Medicine for the Soul

Week Thirty-One - Keep It Simple

Let's think a bit today about the idea of keeping things simple. Simple, instead of complicated. Simple, without contaminants. Simple, easy to see or understand, and not clouded by activity, rhetoric, or crafty designs.

What would your day look like if you made that your goal? Maybe you'd choose something simple to wear, have a nice little breakfast, and an uncomplicated schedule. You probably wouldn't be striving to compete and frustrated at every hindrance. Instead, you'd take things in your stride and end the day satisfied you had done your best. Then, after a nice little supper, you'd pillow your head in peace. No fuss. No complications. 

Our days rarely go like this, though, do they? Instead, we fret over what to wear because of who will be seeing us and the image we want to portray. We skip breakfast and rush out the door because we allow the demands of our lives to be more important than a good start to the day. We hustle and hassle all day long with people, ideas, and pressures arriving home too late to enjoy a good supper, so we grab whatever we can find, flop on the couch a while, and wake up the next morning to the same routine. 

Something needs to change! And it begins with re-evaluating our priorities and changing our habits. Lockdown should have helped us in this area, but instead, it looks like we all bolted to the door and re-entered at the same speed or even felt we were behind. We didn't change anything. We didn't take time to re-evaluate and simplify. No, we just kept going and added more stress. We would have been wiser to evaluate what to add back, what to amend, and what to leave behind. Then we could have come through less complicated, less contaminated, and more focused on God's glory.

I can't tell you how to simplify your life because each life is different. But I can encourage you to pare things down, chop down that to-do list, and give yourself some space. Life is not about how fast you get to the end. It's about enjoying the journey. 

Did you know simplicity and contentment are kin? It's hard to have one without the other. So I challenge you to look at your life. Is it simple? Are you content? What is making it complicated? Can you re-adjust some things? What is causing the insatiable drive? Is it pushing you too far? What would your life look like if it was uncomplicated, without contaminants, easy to look at, and unclouded? Why not choose a couple of areas where you can change things around? 

Let me share some suggestions from Adele Calhoun.

1) Simplify things and activities that keep life convoluted, complicated, and confusing.
2) Prioritize your love of God first.
3) Downsize your possessions.
4) Cut back on shopping and uncontrolled spending.
5) Eat simple foods.
6) Enjoy simple pleasures.
7) Remove distractions and preoccupation. 

What will this do for you?

1) You'll have a less cluttered life.
2) You will become a more precise, more distilled person.
3) You will have more space for loving and serving God and others.
4) You'll begin experiencing freedom from envy and entitlement.
5) You'll learn to stake your identity in God's love, not accumulation and possessions.

Those all sound fine, but the most beautiful thing I find about keeping life simple is time. Extra time to enjoy things God has given me and time to sit quietly with a thankful heart.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-19c is a great reminder - "It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion...this is the gift of God."

So, dear friend, slow down. Take a breath. Let some things go and enjoy what God has already given you. Make life that simple!

When Things Go Wrong

Week Thirty - The Expert Juggler

In one of my videos, I talked about doing a brain dump to regain order in my life. By the way, if you didn't know, I have a YouTube channel, too. Just search my name on YouTube, and they should all come up.

Anyway, I was talking about when life gets scattered and confused, or tough things come, and you can't see your way through. At times like that, it is a good idea to focus only on the most important things, which can sometimes be hard to find. When I'm in that spot, I write down all the balls I am juggling and put them into order - most important, can wait, can get rid of, could complete today, etc. That usually unclutters my thoughts and brings me back on track.

But sometimes, I have trouble getting my balls to stay in the air or fall into a category. They become more like a ball and chain than a juggling ball! Or they won't roll straight or stay where I put them. That's when I am so thankful God is the one directing my steps. He knows where all my balls are and how they are acting.

Do you ever feel like that? To be honest, this usually happens when I create my own problem by taking on too many commitments. But other times, it is a deluge of activities and demands that all land uninvited on my plate. 

But God is the expert juggler. He manages everything. All nature, all our prayers, all kingdoms, and every broken heart are under His commitment. Nothing escapes His attention or is beyond His control. I love to think about that!

Even when my little life seems so scattered and unmanageable, God isn't afraid of it. He isn't intimidated or frustrated. He knows how it will work out. He knows how to keep all the balls juggling! And, He is right beside me.

Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established." Many, many times, I have fallen back on this promise. When life is messed up and confusion sets in, I give the whole thing back to God, and He sorts it out for me. What a relief! He is right there - notwithstanding.

2 Timothy 4:17 says, "Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me." We all need the comfort of that promise because we aren't expert jugglers.

So today, come to Him when life gets messy and you can't see your way forward. Commit your works and let Him sort your thoughts. He will help you see the way forward. He is an expert juggler!

Saying “No” to Yourself

Week Twenty-Nine - It's Too Heavy

Do you have needy people in your life? Do they drain your energy and try your patience? Did you ever think, or do you understand, that God is aware of what they lack and has given you the resources to meet those needs? I hear some of you sighing and feeling the pain of that statement. Sometimes, I also struggle to be the caring and giving individual I hope to be. It can all seem too heavy.

