Reminders for Your Spiritual Journey

I have a silly game I play when someone says with glee, “Did you see? The price of gas went down.” I say, “Yes I know, I filled my car just before it changed so I am claiming credit for the drop in price.”  I also say the opposite when the price goes up, I say “I just filled my car so I’m to blame.”  Of course, we all know that I do not have any effect on the price of gas any more than washing my car causes it to rain. 

Some of us subconsciously like to play that same game with God.  We think that if God can cause good things to happen, doesn’t He also cause the bad things that happen?  We like to have something or someone to blame for the things we can’t control or even some things we know we’ve brought on ourselves, by our own actions or inactions.  God does not punish us with natural disasters or any other things that happen to us.  Yet it feels that way, because we know we deserve punishment for some of the things we do or neglect to do.

We can’t ward off the bad things in life by being extra good, and we shouldn’t expect to be struck by lightning every time we do something bad.  We might joke about it, because we know it’s a tendency of people to be concerned that God will punish us, but that is just not the case.  In some churches pastors say, “God is Good!” and the congregation responds: “All the time” and the pastor reassures, “All the time, God is good”.  We need to remember that this is true, and God does not waver. 

There are Old Testament verses that may cause us to embrace the belief that God punishes us.  For example, in II Kings 17:18 after providing a long list of Israel's sins, it says, "Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone."  This sounds extremely harsh!  It implies that God made a whole lot of people disappear off the face of the earth.  He also punished the Israelites by keeping them in the desert for 40 years.  Sin has always been subject to punishment, but God does treat sin differently now because He sent Jesus who paid the price for our sins.  The punishment for continuous sin, without God’s forgiveness, is eternal.  “For the wages of sin is death…”  The good news is that the verse goes on to say, “…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
 Alice Walker

When we think we have no power to change things, we want to pull up the covers and escape into sleep.  Maintaining control over our lives requires that we make a conscious choice to take back our power.  Before we can create positive change, we need to recognize the ways in which we give our power away.

Grumbling implies that you have no power over your situation.  It shows that you lack power over your attitude.  Saying our situation makes us feel bad about ourselves suggests that others have power over how we feel.  Instead, accept that it is up to you to manage your emotions, regardless of how others behave.

Giving in to guilt trips or refusing to speak up for ourselves gives power to other people.  Rather than blame them for wasting our time or "forcing" us to do something, recognize each of us is in charge of ourself.  Establish healthy physical and emotional boundaries that give you control over how you spend your time and with whom, puts you in control.

Holding a grudge against someone who has hurt you doesn't punish the other person—it only punishes you.  Blaming someone (even yourself) for hurting you, takes away your ability to enjoy the moment.  Forgiving is a way to take back our power.  But to be clear, forgiveness isn't about saying what the person did was OK.  It's about choosing to let go of the hurt and anger that interferes with our ability to enjoy life.

When we're not clear about what we want, we're at risk of becoming a helpless passenger rather than a confident driver of our own life.  Take back your power by acknowledging your values and living true to what's important to you. Make your self-worth independent of other people's opinions.

The best way to change is to get outside ourselves and do something nice for someone else.  But to do that, we first have to tend to our own needs.  We need to do something that makes us feel good about ourselves.  Accomplish one small thing that you have been putting off.  Sort your sock drawer, or whatever will give you a sense of accomplishment.  Then think of one thing you can do for someone else, even if it is just to clean up a mess you left in someone’s way.  Thinking about positive things can lift one’s mood.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

Restoration is the process of returning something or someone to a former state of being or condition or to return a piece of property to its previous owner.  For example, when we go into the hospital for a health issue, we hope to return home in much better condition than we were when we went in.  When we take our car into the garage, we hope the mechanic will return it to us in good working order.  Something or someone needing restoration has lost or broken something that needs to be returned to its original, or even better, condition.  The restoration of relationships, broken families, and even physical bodies is usually a long process.  Restoration of a lost faith can also take a long time and go through many phases.

Because God decided to give human beings the ability to reason and to choose, He gave up His own ability to treat us like puppets and to decide our every thought and action.  That does not mean that He gave up His ability to influence us, it simply means that He has allowed us to choose how we will respond to Him.  We are free to deny, defy, or embrace Him.  We are free to believe in God’s word or dismiss it as fiction.  We are free to accept His saving grace or reject it.  But once we have heard and believed the truth, accepted Jesus as our savior and then wondered away from that relationship, God does not leave us alone.  He continues to prod us with continuous nudges to return to Him.  God is in the restoration business!

If we allow Him access to our hearts, God will help us replace our lost faith with a new and more stable version.  He will renew our understanding of his grace.  He will revive our enthusiasm for sharing His message, and He will refresh our joy at returning to a new and better relationship with Him.

The story of Job is a prime example, in the Bible, of how God works.  Job lost everything, his home, his health, his family, his dignity and his faith.  Job suffered horrible pain!  God used Jobs desperation to show him the way back to a life with a restored and rewarding faith in Him.  He has promised to do the same for us.

“I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.  I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy.  I will shepherd the flock with justice” Ezekiel 34:16 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 6:33 God will restore us!