Surrendering

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7

It is simply amazing how this works sometimes. I feel a peace I haven’t felt in weeks, maybe months.

All this worry and fear about DH’s being gone and the SS being home and possibly causing trouble? Gone.

I believe that God doesn’t want me to be so fearful and worried about an unlikely, but possible, incident. I believe that God wants me to feel calm and at peace, and trust that He will be there for me.

Part of a song we sang in my smallgroup this week:  Here’s my Pride, I lay it down. Here’s my Fear, I lay it down. Here’s my Life, I lay it down. I surrender it all to You, I let go and give it to You. This was exactly what I needed to do. Then last night in my bible study I realized that, for me, I really need to be reading the Bible, at least a few minutes if not many, daily in order to feel close to God. And when I don’t feel close to God, when I don’t feel beloved of Jesus, I allow the enemy’s lies in and let them fester in my mind.

So last night I spent about a half hour in the Word, going over the Lord’s Prayer and dissecting what each part means, and how it models prayer. What petitions does it make and what petitions do I myself make. I slept so well.

Sanctification is such a slow process sometimes, and then BOOM big changes, and then lots of low, coasting time, where not much happens. I love those moments when my brain blossoms and says “Ohhhhhhhh! I get that!”

Speaking of God, it seems completely impossible these days to read the news without cringing about what the Republican political party is doing now to make a MOCKERY of Christ’s mission. It makes me ill. I know that it’s not reasonable to believe that all Republicans are a) Christians, and b) making Christians look like idiots if they are, but it sure seems like it. Not that I’m all that thrilled with the Democrats these days either, but at least they seem to follow the mandate: feed the poor, care for the children and widows, house the homeless, and, if they are Christians, do not make a big show of your faith but do it quietly, only for the Father. The people that make a big show of their religion and their piety and their good works have “received their reward in full.” according to the book of Matthew. I’d like to receive my reward from Jesus. When he asks me to account for my life, I don’t want to be left with an open mouth and nothing to come out, because there is nothing worth accounting for.

But I don’t want to make a big deal about my faith either. I’d rather live my life as an example of a faithful follower of Christ than bend people’s ears with the Good News. I’d rather my life would be one that other people look at and say “I want that. What does she have that I don’t have?”. Because, that’s how I found Christ, and no amount of talking and persuading would influence me until then. I hated Christians for all the shoving down the throat of their beliefs. So, I try hard not to be one of those types of people that I hated. Generally I feel that my faith is something to be shared when asked for or if I feel especially led to share with someone, but otherwise just lived out. And God knows I fall down on the job at the “living out” of my faith on a regular basis. God’s grace and mercy are the Good News to me. When I’ve screwed up again, his grace and mercy are sufficient to forgive me. He is the God of second chances. (And third, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth, and seventh…. you get the idea.)

I know I don’t normally talk about God (or politics for that matter) in my posts, but today it seemed imperative to give some glory back to God for the peace I am feeling right now.