Open a Door That No Man Can Shut...

So, Friendo here (i.e., Sierra, my 24lb human daughter), recently discovered the doggy door.  For a while she has known about the doggy door and has been throwing her toys out the plastic flap only to land outside – out of reach and in Bobo’s (our 8lb dog’s) way of getting back into the house.

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A Few French Fries Short of a Happy Meal.

Have you ever known someone who is good at “bending the truth”?  You know, little things that seem really small and insignificant until they start to pile up and become big? 

I realize that we all exaggerate to some degree.   Yes, I do believe that exaggeration is just another form of lying and Yes, I do it quite a bit myself… about 1,000 times a day (exaggeration of course).  

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Pedal Pusher.

It has been a while now that my 3-year-old, my 36 pounder, first-born, Friendo - Sierra Starr – has been trying to ride her bike.  Actually, it has been a very long time.  Her grandparents bought her this cool bike last year with training wheels, sparkles, pink, – the whole nine yards.  However, it is the kind of bike that when you pedal backwards it is the break and she kept trying, for whatever reason, to pedal backwards.

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The Journey.

  The road was long, bumpy and full of potholes. It was hot outside and I wanted to go home. I was tired of the journey. I was weary of the same scenery. Nothing seemed to change. It was all desert. Here and there would be a small stream, but it was never enough. It was only enough to keep me moving, to keep me pressing on.

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A Trust That Never Fails Me...

 

Psalm 131 says:

“Lord, my heart is not haughty

Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quited my soul,

Like a weaned child with his mother;

Like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord

From this time forth and forever.”

 

I like David.  He seems like a down to earth kind of guy.  One minute he is young, handsome and no one gives him notice and the next minute he slays a giant that everyone is afraid to even look upon.  One time he is so in lust with a woman that he has her husband killed and the next he is humble and bringing the Ark of God into the city.  He is angry in Psalms and he is humble.  He sort of seems like he has multiple personalities, but then again,… don’t we all when it comes to circumstances?

 

I’ve been in a place where I have to choose who I will trust.  People around me that are tangible (I can see them and hear them audibly) or God who I trust in (I cannot see Him nor do I hear him audibly).  This has been a tough test.  I know this is a test we all go through as Christians, but I think it is a continuing test on different levels.  I have to trust Him more NOW than I did years ago.  I have to depend on Him more NOW than I did before.  This is tough.  …honestly, it is really hard…

 

However, when God gives you that “perfect peace that surpasses all understanding” trust is not something that is so difficult.  I have had choices in the last few weeks that in the physical it looks good, but in the spiritual I don’t have peace.  I have made decisions that don’t make sense to other people, but I make them because I have that peace of God.  It truly does surpass all my understanding.

 

When we choose to make these choices based on the peace that God gives us, we can see how much we trust God.  I have to trust God.  Everyone else in life will fail me.  Guaranteed.  No matter how much they may love me and care for me, they aren’t perfect – - – but God is.  My bet is definitely on God!

 

In my peace, my heart is not haughty.  I am calmed and quieted in my soul even when things around me swirl in chaos.  Genuine humility is a balance between self-abasement and arrogant pride.  David lived this balance.  He lived in peace with God.  By grace I choose to do the same and by grace I will continue to trust in the “unseen” God….  My physical eyes may never see Him, but my spirit recognizes Him even at a distance…