A Rock in My Shoe

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” I Corinthians 9:25

“…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1
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I went running today. I am training for my first marathon and every workout is helping me move closer to be able accomplish this life-long dream. About a mile and a half into my run, I got a rock in my shoe. I felt it as it slid down into my shoe, worked its way under my instep and positioned itself in that spot where my big toe bends. I felt this rock every time my left foot struck the ground. This rock in my shoe and the resulting discomfort that was rapidly turning into pain reminded me of another rock in my shoe on a run years ago. I felt that rock, too, but kept running despite the pain it created for me. With every footfall I thought, “I should stop and get this rock out of my shoe.” But I didn’t. I was too busy running to stop and take care of this problem. Besides, I wanted to be tough and keep going. When I got home and took off my shoe I discovered blood on my sock. I knew the rock caused me pain but I didn’t realize that it had caused damage to my foot as well. The injury from that rock kept me from running for a week as my foot healed. As I remembered the rock in my shoe from years ago and the damage it caused, I decided that I would take the time to stop and remove the rock from my shoe. I did not want to create a problem that would interfere with my marathon training and keep me from running a race.

It was inconvenient taking that rock out of my shoe and I was very self-conscious. I was standing on the side of a country road with traffic going by in both directions. I was sweaty and breathing hard and having a hard time balancing on one foot as I tried to locate the rock in my shoe and remove it. It was a little thing. It took me several attempts to grab a hold of that very small rock (which happen to feel like a boulder) and remove it from my shoe. I remembered the rock from years ago being a small one, too. It’s amazing how something so small can cause such pain and discomfort.

I put my rock-free shoe back on, laced it up, and started running again. As I ran, I couldn’t help but think of spiritual rocks that I allowed in times past to lodge in various places in my soul. I was busy studying the Word and going to church, serving in children’s ministries, teaching adult Sunday School, and even preaching and doing women’s conferences here and there. I was doing everything I knew how to do to try and please God and serve Him and love Him. Yet, I did all those things with little rocks I had accumulated here and there because I was too busy with all these other seemingly spiritual activities. However, despite my good works, rocks of impatience and legalism, pride, frustration and anger, despair and discouragement began to cause me pain and hinder me in my relationship with God.

When God began to open my eyes to these rocks in my soul, I confessed my sins regarding these attitudes to the Lord and He graciously forgave me. As a result, I willingly submit to the refiner’s fire praying that God will cleanse me and purify me from all the spiritual rocks I have accumulated along the way. I also pray to keep from picking up more rocks along the way. I do not want anything that will keep me from effectively running the race God has for me.

What about you? Do you have a rock in your shoe? What about your soul? If so, take the time to stop and get it taken care of regardless of how inconvenient it might seem. Ask God to show you what you need to do remove the hindrance that keeps you from running the race He has prepared for you. It is true in a natural race that only one person receives the prize for finishing first. However, in our spiritual race , God has a prize waiting for each of us when we finish the race of faith. The Apostle Paul wrote about the crown of righteousness God has prepared for each person who has placed their faith and trust in Him. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (I Timothy 4:7-8).

Father God, give me the courage to stop and deal with the rocks in my soul. Teach me how to throw off and remove everything that keeps me from effectively and obediently running the race You have for me. Help me to live with hope regarding the crown of righteousness You have waiting for me Amen.

Influencing Others

I read this quote today: "Just one person taking action can inspire others to do the same."

This quote reveals a principle I have seen in my own life recently. Since I have been running and training for a marathon, two other people I know have made the decision to run the Chicago Marathon. Several other people in my office have acquired an interest in running and all of us have participated in a 5K race (3.2 miles) and two of us a 5 mile race. I made the choice to run a marathon and took action. As a result, other people have chosen to take an interest in running and do the same thing. Another example is my blogsite. I started my blogsite in March and told a couple of people about it. One of my friends started her blogsite not too long after I started mine.

While this is fine, what I truly want is for people to see the actions I take because of my faith and be inspired to do the same. All I can do is live my life for God and let Him use my obedience to affect and influence others.

A negative example of influence is someone I know who left his family for another woman and her children. Several months after this man did what he did, his friend and business partner did the same thing; he left his wife and kids and moved in with the other woman while he is still married and the other woman is still married. One man took immoral action and another followed. As a result, four families have been broken apart as two married men and two married women decided they wanted spouses that didn’t belong to them. They wanted and they took action and went after something that didn’t belong to them. Their behavior has created a damage path a mile wide in the lives of seven children and the four spouses who have been left behind.

As I think about influencing others, I am reminded of many years ago when the Lord told me to be careful because I never know who I am influencing by my actions…influencing for the good or for the bad. I pray that I NEVER influence someone to sin by my behavior. I pray to always and only influence others in a positive way, whether it’s taking up running to improve physical fitness or inspiring someone to imitate some of my spiritual disciplines.

Prayer: Father God, keep me from willful sin and help me to NEVER NEVER NEVER set a sinful example for someone to follow. Give me the courage to trust and obey You in all things so that others will see the good deeds I do and praise You. Amen.

