So many times in life we are chasing our shiny endings- a new car, a gorgeous boo, promotions, big houses, lavish clothes, fancy jewels, fame, and fortune. Like clockwork, we are enchanted with our outcomes and so focused on the taste of success that we sometimes forget the most important part- the foundation.
Tag: Faith
Formation
There’s nothing jazzy to me about formation. Thinking about clay being spun on a potter’s wheel and the mess it takes to eventually form a pristine piece of pottery takes time and energy.
Imagining gemstones that must first undergo a fiery furnace to remove impurities before producing the finest of gold, diamond, ruby, and the like is work.
Or considering the crushing of grapes in a winepress to produce new wine (that by the way tastes better the longer you let it sit) is daunting.
Formation is not a sexy process, but oh how necessary it is to become whole and complete in this life.
Peace
Peace. You cannot buy it, you cannot fake it, you cannot conjure it. In these times, more than ever, we need it for real. Peace is a precious gift from God that you quickly realize is misplaced when calamity strikes.
Indeed there are so many opportunities to misplace our peace as 2020 has shown us in simply 2.5 short (ok, long) months.
Ultimately, peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God through it. It is more than a feeling, but a confident knowing that everything will be alright despite what it looks like.
Do it Scared
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
Marianne Williamson- “Return to Love”
No matter what age, sex, status, or religion, we all struggle with fear. Even your biggest heroes believe it or not have been afraid at some point in their journey. Regardless, they were committed to the process and persisted despite their feelings. I challenge us too, to do it scared.
Don’t Worry
This five-letter word gets on my nerves. It is clear as daylight that worrying is bad for us and we simply should not do it, yet it seems that as soon as we wake up in the morning there is something(s) on our mind that sends us into a spiral of worry.
Worry: to give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. (Google)
Stress and worry can even lead to physical illness such as having an upset stomach, muscle tension, headaches, high blood pressure, palpitations, anxiety, to name a few.
In spite of these woes, worry appears to be our default setting. Bobby McFerrin attempted to inspire us with his 1988 “don’t worry, be happy” song, but my question to him and to the Lord is how?
How does one stop worrying and why do we tend to worry for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack time?
Consistency
Many of the world’s most well-known and “successful” figures were not always so.
In fact, plenty, if not all of them were told “no” a time or two. We’ve heard of Bill Gates who dropped out of Harvard and co-owned a failed business prior to launching Microsoft and becoming the world’s youngest self-made billionaire (CBSNews, 2019).
Faith-full
He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Matt 8:26 NIV
Faith. It is the one thing Jesus noticed the disciples were lacking during a fierce storm that was breaking into the boat. It was not a lack of strength, or patience, or religiosity, or courage. It was a lack of “faith”.
Faith. This one word appears to activate God throughout scripture. Yet, this one word is what so many of us wrestle with.