Monday Musings

Can we just be honest with each other this morning? We are all juggling balls…trying to keep things in the air and not let anything fall. And, of course, feeling overwhelmed, frustrated and not a little impatient at how long it’s taking for the balls to just settle and be still. Let’s be even more honest. Most of us put those balls in the air to begin with and now we don’t know what to do with them.

My balls include the following:

~Health issues. I am scheduled to have a spinal injection on Friday but first I have to get my asthma/breathing under control. My peak flow is way down even after two rounds of steroids and all of my other meds. I may be wrong but I don’t think I can have a needle stuck into my spine while having a coughing fit. So, there is that ball.

~The AC at home has not been working right (contributing to my breathing issues, of course). My husband got up before six this morning to go to the AC repair place and snag a repairman.

~My grandchildren have been celebrating all kinds of milestones and I haven’t been able to travel to be there with them. Elementary school graduation, play performances, dance recitals, so many things!

~Books to read and review…so many books! Authors ask and I say “yes” and the pile is taller than I am.

~Family issues. My sister wants me to visit, but I have been ill. My husband wants to visit his brother, but he doesn’t want to leave me alone without a car.

I could continue the list, but now let’s get to the answers to the juggling balls. Naturally, the first thing we do is try to figure it out ourselves. That will not work! We need God’s input. So, pause, worship, pray and then be still and listen. This is what I heard this morning when I took time to forget about the balls and focus on God.

Before worrying about all of the balls you’re going to drop, why not ask God to help prioritize those balls and for help figuring things out. He promises wisdom, but you have the responsibility to ask for it.

So, having prayed and asked for wisdom, here are what my balls are doing now:

~I can’t change timing or my health issues, but I can change my attitude and relax into my breathing treatments. That really does help tremendously. So, ten minutes of nebulizer means ten minutes of not thinking about my balls falling but about spending time with God. He can hold on to the balls for me or let them fall…it doesn’t matter. Turns out those balls are a manifestation of my need for control and I need to let go.

~Hubby found an AC repairman and I am trusting that God will use them to show us grace, mercy and restore the cool air we need. Regardless, God gave me the breath of life and He can keep me breathing.

~One book at a time, one review at a time and a determination not to say “yes” to another book until I have finished two. I want to keep commitments since God keeps all of His promises to me. I just have to be practical and not so easily led to just say “yes.”

~An easy solution to my husband’s traveling. He can go see his brother while our granddaughter is still living with us. That way I have someone with me who has a car and Harry has the freedom to see his brother. Why didn’t I think of that before? Because I was too busy juggling balls! God took that ball away and told me I don’t need to be at all concerned about it anymore.

What balls are you juggling that you need to just let them drop?

I confess that I have been uneasy about dropping any balls, but that is my firm desire to control things that are out of my control. So, I am letting go and being still and trusting God.

There’s freedom in dropping the balls!

Forgiveness

Forgiving others is hard, mainly because it is not a once and done thing for us. We have to continually forgive every time the thought comes to our mind about an offense. Forgiveness is a choice that we make each time, not a “I will just think about it later” kind of thing. You know who I have a hard time forgiving? Anyone and everyone who has ever hurt me or one of my children in any way. That means that there are a lot of reminders in my spiritual life to forgive and keep on forgiving. Jesus made sure we were assured forgiveness from the Father, but it is up to each of us to forgive others daily, all day long.

The enemy of our soul wants us to hang on to the burden of hurts and the desire for revenge. That old self really wants payback. But God says He is the one who will avenge us if we will just step back and be still. Part of being still and trusting God is to let go of the heartache we feel from whatever pain the offense caused and to choose to forgive. We cannot forget because that isn’t part of our human nature. But we can choose to forgive each time the offense comes to our mind. I say things like, “This is hard, Lord, but I am choosing to forgive. Help me to let it go and to truly love this person the way you love them.” There is no magical formula for what to say when you forgive someone; you just have to say what is on your heart and really leave it at the foot of the cross.

Forgiveness doesn’t hurt the other person because they generally either don’t care or they are unaware of how you feel. Unforgiveness is a bitter root that starts growing in your heart, and if you water and nurture it with your anger and refusal to forgive, then it will destroy you from the inside out. It can destroy your mental health, your physical health and your spiritual well-being. God knows that we need to forgive for our own good.

There are lots of scriptures about forgiveness. If you are having difficulty with the very idea of letting go of the bitterness and anger resulting from how a person hurt you, I recommend that you memorize verses about forgiveness, meditate on them and ask God to help you to forgive. It is His will, so that’s a prayer that He will answer if you just ask.

Undeserved: You Version Daily Devotional

Undeserved

When someone hurts you or, worse, hurts somebody that you love, revenge can seem appealing. After all…

They were mean.
They were selfish.
They talked behind your back.
They broke a vital promise.
They lied about you.
They criticized you.
They ignored you.
They did the unthinkable.
They walked away.

They deserve to be punished, right? To feel some of that same pain? They deserve a consequence that will not only help them learn, but will be just as severe as the inflicted wounds.

And yet—because God sees things differently, both His standards and tactics can be surprising. And that’s why the apostle Paul, writing to the believers in Thessaloniki, said:

“See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.”
‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:15‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬

Paul’s words sound a lot like Jesus’ words—to love your neighbor as yourself; to do to others what you’d like them to do to you. (See: Matthew 22:38-40)

God’s ways might not always be easy, but they can always be trusted. 

When we choose unforgiveness, hate and anxiety and bitterness will likely take root. But when we choose forgiveness (even though we might need to consider new boundaries), love and peace and reconciliation can flourish.

So, what about you? Have you ever been mean? Have you been selfish? Talked behind someone’s back? Broke a vital promise? Lied, criticized, or ignored? Have you ever decided to give up and walk away?

In our unique-to-us ways, we’ve all let someone down. We’ve disregarded God’s instructions and, instead, created our own instructions. We’ve messed up.

We deserve God’s wrath but, instead, He’s offered us His unconditional love. 

Because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice, we didn’t get what we deserve. And even while hanging on that cross, breathing His last earthly breaths, He cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

Jesus repaid our evil with extreme mercy, leaving us free to conquer evil with good. So today, let’s honor His sacrifice by treating others the way He treated us.

My Thoughts

All of us have sought ways to “get back” at someone who has hurt us, or even worse to do something to someone else before they can do something mean to us. That is part of our sin nature, but it isn’t attractive and it certainly doesn’t show people the Jesus living inside you. I have spent years now trying to get control of my anger against others and letting go of the hurts and bitterness that follow that quest for revenge. God is a God of love, mercy and forgiveness, not revenge. Yes, He metes out justice…but HE metes out justice. That is not my monkey, not my circus.