For When You Are Perplexed

You thought you had all your ducks in a row.  Everything lined up, ready to roll.  You really felt His leading.  And you couldn't wait to launch into a brand new tomorrow.

 

And then somehow, everything began to change.  Circumstances altered.  Drastically.  Unexpected surprises popped up.  And they weren't all that pleasant.  Doors that seemed open wide began to slam shut right and left.

 

One after another.

 

Perplexed?  That would be an understatement, wouldn't it.

 

If there's any good news in the middle of your head-spinning confusion, it is this.  None of this is a surprise to God.  He who orchestrated the creation of the planets that whirl in space is fully aware of your unfolding story.  He absolutely knows the end from the beginning.  Even though you haven't got a clue.

 

So go ahead.  Lean on in to Him.  Close.  Tight.  Expect Him to swing wide some brand new doors, some sterling opportunities.  He is crazy in love with you.  And, in the middle of all that's changing, He's inviting you to something glorious.

Hang on to the truths in His Word.  I'm praying for you ...

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good
and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
Jeremiah 29:11

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"The Art of Living Skillfully"

"Many people think that what's written in the Bible has mostly to do with getting people into heaven - getting right with God, saving their eternal souls.  It does have to do with that, of course, but not mostly.  It is equally concerned with living on this earth - living well, living in robust sanity.  In our Scriptures, heaven is not the primary concern, to which earth is a tag-along afterthought.  'On earth as it is in heaven' is Jesus' prayer.

'Wisdom' is the biblical term for this on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven everyday living.  Wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whatever actual conditions we find ourselves.  It has virtually nothing to do with information as such, with knowledge as such.  A college degree is no certification of wisdom - nor is it primarily concerned with keeping us out of moral mud puddles, although it does have a profound moral effect upon us.

Wisdom has to do with becoming skillful in honoring our parents and raising our children, handling our money and conducting our sexual lives, going to work and exercising leadership, using words well and treating friends kindly, eating and drinking healthily, cultivating emotions within ourselves and attitudes toward others that make for peace.  Threaded through all these items is the insistence that the way we think of and respond to God is the most practical thing we do. 

In matters of everyday practicality, nothing, absolutely nothing, takes precedence over God."
- Eugene H. Peterson, THE MESSAGE

I truly believe that our relationship with God should directly impact absolutely every area of our lives. It should turn us upside down and inside out.  His passionate, sacrificial love is best seen in His intimate acquaintance with every part of who we are.  And that amazing love should play out in every facet of how we live life {Psalm 139}.

His call for us is to pursue wisdom.  It's one of the reasons why I counsel, coach, and write.  I know that your schedule is busy and that there are many things that call for your attention.  Thank you for continuing to invite me into your day, allowing me to share some of the "a-ha" moments that God brings onto my path.

Placing those morsels onto the table of our daily lives gives me great joy!  And hopefully, in that process, the complex, beautiful mosaic of who we are is being re-defined and re-shaped to look more and more like the image of our precious Savior, Jesus Christ.

And in the sharing, I'm being challenged to stretch and grow, too. 

Linda

"Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others.  It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings,

not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced ..."

~ James 3 {The Message} 

~ mosaic by MissyV110 

"MapQuest" Jesus

"Discernment both eludes us and surprises us because it's more about relationship than outcomes. God is not a dispatcher of answers from a faraway office, but an up-close-and-personal being who wants to converse back and forth with us. God is relentlessly relational, inviting us into an interactive life so that discernment and decision making are fleshed out within ongoing nudges within our everyday life with God.

So while people mostly want a 'MapQuest Jesus' from whom they can request directions and find that a map pops up with five 'to-do' items, Jesus will have none of this mechanical approach. We hang out with One who will not be charted or check-boxed."
- Johnson -

Cherishing that ongoing, interactive conversation ~
Linda

"He who walks with the wise grows wise..."

- Proverbs 13:20.

What's Discernment?

"Discernment can refer to both a posture and a process.

As a spiritual posture, discernment entails fostering a contemplative attitude that helps spot the presence of God in the concrete events and experiences of ordinary life. To live with a discerning heart is to believe that ... God is to be found everywhere in the holy ground of our existence.

As a process, discernment is decision making that invites God into the process and relies on God to be the telling influence in the choices we make. It is a deliberate attempt to become attuned to the guidance of God in important life choices.

The goal of discernment is to refine the acoustics of the heart so that we can be more closely united to God in obedient faith ...

Discernment is both an art and a gift.

It is an art because we can, with practice, develop our ability to be more and more sensitive to the Spirit's movement in the whirl of our lives.

Yet, ultimately, it is a gift because to be aware of and moved by God's presence depends totally on grace."

- Au -

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that come through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God"

- Philippians 1:9-11.

Linda