Embrace the Within no. 21

“Bless those who persecute you [who cause you harm or hardship]; bless and do not curse [them]. Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others’ joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others’ grief]. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty [conceited, self-important, exclusive], but associate with humble people [those with a realistic self-view]. Do not overestimate yourself. Never repay anyone evil for evil. Take thought for what is right and gracious and proper in the sight of everyone. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Romans 12:14-18 AMP

Yesterday we dropped the oldest off at college. It was really difficult to see her crying and missing her family. BUT it was also reassuring that she, despite talking a big game about being away from us, is rooted in the relationships she has with her siblings. There was a lot of weeping on her part because things were changing. Add change is difficult especially the first time your life really has to change.

Looking back over the many changes I have faced in my life, I have a different perspective on change. When I look back to thirty years ago when I was preparing to go away to Atlanta and begin my journey away from home and that change in my life, I now look at what happened to get me where I am today and how fortunate I am for the change in plans. I was going to be an engineering major and see the Olympic games in Atlanta and here I am now a middle school English teacher with his oldest daughter off to college. Life is too humbling to get too concerned about the changes. It is humbling because no matter how many books we write about the world, how many guesses humans have for events on this planet, how many theories we put forward and laws we create, we are never in control. And that is probably the most difficult part of change that we need to learn in life.

We are not in control and we are not alone. Living at peace with that concept is one of the most difficult struggles I faced as a child, teen, young adult, and adult. And it is a struggle I am watching my daughter face as well. Letting go of the wheel and letting God guide us goes against our independent nature. And that is the wonderful lesson God is always trying to teach us. Rather than trying to force our lives down the roads we think are best, we need to let God be in control. And that kind of surrender is scary at first BIT over time it makes looking back on your life comical. You find the humor in all the plans and goals that didn’t matter. I find all those changes that led me to here and now and how they shaped my purpose to be reassuring.

I know that she is struggling with the change today. BUT I also know that God has a plan for her just like God has a plan for me and has a plan for you too. And rather than weeping about the change, we can grow to rejoice and embrace the wonderfulness of change. Change allows us to be closer to God. Change allows us to love our neighbors. Change allows us to grow as Christians. Change allows us to leave our homes and create new homes. Change is essential for us to reunite with God.

Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of God is now. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin

Embrace the Within no. 19

“God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart.

Examine me through and through;

find out everything that may be hidden within me.

Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares.

See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on,

and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way—

the path that brings me back to you.”

Psalms 139:23-24 TPT

I am never alone. That is one of the key takeaways that give me consolation about all things I encounter in life. When Christ was preparing to leave the disciples and fulfill the reconciliation of God and humanity, Christ told the disciples, “Take careful notice: an hour is coming, and has arrived, when you will all be scattered, each to his own home, leaving Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me” (John 16:32 AMP). Just as God the Father was with God the Son, I can be assured that I am not alone despite and in spite of how I feel.

In this world of feelings where folks make decisions based upon their situations and their emotions, I can have the assurance that my feelings are temporary, my situation is temporary, my distress is temporary, my pain is temporary, BUT my God is permanent. God is always there even when I feel that God has left me. I have to learn that in a lot of situations in life, my feelings are not doing me any service. My feelings are often being used in service of other powers that are attempting to turn me astray and lead me to doubt the promise of God to be with me.

I need to let God examine and test those things that make me feel in any way that I am alone. I need to return from those feelings that are swaying my judgment and asking me to choose whether I trust in the immutability of what God has promised. And there are lots of distractions out there in the world that have adapted and changed over the years to try and draw my attention off God and onto my feelings. BUT the distractions of the world may change, my commitment to God may change, my emotions and situations may change, however, God does not change. And God’s promise to never leave me alone does not change.

I remind folks, mainly my children, that their relationship with God is between them and God. And I always add, “I won’t be standing there with you when you have to make an account with God. It will only be God and you.” And I take comfort in that fact that even when I make it to judgment I will not be alone then because God will be there with me at that time also. Maybe that makes some folks afraid. Maybe that makes some folks worried. BUT it shouldn’t. I feel relieved to know that when I have to make an account of my life, God will be there with me too. I am never alone. You are never alone. God isn’t looking down on you from a cloud, from Heaven, from the other side of a door, God is always right there with you and me. God’s presence is there whether I feel like it or not.

Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of God is now. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin