Adjust

Joining again today with the #FiveMinuteFriday group of Writers, where we write on a one word prompt for 5 minutes flat. This week’s prompt is: Adjust.

I don’t know about you, but I take a while to adjust to new things, new ideas, new ways of thinking etc. I like time to ponder, time to think things through, time to take a leap from one idea to another, time to make adjustments.

But at present there is no time, things are happening too fast, I can’t keep up, I felt as if I was in a bit of an overload situation this week and that then makes me feel panicky. There has been no time to adjust from one way of living to another, no time to adjust from one way of working to another, no time to adjust from one way of doing church to another! It is a bit like being on the proverbial wheel – stop I want to get off! It is all happening too fast for me!

So what can we do? What is God saying to me in the midst of this daily changing world?

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:10

Be still. Calm yourself. Life your eyes heavenward. Be still and know that I am God.

Be still – God is in control.

Be still – Know that He is God, trust it believe it, declare it.

In the midst of the chaos, in the midst of the change, in the midst of making those quick and necessary adjustments – Be still. Be still and know. Be still and know that He is God. Be still and know that He is God and that He will be exalted among the nations. Be still and know that He is God and that He will be exalted among the nations and exalted on the earth. Be still.

Tomorrow

Hello & welcome, today I am joining with the  #FiveMinuteFriday  Group. We gather every week to freewrite for five minutes flat on a single writing prompt. This week’s prompt is: Tomorrow.

Well, in a week that has seen more change with each passing hour it is impossible to predict what tomorrow may bring! At work all week every hour brought e-mails regarding the changing situation, changing plans, changing procedures till now – lock-down!

It is certainly a time of trial, a time to dig deep, a time to really place our trust in the Living Eternal God who changes not and a time to take each day one day at a time.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34

Tomorrow will have its own problems, its own challenges and sometimes we may worry about those and all the “what-ifs”, we fear whether we will we have the resilience to cope with one more thing on top of all the other things.

But Christ promised strength for TODAY, bread for TODAY. He promised that He would equip us for every good work which was the theme for me for New Year (Equipped).

In what appears to be the last days, facing trials of an unprecedented nature, does our faith fly out the window and we give in to the fear, or are we standing strong, knowing our God has prepared us for such a time as this? We are not exempt from the trials, we don’t sail through unscathed, we are human too, we feel the pain of loss of work, loss of services, loss of life as we have known it and even sadly loss of loved ones. We feel that, we go through that, but we still stand knowing that :

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,

because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

 perseverance, character;

and character, hope.

 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5

We place our hope in God, our hope for tomorrow, our hope for the future, our hope for what is still to come we place in God knowing His love has been poured out into our hearts and that will sustain us in the days and tomorrows ahead.

Less

Hello & welcome, today I am joining with the  #FiveMinuteFriday  Group. We gather every week to freewrite for five minutes flat on a single writing prompt. This week’s prompt is: Less.

Today in light of the Corona virus Pandemic I want to think about the Panic surrounding it. As Christians, we are not to give in to panic, we know the God who is in control and who is never caught out, never surprised by events and never panics because He has it all under control.

What does God tell us to do:-

¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

1. Panic Less – Humble more
2. Panic Less – Pray more
3. Panic Less – Seek God’s Face
4. Panic Less – Turn from your wicked ways of ignoring God
5. Panic Less – God will hear
6. Panic Less – God will forgive
7. Panic Less – God will heal our land.

So for every panic less there is more to be found in God.

More peace

More just ways

More relationships/communication

More forgiveness

More hearing

More healing

Let us turn our panics down, let us count them less and let us trust the Living God, turning to Him, seeking Him and interceeding for our land.

Lord in your wrath, remember mercy. Amen.

Table

Welcome today when I am joining with the  #FiveMinuteFriday  Group. We gather every week to freewrite for five minutes flat on a single writing prompt. This week’s prompt is: Table.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Psalm 23:5

We all know and love Psalm 23, the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want .. .. but when we pause and look at each clause there is more to it.

Verse 5 – God prepares a table for us, where/when? – in the presence of our enemies. When we are faced with temptations, when we face our inner demons, when life is tough, when others are letting us down, when we let ourselves down, when we listen to the lies of satan who is telling us that we are not up to much, that my friend is when and where God is preparing a table for us. A place to recline, a place to be fed, a place to be nourished, cherished, nurtured, refreshed.

At that table of refreshment, God feeds our souls, He wipes away our weariness and restores us to right relationship with Himself. And we rise and leave that table we are filled, cleansed, refreshed, with our cup of blessing overflowing.

So today when we are weary, when we are in need, when we are being buffeted by the trials of life, let us come to the table which God has prepared for us and allow Him to minister to us there…

God prepares a table and my cup overflows with His goodness and grace.

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