Wednesdays in the Word: Meddling with Strife

I have spent the evening reworking my blog design and in doing so, came across a number of entries in my draft folder!  This entry is from September 28, 2011.  I have no idea why it was never published but ~wow~, the Lord really spoke to me through it this evening. And since I couldn't come up with anything fresh to say, I'm finally going to hit the 'publish' button!  Have a blessed evening!
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This journey of life is one that is ever-changing and full of lessons to be learned along the way. While I spend my days as a homeschooling mama teaching our children, there is One who is ever faithful to teach me some hard lessons as well!  And my heavenly Teacher not only gives the lessons but He makes me demonstrate my knowledge of the solution in day to day experiences! 

People who homeschool do so for a variety of reasons. In our home, one big reason is that we want to be able to inundate our children with God’s Word (which is commanded by the Lord in Deut. 6:6-9) and teach them from it so that they will one day be able to face this wicked culture with strength and not compromise. Part of the way we do that is to memorize verses that help them in real life situations. 

Our verse this week can be found in Proverbs 26:17:

He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife

Belonging not to him,

Is like one that taken a dog by the ears.

How often have we each been pulled into situations that haven nothing to do with us? We see it a lot in children, where one child will get mad at another and solicit their mutual friends to take a side. Unfortunately, we also see it in homes, churches and workplaces. How sad. 

The Bible says that messing with problems that do not concern you is like going up to a dog and grabbing it by the ears. I don’t know about you, but if I want to make friends with a strange dog, I am not going to grab it by the ears! That’s just foolish! Indeed, when we meddle with strife that isn’t ours, we are acting like fools. 

The Bible has a lot to say about fools but probably some of my favorite verses are Proverbs 26:4-5

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

If those verses leave you scratching your head, thinking that the Bible is contradicting itself, let me assure you, it is not. What I get from those verses is that you just can’t win when dealing with a fool! Have you ever tried to converse with someone who just wants to argue for the sake of arguing? If you don’t speak, they goad you. If you do speak, they argue. That’s a fool! The best thing that you can do is r-u-n, because you are meddling with strife that isn’t yours to meddle with.

Ironically, the Lord tested my learning of this Scripture very recently.  To engage or not engage.  To bother or not bother, and my husband reminded me of the following verses.Thank God for a Spirit-filled husband!

But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
(Tit 3:9-11)

Really, it’s an issue of pride. “I am going to be right, no matter what!” Some lessons are learned the hard way, but praise the Lord, He never stops teaching and testing and forgiving and loving me as I learn!  So what am I trying to say?   Please do not waste your time fretting over strife that isn’t yours. Walk away from situations that do not concern you. Not only is it biblical but it will save you from hurt and heartache. Avoid people who would pull you into strife, use your block feature online and pray for that person!  First, it's hard to feel negatively about someone you're praying for and second, that person probably needs a lot of prayer!

Isn’t the Lord wonderful? He shows us exactly how to have a peaceful life, if we’ll only stop and listen. What strife have you meddled with that wasn’t yours? Confess it! Do you see areas where you could be pulled in and asked to take a side? Determine in your heart not to. Ask the Lord for His help.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

(Eph 5:15)

Have a blessed day!

© Adorning Grace 2011

Wednesdays in the Word: Meddling with Strife

I have spent the evening reworking my blog design and in doing so, came across a number of entries in my draft folder!  This entry is from September 28, 2011.  I have no idea why it was never published but ~wow~, the Lord really spoke to me through it this evening. And since I couldn't come up with anything fresh to say, I'm finding going to hit the 'publish' button!  Have a blessed evening!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

This journey of life is one that is ever-changing and full of lessons to be learned along the way. While I spend my days as a homeschooling mama teaching our children, there is One who is ever faithful to teach me some hard lessons as well!  And my heavenly Teacher not only gives the lessons but He makes me demonstrate my knowledge of the solution in day to day experiences! 

People who homeschool do so for a variety of reasons. In our home, one big reason is that we want to be able to inundate our children with God’s Word (which is commanded by the Lord in Deut. 6:6-9) and teach them from it so that they will one day be able to face this wicked culture with strength and not compromise. Part of the way we do that is to memorize verses that help them in real life situations. 

Our verse this week can be found in Proverbs 26:17:

He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife

Belonging not to him,

Is like one that taken a dog by the ears.

How often have we each been pulled into situations that haven nothing to do with us? We see it a lot in children, where one child will get mad at another and solicit their mutual friends to take a side. Unfortunately, we also see it in homes, churches and workplaces. How sad. 

The Bible says that messing with problems that do not concern you is like going up to a dog and grabbing it by the ears. I don’t know about you, but if I want to make friends with a strange dog, I am not going to grab it by the ears! That’s just foolish! Indeed, when we meddle with strife that isn’t ours, we are acting like fools. 

