Laced With Grace

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.”
~ Psalm 34:4-7 (ESV)

I have a confession to make. I have a phobia. Actually there are two of them. I have the fear of driving and flying. The flying – well I pretty much can avoid going on a plane, unless of course I want to visit my family. That is maybe why I only visit my home-country once every 4 years or so.

But the fear of driving – that is another story. Many of you know what I work outside the home. I have to drive about 25 miles each day to get to/from work. It is a daily battle for me to get into the car and drive. It is irritating to say the least…

Someone once said to me “How can you, as a Christian, have fear. It seems to me that you don’t have enough faith”. I was shocked to hear that. So I questioned my faith – ‘yes, how can I have fear when I am a child of God??? There is no reason to be fearful. Do I not have enough faith to trust the Lord to keep me safe?’

Let me just say that the only way I can make my journey to/from work is keeping close to the Lord. He is the only way I can make it. You don’t know how many times I had to pull over because my heart was beating like crazy – I was ready to pass out…The only way my heart would come down is to pray.

Sometimes we feel like a failure, because we don’t have it all together. We cry, we fear, we ask ‘why, Lord’. Sometimes even our sisters in faith questioning our break-downs ‘you shouldn’t feel that way’…But in all reality, if we would have it all together at all times, would be seek the Lord? Or would we just depend on our own strength to get through our struggles?

Did David never struggle? Did he always had it together? Or think of your Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. I don’t know if it was fear that made Jesus sweat blood. But I do know that He turned to God for strength. And I call that faith and trusting the Lord…

“Lord of Heaven and Earth. Thank you for delivering us from our fears, struggles and breakdowns. Lord, You love us and give us the strength to face everything that comes our way on a daily basis. Although we struggle at times (or daily), You always calm our hearts. Lord, You are our strength, our rock, our peace. Thank You for Your promise to always be at our side. In the precious name of Jesus we pray ~ Amen.”

Blessings on your day and always…

The scene was a snow covered wilderness area populated only by a small herd of deer. It was serene and quiet, the perfect illustration of peace. There was no sense of danger at all and yet the deer were not comfortably foraging for food with heads bent low to ground. Instead they stood with raised heads looking cautiously around. They were listening, looking, and sniffing the air for any sign of danger. And I thought as I watched them, “They seem to spend most of their lives on the alert – always mindful of the enemy.”

Then I thought about the little squirrels I enjoy watching. We have huge oak trees on our front lawn and there are a couple of squirrels who make their home among the branches. As I sit eating breakfast, I can look out the picture window in the kitchen and most mornings watch them going about their little squirrel business. They are amazing the way they can run along the branches of the trees and leap from one to the other. However, when they descend the huge trunk and hit the ground they move very differently; two quick steps and then up on back haunches ears listening, eyes searching, nose sniffing – on the alert for any possible danger. They repeat this tedious process over and over until they reach their destination. I marvel at the way God has equipped these little creatures with what they need to keep them alert to anything that wants to harm them.

I can learn a very valuable lesson from these little animals, who live their lives in complete dependence upon their Creator. I too have an enemy who is seeking to destroy me, and God has equipped me with all I need not only to be on the alert but to fight back. The enemy prowls the word tells us:

“Stay alert! Watch out or your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” I Peter 5:8 (New Living translation)

We must also be aware that the enemy can come in more subtle ways. He may use pride, resentment, bitterness, or self-pity in the attack – whispering lies to our hearts. He may use discouragement, doubt, disappointment or fear. He has a huge arsenal at his disposal.

However, we need only remember that he is a defeated foe. Jesus has won the victory for us and has provided us with all we need in this fight:

“Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Therefore put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Ephesians 6: 10-18 (New Living Trans.)

The enemy seems to know right where to shoot those fiery darts; he somehow knows our most vulnerable areas. It is when he is at his most subtle that I am in greatest danger. I know that I must stay close to the one who has already fought these battles for me. When I let my guard down, the enemy is quick to rush in.

I write these things not to frighten us but rather to encourage us in our walk with the Lord. Yes, we have an enemy, but we have a God who is greater than he that is in the world. And He dwells within each one of us who calls Him Lord.

I confess:  I do not iron.  I wash, fold and hang laundry, but I don’t iron it.  After nearly 20 years of marriage, we have long since decided that ironing should not be under my care.  Our clothing is the happier (and longer lasting) for it.   I like to say I have “wrinkling skills”.  This puts my ironing deficit into a much more positive light.  No matter how careful I am, when I press a hot iron to fabric, it ends up more wrinkled than it had been.  If seersucker ever comes back in style, then I’ll be in charge of ironing, until then?  Not so much.  Hence the fact: I do not iron.

Which makes even more confusing, the fact that I am currently nursing nasty a second degree iron burn on my left middle finger.   I do not iron, so I should be safe from ironing accidents, shouldn’t I? 

My husband and I were in the bathroom, talking and getting ready for a day out.  He ironed his shirt, put the iron on the counter, next to the sink,  then went into the shower.  In some momentary disconnect between brain and body, I walked over to the counter, looked at the iron, (which I’d just watched him use) and promptly tried to move it with the back of my hand, so I’d have room to brush my teeth.   The electric shock of pain immediately connected my brain with my body once again.  I jerked my hand back, knocking the iron to the floor, I immediately stuck my hand under the faucet and turned on the water.  “OOOOOOWWWWW!”

I KNEW the iron was hot.  I had just watched my darling man iron his shirt.   I touched it anyway.  I got burned, and will quite probably, have a scar to show for it.  That is what happens when people touch hot things.  It’s a lesson we (usually) learn early on.  “Don’t touch that! It’s HOT!” Or do we?  If we’re honest, we’ll admit, that when the waitress places a hot dish in front of most of us, cautioning us that it is hot… the first thing we do, is reach out our hand, and touch it.  We then pretend it wasn’t “that hot”.  It seems to be human nature. 

There are things that we know are bad for us, but we do them anyway.  Like touching a hot iron, they can scar us. The burn on my finger, isn’t the only scar I have from doing things I know I shouldn’t have.  I have financial scars from purchases that I shouldn’t have made. I have “hip shaped” scars from cookies I should not have eaten. I have relational scars from battles I started, but never should have been in.  I have lots of scars from lots of irons, all of which, I knew, were hot. 

We all have hot irons in our life.  They sit there on the counter, scorching hot and ready to burn us if we touch them.  Today, when you see that iron, what will you do? 

Genesis 4:7 NIV
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.

1 John 5:13-20 NIV
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrong doing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Dear Lord- I pray that you’d fill us each with your Spirit, that in your power we would not sin. I pray that you’d forgive my sins, all the ways that I have touched hot irons… thing I knew I should not have done, I love you lord and am so thankful for your healing balm of forgiveness- amen