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Things I Learned Today on My Walk

It’s been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog. I recently began collaborating with some other women to write a book about being entrepreneurs and it inspired me to think about writing again. I’ve been asking God to help me to start again as I wasn’t really getting anything to share with you until today.

If you know me, you know I hate to exercise. However, I’ve been on a journey for over 3.5 years now to get healthier. I’ve reduced toxins in my life, lost weight and the last piece was to get moving. I’ve always joked that exercise is over-rated. It just gives you another year or so in a nursing home. However, I decided to change that negative thought and I signed up to walk in our local walking club sponsored by the local Y. Today was my first day.

As I was walking, I was looking around at the parking lot we were walking through and thinking about life. The first thing I quickly noticed was a bunch of goose poop everywhere. They have always had geese living around the shopping center because it has a pond feature in the front. As I pondered the situation in the parking lot, I was struck with a thought. There is going to be a lot of “poop” that gets in your way in life. You can walk through it and life gets messy. Or, you can just walk around it and keep pushing on. Thank you God for the reminder.

Then there was a big pothole in the road. I thought wow! If I weren’t paying attention, I might have fallen into that and hurt myself. Then I felt a gentle nudge…pay attention. Know where you’re going and don’t get lost down some rabbit hole. They usually waste a lot of our time and sometimes we can get hurt.

There was trash around the edges of the parking lot and my first reaction was to get angry. Then I started thinking about the ones that threw it there. Could it be that no one has ever told them not to do that? Just like someone who sins. Rather than being angry, maybe I should pray for them. So I took a minute and prayed for those who “know not what they do.”

They gave me a map to follow at the beginning of the walk but I don’t do well with maps. Thank goodness for GPS’s since I’m a realtor in a town where I didn’t always live. If I had to follow a map, I’d be broke. After I looked at it for a minute, I just decided to go my own way. In my mind if I walked for 1/2 hour, it didn’t matter if I was walking the right course or not. However, I was once again convicted. Not because I couldn’t read the map but this thought came to me. Have I been reading my Bible enough and do I understand the path God wants for me? The Bible truly is God’s tool to guide and direct my path. I need to spend more time there rather than taking my own way. It always ends best when I listen to Him instead of winging it.

I was almost done with my walk and was rounding the last building when I ran into two geese. Whoops. I guess I really was on the wrong path as they flapped their wings at me. I had gotten too close to the nest. It scared me to death. It spoke to me though.

I’ve been seeing so many things going on in our world lately. I recently thought to myself, I’m so glad I’m not raising kids in this world. However, I know that if the kids are here, God has appointed their days and has a path for them too. These geese taught me that we need to stand up for our children and grandchildren and protect them from the dangers lurking. Over the years, I tried to teach my kids that family is everything. When the world goes mad, we still have family. We should love them, fight for them and be strengthened by them.

There were times on the journey today where I was obviously going against the grain. Everyone was walking one way and I was walking the opposite direction. I stood out like a sore thumb that I obviously couldn’t read a map. The Lord reminded me that the path He puts me on may not always be the most popular but I need to keep going anyway.

I think there might have been a good reason why my friends couldn’t go with me today. God had ordained the morning for just He and I.

There are so many life lessons if we watch and wait for God to show us. I’m blessed to serve a God who calls me His daughter, I’m in His family. He gives me His Word to guide my paths and if I pay attention, He will keep me from getting myself in a mess or even getting hurt. As I headed to the car, I saw a beautiful pear tree full of blooms. I thought about how beautiful it was and then reflected on my life. No matter where I’ve been, what I’ve done…even the things I did and knew were wrong, He loves me as His child. He’ll protect me, fight for me and defend me. He makes all things beautiful.

Romans 8:28 (NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

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Life is Hard But God is Good!

1458063721275_imgLife is hard, but God is good. I remember going to a concert where Billy Sprague (www.BillySpragueMusic.com) was performing many years ago and those were his words. I wrote them in my Bible and have referred back to them on many occasions. Today was one of those occasions.

It seems as though we are living in an anything goes kind of world. I am growing weary of people who call themselves Christians and then turn around and settle for mediocrity or hurt others in the name of God. It causes me to stop and think how this can be? I keep asking myself, “Aren’t we as Christians supposed to be living victoriously? Even if life is hard, shouldn’t we be continuing to do what is right despite our circumstances?”

I’m going to be a bit vulnerable today and let you in on my talk with God this afternoon. In my quiet time, I sat down, distraught, beaten down and teary-eyed—a rare thing being the optimist that I am.

“I’m so tired of the battle, Lord. How is it that nothing ever seems to go my way? I so need a win in my life. I don’t know how much more I can take.”

I decided to pull out my old trusty Bible instead of my phone where I usually read the Bible. I touched the sacred pages and begged for God to inspire me.

“Show me what I should do here, Lord! My world is so hard. I know You are good and I don’t want to lose sight of that, but you need to help me here, God. My flesh is weak.”

The first verse He led me to was 1Corinthians 16:13-14. Wow. Does He know what I’m standing against down here? It almost seems that He does when He leads me to verses that say, “Be on your guard, stand firm in your faith; be men of courage, be strong.” What great encouragement! He gets it! He knows life is hard but He told me to stand firm and be strong. Then he threw in verse 14…Do everything in love. Ugh. He knows that about me, too. I need to be reminded of the love part on a regular basis.