The Bible has a lot to say about fools but probably some of my favorite verses are Proverbs 26:4-5

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

If those verses leave you scratching your head, thinking that the Bible is contradicting itself, let me assure you, it is not. What I get from those verses is that you just can’t win when dealing with a fool! Have you ever tried to converse with someone who just wants to argue for the sake of arguing? If you don’t speak, they goad you. If you do speak, they argue. That’s a fool! The best thing that you can do is r-u-n, because you are meddling with strife that isn’t yours to meddle with.

Ironically, the Lord tested my learning of this Scripture very recently.  To engage or not engage.  To bother or not bother, and my husband reminded me of the following verses.Thank God for a Spirit-filled husband!

But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
(Tit 3:9-11)

Really, it’s an issue of pride. “I am going to be right, no matter what!” Some lessons are learned the hard way, but praise the Lord, He never stops teaching and testing and forgiving and loving me as I learn!  So what am I trying to say?   Please do not waste your time fretting over strife that isn’t yours. Walk away from situations that do not concern you. Not only is it biblical but it will save you from hurt and heartache. Avoid people who would pull you into strife, use your block feature online and pray for that person!  First, it's hard to feel negatively about someone you're praying for and second, that person probably needs a lot of prayer!

Isn’t the Lord wonderful? He shows us exactly how to have a peaceful life, if we’ll only stop and listen. What strife have you meddled with that wasn’t yours? Confess it! Do you see areas where you could be pulled in and asked to take a side? Determine in your heart not to. Ask the Lord for His help.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

(Eph 5:15)

Have a blessed day!

© Adorning Grace 2011

Wednesdays in the Word: Why Be Normal?

Do you remember the pins worn in the late 80’s that asked, “Why be normal?”? The question was meant to express that there was no point in living a normal life when you could be something other than the norm. During this time period, that translated into long haired, sissy looking boys and Madonna wanna-be girls, and in the end, they weren’t any different than the rest of the crowd. While we may have hoped to grow up and live a life that was far beyond the Ozzie and Harriet ideal, the vast majority of us ended up living lives that were just normal. And that is exactly what I want to write about today…the state of normalcy. 

One of the biggest struggles that I face as a stay at home wife and homeschooling mom is that of boredom. Don’t mistake what I’m saying; I have plenty to DO but the day in and day out tedium of washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning house, paying bills… it can get old very quickly. There are many ways that I might suggest to breathe new life into your daily routine but that would have to be the subject of another entry. For today, I want to tell you that there is nothing wrong with normal – embrace it!

The dreams that I had for my life as a young person have mostly not come true (and therein lies the danger of “Cinderella” stories!). Some people dream grand things; my dreams were always kind of simple – the house, kids, dog, all in suburbia. I do have the kids and I’m immensely grateful for them. The dog? Can you count a Chihuahua as a dog? As for the house, I have never had my own home and at this point in life, I do not expect I ever will. Suburbia?  Not yet.

Two weeks ago, a friend and sister in the Lord took her teenage son into the doctor for a sport’s physical. As a result of that visit, the doctor ordered an MRI and he has since been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, had surgery to remove it, suffered a severe reaction to the anesthesia that has left him with stroke-like symptoms and a very uncertain future. His mama prays for a return to normal. 

Just this week a family buried their teenage daughter due to a misdiagnosed case of meningitis. Last week, they were enjoying a very normal family vacation. 

Life has a way of changing in an instant, sometimes for the good and often for the bad. We cannot know what life event will forever change the course of our future, but we can embrace the here and now and be thankful for our lives as they are! 

Maybe you’re wondering how on earth you’re supposed to be content in your present circumstances. The Bible says:

Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

(Pro 16:3)

Isn’t it interesting how God’s ways are always opposite of the worlds? The world wants to deal with our minds and tells us that if we could only get our thinking straight than our lives would follow suit. However, God says that if we commit our works to Him, THEN our thoughts will be established. So, we simply need to do the right thing and then we’ll start thinking the right thing. 

For example, say you’re living in a home that is less than your ideal. Maybe it is too small for your family. Maybe it is old and run down. I don’t know; it could be many things. I believe that if you will begin treating that home like it’s your castle – your dream home – the ideal – and taking care of it as such, your thoughts are going to change towards it.

 The same holds true in our spiritual life.  Let’s use witnessing as an example. Say that you’re afraid to hand out a Gospel tract or tell someone about Jesus. You cannot wait until you are no longer afraid to start witnessing. You first need to step out by faith and DO it and then the Lord will change your thinking. First commit your works and your thoughts will follow. 

