The Peace-Thief

Hello There!  I hope you're all doing well.  It's almost incomprehensible to think May 2018 is already here.  Hello?  I don't know, but time seems to be whipping by and I for one wish it would slow down a little.  It feels as if we're all on a reality TV show fast-forwarded, right?

Anyways, in my 2018 "to read" stash I collected in January, I picked up Uninvited by Lysa TyerKeurst.  In part of the book, she reflects on the story in 1 Samuel about the two wives of Elkanah, Hannah and Peninnah.  I hadn't visited this story in a while and was happy to read it again.  The next day, I heard a radio speaker speaking on the same passage.  Later that week, I opened my Bible to the very same passage.  Three times?

In summary, Elkanah was an Ephraimite with two wives, Hannah and Peninnah.   Peninnah was fertile and had borne him many children.  Hannah was barren and very ashamed and disappointed by it.  Yet, Elkanah, seemingly, loved Hannah more. He showed this by giving her double portions of meat while only giving Peninnah and her children one portion.  Here is the thing, both women were blessed, Peninnah had children, Hannah had her husband's devotion.

But, each woman wanted what the other had. 

Every day, all day long, everywhere we go,
we are hit with images, messages, and ideas that feed our appetites for what we don't have.

If we're not careful these messages can consume our thoughts and further convince us that we have been disenfranchised, dismissed and disregarded.   "Why can't we have what we believe is our right to have?"  Before long, disappointment and discouragement creep in.  Just like Peninnah and Hannah our "want" can become so magnified that we will be blinded to what we have already been blessed with. And, this, my friends, might be a thief of peace and contentment. 

Let me make a disclaimer here, I don't think our "desires" are necessarily bad as long as our desires line up with God's.  And, as long as our desires don't overcome our thoughts to the degree that they shadow what God has already done in order to attain what we see Him doing in someone else's story. 

I was on line to pay my groceries the other day and in front of me there was a young mom with her what looked like 5 or 6 year-old.  He was very upset because he wanted a candy from the candy stand next to the cashier.  (Thank you supermarkets for doing this to us moms.)   Mom had a cart filled with food which obviously was for him, but he could not appreciate it because he wanted the candy.  This mom was a rock star.  She didn't scream at him, she didn't get embarrassed, she didn't make a bigger scene than the one her son was making, she just stood on her decision.  She left calmly after paying, and as the little boy saw that his mom did not budge, he finally settled and they went on their way.  Sometimes, we can become embarrasingly like this little boy, God has a grocery cart filled with what we actually need, but we are crying for the chocolate bar that we cannot have.  

Peninnah went even further than making a scene, she used the blessing God gave her as an advantage to mock Hannah's apparent inabilities.  This is where Peninnah blew it.  Her children were a blessing from the Lord, she didn't need to hide that, but she flaunted her blessing before Hannah in order to cause her pain.  Hurt people, hurt people.  Perhaps this behavior appeased Peninnah's own feelings of rejection inflicted by her husband's lack of affection.  Hannah could have easily milked her husband's attention to the same in return.  Could you imagine their social media accounts?  But, she didn't.

Lysa mentions in her book, that we sometimes try to get our needs met outside of the will of God and this sometimes is what gets us into deeper trouble and/or delays the fulfillment of His plan in our lives.  Peninnah's actions most probably inadvertently provoked her husband to draw even farther away from her., further disappointing her.  How many times have we reacted the wrong way ushering in the very results we were trying to avoid?

Hannah responded to this craziness by pouring her heart out before the Lord.  Eli, the prophet, was at the doorpost of the Lord's house, he heard sobs and looked to see a woman crying out.  He watched as she wept bitterly, her lips were moving but no voice was heard. Eli was convinced she was drunk or perhaps even looney. He reprimands her and tells her to put her wine away.

Friends, family, social media, television, none of these sources can really do anything about our situation.  They can listen, they can form opinions, they can offer incomplete solutions, but the only One that has the true and effective remedy for our pain is Christ.  The Lord may lead us to speak to a specific person, nonetheless, we need to go to Him first and allow Him to lead our healing journey.  

Hannah corrects the prophet confirming that she, in fact, was not drunk, she was a woman who was deeply troubled.  She said, "I'm not a wicked woman, I'm here praying out of my great anguish and grief."  Eli, in turn, doesn't really ask what grieved her so, he may not have even been that concerned.  But, he calms her with this word:

"Go in peace.  And may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him"

1 Samuel 1:17

He may not have thought much of what He said, but Hannah's spirit grabbed onto his words as a promise from God Himself. These words became the turning point that would change her life, her attitude and planted hope in her spirit.  Did Peninnah stop bullying her?  Probably not.  Did she have a baby the next day?  No.  But, she had a promise from the Lord and she believed it and she would wait and stand on it until it happened.  

