Response is what matters- Elizabeth Elliott

Just yesterday I began feeling a little bit normal again. Weeks of laying on the sofa too miserable to pick up  the remote much less a book. If I was not talking myself out being sick, I was asleep- so much for quiet time with the Lord. It was more like praying I could survive yet another pregnancy without too much damage to my falling-apart order in my home. Kids acting like they had never had a Mommy to teach them, a house almost too gross to live in and then worries, of worries, our yearly Fall Festival approached.
The Lord miraculously gave me the strength and energy to complete the long week leading up to the big day, but the week afterwards, I thought I was going to die with the migraines, strep and morning sickness that culminated by stressing out an already tired body. Sounds pretty pathetic, but it is my reality. A reality that lead up the end of "me". I felt like a failure, useless and ready to throw in the towel.
So, getting on my knees, I cried out to the Lord for His strength and His wisdom. After talking to my dear friend, my sister, she read this devotion below by Elizabeth Elliott to me. I just had to stop my heart from all of the trouble and frustrations and remember that God has assigned me my portion and my cup. He has perfectly orchestrated my days and I can rest in His loving care for me, not worry about my inadequacies and weakness. My response to the circumstances He has given to me is what He is after.

I hope this encourages anyone who reads this as it did me:

"What do we really want in life? I am surprised at how few of us have a ready answer. Oh, we can come up with quite a long list of things, but is there one thing above all others that we desire? “One thing I have desired of the Lord,” said David, “that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life…” (Psalm 27:4, NKJV).

To the rich young man who wanted eternal life Jesus said, “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything” (Mark 10:21, NIV).

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus tells us that the seed that is choked by thorns has fallen into a heart full of the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things.

 The apostle Paul said, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV).

A quiet heart is content with what God gives. It is enough. All is grace.

 One morning my computer simply would not obey me. What a nuisance. I had my work laid out, my timing figured, my mind all set. My work was delayed, my timing thrown off, my thinking interrupted. Then I remembered. It was not for nothing. This was part of the Plan (not mine, His).

“Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup.” Now if the interruption had been a human being instead of an infuriating mechanism, it would not have been so hard to see it as the most important part of the work of the day. But all is under my Father’s control: yes, recalcitrant computers, faulty transmissions, drawbridges that happen to be up when I am in a hurry. My portion. My cup. My lot is secure. My heart can be at peace. My Father is in charge. How simple! My assignment entails my willing acceptance of my portion in matters far beyond comparison with the trivialities just mentioned, such as the death of a precious baby. A mother wrote to me of losing her son when he was just one month old. A widow wrote of the long agony of watching her husband die. The number of years given them in marriage seemed too few. We can know only that Eternal Love is wiser than we, and we bow in adoration of that loving wisdom.

Response is what matters. Remember that our forefathers all were guided by the pillar of cloud, all passed through the sea, all ate and drank the same spiritual food and drink, but God was not pleased with most of them. Their response was all wrong. Bitter about the portions allotted to them, they indulged in idolatry, gluttony, and sexual sin. And God killed them by snakes and by a destroying angel.The same almighty God apportioned their experiences.

All events serve His will. Some responded in faith. Most did not.Think of that promise and keep a quiet heart! Our enemy delights in disquieting us. Our Savior and Helper delights in quieting us. “As a mother

comforts her child, so will I comfort you” is His promise (Isaiah 66:13, NIV). The choice is ours. It depends on our willingness to see everything in God, receive all from His hand, accept with gratitude just the portion and the cup He offers. Shall I charge Him with a mistake in His measurements or with misjudging the sphere in which I can best learn to trust Him? Has He misplaced me? Is He ignorant of things or people which, in my view, hinder my doing His will?

God came down and lived in this same world as a man. He showed us how to live in this world, subject to its vicissitudes and necessities, that we might be changed, not into angels or storybook princesses, not wafted into another world, but changed into saints in this world. The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances."

Early Morning thoughts on 1 John ...

It is a new day best begun with time with my Savior, Jesus Christ. I have been getting up about 2 hours before my children get up for years, and though it is the most precious time in my life, I feel compelled to share a few minutes here (I'm not making this a daily priority- my time with the Lord is too precious for that, this is just something I'll do when I have a couple of minutes to spare).

I am studying 1 John right now, so would you like to come along with me on my study?

First, read the first chapter. A solid understanding of the gospel is clearly presented. When we understand that Jesus died for us in order that we might have life and if we have humbly confessed our sin and acknowledged our need for a savior (Jesus Christ), we are on the right path to living a righteous life (which will take all of our lives).

Now, I am on a slow path through chapter 2-

I John 2: 1 "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sin, and not only for ours, but  also for the sins of the world."

Have you ever done something you really regret? I have. In keeping with my homeschool/wifely/motherly duties, I have blown it. I have gotten angry with my kids and raised my voice, have lost hope in schooling them when they struggled with a subject, have nagged my husband...yes, I have been a very unlikeable Mommy.

What is the most recurring theme in all of that? Guilt.

This scripture verse, though, tells us that when we do feel guilty, Satan is accusing us. He is pointing the finger at us to prove to God that we are his. He wants us to think that we are not God's children when we sin- we are under trial and that is what guilt says to us. But hold on! Christ is standing up in our defense- the day I confessed my sin (when I was a kid) and recognized my need for a Savior, confessed and repented, I was bought (ransomed) by Jesus from Satan. No longer do I stand accused, Christ covered me with his righteousness. Satan no longer has a right to my soul.

Isn't that good news?

So the next time you feel guilty and if you have been "born again", remind yourself that the Righteous One has already ransomed you and guilt can no longer has a voice.

With eyes on the cross: Mercy

Luke 6:27-36
"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless thosewho curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29To one who strikes you on the cheek, offerthe other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.30Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do notdemand them back. 31And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32If youlove those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love
them. 33And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? Foreven sinners do the same. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, whatcredit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35But loveyour enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will begreat, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.36Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."

Think of the most challenging people in your life...go on... who is it that makes you groan? Who makes you uncomfortable... and rubs you the wrong way? They can be found at home, at church, at work and occasionally in one time meetings. I don't have to look back very far in my memory for one of those moments... it just happened a couple of nights ago. I was sinned against by my husband in a weak moment of his- he was tired and I was tired. I was complaining and he let me know it. I responded in sharp tones and he corrected me again and again. Sound familiar?

The amazing thing about mercy is this: We received it despite our sin. God poured out His mercy when we deserved judgement and wrath. The Cross is the place we go to remind ourselves that we deserved death and yet God has loved us. So, what does that mean for me? That means that I have a mandate... a command from my Father to be kind to those who sin against me because He was kind to me! He displayed his mercy on the Cross and it is His example we must follow.

Christians...the church should look different than the world. The world responds to offences with anger... pay-back...bitterness... snubbing, but the Bible shows us God's model for us: "he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil."

If God is kind to those who ungratefully reject his sacrifice, shouldn't we, His children be kind and merciful to those who sin against us?

All of this ran through my mind as I locked myself in the bathroom to think about my heart after the conflict my husband and I had. I wanted to be angry with him, but God's truth would not allow me to. I had to line my heart up with the truth of the gospel: I deserve only judgement but Christ died for me and saved me from death, can I not humble myself, overlook my husbands offence and respond to him despite his sin with kindness? After all, he had to do the same for me.

By God's grace, I can, and I did. My husband poked his head in moments after I got my heart right. We looked at each other and laughed- it is amazing how sin can distort our emotions. The truth has a way of bringing it all into perspective and shining the light of joy and peace into even the hardest situations. That is truth I am holding onto this week- The truth of Mercy.