Try to commit to an attitude of thankfulness, no matter what your circumstance, even if it's just normal, every day life.  Be thankful for it – embrace it – enjoy it. You never know when your normal might change!

© Adorning Grace 2011

Wednesdays in the Word: Living in Grace

As I sit here finishing up this entry, I am a little amused about the subject matter. See, I started writing this last Wednesday, not knowing what the weekend was going to bring.  Friday started off with our having to bring 1g13 to the ER.  She has a nasty ear infection. Saturday brought another trip to the ER with 3g9, who was diagnosed with pneumonia.  Sunday morning we visited her Pediatrician and not an hour after getting home, were instructed to return to the ER as her temp was hovering around 104* and had been for 24 hours.  After 48 sleepless hours, we returned to the Pediatrician and were informed that the medication she was on was not helping. So, he switched her to three others, which (due to a glitch in her insurance) were not covered.  To say that I was completely overwhelmed and ready to run away from home would be an understatement!  However,  I'm pleased to say that last night she showed great improvement and her temperature actually stayed below 101*!  Thank you Lord!

All of that to say that there have been moments in the past five days where I have struggled to find the grace in the situation.  Grace is defined as "favor, good will, kindness".  I have had a couple of middle-of-the-night pity parties, asking "God? Do you see what is going on?  Where's my help that comes from the Lord?".  

Thankfully, I have some wonderful friends who faithfully have prayed both during the day and in the midnight hours!  Thank you!  When I couldn't pray anymore, they filled in and took on the task.  And you know what?  Even when I couldn't see grace through my worry and fear, grace was still there.  Grace allowed medication to bring down fevers, grace gave strength to stay up most of the last four days, grace provided medical care when it was needed and grace led me to write last week what I would need reminding of this week.  Thank God for grace!

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More than a decade ago, my friend Kari said to me via email, “you sure are living in grace”, and that phrase has been my signature line ever since. At the time, my husband had just taken his first pastorate and I found myself thrust into the role of “pastor’s wife”, and the duties that seem to go along with it. One of those duties was to organize baby showers for other ladies in the church. At this point, pregnancy announcements seemed to be flooding in from all sides and I was feeling very overwhelmed. As many of you reading know, infertility has been a part of my entire married life and at that season of life, it was very hard for me to not only rejoice over all the glad tidings but to plan baby showers as well!

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I was listening to a cd from our pastor and he made a statement that has stuck with me. He said, “You can’t worry about tomorrow’s problems on today’s grace.” Such a simple statement, but there is so much truth there! God does not give us grace to face our problems and trials tomorrow. He only gives grace for today. So, why do we spend so much time worrying about the things that we cannot control? 

Sometimes I think that I’m afraid God’s grace will simply run out, but praise the Lord, the Bible says that he giveth more grace (James 4:6)! God is not going to run out of grace…not today or next month or next year. It will be there for the asking.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

(2Co 12:9-10)

A year and a half ago, I had the opportunity once again to experience God’s grace when we lost our unborn child. Upon learning that our baby was with the Lord, immediately God spoke to me and told me to praise Him. The song “God Wants to Hear You Sing” came to my mind.  Surely God didn’t want me to sing right then…but He did. The second verse of that song says:

He loves to hear our praise on our cheerful days, 

when the pleasant times outweigh the bad by far.

But when troubles come along and we still sing Him songs, 

that is when we bless the Father’s heart.

And indeed, there is much truth there. It’s easy to praise God when things are going our way; when the bills are paid, the kids are well, our marriage is happy and we’re on a spiritual mountaintop. But God’s grace is only manifested when we can praise Him in the valleys, when things aren’t going just right, when the doctor brings a bad report. My blogging friend Heather recently buried her 10 year old daughter. She has been a picture of grace throughout Emma’s sickness (and Heather’s battle with brain cancer!). Because she has allowed God’s grace to be evidenced in her life, she has touched countless lives. That pleases the Father. When we are weak, HE is strong!

Over and over again, God has extended His grace towards me and if you know Him as Savior, he has extended His grace to you as well. Truly, the greatest gift ever given is that of His amazing, saving grace!

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost but now I’m found,

Was blind but now I see!

Praise the Lord for His saving grace. Praise Him for the grace that strengthens us in our trials. Praise Him for His grace that knows no limits. There is grace enough for anything you might be facing today, and He stands ready to give you the grace you need if you’ll just turn to Him. Remember, Jesus loves you!

Grace…I’m living in it. Are you?

© Adorning Grace 2011

Wednesday's in the Word: Clearing a Path for Blessings

And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD'S hand waxed short?

thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

(Num 11:23)

The new school year is rapidly approaching and like many of you, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the changes I’d like to make this year. One thing that the Lord has really impressed upon me is that all the learning in the world is meaningless if our priorities are wrong. I have always said that if I had to choose between my children being educated or godly, godliness would win hands down! Having good children is nice; having godly children is priceless! 

