WATCHWORD:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Meditation:
We all have favorite verses from the scriptures. Proverbs 3 is one of mine, and another is this: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplications, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” I am sure that you recognize that is from Philippians 4.
How can you be anxious for nothing? Seriously, you start out with that as your goal, not to be stressed or anxious, but too often that peace you aspire to keeps slipping just beyond your reach as the day unfolds.
In my pre-retirement years, back when I was working on university and college campuses, I loved my work but to say it was stress or anxiety free, now that would be a stretch. College students are wonderful kids, but very unpredictable, to say the very least. The satisfaction I felt in doing my work with those kids, was, at times, palpable. There were times I just flat out thanked the Lord for putting me in that position. Then, there were other times…
Here’s my point, whatever you did preretirement, or what you are doing now, there probably were times when you were stressed, and anxious, and yet there were those times when you realized that what you were doing was all part of God’s plan. Those elements of stress and anxiety, each time brought you, and me, back closer to the maker of the stars. In that closer relationship with God, we find the peace that passes all understanding. Instead of trying to control those circumstances that cause stress, our Lord wants us to relax and remember that circumstances cannot touch the peace that He gives.
In one of the morning devotional readings, Joyce Meyers made this statement: “Too many people are not living their dreams because they are living their fears.” I pray that is not you who are reading this. But that statement is true for many we have known over the years. In their fears, they are missing their dream. They are living their lives, not out of their heart, but out of their obligations, out of their fears.
From our base of experience, we know the doorway to making our “path straight” is through trust in the Lord. That’s not a hollow statement, that is a powerful and life-giving statement. Trust, rely, rest in, believe in, commit to, love with all your being in the Lord, and it is amazing how the mountains will move, the wounds will heal, that stress will evaporate like morning mist. It’s not magic, it’s faith. Amen.
Bulletin Board:
Please know, I failed to credit Greg Loselle, the author of the poem featured in Tuesday’s Watchword. My apologies. Loselle is a teacher, a writer of fiction, a poet and a scholar.
Beth Newcomer also included this upside down quote by Thomas DeQuincey, featured prominently on Loselle’s home page: “If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. Once begun upon this downward path, you never know where you are to stop.”
Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts (1827)
Morning Prayer:
Father, I praise You today for all that You have done in my life. You are faithful even when I am faithless. Your love pursues me even when I am unlovable. Your forgiveness covers my sin and frees me from its penalty. I praise You for your love and faithfulness to me. Your presence in my life changes everything, empowering me to live each moment of every day, content in knowing You are in control. As I face today, Lord, remind me that no matter what happens, I can praise You! In Your Name, Amen.