When I feel that way, I remind myself of the truth and pray. God does nothing by accident. Every person that comes through my life is there for a purpose. Iron sharpeneth iron, right? And there are the sandpaper people that God uses to knock off our rough edges. Another quote I copied from somewhere reads, "Look not at the irritation but at the opportunity."

Blackaby says, "When a need surfaces around you, immediately go to the Father and say, "You put me here for a reason. You knew this was going to happen. What did You intend to do through me that would help this person become closer to You?" Recognizing a need in someone's life can be one of the greatest invitations from God you will ever experience. It's easy to become frustrated by the problems of others. They can overwhelm you as you become aware of need after need. Rather than looking at each new problem as one more drain on your time, energy, or finances, ask God why He placed you in this situation. Allow God to help you see beyond the obvious needs of others to the things He wants to accomplish in their lives. Don't miss God's activity because you're reluctant to carry the load of others."

Galatians 6:2 reminds us to carry one another's burdens to fulfill the law of Christ. His law is love. It comes alongside patience, wisdom, perseverance, and a host of other qualities that can only be developed as we exercise them by faith. Pressure causes us to grow when we handle it correctly. That heavy burden just might be God's tool.

Another thing I have found that helps me carry these burdens is to carve out time for them. I set boundaries, but I also designate purposeful amounts of time for these dear ones. I give them my full attention and listen carefully to the Spirit as we talk together so I can point them to hope in Christ. He is the one who will ultimately carry their burden, and they must learn how to find strength in Him.

So, if you have a heavy burden weighing you down today, take it to the Lord, and ask for direction and wisdom. Let me leave you with a couple more thoughts.

F.W. Faber puts a real challenge before us when he says, "Blessed is any weight, however overwhelming, which God has been so good as to fasten with His own hand upon our shoulders."

Scott Wesley Brown wrote - 

There is no problem so big God cannot solve it.
There is no mountain so tall God cannot move it.
There is no storm so dark God cannot calm it.
There is no sorrow so deep He cannot soothe it.
If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders,
I know my brother that He will carry you.

So, dear friend, when it all gets to feeling too heavy, remember, the Lord is carrying you!

Week Twenty-Eight - Abrupt Changes Ahead

As if two years of the pandemic weren't shocking enough, now our pocketbook is taking a hit at the pump, war is looming, and things around us are growing more and more unstable as we hear talk of blackouts, strikes, and unrest. We are going to have to begin making some necessary adjustments for the abrupt changes ahead.

For the past two weeks, I referred to Mary's response to the angel's announcement - total surrender to the radical turning point in her life. I know none of us relish abrupt changes, and they aren't usually preceded by a visit from an angel, but we, like Mary, are still called upon to trust God even when we don't understand. So how do we do that? What can we learn from Mary?

The first clue is Mary's reference to herself as the handmaid of the Lord. Handmaid is the same word as bondservant. It is defined as "one whose will was not their own but who rather was committed to another. The slave was obligated to perform the master's will without question or delay." How many of us define our Christian attitude as one of bondservant? Do we see ourselves as slaves to Christ? Sadly, I don't think we really grasp the depth of this truth.

"A handmaid would sit silently and watch for hand signals from her mistress (Psalm 123:2). Through these motions, rather than any spoken command, the mistress would communicate her wishes. The handmaiden, having been trained to watch for these signs, would then obey them - without question or hesitation."

Mary, describing herself as a handmaid, says she has cultivated that attitude and mentality and is fine-turned in her attentiveness to God. Here's what Psalm 123:2 says, "Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us."  Mary was paying attention. "So, that day in Nazareth when God moved His hand and signaled His will, Mary, His devoted handmaiden, noticed. At the flick of God's finger, she responded."

What a beautiful picture of obedience and acceptance. But that's not all we can see from Mary's response. When you look at Mary's words of praise, you see her working knowledge of God. She knew Him through the books of Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets and had a deep reverence. Hers was not a shallow faith. No, she was well versed and strong, able to yield to the will of God.

That brings us back to Romans 11:33, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" This verse is quickly followed by the admonition of Romans 12:1,2 - to be a living sacrifice. Mary certainly yielded her life as a living sacrifice to something she did not understand, and today, we continue drawing strength and encouragement from her willingness.

So, when strange things happen, we need not fall apart (1 Peter 4:12, 13) but cast ourselves upon the Lord (Psalm 27:13, 14). Either God is in control of the changes in our lives, or He is not. Either I trust Him to provide, or I do not. Our response and attitude reveal our faith. Are you His servant? Are you attentive? Would you notice God's hand? Would you see the flick of His finger? Would you obey and accept the abrupt change as Mary did? Or would you kick, cry, and complain? Good questions to consider, I'd say!

Adapted from Loving God with All Your Mind, by Elizabeth George