True Rest (please forgive the format, the site is doing WEIRD stuff that I cannot conquer!)

Ecclesiastes 2:22-26

 ²² What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? ²³ All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.²⁴ A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? ²⁶ To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.

Ok King Solomon, I know you were old when you wrote this; but did you ever drink a big old cup of woe on this chapter!  As king, Solomon had the opportunity and resources to pursue the rewards of wisdom, pleasure, and work.  But his weary tone of Ecclesiastes suggests that late in his life, he looked back with regret. I think that is true for most of us.

Ecclesiastes shows us that in Solomon's journey he was searching for the meaning of life.   I don't think that is unique. We all, esp mothers and wives, want to make our families happy.   We become committed to that job with fervor only to find that some days feel like failure. We worry, we plan, we strive; and yet every night when the toys are picked up, tomorrow's clothes are laid at the foot of the bed, homework is done, baths are complete and all your chores are done:  life reminds you that it won.  Solomon felt the same way.  I have read Ecclesiastes many times and just recently a certain phrase leapt out at me like a lion!  Did you catch it?  "even at night their minds do not rest." 

So, let me get this straight:  the son of King David, the wisest man in the world at the time, the ruler of a kingdom, a man who loved God, a visionary, could NOT stop his mind at night?  Almost every night when my children were young, I could not turn off the check list scrolling in my mind.  "I need to go to the grocery store tomorrow for crackers.  Cade needs his hair cut.  Faith needs new pointe shoes.  Jacob needs new sheet music.  Friday we have spelling tests.  How do I get both boys to baseball on Saturday because Clint has to work?  I need to book Cade's birthday venue.  What are we going to do for vacation this summer?" 

I could not turn off my mind and just when exhaustion forced me to release it:  someone would wake up or the alarm would go off and here we would go again.

Let me just use Solomon's own words to encourage you oh wise one: "For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, the more knowledge the more grief!"  
Ecc. 1:8

We must be brilliant!

 I don't care who you are, what your position is in life, your age, your gender or even you IQ: we all worry some and have difficulty turning off our brains.  (King David and King Solomon certainly did)  I have even found an article on economist.com titled "What the World Worries About".  How sad is that? We all worry, we all have checklists, we all have moments when life is overwhelming, and we all have times when we wonder "what is it all for?"  

Check out King David's last words to his son, Solomon: 

I Kings 2:1-3 When David's time to die was near, he told his son Solomon, "I am going the way of all the earth. So be strong.  Show yourself to be a man.  Do what the Lord your God tells you.  Walk in His ways.  Keep all His Laws and His Word by what is written in the Law of Moses.  Then you will do well in all that you do and in every place you go.

King David, who is attributed to writing 73 Psalms, was worried & stressed as well.
 (None of us are immune to it) 

Psalm 4:1  Give me relief from my distress, have mercy on me and hear my prayer.  
Psalm 6:6-7 I am worn out from my groaning, all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.  My eyes grow weak with sorrow.  
Psalm 18:6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.  From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry reached His ears.

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• I googled:  "leaders of the world and stress" and I got 367 million hits

• I googled:   "mothers and stress" and I got 68 million 200 thousand hits

• I googled:  "college students and stress" and I got 86 million 400 hits

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Let me tell you what was going on in King David's life when he wrote many of the Psalms:  His son Absalom had rebelled against him because he desired to be king, there was a civil war, Absalom was killed, David's grief followed, he faced rebellion of friends, at one point in his life he was in exile because Saul wanted to kill him, David sinned against God with Bathsheba, had her husband murdered, then the two had a baby that died.  David had a country to run and keep safe from intruders, he at times feared for his own life, he was responsible for returning the Ark of the Covenant, his people suffered pestilence and sickness, he became quite ill, he feared his enemies and sometimes even his friends, and his responsibilities were immense throughout his life.  His checklists were huge, important and sometimes life threatening. 

 But look at some of the beautiful words he penned during it all:

Psalm 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him, do not fret. 

Psalm 20:7  Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we trust in the name of the Lord.

 

Psalm 55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! Attend to and answer me, I am restless in my complaint and I moan. 

 Psalm 57:1 Be merciful to me, O God, for my soul trusts you.  And in the shadow ofyour wings I will take refuge until the storms of destruction pass by. 

Psalm 125:1 Those who trust int he Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. 

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No one is immune to a racing mind when the day is done.  But as Christians we have an "off switch." 

THE SHADOW OF GOD'S WINGS IS YOUR SAFE PLACE, YOUR OFF SWITCH IF YOU WILL.

There you are untouchable.   

There you are safe. 

There you can breathe. 

There you can turn off the world.

There you can find grace in reality. 

 

Confidence in Christ

I have been thinking about the things in which I am confident:  my faith, my marriage, the love of some people in my life (some family and some friends), and I am confident in death followed by eternity in heaven. I used to be confident in so much more!  I was confident I could run 10 miles, go days without sleep, remember things, and fit into a size 2.  Boy are those days G.O.N.E. I barely want to drive 10 miles, I can't function if I don't sleep, I should wear a name tag just to remind myself of who I am, and a size 2?  But my confidence is still BIG...

