Week Forty-Two - People and Peonies

"These gorgeous peonies arrived at my door Sunday afternoon. I knew who they were from as soon as I saw the box. A friend who has known my joys as well as my sorrow. A friend who has grown and blossomed with me. We have supported each other. Laughed together. Cried together. Have we always seen eye to eye? Of course not, but our goal and desire have always been the same: to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We haven't always gotten it right, but I know we are both thankful for the time God has given us to grow, learn, and change. To bloom where we are planted.

For the past few days, I have watched these gorgeous peonies quickly open, arrive at their fullest bloom, and then quickly begin to fade. Oh the sadness I felt on realizing their peak had already come and gone. Did I enjoy them enough in that moment? Did I appreciate their beauty as they gave me all they had? I can honestly say I did. I've sat in my living room soaking up their vibrant color, observing their open, eager faces basking in the sun. They have brought me joy these past few days. And now, even as they fade, I can see the beauty they hold. There is beauty in every phase of life if we look for it. The color has faded to a softer, gentler hue. The petals droop a little now, maybe tired from the energy they used to shine so brightly for their moment in time. Yet, I still sit here, looking long, appreciating these amazing flowers God created. I sit here, finding myself in their story. Maybe you can find yourself there, too."

These words came from RuthAnn, a precious colleague and friend I recently lost to cancer. Her journey was unexpected and mercifully short, but her influence and friendship will remain as vibrant as the flowers she enjoyed.

Friendships come in many forms. There are childhood friends, college mates, friends made at work, friends that seem only for a season, and even friends that grow estranged. Each plays a part in our lives, and we play a part in theirs. We, like the gorgeous peonies, are temporary. As brightly as we may glow in someone's life, we will droop and eventually fade. 

The precious thing about my friend and I is that we shared a mutual friend, the Lord Jesus. His friendship throughout the years, and especially during these final few months, has been the glow that carried my friend on her journey. As I write and reflect today, I know that His friendship is the only one that can carry the grieving.

Songwriter Arthur Luther wrote:

Earthly friends may prove untrue, Doubts and fears assail;
One still loves and cares for you: Jesus never fails.

Tho' the sky be dark and drear, Fierce and strong the gale,
Just remember He is near, And He will not fail.

In life's dark and bitter hour, Love will still prevail;
Trust His everlasting power; Jesus will not fail.

Jesus never fails, Jesus never fails;
Heav'n and earth may pass away,
But Jesus never fails.

RuthAnn closed her note to me with these two scriptures. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew 6:33-34). 

And Isaiah 40:6-8, "The voice said Cry, and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

Dear reader friend, it is my prayer that you have loving earthly friendships to encourage you along your journey, but it is my greater prayer that you know the friend above all friends, the Lord Jesus. If you have questions, you can contact me via my website www.gailgritts.com or follow this link for more information - https://www.questionsgod.com/word-pdf/roman-road-to-salvation-kjv.pdf

Week Forty-One - Need a Lift?

Sometimes, we feel low because we are physically, mentally, or emotionally exhausted. Other times, our lowness comes from the things happening around us, such as bad news, frustration, sadness at a friend's illness, or even the inability to keep life peaceful or without unwanted drama. Lots of things bring us down, but our Lord never does.

Psalm 3:3 tells us He is the "lifter up" of our heads. I've had to claim that promise many times when my spirit dropped to empty and my head was bowed in grief. I've always found the Lord met me there and lifted me up, placing me into His loving arms and renewing my outlook.

The Bible is full of encouragement for low times, and His Spirit has a precious way of bringing comfort and assurance when we feel low. 

Psalm 31 gives us several positive promises and truths that lift us up.

Verse 1 - He will deliver.

Verse 3 - He is our rock and fortress.

Verse 5 - He will redeem us.

Verse 7 - He knows our troubles and understands the adversity of our souls.

Verse 8 - He will not leave us in the hand of the enemy.

