Showing posts with label acknowledge God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acknowledge God. Show all posts

Like A Hamster in a Wheel

This morning I woke up overwhelmed. Ever have one of those days? Before my feet hit the floor my mind was sorting out what seems like thousands of thoughts. My son didn't sleep well, he coughed off and on throughout the night - so I didn't sleep well, I worked all day yesterday and felt like I got nothing done, there's so much to do and lots of it has to be done today, and on and on my mind goes like a hamster in a spinning wheel. Ever have a morning like that? 

Some days are like this where it feels like there are so many things that have to be done now, or needed to be done yesterday. In reality, they are no different than all the same things that I did yesterday and will need to be done tomorrow. :-) Some mornings I wake up in what I call the caregiver's fog; other mornings, like today, I wake up on this hamster wheel realizing all it takes to make it through a day. I'm tired, and I've not even started. Haha, I'm sure I'm the only one, right!?

We are familiar with Psalm 139:23 which says Search me O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts. And then there is Psalm 94:19 that says When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul. I am so glad He not only knows about my crazy thoughts, but He also has the answers. Just one word from Him calms my soul and brings in a wellspring of peace.

While I'm looking at this scripture in Psalm 94, my eyes fall on one that seems to stand out across the page. Psalm 95:6 - Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.  I love singing that little chorus, and it might just hold the answer to the craziness of my day.

If we can stop the deluge of thoughts and concerns and just worship for a bit and acknowledge that He is still our God in the midst of the storm - He really can calm the raging storm. It won't change one thing that I have to get done today - but He will give us the strength to face this day. We do not have to have a choir, high ceiling, or a padded pew to acknowledge His presence in our lives. All we have to do is stop, whisper a prayer, tell God how wonderful He is and thank Him for bringing us this far - wherever that is for you; and He will strengthen our hands and encourage our hearts.

Today I'm going to make it a point to let Him carry me away instead of my thoughts and tasks. I will turn my thoughts to how He has been carrying me - and will continue to carry me on this journey. My meditations will be on acknowledging Him as God in my life and on all the things I know He has already done. And I will purposefully rest in Him as I trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?

Remembering the Promises

This weekend I went to the Dallas area to run a half marathon. On the night before I took time to take a walk and got back to my room just in time for the rain to start. After it was over this beautiful rainbow stretched across the sky and I had a perfect view of the whole thing. It was wonderful - nearly breathtaking from the 9th floor.

As I sat and watched the rainbow unfold and deepen in color I thought about the first rainbow. The one God painted in the sky after the flood, then told Noah it was the symbol of His covenant with man and the seal of His promise to never destroy man and earth by flood again.


I wonder if Noah and his family were nervous the next time it rained. Did they glance in the direction of the ark and wonder if they should seek safety? Or did they fully trust God's promise to them? Could they rest in His promises? Rest is the key word there for me today. A friend of mine has reminded me of how important it is to rest in Him. She suggested I take some quiet time every day. Those who know me know that I am not a quiet person! My mind and heart go 100 miles an hour 24/7.

BC (before caregiving) I planned my day around my quiet time. No matter what time I had to be somewhere I planned my mornings around getting up in time to have my quiet time before the day got too busy and loud. After caregiving I just hope to get up with a sound mind and I've lain aside that practice. A quiet moment might or might not happen through the day. But I am repentant today and making the needed changes to embrace this habit once again.

I have to go back to a favorite scripture that says Be still and know I am God. (Psalm 46:10) During those times when we quiet our minds and submit it to His word, we remind ourselves that He is still God. Caregiving doesn't change His position on the throne. No matter what occurs on this earth - an earlier verse in Psalm 46 says even though the earth be removed He is still God. Sometimes a simple rainbow can remind us of His eternal promises that are still extended to us today.

For many of us, caregiving consumes the majority of the day (and night sometimes!). But our heart, mind and soul need us to quiet down and be reminded that He is still God. No matter what is swirling around us, and no matter how crazy our day becomes - He is still our God. He is still on the throne and He will remain forever. Somehow for me today just knowing He's still right there brings comfort.

Today I will take time to acknowledge His presence in my life. I will quiet my heart and mind in all I have to get done - and rest in the truth that His promises are eternal and that He hasn't changed a bit since I became a caregiver. My meditations today will be on the truth that He is still God and absolutely nothing can change that. Will you join me?

Who Sees Me?

I've been thinking about Hagar all day today; there's something stuck in my mind about the situation she found herself in. Genesis 16 tells us about how Sarah gave Hagar, her maid to Abram to bring forth a child. But when Hagar found out that she was indeed with child, she treated Sarah with "contempt" and found herself looking for a place to live! There are many details to this story - just like each one of us has our own unique details about how we ended up in the wilderness of life trying to survive. For Hagar, she made some obvious mistakes - for many of us who live in the furnace it was not mistakes that ended us up in the furnace. The furnace is hot no matter how we ended up there!

Verse 11 may be the verse that sticks out to some of us as it says: for the Lord has heard about your misery. I suppose that it can be a good thing for the Lord to be aware of what is going on in our lives. But what stood out to me today is in verse 14: the God who sees me.There just seems to be something a little more personal about Him seeing me than just hearing about  me. It means He is attentive and watching; it's more active and not so much passive. He sees me.

No matter how hot the furnace, how difficult the struggle gets, or how long or dark the night...He sees me. For some reason today I just feel like I need God to see me; to walk with me and hold me. It is comforting to know that He does not look away just because the picture gets ugly.

It is interesting to me that Hagar called the place, "well of the living One who sees me;" and God called the name of her child Ishmael which means, "God hears." Today I will meditate on the truth that God is first the living God; and secondly on the truth that He does indeed see and hear my heart. As furnace walkers, let us take comfort in these truths today. 

Oblivious to God

Everyone seems to be living very hectic lives these days - not just caregivers. It's interesting that with all our modern conveniences we actually have less time to spend with people. We have machines that wash and dry our clothes, wash the dishes and phones so we do not have to travel about to get things done. We even have the internet to pay bills and conduct business. There are microwaves to cook our meals quickly and crockpots to cook them all day! Yet we have less time it seems to be still before the Lord.

A friend sent me a scripture the other day from the message Bible and I felt it was very appropriate for the caregiver. We have so many responsibilities to do every day that we can easily become overloaded.

From Romans 13 (the Message)  - But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. 

It is so easy to get busy with our day to day activities that we forget Him. And yet He is the One who sustains us. My encouragement today is to find just a moment...a quiet moment (and I know that they can be difficult to find), and just be still before Him. And it's a good idea from where we are to find something to thank Him for! We enter His gates with thanksgiving. So just take a moment today to acknowledge Him as your God one more time! (It'll feel great!)

The Stare

  Do you ever just find yourself sitting and staring at the wall? It doesn't really happen too often because, quite frankly, who has tim...