His Goodness, not Mine

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.  And I will live in the house of the Lord forever.  Amen.

While this is a mishmash of several different versions of Psalm 23:6, it's how it flowed out of my heart tonight.  I hope you're okay with that.

This is the verse that entered my mind when I was pondering the fruit of the spirit of goodness.

Since I am not good, I thought of God's goodness.  We are not born good, nor do we become good.  But in God's goodness, He has volunteered to share some of it with us.  He shines through us.  We are not good in anyway without Him.  So any "good" people see in me is His light shining through.  I can't take a bit of credit.

I'm just grateful that He's so good to me, even though I don't deserve it.

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I'm Not Kind

I once told a friend of mine that I'm not kind.  He looked at me with the most peculiar face.  He was utterly baffled.  He responded in the most incredulous way.  "You are too!" he said. I have to chuckle at the memory.

While I don't remember what we were talking about, I do remember meaning what I said.  If someone asked me to describe myself, that's not a word that would make my top ten.

Why? I always associate kindness with sweetness.  In truth, I'm feisty and a bit rough around the edges.  I think I'm compassionate, but not really kind.  Is that possible?

I'm not sure, but the fruits of the spirit require kindness, so I have to work on it.  I have to embody kindness.  I should exude kindness and ooze it all over everyone.

So here is my question:  do acts of kindness make you a kind person?  If not, why not?

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Anxiously Waiting Patiently

PATIENCE.  I wrote it in caps on purpose.  This word screams at me a lot.  Does it scream at you, or are you one of those disgustingly patient people who has no problem waiting for anything?  I bet you don't have road rage.  You never yell at your children.  You don't even get mad when you pray for an answer and are met with deadening silence.

That's not me.

I don't typically characterize myself as impatient, unless it's really important.  Will I get this job?  When will You tell me what direction you want me to go?  When will this work day end?  You know, that kind of stuff.  The big stuff.

So what's the deal with patience?  Why is it so hard?  The tough thing for me is to accept God's timing.  I wanted to know last week, but He's got me scheduled to find out sometime in 2014.  What am I supposed to do until then?

WAIT.

That's what we're expected to do.  Wait on Him.  Psalm 27:14 says:

Wait patiently for the LORD.

Be brave and courageous.

Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.*

Patience is a process.  If I am waiting patiently, I am not stressed out with worry and fear.  If I am waiting patiently, I am learning to persevere.  If I am waiting patiently, my faith is taking wings and building muscle.

  It takes courage, but we can rest in knowing God knows the paths we are to follow, and his GPS never causes us to end up in a backyard when we're trying to get to the mall in the next town over.  He is infallible. He is unchanging.  He is worth waiting patiently for.  I love how God reminds me to be patient when I need it the most?

What are you waiting for God to show you today?  Are you waiting patiently or biting off your nails?

*Scripture from YouVersion.com NLT

• a joyful journal
• apopiptolepis
• out loud in my head
• by feet or heart
• the ever-changing th...
• the rabbit hold chronicles
• there is beauty in letti...

Peace Failure

In exploring peace this week, I realized that I was lacking it more times than a few, and that it's nobody's fault but mine.  See, God always holds up His end of the bargain.  If something isn't working out the way I want it to, I know where the glitch happened.  But...just because I know, doesn't mean I fully embrace the idea all the time.

God promises to give me a peace that exceeds understanding (Phil. 4:7).  My part of the bargain is to keep my mind fixed on Him instead of my circumstances.  I am to be thankful for those things in my life that are good.  I am to trust Him instead of myself or my logic.  In return, He gives me peace that defies common sense!  That's a nice deal!

The problem is, I just can't do it.  That's right.  I'm a failure at this.  When problems are super-sized, the way they have been this week, I lose my focus sometimes.  But there's good news:  God never fails.  Even when I give up on Him, He doesn't give up on me.  When I am weak, He is strong.  He is right there waiting for me to shift my focus back to Him and stop wallowing.

When my focus is on my salvation instead of my circumstances, I experience peace that no mind can explain.  That peace is the kind that allows me to sleep when I should be tossing and turning.  It allows me to sing when I should be crying.  It allows me to trust when everyone else is doubting me.  The peace He gives cannot be found in stores or in the arms of another.  His peace is worth more than anything.

I thank Him for this timely reminder tonight when I need it so much.  His peace is worth holding onto.  Have you grabbed hold of His peace?  How do you stay focused on the peace-giver when life weighs you down?

Need more peace?  Check out:

There is Beauty in Letting Go: http://beautyintheletgo.blogspot.com/

The Rabbit Hole Chronicles: http://therabbitholechronicles.wordpress.com/

The Ever-changing Thought: http://tecthought.com/

A Joyful Journal: http://ajoyfuljournal.blogspot.com/

Out Lout in My Head:  http://outloudinmyhead.blogspot.com/

Apopiptolepsis:  http://apopiptolepis.wordpress.com/