Verse 15 - Our times are in His hand.

What a precious promise! Our Father cares for us every moment of the day, lifting us up with His precious promises and eternal love.

Psalm 41:12 reads, "And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever." God watches us always—forever!  Even when our heads hang low, and our knees are weak, He is still there beside us, ready to lend a helping hand and lift us up.

So, we can say with the psalmist, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance" (Psalm 42:5).

Friend, you may be in a low spot right now. Remember, it is just for a moment. Take yourself to Psalm 31 and read for a while. The closing verse is yet another precious promise. "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." It is my prayer that God would do just that for you today - lift you up and renew your strength. So, be of good courage. God knows where you are!

Week Forty - I Stopped

Several years ago, the Lord gave me a word that became a spiritual instruction. The word was enough. His Spirit said, "That is enough, Gail. Enough trying to figure things out. Enough fretting and fear. Enough trying to solve everyone else's problems or thinking you can fix things for them. Enough." 

I wish I could tell you I obeyed immediately, but I didn't. It was several months of heartache and disappointment before I decided to obey by faith. And let me tell you, I have never regretted my decision. When I stopped figuring, fretting, and fixing, I found such peace, and I began seeing God work and even answer prayer.

We are often too slow to respond when it comes to stopping. Maybe that's why we crash! Or maybe our spiritual brakes are bad, causing us to appear erratic or swerving. Learning to stop is a vital safety maneuver!

I read a post a while back where another person talked about stopping. Here's what it said.

"I once asked a very successful person to share their secret. They smiled and said, 'I started succeeding when I started leaving small fights for small fighters. I stopped fighting those who gossiped about me. I stopped fighting with my in-laws. I stopped fighting for attention. I stopped fighting to meet people's expectations of me. I stopped fighting for my rights with inconsiderate people. I stopped fighting to please everyone. I stopped fighting to prove they were wrong about me. I left such fights for those with nothing else to do but fight, and I started fighting for my vision, dreams, ideas, and destiny. The day I gave up on small fights is when I became successful and so much more content.'" 

I must agree. Contentment and peace became my overriding state when I stopped and obeyed the Lord.

Why do we struggle with stopping? Let me offer a few suggestions. 

We may think no one else could solve the problem like we can. 

We may think that if we walked away from the situation, we would be perceived as not caring or loving enough. 

We might even believe our way is the right way, and if we stopped putting in our two cents or keeping our fingers in the pie, things wouldn't turn out well. 

Do you see the pride in those thoughts?

Let me give you a couple of Scriptures to consider. James 4:1-2 reads, "From whence come wars and fighting among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not."

Isn't this what we do when we refuse to listen to God's Spirit? We push and shove and try to get things to go our way. God calls that the lusts that war in our members—the desires that drive us. 

Proverbs 13:10 says, "Only by pride cometh contention." If we combine that with the verses in James and study the subject throughout the Bible, we will learn that pride is the core problem.

We don't stop because we are driven by pride. We want to look good, sound good, be perceived as the ones with the answers, and be able to solve all the problems, but that is not our place! 

You find the key when you read chapter four of James. That key is humility. Verse ten reads, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." 

Listening and obeying when God's Spirit told me it was enough was humbling. I knew I should stop, but I feared what might happen. And you know what? None of the things I feared happened. Instead, God gave me great peace and a secure contentment that my obedience was enough. He would do the rest.

So, what do you need to stop today? Fretting? Fussing? Complaining? Fixing? There can be many things we push with a background of pride. I challenge you to go before the Lord and see what word He gives you. Then, obey by faith and let God take care of the rest.

Week Thirty-Nine - Ruth, the Gleaner

Do you know the story of Ruth? This poor girl finds herself a widow in a strange country, caring for her aging mother-in-law and gleaning grain from the corners of the field. Probably wasn't the life she'd imagined, but this is where she finds herself, and Ruth's attitude and demeanor are well worth our attention.

