Walking With the Word

I was watching a fictitious clip on Instagram about an older lady who wakes up one morning and finds that she is 38 again just for one day. She sees in the mirror that her skin is smooth, and remembers that she used to complain about looking old. Her young children, with their little hands are creating a beautiful chaos all around as they jump all over her in bed. Dinner time is all very noisy, and later she does not rush the bedtime story; she savours these moments. She speaks to her mum again and can’t tell her enough how much she loves her. She wonders why she ever took these moments for granted, allowing the mess and chaos of life bringing up children to stress her, when all long, she realised, this was the beauty and wonder of what life was all about, and was grateful for it all—I have to admit, I was a little teary listening to this.

I spend much of my own life stressing over things I can do nothing to change: worrying about the future; second guessing myself all the time about making the right choices; desperate to be better organised and get my life in order at the expense of my own well-being in the moment; I allow the piles of books and full bookshelves around me to become a source of judgement because of what I haven’t yet read, knowing that I want to, because reading has had such a profound impact upon me—so many books, so little time—so much more to know and learn; I worry that I don’t read the bible and pray enough, which I probably don’t; I want to be more, do more, be better: a better husband, father, friend, church member, co-worker, employee—I am discontent most of the time and it is exhausting and strips me of my joy and peace.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

James 1:17

I have been wondering what the answer is for this lack of contentment and I think the answer may just be simply to have an attitude of gratitude. Sounds simplistic doesn’t it. But, if you think about it, being thankful—for where you are, what you have, the moment you live in, the moments you have lived, the people you share and have shared life with and recognise that all these good gifts come from above—prevents you from feeling sour about life, and you might just find yourself being calm and content, leaving the past, present and future where it belongs—in God’s hands.

Jesus is the Way to Peace

There is a battle going on in our minds continually: between our ego and the will of God. It’s an ancient battle that saw the world fall into sin and away from God. It’s no wonder then that we feel so discontent, anxious and worried about so many things; we have been separated from the very source of all our longings.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28–30

Following Jesus is the only path that will bring true peace to our hearts and minds. Being grateful for all that God has done is the only way to remain at peace and to live a life of contentment.

Words to Live by:

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

It is God’s will for our lives to be thankful, to rejoice and to pray continually—about everything—because in so doing, we acknowledge that we rely upon God and not upon ourselves. We should look up and out, not down and inward.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Colossians 3:15-17

Read that again and count how many times thankfulness is mentioned. How might our worship be transformed if we sang with gratitude in our hearts to God, instead of singing familiar words without thinking.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:4-7

Notice that thanksgiving, along with rejoicing and prayer guards the heart and the mind from anxiety. In a very real sense, anxiety is born out of our lack of trust in God to have our future in His hands and to provide for all that we need. This battle is in the mind, therefore an attitude of gratitude will transform our minds—and so our hearts—towards peace and contentment, instead of anxiety and stress; in this sense, gratitude is a superpower.

It is very sad how we can waste precious moments because we are so concerned about too many things. I am not saying we should live for the moment, because in that way comes a self absorbed attitude to life and a seeking for experiences to satisfy us—but that we should live lives grateful for where we are at in life, because all these things come by Gods own hand. And this is not to say that life will then always be easy, because it never is, but to say that in all our trials there is purpose, even though we may not be able to see it at the time; the adversities of life ought to focus our attention back to God.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

James 1:2

That’s a tough assignment…

I am nowhere near this, but over the years I have become better at being still while God works things out. I have become better at allowing myself to just be present, to unapologetically enjoy indulging in a book, or potter in the garden, or play with the dog, walk in nature, watch a movie, or even to just enjoy reading my bible without having to have an article, or a piece of work as an end product.

I wonder if the fictitious lady in a younger body for a day changed how she looked at life afterwards. Perhaps we could look back over our own lives and see the good that was there amidst the chaos and busyness and be thankful to God for it. Meanwhile, I am working on my own gratitude and I hope to be content in all things one day.

How about you?

Some thoughts on where to place our thinking, after all, we can’t just stop thinking badly, we have to replace it with thinking differently:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

Philippians 4:8-9

Excerpt from one of my poems:

How powerful is the one who is content.
How satisfaction with what God has sent,
Will lead to a life of calmness and trust:
They’ll not be moved; but will hold fast.

My Story