reflection – Moving Forward

Be Still

I remember when I was younger stopping by to visit my grandparents. I liked visiting them because they always had time for me. They never seemed rushed and took their time to ask me how I was doing, offer me something to eat and well, it felt nice. It was comforting for me and encouraging. My parent’s house was a walk away from my grandparents for a while, until they started spending the winters in Florida. I did visit them once in Florida, and once again it felt peaceful and good to spend time with them.

I remember spending quiet afternoons with them and as the sun was setting, they did something strange, well actually something that struck me as strange is what they didn’t do. They would sit in the near dark, and didn’t turn on the lights until you could barely see each other’s faces. They also would always turn off the television when I arrived. So they cold concentrate on visiting and having no distractions. I always thought this is what old people do; they sit in the quiet and the dark. And many times they wouldn’t say very much, just paused often as they spoke to look and think. What were they thinking about I wondered. But still it was comfortable.

Now, that I am older, I get it. I find myself just enjoying the quiet. To sit with my thoughts sometimes and ponder and reflect back on life. It is peaceful. It is comforting to just have a moment of quiet and stillness, without all the noise. Without all the distractions and the pressure to do something or go somewhere. Maybe my grandparents had it right all along. Just sit in the stillness, maybe even in the near darkness and reflect. To just be still. No agenda.No planning. No trying to keep up with every post and email. To silence all the outside voices from television and social media and just be with the person you are with, fully, not in competition with the screens. Just to be focused on the moment and enjoy the peace.

And now I realize this is actually a biblical principle to quiet ourselves, to “be still and know I am God” as the psalmist writes in Psalm 46:10. And Jesus also said “Come away with me. Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31) Why? well we find out in the first part of the verse, “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them” (Mark 6:31). We weren’t made for the rush and the noise all the time. We are made in the image of God and even God who is all powerful, all- knowing, rested on the sabbath after creation. God set the pattern and we are to follow. Our time of rest might not be on a Sunday, but it is clear that we are supposed to rest and be still. We need to recharge. Quieting the noise around us for a few moments is what we need. My grandparents had learned that lesson after many years of hard toil and work and observed it often. It wasn’t boring as I thought it must be as akin, but was just what they needed and I have grown to appreciate myself. It is not being selfish or lazy, but something even demonstrated in the Bible and modeled by God Himself.

So, maybe this week you can find a moment to pause, put down your phone or screen, have a quiet conversation with your loved ones, or even with God. And just be still. -God bless you- Nancy

Waiting For The Morning

“Sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5)

Do you know many joyful people? Those people who always seem to have a smile on their face, no matter the circumstances? I do. And I admit sometimes I’m jealous that they can seem to be so happy all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy, but I do not always appear that way. I’m a thinker, who likes to think about everything and if you see me out and about, I probably have a serious look on my face. It’s just that I’m thinking and reflecting on something. If you have seen me lately, you probably would have noticed a little bit of a frazzled look added to my my serious look due to my recent philosophy classes, which force me to think too much. But I am happy, just maybe not outwardly joyful.

This topic came up recently when my husband woke me up in the early morning hours to ask me what “sorrow lasts for the night , but joy comes in the morning” meant. It was a good question. Although I was tired, I managed to grab my phone and do a Bible verse search to find the passage the phrase had come from. Memorizing scripture is an area that I admit I do not have skill in, so I am so thankful for Bible search apps. It wasn’t easy to find because some versions trade the words sorrow for weeping. We decided to table the conversation until we were both more awake, but it started me thinking. Why do I not feel joyful all the time? Is there something wrong with me?

Maybe you too, have asked yourself this question before too. Are Christians always supposed to be joyful? Isn’t it a bit too unrealistic? Well, maybe what the problem is found in our definition of joy. If we treat joy as a feeling, then yes, we will not always feel “joy”. We might feel joy when our favorite sports team wins, but then become sad and depressed when in the next game the team loses. This kind of joy is changing with our circumstances. No one would expect us to feel joy if our team lost, or we receive news of the death of a loved one, or of a bad health diagnosis. So, what is this passage trying to say?

