Touch

Writing again for Five Minute Friday where this week’s prompt is: Touch

I don’t always like people touching me.  I am an introvert and so guard my privacy and personal space, but even I at times need the touch of another.  The patting of an arm, the drawing into an embrace, a hug, a peck on the cheek.  Sometimes we just need that touch of empathy from a fellow human.

There are many lonely, and often elderly people within our communities who rarely experience the touch of another human.  I am often conscious of this and do try to give them some sort of touch.  Sometimes there can just be a longing for human connection.

When I think of touch in the bible I think of the lepers, whom no-one touched, no-one went near, they were the outcasts, no-one wanted to touch them.  How they must have longed for the touch of another never mind a tender, empathetic touch, just any sort of touch to remind them that they were still human, still valued, still thought of, still loved.

Then there was the woman who longed to touch Jesus, in the midst of the crowd, she just longed to reach out and touch Him and when she did, it was a healing touch, she felt it immediately reverberating through her broken body.

So for me today, yes I want to feel the touch of the Lord, yes I want to reach out and touch Him, feel Him, have my broken soul healed by Him.  But also if I am to be His hands extended in this world, then I need to reach out and literally, physically touch others, let them know that I care, let them know God cares, let them know that they are loved, valued, and that they can have the touch of the Master.

 

 

Next

I am joining up with the writers of ‘Five minute Friday’ on this week’s prompt which is :- Next

I have just come off a week away on holiday, which has been a good time to relax and clear my mind.  So what is next now that we are back?  As I get back into routine and tasks, what is next, what is the next thing to be done?

Truthfully, I  am reluctant to get back on that wheel of the next meeting to attend, the next task to do, the next job to go to.

Or even to think about the next phase of my life and all the changes that could bring, or the next new thing to study and learn from God’s word, the next command to obey, the next comfort zone to leave, the next step of faith to take.

I actually just want to stay in this little time of ‘post holiday contentment’ before life takes over.  I’m not ready for the next yet.

So, as I enter into today I will try and do so slowly, not rushing, but moving from one thing to the next and as I do so I pray that the next will flow and will glorify God.

Lord, I give you my next.

Lack

Today I am linking up with the women of Five Minute Friday. The idea is simple: Write for five minutes flat on the week’s posted topic. This week’s word is : Lack

For me the word ‘lack’ conjures up negative pictures of want/need or emptiness.  There is something I am lacking, something I need or want a physical/material thing, or something inside of me which is empty and needs filling up.  Those empty places are my vulnerable places, those are the ones I may cry out to God for, but yet never utter to another soul, I may not even articulate them at all, but there is a lack, something is missing.

Does God always fill those empty places? No.

Does God always cover over/heal those vulnerable spots?  No

Does God always fulfill my physical needs?  No He does not!

Because in His mercy and in His Sovereignty, He knows what is best, He knows that the vulnerable spots, the empty places are what drive me to Him, are what keep me bound to Him.  To always give me what I want is like spoiling a child, and not for the good of the child.  So my Heavenly Father knows me and gives me all that I need, but not all that I want.  I may lack some things, but in others, in Him I am rich.

Sustained by grace.

 

Unmet Expectations

Unmet expectations = frustration!

At the weekend I placed expectations upon someone, even knowing as I was doing so that they could not meet them.  The result was that I was left disappointed and frustrated with myself as much as with the person.  I was unrealistic in my expectation, I knew they could not meet or fulfill my needs.

So what could/should I have done?

First of all I think that I have to accept a situation/person as it is/they are and not somehow think that they are going to change out of the blue, even if I want them too, even if it would suit me if they did, even if it would be nice if they did, because the reality is that they have their own issues to deal with.

Being realistic about the person/situation then means that I look and realise that my needs are not going to be met there.  So I need to look elsewhere.  Perhaps I need to look within myself, can I meet my own needs?  Is there another person I can share with?  Are my needs just purely selfish and self-centred in the first place?  Have I just entered into self-pity mode, feeling sorry for myself?  Do I just need to stop thinking about myself and turn to others, do a good deed to take me out of myself?

Perhaps I should have applied the  HALT principals.

Am I:

• HUNGRY?
• ANGRY?
• LONELY?
• TIRED?

So in the midst of the frustration, perhaps I should have taken that step back, looked at these needs, attended to them then the outcome would have been better, nicer, kinder for everyone concerned.

Perhaps also I am looking for a person to fill a need, which actually only God can fill.  Perhaps I needed to cry out to God, perhaps I needed to take all my hurts, feelings and cares to Him and find my solace in Him, find my fulfillment in Him.

Next time …

Hopefully next time, I will HALT, I will turn to my Saviour and cry out to Him and look for my fulfillment in Him.

Next time, I could choose to turn to Praise, I could choose to turn to rejoice and I could choose not sink into that frustrated, disappointed self-pity-party.

Next time ..

Today even – I choose joy.