And then He does it all by Himself …
The details of life are the whispers of a Savior.
And we unearth the layers of His language as we live our lives each day. It’s true that the more we read through the Bible the more and more layers we discover. Not like secret meanings, but new personal applications, new “aha!” moments, new revelation as we read it again and again. Just this 13th time through Jeremiah I keep being amazed at the things I never noticed before.
When we rightly read daily life the same is true. When we read our days through the lens of His Word we discover new treasures, new applications and revelations, new nuances and “aha!” moments each and every day. God reveals Himself to us through life. But we must put on our Word-glasses each morning so we can see Him clearly, detect His fingerprints on our day.
I keep thinking back to how God sold our house. The details. He’s in them, and I keep marveling at the layers of His language. Yes, it is true, the fact that it sold on a crazy weekend when I didn’t even clean, spoke volumes to me about living authentically, opening wide my life and letting the world into all my “lovlimess” — the true, real, imperfect person that we often hide away for family only. Perhaps a spotted-mirror life is attractive after all? Perhaps that’s the kind of life the world might like to see from us? Honesty, humility, authenticity.
But the more I reflected on His provision this week, the more I see another facet: That He wants all the work to be His. That He wants to get all the glory. That it’s not about what I can do for Him but always what He does for us.
This great work, a miracle really, that I’d been praying for all year. We’d fasted, considered, discerned (schemed even if I’m honest) — and then He went and did it without our help. *smile*
A great reminder of the part we play.
The part of a child helping Daddy. He does call us to partner with Him, to work at His side, to engage, to labor. Why?
Because He loves being with us. The same way that Jeff lets Dutch & Heidi “help” him work in the garage. They aren’t actually contributing much, probably making the work way harder in fact, but Jeff loves to be with them and loves to teach them along the way.
Our Dada-God does the same. He let us partner with Him this last year in an adventure of faith selling a house. I’m thankful for that and certainly don’t regret a single minute of hard-work that went into it. But sometimes we (I) also need the reminder:
- All the work is God’s.
- He lets us work with Him because He loves to be with us and loves to teach us along the way.
- When we start to think it’s our responsibility to accomplish something He lovingly reminds us He’s got it covered.
- And just in case we might be tempted to touch the glory, He does it all by Himself so there can be no mistaking who deserves the praise.
- God isn’t pleased when we do stuff “for” God, He’s pleased when He can powerfully display His power on our behalf. When we trust Him enough to let Him.
What to do with that job you hate …
It hung on the wall opposite the toilet. A brilliant spot when you think about it. An old wooded frame, small but readable print. I never made it to double-digits in that house, but the framed quote still comes to mind, often when I first rise in the morning, even though I haven’t seen it in 22 years. From Charles Kingsley, more than 150 years ago:
““Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance, self-control, diligence, strength of will, content, and a hundred other virtues which the idle never know.”
Isn’t there something in your soul which agrees, amen, to this truth? Perhaps it’s my personality, or a little too much Martha in my veins, but I am so grateful that God gives us purposeful work to do each day. I love me a good job to do.
But at times I need to be reminded of this, of the blessing of all work, especially when the work includes grumpy people (of whom I’m usually chief!), a hundred interruptions, or spending long periods of time on hold with Comcast.
I’d rather scrub the toilet by hand than wait on hold with Comcast.
Anyway, isn’t part of gratitude thanking God for whatever work He’s given us each day? We know that work is not the curse, good and purposeful work was given before the curse. The struggle of work is part of the curse, work itself is not.
Sometimes I love my to-do list, sometimes I do not. What’s your “it” job? The one you avoid? The one that causes the grumbles to bubble up in your soul?
Name it. Then thank God for it.
Thank God for that work. That job. That thing.
Then eat your frog.
You know, your frog. That same one thing, one job that you avoid doing. Loathe doing. Grumble about doing.
Do it first.
Very first thing, after your fill-your-cup morning routine: Eat that frog and be done with it. You’ll have so much more energy having conquered the worst part of your day, and everything else will feel like dessert to-dos after already swallowing the frog-part. Tsh Oxenreider lists this as the first step to simplifying life, quoting Mark Twain:
“Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day."
Such a simple habit that reaps beautiful rewards. Every morning, thank God for work. Thank Him, by faith, for the “worst” work you have ahead. Then get that worst part over with. Whether it’s exercising or scrubbing toilets or doing the laundry, git ‘er done and enjoy the rest of your day.
