Tag: frustration

The God Who Sees

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture, Song, YouVersion App2 Comments

Part of my blog today is from my devotional, “The Bible in One Year, 2025 by Nicky and Pippa Gumbel” from the You Version:

All this is by grace (vv.15,17,20–21). Allow these truths to sink deep into your heart. See yourself as God sees you – as righteous in his sight – and believe that, because of what Jesus has done for you, when God looks at you he is pleased with you.

Lord, thank you so much for the death of Jesus on my behalf. Thank you that although I deserve judgment and condemnation, you have made it possible for me to be justified and to receive the righteousness from God by grace as a gift.

God sees us as righteous, forgiven, loved by Him beyond anything we can comprehend.

Hagar was ready to just admit defeat for herself and her small son Ishmael. But God was right there and saw her and had a different plan.

How often are we ready to just give up, to admit that we cannot face the challenges of life any longer? I had a week like that. I don’t talk about it, but my husband is a hoarder which almost drives me crazy since I am an organizer bunny. I was getting ready this week for family to visit, and I do try very hard not to go into the back bedroom, the site of my husband’s “treasures” but I had to dust. I was so dismayed to find that he had decided to “clean out the closet” and other spaces by stacking things under the mattress of the bed. The bed now sits about three feet higher than the frame and I think it looks ridiculous, not to mention, slightly unsafe since it’s uneven. We had an argument about it and neither of us is happy with each other. I want the family members coming to be safe but also to not be overwhelmed by the sheer outrageousness of my husband’s collections. Newspapers, boxes, video tapes, plastic containers, etc. There is no reason for all of it…it just is. The whole hoarding thing has gotten worse since retirement and I have no solution. I cannot face it, but God can. He sees my frustration and discouragement. And he also sees my husband’s mental problems that cause the problem to begin with. So, what to do? I choose to submit to God, knowing that He sees me just the way I am and will help me once again get through this situation that seems to have no answer. I generally end up backing off and my husband has his way about everything, but I am so tired of that posture. I really want God to intervene, but His intervention may be that I change and not my husband. In the meantime, I feel somewhat like Hagar, in the wrong place at the wrong time and with no one to help me. But then, there is Jehovah Roi, the God who sees. I am blessed beyond measure by God who sees all and continues to love me.

The God Who Sees by Kathie Lee Gifford and Nicole C. Mullen

Shouting to Be Heard

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

In the current political climate wherein those of us who are conservatives and Christians are being ridiculed from all sides, it’s hard not to become defensive. Sometimes, I feel like shouting out to everyone that I see that they are going to hell and need to repent. Not a good idea, however, not because it’s not true (there are probably some around me who will go to Heaven), but because their ears are not going to hear me anyway. I wouldn’t be saying anything they want to pay attention to me and the best way to pretend that all is fine in their world is to ignore me. God, in His usual timely manner, had a Scripture verse for me to apply to my level of frustration.

Since I am not a ruler then shouting wouldn’t do any good anyway. But since I am sometimes wise, depending on how much time I have spent with the Lord and His Word that day, if I speak in a quiet voice, then others might be still just so they can hear what I am saying. I found that worked well in the classroom. It is a well-known and accepted fact that one teacher cannot possibly talk over two dozen or more chattering students. I had a bell that I rang to get their attention to begin with. If the chatter didn’t stop or started again, I learned to sit down on my stool in front of the class and start teaching the lesson very quietly. Ending each sentence with something like “if you can hear me and can show me your notes at the end of this lesson, I will allow you to use them on the next quiz.” Or, a really dramatic conclusion, “The quiz will be tomorrow” said in a regular voice. The students would usually alert instantly to the word “quiz” and complain that I couldn’t give a quiz because I hadn’t taught the material yet. I would then firmly explain that I did teach it; they just were not listening. After a few times of that happening, the students learned to listen when I got quiet, knowing that what I said would affect their grades and ultimately their all-important GPA. Thus, I think God is telling me to wait until the right time (the Holy Spirit will prompt me) and then quietly say what I need to say about God, salvation, His Word and how the events today line up with the Bible. No shouting is needed because God says that quiet voice is better (more effective) than shouting.

How do you deal with those who are too stubborn and lost to listen? Have you tried speaking quietly?