Laced With Grace

Are you familiar with the passage in James that talks about casting your care on God? I have often stumbled on this passage trying to understand it. As a Martha Do-It-All, I find that it is a constant struggle for me. I had always understood it to be a one-time event, and then it was done. Isaiah 40:31 talks about waiting on the Lord and not being weary.  The tempter has often oppressed me with this passage condemning me and telling me that I was a failure because I was weary and impatient. But lately, I have come to a new understanding of casting.

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We are blessed to live on a lake, and my husband and sons love to fish. This has introduced me to a new meaning of “cast.” There is not much that they love more than sitting on the trunk of a dead tree, fishing pole in hand, throwing their line out, making sure they miss the branches and debris, and then just waiting for something to happen. Apparently in their minds, this is a great form of entertainment, relaxation, or something. For me, it has always been pure torture. But in the last year, I have started to understand the appeal, as well as it’s deeper meaning.

When I apply their version of “cast” to my cares, it takes on a whole new light. I am not trying to heave an ever-growing boulder over my head to try to throw it (and yes, that really has always been my visual image of what I was supposed to do!). I am supposed to take one almost invisible line with a problem attached, toss it as far away from me as I can and then wait. Not calculate how far it has traveled, not research what it might need once it gets to the water, or even prepare myself to have enough information to be able to anticipate what it is going to need when I bring the line back in. I am simply to wait.

It is easy for me to understand why women are not usually the ones to go out fishing on a Saturday morning. We tend to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, thinking that we are doing our job and being responsible. But I cannot help but wonder what God really had in mind for those times. If I were not so busy building the framework for the boulder of things that I thought I would need later, then constantly researching them, would I have learned something new about my sons? Would we have had a better relationship? Or perhaps, I simply would have had more quiet in my soul and accomplished more of worth because my mind was on what God wanted me to do now instead of preparing for the future.

I find myself hesitating to write these thoughts, because in many ways, preparation is vital. But it is an act of submission and learned patience to be able to determine between properly preparing for the future, and taking no thought for the morrow.

When I began this journey of simplicity more than a year ago, I thought that it would be an easy task. More than 13 months into it, I find that I am learning more each day about how much I complicate things without even realizing it. I’m sure at this point, Greg is laughing his head off amazed that perhaps *something* is sinking into this thick skull of mine.

I cannot promise, or honestly even aspire, to have the level of simplicity that he has attained. It is truly a gift from God that he can live in the moment and not worry about what the future holds. But I can aspire to be intentional. To commit each activity and purpose to prayer before I decide to charge forward with it.

Do you struggle with this as well? Do you feel the burden of  responsibility weighing you down so heavily that you do not see any way to accomplish everything that is required of you? Have you stepped back to see what it is that you are really doing? Where did the responsibility come from? Have you sincerely prayed about it’s place in your life? What would happen if you did not participate in the activity that was causing you tension and frustration? Would your future suffer because of it? How about your relationship with your family? Or is it possible that by letting go of the boulders, and casting them away, that you actually create more time with your family and accomplish more of the goals that Christ has given you, while at the same time being filled with more peace than you could even imagine?

Today, I challenge you to pause before you fret over a potentially problematic situation. Cast that one thing to God. Don’t try to fix it, solve it, or research it. Just spend a few moments turning it over to God. Then move on with the list that He has given you for the day. Then if you are willing, come back and share with us what you discovered.

“…long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.” – 2Peter 3:5 (NIV)

Living by the ocean is a dream come true. The ocean is the one part of creation that seems somewhat untouchable by mankind. I know we have polluted the waters, killed much of the wildlife that inhabits those waters and used the ocean as our own personal playground and toilet at the same time. Still, there is something about that aspect of God’s creation that reminds me that He is in control and His will cannot be thwarted.

If you doubt it, take a nine foot by two foot piece of polyurethane foam covered in layers of fiberglass, cloth and epoxy resin into the ocean and paddle out past the first few sets of breaking waves. If you get that far, lay on the fiberglass covered foam and try to paddle in as a wave begins to form, standing up just as the wave crests.  If you succeed, it’s the closest you’ll come to walking on water. If you fail, like I often do, it’s still the closest thing to seeing creation in its raw unbridled state.

It still brims with fish and the waters come ashore every day without ceasing – sometimes angrily as though they were fighting back against the damage we inflict on the water and its inhabitants. It cannot be tamed by jetties or shorelines and it cannot be constrained by manmade means. We cannot even begin to explore its depths or even its surface in some areas of the world. It is one of the few things on this earth that is beyond exploration to it’s fullest because we are incapable of withstanding all that the ocean is.

There’s something reassuring about that – about our weakness – our insufficiency – our incapacity.

There is something comforting in knowing that while we have done our best to exert our power over His creation, God has created things we can barely touch the surface of even though we can immerse ourselves in it. It is a reminder that God is sovereign. It is a reminder of the words God gave Isaiah to speak in Isaiah 40:12 (NIV):

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

Or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

or weighed the mountains on the scales

and the hills in a balance?

Lying on a foam board covered in fiberglass that weighs less than I do less than half a football field’s length from the beach is not something I take for granted. The reverence it commands and reflects back on our Creator is not something I think will fade either.

I am grateful man has not been able to subdue the ocean. I am humbled to be a witness to His creation – to God’s glory. I am overwhelmed by the fact that our God loves His last creation, mankind, despite what we’ve done to the world He created for us.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” – John 3:17 (NIV)

“Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
~ Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

If we are honest we all have fears. Fear of loneliness, fear that we don’t matter to the world, fear of loosing everything we have (family, friends, jobs…), fear of getting old — you name it. Fear in itself is not a sin (my personal opinion), BUT how we handle fear might very well lead to sin…

Let me tell you about a couple of personal fears and how I handled them (and still do). Several years ago my marriage was very rocky — to the point that it might have broken up. In order to save my marriage, I looked at myself and not my beloved. Was there anything I could change to save my marriage? No, but with God’s help I was able to change things that mattered, to make my marriage better.

One other fear I battle every single day is driving. I don’t like it — not so much my own ability of driving, but the ability of other drivers (people do do silly things while driving you know). How do I get over my fear so I can get in the car and drive where I need to go? I walk around my car and pray for protection.

You see battling fear is not so much within us, but we can ask for His help to see us through. In 2010, Isaiah 41:10 was the verse I ‘claimed’ for myself. I have to admit that I am not much of an Old Testament gal, but when this verse popped up three times in a 48-hour period, I knew the passage was meant for me…

I read Isaiah 41:1-20 (ESV), it has so much promise, so much comfort. Read it yourself (just hover over the passage reference to read it). In the passage, God uses “Fear Not” three times in 20 verses.

Lord of Heaven and Earth. Thank You for Your incredible promise to always be with us, to strengthen us in our walk this side of Heaven. Lord, I pray that You continue to use this blog and its writers to reach out, to comfort, and to pray for others. Lord, may our lips praise Your holy name throughout the next year. May we always be faithful to You; stand firm until Your return. In the precious name of Jesus ~ Amen