Progress...Not Perfection

A few months ago friend of mine gave me a quote she has posted in front of her computer at work. The phrase is “Progress…not perfection.”

My friend knows me well and with this one phrase she was trying to tell me that God does not expect me to be perfect…He doesn’t even expect me to be close to perfect. However, He expects me to grow.

God knows we are not perfect. God knows we are human. After all, He created us to be human and He is well aware of our frailties, our weaknesses, and our bent toward selfishness. These things come as no surprise to God.

We must accept the fact that we are human and give ourselves permission to be human. We will never achieve perfection this side of Heaven so it would be beneficial to our spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being to accept the fact that we are not perfect. In accepting the fact that we are not perfect, we take the pressure off ourselves to be something we cannot be. As a result, we can stop pretending to be someone we are not and we can be real with ourselves and with each other.

For a perfectionistic person like myself, this phrase “Progress…not perfection” provided a brief moment of fresh air. After that brief moment, my perfectionistic mindset automatically kicked in and I started focusing on my progress. Is my progress what it’s supposed to be? Am I behind where God wants me to be? I know I’m not where I want to be but I don’t know how to get there…how do I get there? As I resisted these thoughts and considered my personal growth, I realized that God is the One Who makes me grow. I cannot change me. Only God can change me and lead me down the path of progress. There is an effort of my self-will that I could apply that might change me to a certain degree, but God is the only One Who can truly change me and cause me to grow the way He wants me to grow and to become the woman He wants me to be.

How does this happen? How do we grow? We grow and make progress when we trust and obey. We trust God and believe what He has revealed about Himself and about human life in the Bible. We obey God when we read about something in the Bible that we are to do and then we do it. As we trust and obey we grow. As we grow we make progress. I have heard someone say “I’m not where I want to be but I not where I used to be, either.” I’m learning that life is all about progress…not perfection.

Thirteen Mistakes I Have Made...and Still Make Sometimes

1. Being complacent when I should have been proactive.
2. Letting someone else's lifestyle choice affect my choices.
3. Taking for granted that a promise made will be a promise kept.
4. Not getting professional help for issues I needed help with sooner than what I did.
5. Believing that I can change other people’s behaviors and attitudes.
6. Isolating myself from other people when I hurt.
7. When asked, “What’s wrong?” I say “Nothing.”
8. Being unaware of the emotional needs of other people.
9. Ignoring my emotional needs.
10. Treating people the way I want to be treated based on my personality instead of treating people based on the needs of their personality.
11. Believing that I could not lose weight.
12. Believing that failure is a person, not an event.
13. Believing that I am not worth loving.

You Can't Live Life in Bed!

I am a thinker personality type and it is not uncommon for me to wake up in the morning and lay in bed thinking about the day, even the week ahead of me. I imagine the things that need to happen and what might go wrong if I try to accomplish this or that. I naturally slip into thinking about the consequences and next steps after completing the things I have thought about. And what if I fail or can’t do it? I then think about backup plans A, B, C, and all the way through ZZ should my original plan not produce the desired results!! On a recent morning while still in bed I was in this thinking mode and I felt the Lord tell me that I “can’t live life in bed.” It was time to get up and get to it.

Do you live your life in bed? Maybe you live your life in a chair or on the couch. You get up, go to work, come home, and sit in the chair and watch TV until it’s time to go to bed and then you do it all over again the next day. While you are laying in bed, sitting in the chair or on the couch, do you think about the life you want? Do you think about having a more consistent relationship with God? A more satisfying marriage? A better relationship with your children? A more satisfying job? A physically fit body? A general attitude of being able to enjoy life? All of these desires are good ones but to have what you are thinking about you have to get out of bed, out of that chair, or off that couch and you have to do something about it. Wanting it will not be enough. You have to get up and get to it.

If you do not get up and actually live life, you place yourself in a vulnerable position of distraction. Thoughts simmer about what you want but an interesting dynamic happens when you do not actively pursue positive things…you tend to think about what is wrong with the things in your life that you would like to change. As you continue to brood on what is wrong, you can fall prey to all kinds of deception from Satan.

What kinds of deception can we fall prey to when we are not applying effort towards desires that are God approved? Subtle traps like the mindset that nothing will change, addiction to mindless TV, busyness, or shopping . Horrible traps such as an adulterous affair, the use of or addiction to alcohol, drugs, or pornography. Whether subtle or blatantly horrible, private or public, the traps are designed to keep us from fulfilling God’s plan for our lives. When we do not live life the way God has designed we open ourselves to all manner of evil regardless of how subtle or horrible.

Do not live life from an inactive state and run the risk of falling prey to those things that can make your life ineffective. Do not allow Satan to distract and blind you from what God wants to do through someone who is willing to live life by His design. Get up and live life with the purpose for which you have been created, to love God and keep His commands. Then let Him lead you and guide you in what you must do to experience a deeper relationship with God and experience joy and peace and whatever you work towards. Nothing will happen if you lay around or sit around. If you do nothing, you have nothing, and you get nothing.

Don’t live life from bed. Get up and get to it!

Scriptures
Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commands, for this is the whole duty of man.”

John 10:10: “I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

God, You Can Heal Me Just Like That!

