I feel that something is stirring...has been stirring slowly for awhile. I feel myself drawing toward young women for the purpose of encouraging and guiding them. I spoke with a friend today who helps lead the college-aged/20-something group at our church. I wanted to better understand the structure and see if there was a need for a mentoring role in the group. They do try to pair the "kids" up with someone to disciple them - when they show interest in or are ready for that. I think that may be just the thing. I'm just beginning to pray about it.
I remember being a teenager and a college student - fumbling my way through the mixed messages and lies that our society tells young women about their worth and who they should be. It's really tough. Some women struggle with that their entire life, sadly. I would love to be an encouragement and guide for a young woman. They don't truly know their beauty or worth. That age group is preyed upon because their bodies are still young, skin is still tight and smooth, yet they probably don't have the clarity of mind or confidence to know the difference between the lies and the truth.
I can't bombard my schedule with randomness. I need to set some parameters. One commitment of mine is about to end, which will free up one to two nights a week, each week. Two Wednesdays a month are always for our LIFE group. Other than that, I need to be careful how I fill my time. My family needs me. I need to refocus because that is my ministry field. It should be first and foremost. Aside from that, I'm not feeling called to go on a big mission trip or really get involved in a local ministry for service projects. I'm passionate about building relationships with the people in my life - in my neighborhood, at the church, the police wives and the women Chad works with - for the purpose of building them up, pointing them to God, and even discipling them. That's where my focus needs to stay. I need to start saying "no" more often.
I think my answer is pretty clear. I need to tell the Ethiopia team "no." I need to not worry about getting involved in a local ministry. I can help mobilize others to go serve there. I can't be everywhere at once. I can't be everything to everyone - but I can be where I know I should be.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Hunger...and craving
Our church doesn't practice Lent, but some of us observe it anyway. I'm hit and miss. This year I've hit it...big time.
I had a huge problem with sugar. It's fair to say that some days sugary foods were 70% of my daily diet. I'm not counting breads with sugar in it, I'm talking about donuts, candy bars, etc. It's not that I didn't eat sandwiches and real meals, but there was a lot of junk in there. Some have asked how I've stayed small. Truth be told, I would skip meals sometimes or just pick at a meal so that I could have something sweet afterwards. It was an open invitation to diabetes. So, long story short, I decided that I had to kick sugar to the curb this Lenten season.
I haven't been ridiculous about it - checking labels for the word 'sugar' in the ingredients. For example, soda - I don't have a problem with soda. I can take it or leave it. I don't drink it very often. It's not a temptation for me, so it doesn't really count. The point of all of this is to restrict the things that make me squirm. I do cut some sugary things that aren't a temptation for me, and truth be told, as the weeks have gone by most sugary things don't tempt me.
It occurred to me today that the feeling I used to identify as hunger was not hunger...it was craving. I truly thought it was hunger. However, I did not need food. I needed cleansing.
Similarly, many people identify the "needs" in their lives (be it a hobby, job, person, activity, responsibility...) as "needs"...but they are cravings as well. They are the junk that obscure the true need. They don't need those things, they need cleansing.
Personally, I can't eat in moderation if I'm addicted. I have to cut it out entirely in order to free myself from it. Cut the head off the snake. My point is that if you are craving an activity, job, person, responsibility or anything else that you think you can't do without...you need to cut it out entirely in order to free yourself from it. If that sounds too difficult to do, that is only evidence that you really need to cut it out.
We don't notice the pollutants in our lives until we cut them out. That's a painful process, I know. Trust me, I know. I've cut more than one thing from my life in the past year, and it has all been painful. But I assure, even promise you, it is important that you do it. I won't glamorize it for you. I won't give you the victory speech. I'll just put it plainly. You need to do it.
The difference in a craving and hunger is that you can never satisfy a craving. There is no peace in a craving. The craving commands you. If you tell a craving "no", it will bark back at you. But I tell you, if you tell it "no" enough, it will in fact shut up - maybe not permanently, but it will begin to obey you. Like anything else though, you have to take the reigns. The stronger the craving, the more it will put up a fight for those reigns. Just keep telling yourself that you are stronger - because you are.