Sally, over at Diamonds in the Rough, has a rule in her home that we have decided to adopt. It’s so simple yet I believe it could be life altering. Want to know what it is? Here you go: No Bible, No Breakfast! All too often lately, we’re in such a mad dash to get out of bed and get off to some other obligation that our time in the Word goes by the wayside. More often than not, I’ll rise earlier than the girls to get my quiet time in, but in doing so, I’m neglecting to encourage them to have theirs. Jesus tells us in John 6 that spiritual food is of far greater importance than physical food.

We only instituted this rule on Monday but I can tell you that, without a doubt, I’ve seen a difference in my days!  The Lord really does bless when we try to do right! For right now, I am spending time with the girls all together, sharing God’s Word. They need to be reading on their own as well but until a pattern is developed for setting aside this time first thing in the morning, I think we’ll continue as a group. On Monday and Tuesday I read the Proverb for the day and we talked about various verses. However, this morning, the Lord showed me something in my quiet time that I wanted to share with them…and with you!

I was reading in the book of Numbers about the children of Israel. Chapter 11 talks about how the Israelites were tired of the manna that God had provided them, and began to murmur and complain. Throughout the chapter, a conversation takes place between the Lord and Moses. God promises to give the Israelites the meat they are crying for “until it come out at your nostrils”. Moses questions God, asking if they are going to have to slay all of their cattle or catch all the fish in the sea in order to feed such a multitude. At this point, God replies, “Is the Lord’s hand waxed short? Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”. 

God is telling Moses that His hand is not shortened and to basically "watch and see". Of course, we know that God is able to fulfill any promise He makes, and indeed, He had promised the children of Israel meat…and lots of it!

What the Lord really spoke to my heart about in this chapter is my own lack of faith. Like Moses, I have questioned God about things that He has promised. We are each given promises in the Word of God and it is up to us believe them by faith. The story in this chapter has a very negative outcome. The Israelites received the promise from God but it wasn’t really what they wanted. We can turn this around and apply it to our lives. What if there is a promise from God that we want to claim, that we really want to hold on to and that we wait for God to fulfill? What can we learn from our examples in Scripture?

And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD:

and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled;…

(Num 11:1)

All of this started with the people complaining. The Bible tells us that God hears us when we complain and that it displeases Him. See, the children of Israel were complaining because they had to eat manna and they were longing for the meat of Egypt. Manna was the food that God had provided for them, directly from Heaven. How often do we do the same thing? God provides us a roof over our heads and it’s not big enough. He provides us a vehicle to drive and it’s not new enough. God blesses our husband with a job and the money isn’t enough. I could go on but I am sure you get the point. Each and every time we complain about God’s provision for us, it displeases Him. I think of my own children and how it feels to buy them something special and have it not be the right something. It certainly doesn’t make me feel like blessing them further! Now imagine how the Lord must feel.

The next significant thing that I saw was in verses 6 and 10:

(6) But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

(10) Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families,

every man in the door of his tent:

and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

These verses really tie right in with verse 1 : Their complaining led to ungratefulness. You simply cannot complain and be thankful at the same time!!! And lack of thankfulness displeases the Lord as well.

What the Lord showed me (and I was able to pass along to my daughters) is that Israel’s complaining and lack of thankfulness led to the Lord fulfilling a promise that they really didn’t want him to keep. However, I believe the reverse is true as well. If we would stop our complaining and instead be thankful, the Lord could fulfill His promises towards us. Oh, we cannot ever earn or be deserving of God’s blessings but we can certainly restrain the hand of the Lord from being able to bless us because of our sin. Each and every day we are recipients of the goodness of God in our lives; not because we have earned it but just because He loves us! However, there are some promises that can only be fulfilled by our obedience.

Do you remember the study we did a while back on Psalm 84:11 (no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly)? We simply cannot claim that promise if we are not going to walk uprightly. By the same token, God tells us here in Numbers that complaining and not being thankful greatly displease Him. The Bible says that to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17) God simply cannot bless sin and by our addressing our sin of ungratefulness and complaining, we clear a pathway for His blessings.

I don’t know about you, but there are things in my life that I would like the Lord to do. There are promises I want to see fulfilled. There are prayers that I long to have answered. I do not want sin in my life to be the reason that He is unable to do so. I’m thinking that you don’t either. I pray that this might have been an encouragement to you. Complaining is more than just something children do to annoy their parents – it is sin and it needs to be dealt with accordingly.

Keep your eyes on Jesus!

© Adorning Grace 2011