Desperate

Ever been stuck between a rock and a hard place? Ever feel desperate?

Desperate is the Word Prompt for today’s #Five Minute Friday group of writers, joining with them today to explore this.

There have been times when I have been desperate and I’m sure you have too, when you have found yourself squeezed into a tight place not knowing what to do, feeling almost as if you were loosing your mind.

We not alone in this I know, in good company really when you think King David went through exactly the same feelings. In 1 Samuel Chapters 20-22, we see David fleeing for his life from King Saul who was trying to kill him, so he flees to the relative safety of Gath, only to discover that actually it wasn’t that safe for him there either! So what does he do? He feigns madness, so that he will appear unthreatening, so that they will leave him alone! Does it work? Yes it does!

I have never had to feign madness, but in moments of desperation, squeezed, stressed and battered on every side I have felt that the line between sanity and insanity is a very thin line indeed.

But let’s not leave it there, what did David do? He prayed, we know that because He tells us that in Psalm 34, yet this is not a Psalm of lament, but a Psalm of trust and of Praise. Definitely something to learn and be gained from this.

I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises.

I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart.

Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt His name together.

I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears.

Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles.

Psalm 34:1-6

Possibilities

For those who follow my blog, you know that I like Seasons, Routines and Rhythms, so I am glad that we are now half-way through August; the school session is starting again and with that more routines, activities, studies etc.

I do believe that we need the Rhythms of Rest and I am thankful that the Summer time brings that, but I am also glad when we get back to a form of routine. This year especially with the last of the Pandemic Restrictions being lifted there is the sense of possibilities! Possibilities of face-to-face meetings; possibilities of spreading wings; of connecting; of re-connecting; possibilities of God doing new things and not just going back to the way things used to be!

I’m thankful for the break, for time to breathe, the time to reflect & question ways ahead and thankful that we can hold those questions from one season till the next without needing answers, but going with the pointers God provides along the way.

For Everything There Is a Season

and A Time

For every Purpose Under Heaven

Ecclesiates 3:1

Accountability

Mmmh all sorts of thoughts and feelings are conjured up at this word! This is the One Word prompt today in the #Five Minute Friday Group of Writers.

Accountability? Love it or hate it? Love it because we get things done? Hate it because it means that we have to do what we said we would do and there is little room for procrastination?

I think accountability takes humility, it takes humility and honesty to open up to someone else and even confess those thoughts which have been in your mind simmering away, that to share them, tell someone else about them and what we want to do about them takes guts.

But in the opening up, in the sharing comes clarity and direction. With another can come a plan of action to reach a goal. With another comes the accountability to keep on with that plan to keep that goal in focus.

And with accountability to another comes support, the carrying of one another’s burdens, along with the sharing comes a caring, a partnership, a friendship, a fellowship in Jesus.

Sometimes Jesus is our accountable partner; but often Jesus will place someone on our path to be our accountable person and we have to take the guts, be brave and share with that person and have that person walk along the road beside us, and as we open to them, we open a bit more to Jesus and the thing which has been holding us back is no longer a stumbling block, but a step along our path to healing.

Overgrowth

Last week we looked at living in the mist; today I want to keep with the seasonal theme and look at the amount of overgrowth there is in the summer.

I don’t know about where you stay, but where I live the summer time sees a lot of growth yes, but very soon that growth gets out of hand and becomes a bit of a wilderness! Where once there were well-trodden paths, those are now hidden by the overgrowth; where once the grass and fields had looked nice and neat and trimmed, they are now a mass of overgrown invasive vegetation. It almost seems like an impossible task to keep on top of things.

I want to transfer this imagery to the spiritual realm to see what truths we can glean there.

So, say I went through a hard winter of the soul where spiritual growth seemed sparse; then entered a time of spring of hope that there were good things to come. Then at long last comes summer and with it light and life and joy and spiritual growth and fruitfulness.

However, as summer progresses and the initial relief, joy and thanksgiving for the present blessings has lost its sheen. Now there is so much growth that really, I have lost my way! I no longer can see those well trod paths of prayer, supplication, remembrance which I trod in the winter time, the hard time.

This growth spurt has also produced weeds which have crept into the well manicured garden of my soul and if I am not careful could threaten to take over certain areas of it. Those insidious weeds of pride creep in and take root, the weeds of worry and doubts grow & threaten to choke out the blessing of God’s presence.

Thorns and briers of resentment and bitterness begin to take root where there should be joy and gladness; the overgrowth of self-reliance begins to spread and takes over where there should be humility and dependence upon God.

Come the Autumn my Heavenly Father, the Head Gardener, will prune and cut back those out-of-control areas, but meantime, meantime I need to do some work. I need to tend and take care of my soul; I need to find those paths again which lead me to God in humility; thanksgiving and dependence. I need to do some weeding to stop the spread of pride; independence; worry; fear and I need to cut back the growth of the briers of resentment, bitterness and self-reliance.

What about you, where do you need to work in your life just now, pulling up the weeds and cutting back the overgrowth? Where do you need to again find your well-trod paths of prayer and supplication?

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls.”

[Jeremiah 6:16]