Hunger on the other hand is in fact a need. We have very few needs. And spiritually speaking, we have one. We try to fill that need with junk - busying ourselves with hobbies, knowledge, people, etc. - but it never satisfies our true need. We were designed to love God. We were designed to worship Him and spend time with Him. It may not sound very appetizing to you, but that's because you have too much junk in your life. When I've eaten candy bars for three days or three months, an apple or orange doesn't sound nearly as appetizing. But the candy bar rots my bones while an apple or orange will strengthen them. We put entirely too much weight into our momentary desires. We fool ourselves into believing that they mean anything in light of reality. The reality is you were designed by God for God. That's just the truth of the matter. Everything else will distort your view, confuse you, leave you unsatisfied, craving and longing for something more.
So I challenge you, give it up. Whatever it is that you feel you can't do without. Give it up. If your addiction is tightly interwoven into your being, that is going to sound impossible. Some addictions we should leave out in the cold entirely - a time-wasting, life-sucking hobby, for example. Other addictions, we just need to put in their rightful place - your children or job, for example.
The freedom, peace and joy of living without your addiction is well worth it! To be honest, it doesn't mean that the temptation to go back won't rear its ugly head ever again. But! That's not a sign for you to go back to it. It's just an invitation by that evil one who wants to destroy you. So when he sends you his putrid invitation, you grab the reigns tightly and emphatically tell him "no".
I had a huge problem with sugar. It's fair to say that some days sugary foods were 70% of my daily diet. I'm not counting breads with sugar in it, I'm talking about donuts, candy bars, etc. It's not that I didn't eat sandwiches and real meals, but there was a lot of junk in there. Some have asked how I've stayed small. Truth be told, I would skip meals sometimes or just pick at a meal so that I could have something sweet afterwards. It was an open invitation to diabetes. So, long story short, I decided that I had to kick sugar to the curb this Lenten season.
I haven't been ridiculous about it - checking labels for the word 'sugar' in the ingredients. For example, soda - I don't have a problem with soda. I can take it or leave it. I don't drink it very often. It's not a temptation for me, so it doesn't really count. The point of all of this is to restrict the things that make me squirm. I do cut some sugary things that aren't a temptation for me, and truth be told, as the weeks have gone by most sugary things don't tempt me.
It occurred to me today that the feeling I used to identify as hunger was not hunger...it was craving. I truly thought it was hunger. However, I did not need food. I needed cleansing.
Similarly, many people identify the "needs" in their lives (be it a hobby, job, person, activity, responsibility...) as "needs"...but they are cravings as well. They are the junk that obscure the true need. They don't need those things, they need cleansing.
Personally, I can't eat in moderation if I'm addicted. I have to cut it out entirely in order to free myself from it. Cut the head off the snake. My point is that if you are craving an activity, job, person, responsibility or anything else that you think you can't do without...you need to cut it out entirely in order to free yourself from it. If that sounds too difficult to do, that is only evidence that you really need to cut it out.
We don't notice the pollutants in our lives until we cut them out. That's a painful process, I know. Trust me, I know. I've cut more than one thing from my life in the past year, and it has all been painful. But I assure, even promise you, it is important that you do it. I won't glamorize it for you. I won't give you the victory speech. I'll just put it plainly. You need to do it.
The difference in a craving and hunger is that you can never satisfy a craving. There is no peace in a craving. The craving commands you. If you tell a craving "no", it will bark back at you. But I tell you, if you tell it "no" enough, it will in fact shut up - maybe not permanently, but it will begin to obey you. Like anything else though, you have to take the reigns. The stronger the craving, the more it will put up a fight for those reigns. Just keep telling yourself that you are stronger - because you are.