Sometimes when people do bad things to me, it is hard for me to love them or speak lovingly when we both know what they’ve done, like talking badly about me or stealing my real estate client from me when I turned my back. Why is it that I have to keep being nice when everyone around me is so mean and hurtful?

1458063888054_imgThen He led me to Philippians 2:5 and told me that my attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ. Really? Do you hear what they’ve said or seen what they did? Really, God? You just want me to roll over and let bad things happen to me like Jesus did when they hung Him on a cross?

1458063979882_imgThe truth is, I have spent over thirty years now working on a relationship with God hoping that someday I will become more like Jesus. I pray often when I go to speak that my audience not see me; but rather, they would see the Holy Spirit in me and hear His message, not mine. Then God proceeded to show me Philippians 4:9 and challenged me to put the things that I have learned about Jesus into practice so that I might find God’s peace in every situation.

I think I have chosen two of the hardest professions I could have chosen—evangelism and real estate. I work a lot of hours in both and don’t always make a lot of money, if any at all. Although I have some very dear friends and have met some wonderful people in my real estate career, because of one person’s bad behavior this week and my bad attitude, today, I saw nothing but the bad.

I questioned God, “Do you really want me to sell real estate? Have you met some of the people who do? They will say or do anything for a sale even when it is not true. They will stab others in the back to find their way to the top. I’m certainly not like that. I can never win with others who stop at nothing for a deal.”

Then I started down the path of woe is me and whined, “Do my messages ever make a difference for anyone? Is this just another thing I do all for naught?”

1458064041668_imgThen God lead me to Colossians 3:23-25. He reminded me that whatever I do, I should do it with all of my heart for Him, not for men. It is the Lord I serve, not man.

So here I sit remembering the words from many years ago…life is hard, but God is good. If I do everything I do for Him; despite the outcome, it is what I should do because that is what He has created me to do. I can’t look at others and get angry. I need to look at those who inflict bad things on me with love that reflects an attitude of Jesus and continue to keep my eyes on God. He is all that matters to me at the end of the day. Man or woman will always let me down. But the God I serve brings peace and contentment to a hard life, if I just keep my eyes on Him.  It’s a BIG WIN when I serve God with my life no matter how hard it might be.

Thank you Lord for your lesson today on life and my attitudes. No matter how hard life gets, I will serve you with all my heart, knowing my treasures lie in heaven and not in this world. Life is hard, yes, indeed. But You are good and worthy of my praise.

Is God speaking to you about something? Has he pointed out something in your life where you might not have responded in a loving way? Has someone in your life let you down? Is He reminding you to put your eyes back on Him instead of man? My prayer for you today is that you, too, will find the peace that I have found by simply putting your trust in Him for everything in your life. Be blessed and don’t forget to get out there and be a blessing!

 

 

 

Did you know you, too, can make cool scripture pictures like these found in my blog? Go to www.YouVersion.com and use their handy app to make your Bible reading times come to life. Today, I used the NLT version for my scriptures, but there are many to choose from in the app. Have fun!

Posted on in 2015 Posts

Worry Steals Life Away…Trust The One Who Loves You

love-699480_1920Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2Corinthians4:16 (NIV)

All I can say is getting old isn’t for wimps. I have aches and pains in places I didn’t know existed. Some are from just normal aging and others are self-inflicted by trying to do things I used to do but perhaps am getting to old to do now.

I look at my husband, Jim, and ask “How did we get this old this fast?”

He looks at me with his bewildered look that I get when I ask stupid questions and we laugh. We are only 53 and 54, me being the elder. I often hear about that from him. You would think I was 87 the way I talk, I know.

I wouldn’t trade this age for anything though, even with all of the aches and pains. It’s the first time in life that I can say, I really don’t worry about the little things anymore. As I grow older and my body begins to show more and more signs of old age, I am reminded of what happens next. The thought of being more than halfway through my life on this earth excites me as well as inspires me.

I know that scares some people when they start calculating the time they have left. Not me. My eyes are fixed on heaven and that gives me strength to get through another day. It motivates me to keep doing what I can do for God now because I know that someday, I may not be able to do it anymore and the opportunity will be lost. It inspires me to be bold. It teaches me to stop worrying about the little things and live like I have never lived before.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2Corinthians 4:17 (NIV)

In August, we had a little mishap and I fell off our motorcycle. Yes, I had all of the protective gear but apparently a helmet doesn’t exactly protect you from a concussion. I went through the next nine weeks with a mushy brain, sleeping all the time, and a lot of headaches. I had to cut my workload way back and cancelled two retreats where I was scheduled to speak. I was frustrated that I was in such condition, but it was oddly also a time of renewal.

Although I am still bewildered of how I got into my fifties already, the older I get the closer I feel to God. The things of this world have truly started fading. Most of the time they don’t lure me into their traps like they did in days of old. God has become brighter each day that I spend focused on Him through the good times and bad.

In this life there will be suffering. However, we will someday be rewarded for our perseverance through the tough times with our eyes on Jesus.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

Is there something in your life that is weighing you down? Are you feeling life pressing in from all directions? Are you spending the time you have left worrying about the little things and not getting anything done for Christ in your wallowing? He may not take care of your problems the way you think He should, but He will certainly take care of them in the best way possible for your good. I can testify it is true having spent the last thirty plus years trying and testing Him. We serve a faithful God! He will deliver you through whatever lies ahead. Stop worrying. Fix your eyes on Him and watch the blessings unfold!