Ephesians 13:6  So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

Proverbs 3:26 For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.  

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Confidence is defined in Webster's as "the state of feeling certain about the truth of something". The scientific community of JAMA doesn't "truly understand confidence and hopes to do more research in the future."    But I don't need research, I have Jesus!  
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However, there is a difference in what the world feels confidence is about and what I view as being confident. The things I am confident about cannot be seen, held, or put in a box.  Confidence in the world looks like medals, trophies, expensive cars, homes and toys, It looks like extravagant vacations, beautiful appearances and big paychecks.  So, basically what the world would call success can also be perceived as confidence.  Here is the problem with that "confidence", it can be taken away.  In one swoop a tornado, a fire, someone smarter than you coming along or the firing from a job and BOOM....confidence squished!  My husband is quite successful, but I do not look at our life as valuable.  I do however, look at him as a MAN OF VALUE.  He knows we could lose it all in one day, and that is why his confidence is in Christ alone.  

  I hope you have, at some point in your life, received a love letter. (I have a box full of them from my husband)  Love letters assure us that others care for us deeply and it is a wonderful thing to know. If you have ever read First John in the New Testament, you know it is a love letter from God giving you great confidence in His love. If I John 4:16-18 were written as a love letter it would look like this:
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Dear Child, 
I want you to know you can rely on my love.  Why?  Because I AM LOVE. If you live with me in your heart, you cannot help but love. Because of that, love is made complete in you. You can be 100 percent CONFIDENT of my love for you.  Because of that perfect love, we will be together forever. Never be afraid that I will not love you.  That would be impossible!  If you allow yourself the CONFIDENCE of my love, you will never be afraid to lose it.  

My love for you is perfect, God

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God is love.  SO BE CONFIDENT
He is the beginning of love. SO BE CONFIDENT
He is the Creator of love. SO BE CONFIDENT
He is the definition of love.  SO BE CONFIDENT
  And of God's love there is no end.  SO BE CONFIDENT!

 Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Easter 2017

Our family has a ranch in southwest Texas called The Texana.  We love the seclusion, the land, the wildlife, and how with each sunset God reminds us that wherever we go:   HE IS THERE!  My daughter and I love getting on the ATV's  with our wireless headphones.  We ride for hours checking out the roads, the animals, and the wildflowers. Remember, everything is Texas is bigger!  You can ride for 3+ hours and not hit every road on the Texana. This Easter we went to the Texana and I was a little concerned about not being at our home church for this important Holy day.  But God was not, He was going to bless us outside of our comfort zone.  

We got up on Sunday morning, had breakfast, got ready while we listened to worship music and headed outside the gates to the small town in which The Texana resides. Mertzon, Texas, population 781 fine people They have a Methodist, Catholic and Baptist church.  We attend the Baptist church when we are there.  I honestly chose this church because I love how it looks in the distance when you get up the hill from the ranch. (It was cloudy the day I took this photo but you can see the steeple in the distance)

 

 The pews are covered in red velvet and lined with white, painted wood.  At the end of each pew is a hand crocheted afghan in case you get chilly during the service.  The pastor leads the music as well as the sermon.   The sweetest ladies play the piano and the organ and they are highlighted by the stained glass windows behind them.  On Easter, the organist donned a tiny, laced hat with flowers.  (boy did that make me miss my Nana)  The pastor gave the sermon with passion and love.  The congregation "amen'd" on certain points; and after the invitation was offered, the congregation joined hands and circled the tiny room singing "We're a Part of The Family of God."  

It did not matter, Easter 2017, if I worshiped at our home church. It made no difference if I was with 2000 or 75 people in a building.  It made not a bit of difference whether there was smoke and artificial lights or lights from a stained glass window.  The fact that there were not drums or guitars did not change the way my heart felt singing to a piano and organ. When we left we did not talk about Clint's work, but had people ask us if we had been successful in our turkey hunting.  We did not go out to eat with friends afterward, but drove back to The Texana and ate a home cooked meal together.  I did not wear my finest clothes and Clint did not have on a suit and tie; however, God chose to bless us anyway for our willingness to worship.

I should have known this all along.  I climb the hill every single night, rain or shine, on The Texana to worship at sunset.  God is there with me.  I have been all over the world and THAT dusty hill is my favorite spot on earth.  So, I should have been prepared for what God was going to do at First Baptist Church Mertzon, Texas on Easter 2017.  It was a precious experience not to be forgotten. I was reminded that in scripture God never tells us WHERE to or HOW to worship him specifically. But instead, wherever we are and however we are led to worship Him is all he really wants from his children. 

 Psalm 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

Isaiah 12:5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously

Psalm 29:2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. 

 I Timothy 2:8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray

Hebrews 12:2  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe

So, no family photos of pretty dresses and bow ties.  No high-healed shoes and Easter egg hunts.  Just a few photos about how God re-taught me what Easter is about:  worshiping wherever you are for Him and not man.