Hunger on the other hand is in fact a need. We have very few needs. And spiritually speaking, we have one. We try to fill that need with junk - busying ourselves with hobbies, knowledge, people, etc. - but it never satisfies our true need. We were designed to love God. We were designed to worship Him and spend time with Him. It may not sound very appetizing to you, but that's because you have too much junk in your life. When I've eaten candy bars for three days or three months, an apple or orange doesn't sound nearly as appetizing. But the candy bar rots my bones while an apple or orange will strengthen them. We put entirely too much weight into our momentary desires. We fool ourselves into believing that they mean anything in light of reality. The reality is you were designed by God for God. That's just the truth of the matter. Everything else will distort your view, confuse you, leave you unsatisfied, craving and longing for something more.
So I challenge you, give it up. Whatever it is that you feel you can't do without. Give it up. If your addiction is tightly interwoven into your being, that is going to sound impossible. Some addictions we should leave out in the cold entirely - a time-wasting, life-sucking hobby, for example. Other addictions, we just need to put in their rightful place - your children or job, for example.
The freedom, peace and joy of living without your addiction is well worth it! To be honest, it doesn't mean that the temptation to go back won't rear its ugly head ever again. But! That's not a sign for you to go back to it. It's just an invitation by that evil one who wants to destroy you. So when he sends you his putrid invitation, you grab the reigns tightly and emphatically tell him "no".
Friday, April 8, 2011
Love...neighborhoods and the people you meet
It's easy for me to get caught up in myself. My first reaction is often concern for myself - will I be liked; am I being appreciated; have I gained so-and-so's approval; will this be a good use of my time and talents...
As you can see, I have a problem with being success-driven or needing to be liked.
To be fair, I am getting better. Sometimes I don't have to weed through my natural reaction of self-centeredness. I can start directly from God's love for that person. But sometimes I have to weed through my own feelings and pray for God to help me love that person as He does. It depends on whether I feel threatened or not, quite honestly.
Last night, I had a wonderful opportunity to meet someone that I had been wanting to meet. In all honesty, I was wondering if I would feel threatened. Left to my own devices, I would struggle with that. However, I prayed that my heart would be changed; that there would be no remnant of self-centeredness which leads to jealousy. Lord, let me love that person as You do and know in my heart that You want this person to love You. It's the life changing love and message of Christ's Gospel. It's beautiful.
God has changed my heart. When I think of this person, I don't think of myself. My heart actually swells a bit. I want this person to know and love God. That is the best thing I can offer to anyone - the joy, peace and love that comes from God alone. I pray that God would draw me into a closer relationship with this person, in hopes that He will be glorified through it. I can only do that by submitting to Him and seeking His heart in all circumstances.
The bottom line is that my love cannot be conditional - based on whether or not I feel threatened. My love, the kind that makes a heart swell and not ache, must come from God's love for this person. And really, that love benefits everyone. Everyone, and I'm including myself, feels better. Everyone wins because God's way is good. It is truth - the only truth, and the only way that truly saves.
As you can see, I have a problem with being success-driven or needing to be liked.
To be fair, I am getting better. Sometimes I don't have to weed through my natural reaction of self-centeredness. I can start directly from God's love for that person. But sometimes I have to weed through my own feelings and pray for God to help me love that person as He does. It depends on whether I feel threatened or not, quite honestly.
Last night, I had a wonderful opportunity to meet someone that I had been wanting to meet. In all honesty, I was wondering if I would feel threatened. Left to my own devices, I would struggle with that. However, I prayed that my heart would be changed; that there would be no remnant of self-centeredness which leads to jealousy. Lord, let me love that person as You do and know in my heart that You want this person to love You. It's the life changing love and message of Christ's Gospel. It's beautiful.
God has changed my heart. When I think of this person, I don't think of myself. My heart actually swells a bit. I want this person to know and love God. That is the best thing I can offer to anyone - the joy, peace and love that comes from God alone. I pray that God would draw me into a closer relationship with this person, in hopes that He will be glorified through it. I can only do that by submitting to Him and seeking His heart in all circumstances.
The bottom line is that my love cannot be conditional - based on whether or not I feel threatened. My love, the kind that makes a heart swell and not ache, must come from God's love for this person. And really, that love benefits everyone. Everyone, and I'm including myself, feels better. Everyone wins because God's way is good. It is truth - the only truth, and the only way that truly saves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)