Who knows, between the gratitude and go-after-it attitude you might even find yourself enjoying that frog. Unless, of course, it involves calling Comcast … But as Ann Voskamp would say, miracles follow thanksgiving, so anything is possible. {Thanks for reading, now go thank God and devour that frog!}
Week's end with thanks
- On a drive through Madras, in the pitch-black night, watching fields burned in the distance. Sky light up in red and smoke. Eerie and beautiful all at once. Death to life. Destruction to beauty.
- W-H-I-R-L-W-I-N-D week. Carried along in God’s grace.
- Sale Pending.
- Unity with my man. Neither of us have any idea what’s next but it’s so fun to be arm-in-arm and enjoying the ride together. Nothing’s as sweet as being on the same page.
- Dutch’s response to house selling — after all year insisting that he didn’t want it to sell. I told him and he lit up, “YAY! That’s so exciting! Can we move tonight?” Hahaha, thank you God for all the little nooks and crannies of your provision.
- New opportunity to write regularly for FrugalLivingNW. So excited to join the wonderful ladies over there! What a gift of grace.
- Ministry.
- Receiving, always receiving.
- Life, the gift.
- WCC buzz about gratitude. Everywhere we turn we hear thanks. This too is grace.
- Wednesday morning prayer ladies. They are always a gift to me.
- That He hears us.
- Again, the details surrounding the house-sale. Not what we do for Him but what He does for us.
- Eagerness.
- Honesty.
- Humility.
- Last minute trip to Bend.
- Gospel of grace.
- Behaving completely opposite of my high-“J” temperament. I think that’s grace!
- Arriving late, 10pm, in Bend, exhausted. Kids nuzzled into mats on Nana’s floor. Jeff and I collapsing happy into bed. Pressing my face into freshest of pillows, blankets, finding myself smiling wide as I drifted off to sleep.
- Black-out blinds + no alarm = sleep in!
- The rare treat of a morning run with my man.
- Spending all morning at Bend’s Pirate-ship Park. NO KIDDING. It was heaven on earth for my little man. Sunshine, 80 degrees. That was heaven on earth for my little man’s mama.
- Clean towels.
- Wood floors underfoot.
- Crepes with dash of sugar sprinkled on top.
- Fresh coffee.
- Food Should Taste Good chips. The reason I don’t have a Costco membership is because I would eat too many of those chips.
- Fridge FULL of fresh tomatoes from many gardens. So excited for that homemade marinara I’ll be making next week!
- Driving by wildflower fields. Photographer in the middle with tri-pod, capturing the wonder.
- Heidi repeating everything Dutch says, all day long. The chirping bird-song echo of our house.
- Bucket of fresh peaches.
- Dutch & I sharing.
- Juice running down chins.
- Finding my husband so handsome.
- Naps for all.
- Time to myself.
- Getting alone with God. Soul expands, breathes, lives.
- Friday run after not exercising all week. Feeling good, strong, making it more than 6 miles! That’s crazy for a wimpy girl like me. And … sore the next day. But the good-kind of pain!
- Such wonderful retreat in Bend — a gift to be removed from the house-situation. Perfect time to rest and play before heading back into the adventure.
- Opportunities.
- Charles Kingley quote from childhood coming to mind. Thank God for work.
- Rhythm.
- Grace & peace.
F is for Free and Freeing {The gospel in Galatians}
This week we continued our journey through the book of Galatians, stepping foot right down into its pages and getting our first glimpse of the gospel of grace. Joy taught a great message (audio available here) that’s stuck with me all week. Three quick things from the message to consider as you kick off your weekend:
- There are only two gospels: The true gospel and a false gospel. The true gospel is that God, in His infinite love and mercy, sent His one and only Son to pay the penalty for our sin that He could be both the just and the justifier (Rom 3:26), wholly punishing sin and wholly extending extravagant grace. Anything that adds or takes away from this simple gospel message isn’t the gospel. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
- The gospel is free. We do nothing to deserve this free gift of grace. We add nothing to it. It is given with no strings attached. It is free. If we ever add extra qualifications to the gospel, it ceases to be the real gospel. It’s hard for us to accept this because our pride wants to somehow pay it back or insist that we’ve earned it. Humility kneels low and extends empty hands to receive lavish grace. The truth gospel is always free.
- The gospel is freeing. We can always tell when we’re walking in grace vs. legalism because legalism weighs down and grace lifts up. Grace’s burden is light. If we find ourselves becoming more and more shackled with burdens, obligations, guilt, chances are we’re not walking in glorious truth of the true gospel. The true gospel is the truth and the truth sets us free (John 8:32).