As we look at some of her gleaning qualities, apply them to your own in the fields of prayer, meditation, and the Word as you gather spiritual fruit.

Ruth gathered her portion bit by bit. She gained little by little. Are you content to search for single truths? Do you store them up to create a bundle of truth for your benefit? Are you consistent in your gathering?

Ruth kept her eyes open. She was watching for the precious fruit. Are you watchful? Do you see the value of the opportunities God gives you for service, and do you glean diligently with your eyes on the harvest? Are you aware of the opportunities for witnessing? Or do you walk through life without concern for others?

Ruth had to stoop for all she found. We, too, must stoop with lowly minds to glean and receive benefits. A humble heart reaches deep down for the truth, while a prideful gleaner will not. Does Bible truth seem too cheap for your attention? 

Ruth held on to what she had gathered, carefully retaining her fruits. Are you doing the same? Or do you easily forget what you hear and read? Do you understand the importance of storing up truth? 

Finally, Ruth labored with a sense of necessity. She knew that meeting her physical needs demanded this activity. Do you understand that feeding your soul on the Bread of Life is paramount to a healthy spiritual life? Do you labor in the Word or just snack?

Ruth's story doesn't leave her as a poor gleaner in a field. She meets the man of her dreams and becomes part of Christ's lineage. Those are some wonderful benefits for the girl who gleaned. God blesses those who value His Word and spend time in His field.

Revelation 1:3 reads, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand."

Until He comes, let's be gleaning everything we can! The blessing is assured.

NOTE: Yesterday, my friend RuthAnn Pickett went home to be with the Lord. She was a faithful gleaner and I dedicate today’s blog to her, my friend and colleague in ministry.

Week Thirty-Eight - Why is Life So Hard?

One of my little sayings was, "If we'd all work together, we can get this done in thirty minutes." But, trying to get my children to work together was like herding cats, and the thirty-minute job turned into a several-hour event. Today, as adults, my children look back and see things would have been much easier and quicker if they'd just worked together, and they laugh as they hear themselves saying similar things to their children.

It's a shame it takes us so long to learn certain skills. Our obstinance and refusal to cooperate make life harder than it needs to be. For example, we purchase packet furniture and ignore the directions. Then, we get angry because it doesn't go together correctly. We speed and get angry at the policeman for the ticket. We lose our temper and spout hateful words, then wonder why people avoid us. We disrespect our spouse and then wonder why they don't respond lovingly.

Why do we do these things? Why do we make life so hard? It's hard enough without our adding to the situation. What can we do?

There is no simple formula for making life easy. We are broken and live on a broken planet with broken people. We cannot change that, but we can do some things to make life gentler and less difficult.

Initially, we can obey. Nike's slogan, "Just Do It," would be good for us to adopt. Obey without question or delay, and things usually go much smoother for everyone. Just following instructions and doing as we are told helps loads! 

Obeying our parents is the first skill we should learn because obedience brings happiness to the home and creates healthy relationships. Then, we learn obedience to authority in school and society. This brings unity to the community and earns us a good reputation. Ultimately, obedience must be applied to our submission to God's Word.

We make life less difficult by trusting the Lord, committing our lives to Him, taking one step at a time, living with a confident faith, and believing God's will is best. But we are so fatally prone to do the opposite, making life more difficult. 

When we don't obey, we hit hurdles. When we aren't trusting the Lord, we are trusting ourselves, which rarely works out well for us. When we don't commit our lives to Him, we are saying we can do it on our own, and that's a very lonely place. When we race ahead without taking each necessary step, we may arrive at our destination, but we will be ill-equipped for continuance. When we aren't living by confident faith, the Bible says it is a sin, the sin of self-reliance and pride. And when we fail to believe God's will is best, we create a world of chaos that makes life so hard.

So, today's challenge is to look at the hard spots in your life and ask yourself if they result from your disobedience toward God, your parents, your spouse, or even your employer. Is it a failure to fully trust God and believe His way is best? Is life hard because your self-reliance and pride put you at odds with others? Have you created a world of chaos by your unwillingness to obey or demanding your way?

