rest a while. 

Lord Jesus, 

Thank you for these precious, personal words today.  Thank you, Lord, that you are a God who understands what it is like to need to retreat and rest.  I am looking forward to truly resting with you this weekend.  Please give me the strength to do what needs to be done this week, and the patience to let go of the things that don't really "need" to be done.  Lord, I pray for all my sisters out there who are needing rest and replenishment.  I pray for your provision; that they would have the opportunity to break away from life and rest a while.  I pray for the ladies who will be joining me on this retreat this weekend.  May we all experience you and find rest in your presence.  I love you, my Lord.  Amen. 

Understanding God's Goodness

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

-Jeremiah 29:11

Have you ever clung to the goodness of God and wrapped your fingers around His promise of plans for a good and prosperous future, only to let your hope slip through your fingers in the face of disappointment or an agonizing waiting period?  I think we’ve all been there at some point.  Perhaps you are being faced with disappointment or an agonizing wait right now, and the temptation is to loosen your grip and give up.  My sweet sisters, if that is you today, please do not give up.  God is moving on your behalf and your breakthrough is coming any day now.  Keep those fingers closed and your fist clenched tight around the character and promises of God until you are white in the knuckles, because the truth is, He is taking you by the hand and leading you into victory.  You will see the goodness of the Lord in this life (see Psalm 27:13).

 

God led me to this verse during our struggle to conceive our first child.  He led me to surrender entirely to His will regarding becoming a mother, and in that I found great peace.  I knew that God is sovereign and that He is also good, and I clung to the promise that His plans for me were good, not for disaster.  After a period of waiting, I finally became pregnant and was over the top excited.  I was that girl who literally shouted from the mountain tops that I was going to be a mommy.  A few months into my pregnancy the baby stopped growing and I was told that I was going to lose this child.  I didn’t loosen my grip though.  I held tight to faith and hope.  After all, God had promised good, not disaster, and a miscarriage . . . well, that would be a disaster.  Weeks after praying for healing and clinging to God and His promises, I lost our baby.  I wrestled with God over these verses.  This is calamity.  This is disaster.  How could you allow me to cling to these verses of good when clearly, this is not good?  Through pouring out my heart to God and continuing to lean in to Him in search of answers to my questions, God did a miraculous work in me.  He healed my broken heart and showed me that His promise was still true in my life.  You see, in Jeremiah 29 verse 10, God tells the Israelites that they will be exiled in Babylon for 70 years, “but then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised.”  For 70 years the Israelites would face circumstances that did not seem like the “good” mentioned in the promise.  But the promise isn’t that you will never face calamity or trying circumstances.  I think the key phrase in the promise is but then.  Some hard stuff may have to happen first, but then God will come and do for you all the good things He has promised. Our hearts may break, our dreams may seem dead, we may have to wait, but then the promise is fulfilled.

Wouldn’t we love to have it our way all the time and never have to face anything bad? But would we even recognize something good if we stared it in the eye?  Sometimes it takes walking through calamity to appreciate the good things God does in our lives.  Even through the storm, God is good and His plans for us are still good.  His ways are higher than our ways, and even though we may not understand our present struggles, joy will come in the morning, He will trade beauty for these ashes, and we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  We can count on that.

Father God, I praise you for your goodness. Thank you for your Word and the truth revealed in your Word.  Lord, I lift up all of my sisters to you today, especially the ones who need a fresh glimpse of your promise for good.  I pray for the woman who is waiting for the fulfillment of a promise, who has been waiting so long that it is becoming increasingly difficult for her to cling to hope.  Father, I pray that you would comfort her and give her the perseverance she needs to wait for her breakthrough.  I pray for the woman who has come nose to nose with painful disappointment.  Would you show yourself faithful in her situation? Heal her broken heart and give her a vision for the beauty you will bring from the ashes.  Lord, no matter what we are walking through we can count on your goodness.  You are good, all the time.  We praise you and celebrate your goodness today.  O Lord, I love you so much! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

His Faithful Promises

“He will cover you with his feathers.    He will shelter you with his wings.    His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”