A month or so ago I was sharing my hurt with the Lord. I am still in a healing and recovery mode after losing something very dear to me and it was just time to cry again and express my hurt and pain and loneliness with tears.

As I prayed to the Lord while crying in His direction, I said, “Lord, You can heal me just like that!” and I snapped my fingers. I went on to the tell the Lord how I believe with all my heart that all He has to do is just make the decision to heal me and all my hurt and pain and loneliness and bitterness would be gone and I could put certain circumstances behind me once and for all and not be bothered by them anymore.

I firmly believe I was right. God could very easily heal me and take away all the pain in an instant. But what would also be taken away is an opportunity to continue to grow and learn how to become the woman God wants me to be. As much as I wish there was a better way to grow, I have come to believe that the greatest growth a person can experience comes in the difficult times in life.

The Bible offers many promises and words of comfort to those who are suffering. The Bible also tells us that good things can happen through our suffering. I have read words of promises and encouragement in the Bible many times in the years in which I have been a Christian but I did not receive them or apply them to me because I was too busy begging God to deliver me from the suffering. I thought that suffering was a bad thing and should be avoided and should not have a place in the Christian’s life. I see things differently now.

It is part of human life to experience pain and suffering. Sometimes the pain and suffering is the consequences of our own choices and behaviors. Sometimes it is the consequence of the choices and behaviors of others. Either way, we can take our pain, suffering, and ourselves to God and ask Him to lead us and guide us through the healing process. As we let God lead us and guide us, we can learn so much about how to trust Him.

I continue to pray for God to lead me and guide me through the healing and forgiveness process. I no longer ask Him why He won’t heal me instantly. I just pray that I have my heart open to be patient with Him as I wait on Him to heal me in His time and in His way.

The Prodigal Child Part II

A previous post titled The Prodigal Child describes the prodigal path as a path of selfishness that leads you away from God. The problem with the prodigal path is it ruins your relationship with God, with others, and with yourself.

The prodigal path is fun and exciting when you first start to walk on it. You embark on a journey that seems to fix any number of problems you might have in your life.

Maybe your marriage is not what you want it to be so you are drawn to someone else, regardless of whether or not they are married, too. You feel the excitement of something new and forbidden. You walk towards that other person in your mind and heart and then in word and deed. You become blinded by sin and are walking the path of adultery and divorce leaving damaged and broken lives behind you. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that He hates divorce.

Maybe your prodigal path is one of total withdrawal. You have retreated from life and refuse to be a participant. You do not trust anyone nor do you seek to share your hurts with anyone. You hold on to bitterness and anger nursing it as a reminder of the injuries you have experienced in life. A friend's betrayal, a spouse's lies and adultery, a rape, child abuse, a medical diagnosis, a loved one's death, or your own sin has made you retreat to a life of solitude powered by hurt, loneliness, anger, bitterness, pain, or shame. It doesn’t matter that God has promised to forgive you, restore you to a relationship with Him, and be with you always and to never leave you.

Maybe you are bored or disenchanted with life and one night while surfing the internet you come across a provocative website. The excitement of pornography grabs your attention. Before you know it, you are registered on multiple websites catering to a sexual addiction that steals you of your time and money. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that you are to be pure in our thoughts and actions.

Maybe you have pain and torment that you have no idea what to do with. God hasn't answered your prayers for deliverance and you become tired of waiting for Him to deliver you. So you seek to relieve your pain in any one of the following diversions; alcohol, drugs, fantasy, shopping, or gossiping. You find that diversions like these numb your mind or body and make you forget your pain. These things will lead you to walk down the prodigal path of addiction. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that He will comfort you and heal you.

It does not matter what your prodigal path looks like or what activities you participate in along the way. The departure point and the destination point are all the same. The departure point is rejecting God and His plan for your life. The destination point is ruin, destruction, and death to you and those affected by your choices.

There is an alternative route to the prodigal path. It is called the path of righteousness, or right living with God. The path of righteousness is a safe path, a healthy path, a life-giving path. The traveling companions on the path of righteousness are God the Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit Who will be your teacher, guide and comforter. You also have angels watching over you as you travel the path of righteousness.
There is a famous poem titled The Road Not Taken (also known as The Road Less Traveled) by Robert Frost. In this poem, the traveler states:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

There are two roads in life to choose from: the path of the prodigal which leads to ruin, decay, and destruction or the path of righteousness which leads to life, peace, and joy. In our American culture, it appears as if the road less traveled is the path of righteousness. I have no doubt that if you travel the path of righteousness it will make all the difference in your life. Choose God’s path of right living and as you make the journey, let God minister peace and healing to your soul and to your life.

Scripture and References
Malachi 2:14-16: “…the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. … So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. ‘I hate divorce,’ says the Lord God…”

Deuteronomy 31:6: “…the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

James 5:16: “Confess your sins [faults] to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Psalm 101:2-3: “I will be careful to lead a blameless life…I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing.”

I Timothy 5:22: “…do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.”

Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Matthew 5:4: “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”

Galatians 6:8-9: “Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at…[He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.” (Amplified Version)

The Road Not Taken can be found at http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/Road_Not_Taken.htm