If so, by cooperating with the Lord, most things can be sorted—maybe not in thirty minutes, but in His timing. Are you willing to cooperate? Or are you going to continue running riot like a herd of cats?

 

Week Thirty-Seven - Spiritual Mildew

This past spring, we returned to England from a year's furlough in the States to a lawn choked and dying, overtaken by weeds and moss. After I applied weed and moss killer, dead, dry patches covered the lawn, but the grass wasn't coming back to life. 

Finally, I paid a professional to come in with heavier chemicals, and after several weeks, my lawn began recovering. Moss, mildew, and other destructive things like parasites and fungi attack gardens, vegetables, and flowers. Surely, if it weren't for the goodness of God, they would spread and create famine all over the land. 

Comparatively, spiritual mildew is also a great blight. It takes root when a debilitating general apathy, a deep trial, or a hurtful confrontation leaves you empty and dry. Have you noticed a deficiency of sincerity in yourself or those around you? Do you see or experience spiritual laziness or debilitating pride? Are your prayers shriveled and your service cold? All of these are warning signs of spiritual mildew creeping into your heart.

When it comes to the moss in the garden, intense heat must dry it out and kill the roots. Spiritually, the moss and mildew of our blighted hearts need the light of the Word and heat from the blessed Son of Righteousness to shine intensely. The roots of pride, bitterness, apathy, and laziness must be killed so new spiritual energy and hope can grow.

Friend, maybe you, like my lawn, suffer from spiritual mildew. You feel flat, overtaken, and covered in dry, dead patches. It may be time for you to call in the professional, the great Healer of your soul, and let Him use Spirit-filled chemicals to restore the beauty of your soul's garden. Forgiveness, repentance, and honest confession must be tilled into the soil of your soul before weeds and mildew can ever be removed.

Psalm 51:10-12 is one of David's prayers about his personal spiritual mildew. He prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with thy free spirit."

Let this be your prayer, and may His Word shine into your heart today and create lush spiritual beauty!

Week Thirty-Six - I'm Not Listening

When rebellious teenagers or stubborn adults set their minds to having their own way, they stop listening. Proverbs 13:1 reads, "A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke." Very straightforward, isn't it? Wise people listen; scorners don't. 

This short chapter in Proverbs reveals more about people who aren't listening. 

They want everything to come easily to them. Verse 4 reads, "The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing."

Their pride creates continuous friction. Verse 10 reads, "Only by pride cometh contention."

They spend until they are poor. Verse 11, "Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished."

They are frustrated when plans fail. Verse 12, "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick."

They can't understand why their way is so hard. Verse 15, "The way of transgressors is hard."

Yet, they refuse to alter their course. Verse 19, "It is an abomination to fools to depart from evil."

So they look for people to agree with them. Verse 20, "A companion of fools shall be destroyed."

And they are never satisfied. Verse 25, "The belly of the wicked shall want."

And all the while, they refuse to listen."A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise" (Proverbs 15:12).

Friend, refusing to listen to wise counsel is the surest way to an unhappy and unproductive life. 

Let's compare the benefits of listening to what we've just drawn, still from Proverbs 13.

Verse 4 - "The soul of the diligent shall be made fat."  Hard work pays off.

Verse 10 - "With the well advised is wisdom." Receiving sound advice makes for better decisions.

Verse 11 - "He that gathereth by labour shall increase." Earning and saving create wealth.

Verse 12 - "When the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." Good goals produce good outcomes.

Verse 15 - "Good understanding giveth favour." Life is easier when you make good decisions.

Verse 19 - "The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul." Progress feels good.

Verse 20 - "He that walketh with wises men shall we wise." Good companions are paramount.

Verse 25 - "The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul." Doing right brings satisfaction.

Which side sounds more beneficial to you? And are you listening?