Joining again with the #Five Minute Friday group of writers where we write for 5 minutes on a one-word prompt. Today’s word is: Design
I am in awe of our Creator God, the design, the intricate details which He put into His creation and into us. We see it in the detail of the petal of a flower, we see it in the colours of the grasses, we see it in the way our body functions and relies on different organs to work and I’m sure artists and physicists could explain it all far better than I can, but to me it is still wonderful!
We know and can say with the Pslamist:
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well
Psalm 139:14
I also believe that the Creator created us to create!!
Now we may immediately say, “Oh but I’m not artistic”. Did I say God created us to be artistic? No, God created us to create! That may well be to create fine works of art or poetry, of knitting or tapestry, or even cooking or baking.
But so many of us are much more ordinary than that and live ordinary lives, but in the midst of the ordinary we can create space for love and joy; in the midst of the ordinary we can create friendships and relationships; in the midst of the ordinary we can invite God in to create His good work within us and we can be obedient to do those good works God created us to do!
How is God calling you to create and weave His design into your life?
Joining with the #Five Minute Friday group of writers to write on a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today’s prompt is Fix.
Some people are fixers! They don’t like to see anyone in trouble, so they jump right in there to try and fix the problem!
To a certain extent we are all a bit like that especially when it comes to family, we don’t like to see those we love suffer and struggle, so we help out, we try and solve, we make ourselves available, we take on burdens, we try to fix.
But what if in fact our fixing is a hindrance to the work of God in someone’s life? What if instead of fixing we allowed someone we love to reach their rock bottom because we have the assurance that it is in that place that God will meet them. What if our constant ‘fixing’ is actually interfering and stopping them reaching that place and thus stopping that healing, restoring, redemptive work of God in their lives?
What if instead of always trying to fix, we take a step back, breathe deep and hand our loved ones and their situations over to God, trusting Him not only with the outcome but with the process too. What if we trusted our loved ones over to God?
If God can do it for us, He can do it for others, He is more than able to do it for our loved ones. May we have that courage and strength to leave the fixing to God, knowing that always ‘underneath are the everlasting arms‘ of grace.
Joining with the #Five Minute Friday group to write for 5 minutes on a one word prompt. Today’s prompt is: Fresh.
It is really hard to stay fresh during a Lockdown – same people, same places, no routine, no plans, nothing to keep you fresh.
I have a very extroverted friend and she needs goals, so during lockdown she signs up for zoon exercise classes, zoom choirs, zoom learning etc. I always feel very lazy besides her because i just cannot be bothered with those things, they seem to zap the energy out of me as opposed to energize me, which they do for her.
So for me, I try to find a little routine like Thursday night is Pie Night!! Friday night is cocktail night!! I try a different walk with the dog, or go round a loop the other direction – not much I know, but sometimes even the little things can make a difference and bring a bit of freshness to the otherwise ‘same old, same old’.
Spiritually we are told is Psalm 92 (my Psalm of the year I think, always finding myself back here!):
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon, planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright: He is my Rock and there is no wickedness in Him.
Ps 92:13-15
So we are able to keep fresh and green and flourish, planted firmly in the Word, Praising the Lord and proclaiming He is my Rock! It may not be easy, it may take some effort, but we need to keep digging in, keep those roots going down till we come to the waters of life and drink deeply there, till we flourish once again and our drooping, wilting leaves again perk up and shine fresh and green.
Woohoo! #Five Minute Friday is back for 2021 where we write on a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today’s prompt is- time!
“Time and tide wait for no man” is the saying, so I thought I would compare time to the tide today.
The tide flows in and out, in and out, ebb and flow, ebb and flow. Constant and yet different.
Sometimes it seems to come rushing in, sweeping everything in its way, other times it is long and lazy.
There are the ebb and flows of normal tides which just come and go almost unnoticed, probably like most of our days, just in and out, in and out.
Other times there are big tides, called Spring tides, and they are high, high tides bringing up with them and depositing a load of garbage in its wake. Then they go out, low, low and we find treasures, food even. Life can be like that, a lot of garbage seems to be swept up, sometimes an inordinately amount of it for us to deal with, but we can also find treasure at such time.
Big and low, small and insignificant, ebb and.flow.
Time comes, time goes.
Perhaps we need to learn from the tide and just go with the flow whatever that is in the season of our lives we are in. Go with the big rushes, go with the garbage clean up, go with the slow everyday and always be looking for the treasure!!
I have heard/read many people say how glad they are that 2020 is now past, good riddance to it, ‘we survived it”. Many of course haven’t and for many of us we have been holding on with our finger-tips. But what if we were made for more?
So often our days/weeks are just about surviving, getting by, coping, but surely we were made for more than this? Made to thrive and not just survive?
I did it myself, at the start of the week I’d look ahead to all the tasks, work, meetings etc and my goal was actually just to survive, just to get through the week and I look forward to that space , that gap at the end of the week when I could draw breath, breathe a sigh of relief, phew I’ve survived! Then 2020 happened! However, the past year brought for me more time, more space, more breathing space.
Survive means to continue to live or exist, especially after coming close to dying or being destroyed or after being in a difficult or threatening situation.
The verb thrive means to flourish or grow vigorously
So the difference is to barely come out of a situation unscathed or to flourish within that situation.
So how do you thrive in a global pandemic?
How do you thrive the pressures of Lockdown?
How do I thrive when there are nagging doubts plaguing me?
How do I thrive when assailed and buffeted by the storms of life?
How do I thrive when my to-do list seems longer than the available hours of the day or my days stretch endlessly by with no focus or purpose?
This song from Casting Crowns echo’s what is in my own heart at this time:
Here in this worn and weary land Where many a dream has died Like a tree planted by the water We never will run dry So living water flowing through God we thirst for more of You Fill our hearts and flood our souls With one desire Just to know You and to make You known We lift Your name on High Shine like the sun made darkness run and hide We know we were made for so much more Than ordinary lives It’s time for us to more than just survive We were made to thrive
Into Your word we’re digging deep To know our Father’s heart Into the world we’re reaching out To show them who You are So living water flowing through God we thirst for more of You Fill our hearts and flood our souls With one desire Just to know You and to make You known
So how do we achieve this? How do we thrive in the midst of a Pandemic? How to we thrive when pressed in on every side? How do we thrive when we are faced with adversities and the daily grind and toil? How do we more than just survive, but actively thrive and flourish?
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
So to flourish like a palm tree and grow we have to be planted in the house of the Lord, planted with a firm grounding, our roots going down deep into the Word of God. Saturated in God’s Word, AND surrounded by God’s people in fellowship. Then we will still be bearing fruit in old age, still staying fresh and green! In other words flourishing, thriving, more than just surviving!
So my dear friend, let us drink deeply, let us drink daily of the fountain of grace so that we are fed and watered and fruitful and reaching the end of the week thriving, reaching the end of the year stronger, reaching the end of a pandemic with deeper roots in God, reaching old age still fresh and green! Let’s dig deep into the Word, let’s put our faith into practice and proclaim that ‘The Lord is upright, that He is my Rock and that there is no wickedness in Him’.
We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives It’s time for us to more than just survive, We were made to thrive.
Finding God in the Everyday 