Ooh - my second post for today! I wanted to write my American Idol update before it was too late, but I also want to get in on the backwards Works-for-Me-Wednesday...I'm not really sure what to ask for advice on today, so I am wondering if you could just leave me something inspirational for my day (and I promise to pay it forward!) - it could be an internet hug, a scripture verse, a favorite quote, or just something to brighten my day! Thanks for reading my blog & I hope you'll come back soon!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Works for Me Wednesday - backwards!
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8 comments:
Hi! I'm Robin and I'm new to Works for Me Wednesday, but it caused me to come across your blog.
Since I don't know you, it's hard to know what would inspire you, but here's what's been inspiring me latetly:
The Bible talks about hungering after righteousness, after God.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6 NIV
“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” Luke 6:21 NIV
The trouble is that hunger is not a very comfortable situation to be in. I've often thought about wanting to hunger and thirst after God as something good, something pleasant. But hunger, by its very nature, is painful. There’s a big difference between a desire and hunger. Hunger goes beyond desire to a physical discomfort of craving. A piece of cinnamon and sugar toast sounds good to me right now. One could even say that I DESIRE to have a piece. But am I hungry? No. No hunger pangs. No stomach rumbling. But if I eat the desired cinnamon and sugar toast, I actually shortcut hunger.
Ken Gire speaks on the subject of spiritual hunger in The Reflective Life. "Because hunger hurts, though, we try to take the edge off it in any way we can. One of those ways is with religious activity. And that can include the activity of reading books, listening to tapes, or going to seminars. Through these things, which are often very good things, even nourishing things, we are fed the experiences of others. But they are not our experiences. I can read a psalm about David crying out from a cave in the wilderness, and I should read that psalm, but it is not my psalm. It is not my psalm because it is not my cave, not my wilderness, and not my tears."
My pain. My cave. My wilderness. These create a true hunger. There’s no easy substitution for hunger.
In a world of self-sufficiency, my faith can be hampered by shortcutting hunger. Do I snack on the spiritual experiences of others, rather than working through and learning from my own? Probably more often than I’d like to think. In the same way that eating at the first desire for food without true hunger creates overweight people, feeding off of the experiences of others without allowing true hunger for God creates overfed Christians.
How do we create true hunger for righteousness rather than snacking on the experiences of others? Many times we find ourselves in stages of life in which we tangibly feel the need for God’s healing or provision. I’ve spent much of the last two years craving answers or healing from God, creating a very natural hunger. But truthfully, things are going pretty well right now. My felt needs are met. I’m breathing well, most of the time. Ken has a great job. My career goals are coming full-circle.
I think at times we have to carefully and prayerfully create vacuum of need that only God can fill, not by sinning so that “grace may abound,” but by stretching ourselves outside of what is spiritually, physically, or financially comfortable. Perhaps by supporting a ministry financially when we’re not sure how God will provide for our needs. Maybe by engaging in spiritual disciplines, like fasting, that remind us of our hunger for God. Possibly attempting something that without God’s help would be a sure failure. Even by reflecting on the depravity of where we have come from and what God has done can create hunger for God.
So here’s what I’m contemplating:
What am I doing to foster a hunger for God?
Oh, I'm the first!
I want to give you a hug, and tell you that you'll be able to find lots of friends online who want to share their day with you.
You can find my "works for me" at:
Laane on the World
Have a great day!!!
OK. How about this: I'm in the midst of the Believing God study by Beth Moore. Last night we talked about the things that trip us up when it comes to believing Him. Not just believing IN Him. But believing. Him.
I find that I put all kinds of disclaimers in my prayers "God please help with this, but if you can't...that's OK". Instead of BELIEVING God will do what He says He can do. Not doubting. But believe for those miracles.
My faith is growing stronger day-by-day and it is getting easier to pray without doubting. And it's not the Name-it-and-claim-it theology. It's having the faith of that mustard seed...Believing God created us for greatness and to be happy.
Another thing, I'm getting my hair cut Friday. Now that will inspire anyone because I look like crap.
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, God calls a butterfly"
and
"If not for tears, there would be no rainbows."
I forget who said what...but those two quotes *points up* lift me up :) Hope they do the same for you!
Actually it was "If not for rain, there would be no rainbows." I royally screwed that one up. Haha. :)
It's too long to post here so I'll leave the link... http://graspthelove.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/thoughts-from-an-infertile-mom-who-loves-jesus/
After battling infertility for what seems like forever we just adopted a little girl. Hopefully this post will bring you encouragement. I appreciate your blog so much! Have a great day and know we're praying for you through this journey!!!
Here's "my" verse. It took me and my husband 3 1/2 years before we could get pregnant with my daughter. God gave me Psalm 37:4. Instead of praying constantly for a baby, I began to pray that if it was not in God's plan for us, that He would take that desire out of my heart and replace it with what He did have for us. I prayed that He would make the desires of my heart what His desires were for me. It was still a long time after I started praying that before I got pregnant, but what I did get was a peace like I had not previously known. I knew that if the desire was still there for me to have a baby, that God had put it there and He would provide in His perfect time.
It took my husband and me over 3 years to get pregnant. Now we have boy girl twins who will be five in a few weeks. The one thing that we finally accepted through our infertility journey is that we would be parents one way or the other. Once we accepted that it helped us accept the bad news (negative pregnancy test) a *little* better because we knew we would be parents we just did not know what path would take us there.
For me, when times are tough and I tend to worry I turn to Matthew 6: 25 - 34. ". . .See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you you?. . ." These verses always give me strength and inspiration.
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