How to turn circumstance chaos into, “It is well with my soul.”
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That’s not real: Puppy Love
You know the saying, “Puppy love is real to the puppy?” That is a great explanation to our perception of reality in much of life, isn’t it?
Reality perceived is our reality
Have you ever put your hand (or foot) in running water and you couldn’t tell if it was scalding hot or freezing cold?
How many times have you noticed your car moving out of your control and either gasped out of fear from the passenger’s seat or slammed on the brakes on the driver’s side only to realize your parked car really wasn’t moving after all?
FREE SHAMU
Ever answered a question that wasn’t asked? My husband thought my son found a way to get free shampoo the other day as he excitedly blurted out, “FREE SHAMU!” The funny visual of soap suds filling Sea World’s whale exhibit overtook me.
Just this week my eye caught the baby bear cub statue at the end of a long winding driveway along an often traveled road, as I was still taking in the whole sight I hear someone in the car say, “That was a big cat!”
Many times our perception of life is far from what is real.
Many times our perception of life is far from what is real. At times we build a tale of hapless fiction in our own thoughts and tremble in a made up fear, while other times we put a impractical shield in place when really we should be running for cover.
We really should be running for cover!
When tornado sirens sound alarm as funnels skip, hop, jump and slam into things around us, we should be safe not surveying.
If skies are smokey and filled with nearby burning fire’s colors, we need to prepare for evacuation as they creep ever more closely.
Impending hurricanes with their angry rains and winds smacking around palm trees and seas is a time to batten up the hatches and execute a wise, well thought out, plan instead of taking a dip in the ocean.
Earthquakes rocking our home’s foundation indicate a need for duck and cover, and yet at times like these our rightful fear takes a side seat to denial.
Our minds are a strong force
Strange how we can rationalize away danger when it’s right in front of our faces while other times we create a fear isn’t even real. Our minds are a strong force to reconcile; fear is as real as it is perceived.
Psalm 56 We find David in exile at Gath, freshly seized by the Philistines
1Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
David was taken as prisoner and his enemies swarmed him w/their evils daily. His calamity was real. Like real real, both in perception and truth.
Truth or Perception?
What wickedness, perverse thing, noisome substance surrounds you today? Do you find yourself in exile much like David did? Are your circumstances closing in evil on all sides of you, daily? Are you feeling crushed?
Calamities: sudden and ordinary
My friend and once roommate buried her husband a short time ago. He wasn’t suppose to be in grave danger for his life, and now he’s in heaven. A dear servant of the Lord was running trails, per her norm, one day and in hospice the next; heaven draws nigh.
Right now, thunder & lightning fill a dark afternoon sky as rain pummels our area. Across the states, other storms of weather seek to ruin friends from LA to the west coast, while storms of heart -even more fearful- hit closer to home and then scatter even more vastly. What can we do?
The storms of heart churn fear in us
If you know the Lord, you serve the same God as did David. When David found himself encompassed by engulfing ruin, he showed us what to do.
Psalm 56:2-4 Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee, In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
God is still worth trusting
Our God is still worth trusting and calling on during times of our trouble.
The Lord is on my side …
The one who He loves
The one who is trusting and seeking Him
The one who praises Him
Be the one!
We need to stay close to the Lord in our daily life, because we need Him…because He loves us! We need to be careful to listen to God’s voice, His Word, His Spirit, His truth, because we can sure write a crazy story of perceived reality out of the evil lies we allow to swirl into our heart and mind. Equally, we need to pay attention to the very real circumstances the Lord allows in our lives.
When Overwhelmed, Cry out to God!
Does danger loom? Is there an impending storm (of heart or home)? When we’re overwhelmed, the answer is the same: Cry out to God for mercy and justice.
Until these calamities PASS!
Friends, God IS WITH us. God is FOR us. God will go WITH US until the troubles PASS. We’re not going to be surrounded by trouble forever. Trust Him THROUGH it all.
Psalm 57:1-3 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
Trust Him for His Mercy and His Truth!
There is hope in the hopelessness of troubled times. Whoever first said it is right, “God is the one who makes it well with your soul even when it is not well with your circumstances.”
Psalm 57:3 God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
