Bible + Coffee=Best Friends
Lately, that’s how I’ve been starting off my days; with my two best friends. (Not to be taken literally) Very few things relax me as much as sitting down with a cup of coffe and my Bible, and just spending some uninterrupted time with God. I long for just 1 day where I don’t have something pressing that I have to get to; just a day where I can take as much time as I want/need to read and pray, and not worry about getting to work, kids, and whatever else the day has to throw at me. The kicker is that we are not supposed to be hermits, closed off to the rest of the world. We are to be about ACTION, loving people as we live our own lives in the midst of theirs.
Many, many times loving people is tough. We make it so hard for others to love us. Why? Because we’re selfish. Our focus is always on ourselves. Sure there’s the occasional exception to the rule. But I know I’m usually engrosed in what’s going on in MY OWN DAY, MY OWN STRUGGLES, MY OWN ISSUES.
So, for a little over a month now, I decided to give up reading any book other than the Bible. I had gotten to a place where I sped through my Bible time to get to whatever book I was currently into. And then, one day, I came to that realization and became very disappointed in myself.
So I gave up books for awhile.
Big deal.
The thing is, the more I dove into and devoted time to the Bible, the more I began to enjoy studying it again. I do think there is such a thing as studying a passage too much that we lose the obvious message in it. Sometimes we just need to read it and take the english translation at it’s word.
The past few days I’ve felt like I was in such a spiritual fog. I mean, I didn’t know up from down, left from right, forward from backward. There were many, many stern and serious conversations with God. There’s much in my life that is stressful right now, at least from an American perspective. We will leave it at that. And then I watched a video by Francis Chan the other day that reminded me that over 50% of the world’s population lives on $2 a day………OR LESS!
WHAT
HAVE
I
GOT
TO
COMPLAIN
ABOUT?
Ok, Ok. I believe there is a balance there. But really, what have I ever lacked materially? NOTHING. Then why do I continue to fret, especially when a few years ago God showed me some verses that have carried me through so much.
“But I’ll take the hand of those who don’t know the way, who can’t see where they’re going. I’ll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I’ll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don’t fall into the ditch. These are the things I’ll be doing for them–sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute.” (Isaiah 42:16 The Message) and….
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end–Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.” (Isaiah 43:1-4 The Message)
God doesn’t necessarily promise to just eradicate any and all frustrations that we will encounter. Jesus even tells us that in this world we will have trouble, but to take heart because He has overcome the world.
Do I really believe this stuff?
After truly thinking about it, yes I do believe this all. Sometimes I just get so fixated on the problem that I forget about the solution.
Does God always lift the fog immediately?
No.
Is that frustrating?
Yes.
But, if He always removed us from every problem, bad circumstance, frustration, etc., we would never learn to walk with Him, and let Him guide us. We won’t be able to experience Him holding our hand as He personally guides us through rough waters and dead ends.
That’s where trust is earned.
That’s where faith is developed.