This particular phrase is found in Psalm 30 and its writer is David. If you’re familiar with the Psalms, David seems to write whatever pops into his thoughts. There are times when he cries out to God and wonders where God is in dark times. He will then remind himself of previous occasions when God came through in these darkest hours and he rejoices with praises to God. Psalm 30 is no different. Bible commentator Matthew Henry finds evidence in this Psalm of David’ sadness at God’s turning away from him because of his (David’s) sin. Henry believes David had security in himself and this brought him to sin and the feeling of sadness or sorrow that was replaced with joy once David repented.

While, I am not an expert at the meaning of this Psalm, I’ll offer what I can as I let God work on me through this passage. This is some of what I have gleaned through reading Psalm 30: 1)There will be times when we do have dark times. there is no getting around them. This is life, and the fallen state in which we live in the world. We as Christians, cannot escape the bad times in life, the dark hours, just because we are Christians- they will come.2) I also believe there are people who are just naturally happy go lucky people. It’s just their nature whether they are Christians or not. 3) We are all created uniquely by God and shouldn’t compare ourselves with others- even other Christians. We all have different temperaments. I might be more of a serious minded thinker, but that doesn’t mean I’m not joyful on the inside. 4) Joy is more than a feeling; it is a quiet confidence and trust in God. We rejoice because we know God will strengthen us through anything. 5) We can trust God and He will get through to the morning- the times when we can rejoice again. 6) We should ask ourselves if we have let confidence in ourselves lead us into sin- is it God who has turned away, or have we turned away? If so do we need to repent a little? 7) The passage seems to be meaning that we shouldn’t focus on the dark times as a permanent place regardless of the cause- it is temporary. 8) After we go through these dark, joyless times, there will be joy. Times of praising and remembering all that God has done.9) Sometimes, we can be mistaken as to when we are in the dark places when actually we are in a time when we should be rejoicing. We can assume we having bad, difficult circumstances, but maybe things aren’t as bad as we think. We can focus on the negative or choose to think about the good, which is what I suspect the” happy” people I know do regularly.

My husband’s question was a good one, and as I said, I probably do not have the perfect answer to the meaning of the passage, but I think it is one to reflect upon and do some research on. If you are finding yourself in a place where you are having are difficult time being joyful, reading the Psalms is a great place to start. Just be assured morning will come. Sometimes we just need to wait. -God Bless- Nancy

God View

So, I’ve got a confession to make- I’m a recovering perfectionist. I thought I had outgrown it from my childhood, but sadly I am a work in progress. But aren’t we all? None of us can claim to have it all figured out and to have overcome every weakness or quirk in our personalities. For me, I still find myself trying to do everything perfect- including my faith walk- why? well, I believe it depends upon my view; my God view.

See, how we view God, reflects in how we view ourselves in our walk with Christ. If we view God as a heavy -handed task master, we will feel the unending need to work for His approval. If we see God as a loving Father, we will rejoice and find rest from our endless striving to do more. We will not see His corrections as a call to be perfect, but the hand of a loving dad who wants us to realize and experience who He made us to be.

If we dig still deeper, we can learn that how we view God reflects how we saw our own dads. When we as Christians call God our heavenly father, we have in our minds, what we have been taught as an example by our earthly fathers. These things learned first stick with us into adulthood.

However, this view really doesn’t reflect God completely. Our earthly dads can make mistakes, but God doesn’t. He remains steadfast and the same. His nature never changes. God is always good, always loving, always just. These are in God’s nature, it isn’t simply an action on His part, but in His very nature. Men (and women) bear the image of God and have been created in God’s image, but unlike God, we are fallen in our natures. It is like a mirror with a crack in it. The reflection has been distorted and doesn’t give a clear picture of God anymore.

What we need in order to get a much better view of God, is to look into His word, rather than trying to put our own view of father on God. The more we study God’s character and nature, we will realize He is not the heavy handed task master, but a truly loving father who desires the best for his kids. That doesn’t mean He doesn’t care what we do, but He rather knows what is best for us and does give us boundaries to stay within. But, we should never feel like we have to earn His approval or earn His love. he loves us unconditionally. He knows we aren’t perfect, but He is willing to teach us how to live in a better way.

How’s your God view? Is it based upon the example seen from your own dad, as a flawed, fallen person, or is it based on what the Bible reveals of God, as a loving, forgiving heavenly father. -God Bless- Nancy