I don't know what you are asking the Lord for as you visit with me today, but I can tell you this, I'm with you, I have some needs before the Lord.  And, I too, have a choice to make.  Will I look at the blessings of others and convince my self that God has not done enough for me?  Or will I go to God first, pour out my heart, and allow Him to heal me and breathe a promise of His plan to bring me joy even as I wait? 

LESSONS LEARNED

Desire what He has for me, not what someone else has.
Go to Him first to get what I need.
Know, He has remembered me, He has not forgotten.

And, He will answer my prayers "in the course of time." (v.20)

Believe, Trust, Wait & Stand

When Anxiety Lingers . . .

Stomach's tingling,

Head's fogging,

Energies are dwindling,

Why?

Anxiety just knocked on the door, again.

Anxiety is an unwelcome visitor,

like the one who comes and doesn't want to leave . . .

The visitor that comes up with a variety of creative and logical 

reasons why they must stay a little while longer.

A little while longer can add up to weeks, months, even years ~

All we did was open the door, a little, and Anxiety was home.

Anxiety invades our space and situations,

It insists on controlling our decision making,

It reminds us of all the things that can go wrong,

It tries to define us, to tell us who we are.

And, persuades us to believe the worse.

"You can't do this!"

"You don't have the skills!"

"You already failed."

"The worse is going to happen!"

"It's all over."

Anxiety's boss is FEAR.

Fear's job is to keep us in our corner.

Paralyzed.

And, as long as we comply, 

FEAR leaves us alone.

The moment we decide to

move, or imagine, or consider a way out,

FEAR sends its minion, Anxiety,

to keep us in our place.

Philippians 4:6-8 

is one of my life verses. Recently, I was inspired to take a look at it again, 

consider the message and grab onto it for dear life.

Here's what it's saying to me, 

and hopefully to you:

Is anything impossible for God?

Is anxiety's arm longer than His?

Our Father is a good One!

And, He has not forgotten His promises!

Even while we're in Fear's corner,

Even while paralyzed,

Even when nothing is changing,

He whispers, 

"I AM going to get you out of this!"

 And, when I do, you will be able to say, 

'Look what the Lord has done!'"

Even then,

He begins to deposit a NEW PLAN!

His plan, in all probability,  

may look differently than what we imagined,

but it will be far better because He planned it, 

not us.

When do the words of a book change the author's purpose, 

or the lyrics of a song change the songwriter's vision?

God is the author and the finisher!

This is what the LORD says!

EARNESTLY,

for everything.

and the 

OF GOD

which 

cannot be explained or understood 

or even reasoned away,

will come to the

RESCUE!

It will also GUARD 

our hearts and our minds

from Anxiety's and Fear's influence and persuasion.

GOD IS OUR SUPER HERO!

in the name of 

JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD!

Anxiety doesn't have the last word, God does.

God's an expert at building highways 

even in places where there is no way.

God's got this.

 Even when we don't see anything happening, 

or hear anything, He's still working.  

This is a FAITH walk, and the good news is, we don't need much.  All we need is faith the size of a mustard seed to move God's plan into action.  

Before we see changes in our circumstances, there must be a transformation in our hearts. We must return to those times when God was first before anything and everything ~

. . . return to the time when we sought Him with all of our hearts and asked Him to invade our lives, our circumstances, our wills, 

we kept knocking on the door of His heart,  relentlessly,

until God moved!  

And, if by His sovereignty, our circumstances don't change,

Anxiety will finally be evicted and Peace will be home.

Be Still

Hurricane Matthew gave us a visit this past week.  He was mean and strong.  Like a big bully, he threatened to destroy, and was coming straight towards us.  We'd better be scared!  How could we contend with such an enormous foe?  All we could do is scurry through the supermarkets and find what we could. Shutter up our houses, lock ourselves in and hope for the best.

It reminds me of the story in Mark when Jesus and the disciples climbed into a boat after tending to the multitudes.  A storm suddenly grew out of the blue, the wind and the waves were beating onto the boat.  Water was already overcoming and the disciples were in panic mode.  They better be, the storm bully demanded it.  Jesus, on the other hand, was in the stern, asleep, on a pillow!  No fear!  The disciples found him asleep, woke him, and said,
"Teacher, do You not care that we are dying here!"

All I could say is, wow, how many times have I prayed,
"Father, do you care?"  Just like Matthew, life storms promise to destroy, to damage, and sometimes take casualties.  We know our Father can do something and we wonder, why isn't He?  Where is He?

Jesus arose, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"
The storm quieted at the sound of His voice!

He then asked his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Where is your faith?"

Lesson Learned:  When storms come, weather or life related, we should prepare, but not fear!  God is in our boat!

Praying for Haiti and Cuba as they recover from the Matthew.