God knows exactly
where I am at with Him. He wants me to be real
and honest with Him. Today is a brand new day.
Ecclesiastes
3:1-8 (NASB) There is an
appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under
heaven-- A time to give
birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot
what is planted. A time to kill
and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to
build up. A time to weep
and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw
stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun
embracing. A time to search
and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw
away. A time to tear
apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to
speak. A time to love
and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
When we can accept where we are instead of where we think we should be life becomes easier to live in the present with hope toward a future not determined by our past. We
are becoming able to recognize seasons in our life within our relationships, our work,
our home and even our hobbies or interests. We are able to be real with ourselves making it
easier to be transparent with those around us, especially the people we love.
When we are no longer trying to fit life and who we think we are supposed to be
in a box primarily of our own making we become open to receiving God’s wisdom for our identity and how to live
not only abundantly, but truly free.
This is the challenge we all have.
We all started life with a perception of our parents or our dominate role models being the example of perfection, regardless of
how good or poor of a role model they actually were. It is in recognizing the
seasons of our past that we are better able to go back to the beginning, choosing to keep what is
beneficial while letting go of the rest. This is as much about unlearning what we have come to believe we know as it is about learning God's truths for how we perceive reality. We are asking God to heal what has harmed or wounded us; our experiences,
events and the people that have shaped how we protect our self, our stuff and our
loved ones. This is not a single event, rather a process of learning to
recognize the affect our wounds and life's experiences have on our present. This takes time as we
learn from God revealing more of who He is to us and who we are created to be. As we grow more secure with our God we even become able to look into our own heart. God's loving kindness leads the way as He helps us open closed doors to rooms in our heart we may have never dared to open before.
We are no longer trying to be our
own source for life over our God and Creator; all three persons of God and the roles they each have in our life. We are trusting God more as we ask Him to search our heart. Our track record of trusting God in the little things is giving us the courage to stretch our previous boundaries for our faith. It is with true security in Him, knowing we belong and
will never be rejected that we are able to face what has never been a secret to Him. As we learn to live free within the boundaries of honor
and respect for God, others and self, we become able to recognize our wounded
condition. The time to plant and uproot and a time to kill and a time to heal
are the very things our enemy wants to pervert and twist with a
misunderstanding of God’s perfect timing. We can trust God to put the right
people in our life at just the right time to help us through this often
difficult stage in our becoming healthy sons and daughters. We are not designed
to be independent and self-sufficient as the American dream supposedly goes. We
are all truly better together than we are apart. The truth is we designed to be
inter-dependent with each other, together giving a more complete reflection of our God
while being totally dependent on Him. The ability to have openness with
another person, even a trusted few, helps us to see outside of our own point of view. God and our neighbors help us to recognize and overcome the lies the enemy
and the world have planted within our hearts. These false truths, beliefs held in our heart, that were keeping us from realizing the
potential God created each of us to walk in are being uncovered, the hold the illusion had on us is being broken. This is not about some kind of
hocus-pocus or a magic ritual taking place in our life. This is about God
revealing stuff about us and Him to us internally that is often verified
through another as a second witness to His truth. We can always trust God to
give a second witness to His truth for us helping us to not fall for deceptions
and the tricks our enemy tries to cripple and destroy us with.
This is a journey not an event or a destination as we become
healthy children recognizing and leaving the brokenness we carried from our past behind. We can now accept others in their brokenness and even wrong thinking as we allow
them the grace to live imperfectly trusting God’s sovereignty and perfect timing for them as
well. We know with better understanding what Jesus meant when telling us to
take care of the plank in our own eye, then we will be able to see clearly and
able to help others with the speck in theirs.
Father God, I ask you to reveal to
me the behavior patterns, the habits I carry, the lies I hold in my heart as beliefs that prevent me from accepting the
freedom Jesus died to give me. Help me to know and trust your Word that tells me,
“Where the Spirit of the LORD is there is freedom.” Amen
Today’s Reflection What is the Holy Spirit saying to
me…?
How
does today’s message apply to my life?…my beliefs? |