-Psalm 91:4

As I held my baby’s feverish body against my chest I recited Psalm 91 and prayed once again for God to protect my child; to cover her with His feathers and shelter her with His wings.  I turn to this psalm often when I am concerned about my babies, and I try to really meditate on the meaning of these verses.  As I rocked my sick little one to sleep I thought about what it means for His faithful promises to be my armor and protection.  I asked myself, “How can I practically use His promises as armor and protection?” and “What are they protecting me from?”  As the questions rolled around in my head I heard the Lord’s whisper, “Remember all the times my faithful promises have been proven faithful and true in your life, and they will protect you from your fear.”  By remembering the times that the Lord came through for me and proved His promises to be true, my faith was strengthened and I saw God for who He is with greater clarity. 

When we turn to His promises, we see the One who promised. That’s what this is all about.  Not that we put all our faith and hope in the promise itself, but in the Promiser.  For through His promises His character is revealed and we see Him more clearly.   When fears, doubts, or other distractions endanger our faith, we can turn to God and His Word for help. 

The Bible is jam-packed with God’s promises and truth that will strengthen us if we cling to it.  The more of God’s promises we soak up into our hearts, the more armor and protection we will have.  I’m not implying that these are the only promises or purposes that can serve as armor and protection and reveal the nature of God, but if we can pick just a handful of promises to cling to as armor and protection, it’s a good start. Here are five faithful promises that reveal to us the character of God and can serve as armor to protect our faith.

1. God promises to be with me; to never leave or forsake me.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Deuteronomy 31:6

2. God promises to protect me and watch over me at all times.

“He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord will keep you from all harm—    he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” – Psalm 121:3-4, 7-8

3. God doesn’t promise that I will never go through trials, but He does promise that they will not consume or destroy me.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” – Isaiah 43:2

4. God promises that my future is in His hands and it is good.

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” – Jeremiah 29:11

5. God promises that His love for me is unfailing, never changing, and unending.

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” – Isaiah 54:10

My dear sisters, as I type this I pray that you will find rest in the shelter of the Almighty no matter what you are walking through today.  He is covering you with His feathers and sheltering you with His wings.  May His faithful promises be your armor and protection.  I pray that you will see Him clearly in your midst and that He would reveal to you just how much He loves you.  He is on your side! As you walk in the armor and protection of the Almighty God, may victory be yours today! 

3 Keys to Living Joyfully Above Circumstances

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”

-James 1:2

As a mom and a teacher I have discovered that there is much to learn from watching the behaviors of children.  Our youngest daughter spent two weeks in the pediatric intensive care unit last spring.  I would stay the night in the hospital each night and my husband would come home to stay with our two year old.  He said he was amazed daily at how our daughter was still so full of joy, even though our world seemed to be in shambles at the time.  She was unable to see her mommy every day, she was shipped back and forth to grandparents and aunts and uncles, and she had seen her baby sister lying in the hospital bed hooked to a ventilator.  She knew that these circumstances were less than desirable, yet she was filled with joy.  So how do we, like my precious tot, live joyfully even in the midst of trials?

Here are 3 keys to living joyfully above our circumstances:

1. Trust God.

“Oh, the joys of those who trust the LORD, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols.” –Psalm 40:4

2. Hold Fast to Hope

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment.” --Romans 5:3-5

“Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.”  --Psalm 30:5

3. Remember God is Present

“You make known to me the path of life;  you will fill me withjoy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”  --Psalm 16:11

“Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.”  --Psalm 63:7

God often helps me understand lessons like this through parenting.  It helps me to understand Him as my Heavenly Father through parenting situations and my role as a parent.  Last week He brought me through a parenting situation that helped me tie these keys to joyfully living together.  My 3 year old had an appointment with a pediatric specialist at the children’s hospital.  As I was checking in at the reception desk, a little girl, about four years old, came out of the Cancer Center with her mom and older sister.  It was apparent she was a cancer patient.  She had a bandage wrapped around her arm and it looked as if she was starting to get some hair back on her head.  She was pale and fragile looking, yet she skipped to the elevator.  My eyes filled up with tears as I thought about what this little girl and her mother must have been going through.  My heart broke for them, but the little girl’s smile and joy were contagious at the same time.  As I took my seat in the waiting room I pondered the sight and I asked God to teach me how to have that kind of joy no matter the circumstances.  

Throughout my daughter’s appointment, the Holy Spirit continued to move within me.  Through my daughter He showed me what it looks like to have joy in the Lord above the circumstances.  My daughter had to go through an uncomfortable procedure, but throughout her times of discomfort I assured her that I was there and that it was all going to be okay.   Seeing the way she trusted me, and how just holding her hand gave her strength and comfort, I was reminded of how we find joy in trusting God and resting in His presence. I promised her that after this appointment she would be all fixed up and we could go have a fun day together.  We had plans of ice cream and play time following the appointment, and as she remembered the future that awaited her she was able to endure with joy set before her.  That is the picture of hope.  If we remember that a bright future awaits us, we are better able to endure our current trials with joy.    

Heavenly Father, thank you for teaching me these practical lessons through the joy of little children.  These children are such blessings.  Help us to see all there is to learn and cherish in their beautiful little souls.  Father, continue to teach me what I need to be able to live joyfully above my circumstances.  Your word tells us what a gift joy is, so help me to protect the joy that I have been given.  May today be a joy-filled day as I rejoice in you, trust in you, hope in you, and rest in you.  I love you, my Lord.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Dangers of Comparison: Day 4

Day 4: Comparison can lead to insecurity or pride.

Today, we finish up our week on the dangers of comparison with two final dangers: insecurity and pride.  They are two extreme opposites, but both very real dangers that go against the type of attitude that God wants us to have.  God wants us to walk as His chosen people with a humble confidence.  There is a happy medium between insecurity and pride in which He desires for His children to walk.  The happy medium is in Christ.  We are to walk with a firm identity in Christ, knowing we are His.  And all our confidence should be in Him, for we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. 

Insecurity

Throughout scripture we can see that God desires for us to walk with humble confidence as Christians; but when we compare ourselves to others, the confidence part goes out the door and we are left drowning in a sea of insecurity.  When we compare, we tend to compare everyone else’s best qualities with our faults.  Not only is the comparison unnecessary, it is unfair.  In his newest book, Crash the Chatterbox, Steven Furtick says, “This is one of the main reasons we struggle with insecurity: we’re comparing our behind-the-scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel.”  He goes on to point out how social media has brought this habit to an all time high.  Oh how true that is!  My News Feed is flooded with the picture perfect moments of those around me while my own personal News Feed in my mind is reeling through every doubt, fear, mistake, and flaw I have ever had.  We have to stop the comparison and refocus our attention to the fact that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and each day we are being transformed into the image of Jesus.

Pride

We can either look at pride as the opposite of insecurity or as the antidote to it.  Instead of letting others see our insecurity in a certain area; we can sometimes try to cover it up with pride.  Nevertheless, when comparison leads to pride, it puts a road block between us and the way God wants us to love others.  The Bible tells us through a story in the gospels what Jesus would say to this kind of attitude.  Comparison and pride polluted the air while talk about who should be seated next to Jesus in Heaven circulated among the disciples.  In comparing themselves to their fellow disciples, some thought they should be the ones to sit at the right and left hands of Jesus in His glory.  Jesus replied by saying, “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45) 

Now before we judge James and John here, let’s take a look at the log in our own eyes.  It’s not hard to fall into this kind of comparison and prideful attitude.  Especially in the work place it is easy to look at coworkers and say, "I am working harder than they are, doing more, doing better...so I deserve the blessing, more pay, the promotion, the boss’s attention, etc. "  May we all find it in ourselves to humble ourselves as servants.  Instead of comparing ourselves and becoming prideful, we should be reaching out our hands and helping those around us.

Father God, thank you for opening my eyes to how dangerous it is when I compare.  I want to live life abundantly with my eyes fixed on you.  Teach me to do that, Father.  Help me to keep my eyes on you.  And build in me a humble confidence.  May I humbly serve those around me with my confidence in you.  Continue to work in my heart, Lord.  Make me into the woman you want me to be.  I love you.  In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.