We make our plans...and set our schedules accordingly....but just as we do, something changes. An interruption or an unexpected set of obstacles breaks up a routine or gets in the way of a productive scheduled activity...so when was the last time your schedule ot your life for that matter had to be readjusted due to an unexpected obstacle?
The deal is when that happens...there is a tendency to get frustrated, or mad or stressed due to the inconvenience. But when we do that then we are showing quite clearly that we think that we are in control....when in fact God is. He is the one allowing things to come up...he is the one who orchestrates his willful strategy to roll into our lives, but when we are so insistent on our own schedules staying in tact, we lose sight of that. We are hit with obstacles and interruptions everyday...some are trite and not worth mentioning while others have a decided impact on out lives.
I was driving alone to Austin last week...and I so love that time becasue it is perfectly quiet in my car and it is such a wonderful time with the Lord. And I truly believe if any of us are really quiet and seek His presence, he will show us he is with us....through thoughts that pop up in your head, sights you see that you have never seen even though you have traveled that same road hundreds of times, reflections that you have tucked away of a situation that worked out in spite of odds, just something that God reveals...His way. This particular time....the thought that God popped clearly in my head was....LOOSEN UP....take life a little less seriously and enjoy it.
I was thinking I was already pretty loose...but then I realized I am really not. I look hard at things and and tend so many times to analyse what is before me rather than just enjoy it. Oh, I am good about thinking outside a box...but am not so good at letting things that roll off my back when my feelings have been hurt or someone has been inconsiderate or things have not gone as I have planned. If I consider God to be my focus in ALL things....in All that I do, all that I think, and all that I say ...then I am much more able to live loosely....looking for His hand and not being so confined under my own rule. therefore...Loosening up! I would be basing whatever it is that I am involved in on God's schedules activities for my life and my priorities would all be subject to His priorities. Sounds simple enough...but I seem to continue to take back what I have given way to God.
Acts 16:26
Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.
My life is not my life...it belongs ultimately to the Lord God who made me. He purchased my life through the blood of his son Jesus Christ. I have no true ownership...Manager capacity yes...but ownership no. Obstacles and interruptions are just that....things that get in the way...of a self designated route. But if I commit to living loosely...making plans with the understanding that something will most likely come along as an interruption, then I will be prepared with that expectation and when it happens....I will be more easily able to make the necessary adjustments without frustration or disappointment or the looming stress factor that so often times is associated with an obstacle.
Schedules, and jobs, and "to do" lists etc. are tangible...and we can readily put our finger on our expectations...and note when there has been an interruption that has caused an adjustment....but relationships are not so tangible...and interruptions through a quarrel distance, a difference of opinion, or rejection can be the obstacle that settles onto our journey and keeps us suspended in limbo. We have three choices when an obstcle gets in our way,
1) work through it
2) work around it
3) move it
The key to open any of the three doors is in the hands of God himself. So it only makes sense that we would have to go to him to solicit the key of His choice for our lives....regarding our particular obstacle. To live loosely means to accept the fact that God holds all the keys, to all the obstacles which come before us. We are not so much responsible for choosing how to handle the obstacle but for asking God for HIS input as to how to handle it. Next time you are faced with a plan change or a relationship adjustment....seek the key that is in the hands of God. Be confident not in your own judgment, and not in your own ability to redirect your path but in God's.
Dear Lord, Direct our paths and send your obstacles when you need us to adjust our ways and grow us to be more like you. Help us to accept our limited ability to control our lives and be confident in your infinite ability to control them. May we faithfully accept the obstacles that are before us and remember to come to you for guidance as soon as they fall on our path.And Lord, please help me to loosen up...and find joy in ALL things... Amen
cjodeit@gmail.com
www.cathyjodeit.com
The blog link below has all devotionals from the beginning of the year:
http://simplygod-cathy.blogspot.com/
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