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| This reminds us there are possibilities beyond what we see right now. Also, stones were used to build this arch. |
Anytime you begin something new, whether it's a redo or starting a project from its very beginning, it matters what you begin with.
At the beginning of this new year, goals are set, dreams are aspiring, and resolutions look possible. Before long, the mundane sets in and what looked possible and glamorous now looks dull and maybe the end goal a bit dim and maybe it's lost in all the muck and grime of life's happenings.
It matters why you started for the why will keep you going when you hit this point. Your resolutions will fail unless you are grounded in why you wanted to begin.
Winter reminds us and invites to pay attention to what is underneath, beneath, and within. It reminds us that what is happening beneath the dirt of the tree, plants, and flowers matters. Spring and life will eventually reveal the results.
It matters what is happening underneath. It also matters what's happening inside of you.
As the root system of a tree makes a difference how it stands during the fierce blows of winter and the production of summer, so our root system matters, too. What we're grounded in is important as it holds us through the winters and the storms of life and also the production of fruit and good works that God wants us to do for Him.
It matters where are roots are drawing their sustenance. Ephesians 3:17-18 tells us that being rooted and grounded in God's love also fills us. Colossians 2:7 invites us to root ourselves in Jesus. When we're rooted and grounded in God and His love, we're rooted and grounded in Jesus. Jesus is love. When we're rooted in Him, it guides us, holds us, and keeps us; anchoring us when the stormy winds blow. When the harsh cold winds beat us with the things that we thought we'd never walked through or that we never desired to endure, we have an anchor.
But in all honesty, what does this really look like in this life I am living? How do I live this out?
What do I do when that anger, the disappointment, the habit comes back and I give way to its vices, again derailing my aspiring goal to change and to do differently? What do you do when you keep going back to your habit again and again? Maybe you don't, but I believe these are all pieces of our root system, leading us to what we believe about ourselves. If we trace them, they will reveal what we know and believe about the God who made us, the God who holds us and the God who keeps us.
So, take a moment and with bravery, sit with your anger, look at your disappointment square in its face. Let it lead you to trace God in the middle of it all.
This leads me to realize, I must know the truth. I must know Jesus who is Truth and that comes by reading His words and memorizing them, meditating on them, and hiding them in my heart. We'll come back to this.
The pain, the disappointments, and missed goals are like the weight of a stone. Let's put that anger, the disappointment, the deaths that you have walked through and write its name on a stone.
Stones have multiple purposes and reasons. They are heavy. One thing is they can trip us when we stumble on them or we can use them to make a path through a garden of flowers. By the way, I like to use stones in my flower garden. I use them to create paths. They tell anyone who wanders through the garden, where to go. They lead and give direction.
Now, you have a choice. Either you can keep carrying your stone, allowing it to weigh you down and trip you, or you can lay it down. You can lay it down at the feet of Jesus and make a path. You can create a path that leads you through the darkness and hardship to see Jesus in the midst of it.
You can create a path of faith.
We're circling back to the reality that I must know Jesus and that comes by reading His words and choosing to believe them for sometimes in the midst of all my angst, they feel so distant. I am also tempted to doubt God is trustworthy or faithful.
Your stones of hardship, pain, rejection, and disappointment are opportunities to lead you to Jesus where you can trace the goodness and faithfulness of God. They can remind you of God's presence and the way He led you through the darkness and into the light, a stepping stone of faith. This is the time and place where we speak truth into our lies and situation Truth brings clarity and light to the shadows and darkness of what we believe, which in turns affects our actions.
What is happening beneath and within you heart, matters. It matters what we believe, for this fuels our actions. Those goals you set, that desire to change is all riveted on what you believe deep within.
So, in this year, when you misstep and miss the mark of your goal, sit with it and trace it and let it lead you to Truth, to Jesus, and listen to what He says. In this year as you aspire to grow, first of all choose to know God and to read His words. It makes all the difference. It matters.
With truth, we can turn our weights into stepping stoning and we can turn what hurts into words of God's goodness to us. We release, we lay down a stone that becomes the path of faith of seeing Jesus that can anchor us in the fog and shadows we find ourselves in at times.
There are pieces of our story and chapters in our lives that can't be erased or undone. They can be rewritten and reworded because of the hope that we have in Jesus. First John 4:4 tells us that greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world. God's words matter more than what our story has told us and informed our way of thinking.
What happens in our story tells us it matters what you believe. It matters who you believe, so pay attention, be aware, be alert and let the weight of the pain, the weight of hardship, and the weight of rejection being turned into stepping stones of faith in God. May the weight lead you to him.
I also want you to know that as I have wrestled with pain, I have said it so many times, "I hate pain". I realized that I'm dwelling on the negative, and so I asked the Lord, "How I could reword it? What can be said instead?" This word picture of taking pain and seeing it as a weight and a stone and repurposing gave me a visual that changed the pain and gave it a new purpose. Its intent can nudge us to Jesus, if we choose to let it. It can lead us to the One who holds us and keeps us. It gave me a visual of the release so I can receive something better. We cannot hold onto the pain with a grip and receive God's freedom at the same time. We must release the one to receive the other.
It's the process of forgiveness, again and again, rewriting our stories to give space for life to be created because of the presence and power of Jesus. Keeping a grip on the impact of our pain hinders us from opening up to receive God's mercy and life. A quote by Joseph Fasano says it well and again gave me a visual as I struggled to release my "stones" and lay them down. It reads, "Why open? Because what is a blossom anyway but a fist saying I can't do this anymore." I also want to remind you that forgiveness is not saying it doesn't matter or didn't happen, in fact when we release the impact it is actually saying, 'it matters' and I am choosing a better way. In the truest form of forgiveness, it's the releasing of my need for revenge and to make the other person pay so I can receive and experience God's mercy and grace. Forgiveness is the release that sets me free and breaks the bond I have with the impact of the pain that I am feeling. It is the laying down of the weight of the stone and finding a life-giving purpose to live in.
So, my friend, you are not alone, let what hurt you lead you to trace the goodness and presence of Jesus in your life. In your story, you're creating a pathway of faith. It matters. It matters to how you live out your goals and it will affect your victory stance in the battle you find yourself in, in this one life you live. May God's grace and His presence surround you as you aspire and step into this new year.
