Faith is the channel by which all grace and blessings are received, and that which is accepted by faith God bestows in fact. Being filled does not always lead to exalted feelings, but God always keeps His word. We have to just look to His promises and rest in them, expecting their literal fulfillment. Some put asking in the place of accepting. Many wish it were so, instead of believing it is so.
We have never to wait for God to give, for He has already given us His all.
James Hudson Taylor
We have a bunch of changes going on in our personal life right now, and I must admit, I have been distracted and anxious. For example, the other day I was on my cell phone talking to a friend, when I realized there was another call I needed to make. While still speaking to my friend, I began searching through my purse, trying to find my phone. As my phone wasn't in my purse, I began nervously searching through my car. Pathetically, this little scene went on for a good 30 seconds. Not until I was about to tell my friend I had to get off the phone because I couldn't find my phone, did I realize my own craziness. ..
MY PHONE WAS ALREADY IN MY HAND!
The thing I was looking for, the thing I was becoming frantic over was in my hand. My busyness and near panic were just hiding it from view. And so I sat there, nervously searching for something I already had.
As I typed that last sentence, I find myself teetering between laughter and some serious self-annoyance. You see, although this phone fiasco is just a silly blurb from my day, sadly, it's also how I often choose to live. In times of stress, in times of angst, I frantically search for what I need instead of realizing what I already have. I nervously search for answers and solutions instead of realizing I have complete access to the One who knows it all. In a matter of speaking, I forget what's already in my hand.
Frankly, I'd like to stop forgetting. After all, remembering would be a much more pleasant way to live. Remembering could really change me. I know it wouldn't take away all the stressful things that come my way, it wouldn't be my "Genie in a bottle." It would simply be an inner calm planted in the truth that He will supply all my needs (Phil 4:19).
Can you imagine the peace which would come if I stopped searching through my overstuffed purse of a life, frantically looking for something I already had? (Isaiah 41:10) Can you imagine the calm it would bring if I lived in the truth of what I already held? As Hudson Taylor wrote, it's time for me to put accepting in the place of asking. It is time for me to daily believe it is so, instead of wishing that it were. It's time to live in the truth that in the end, all will be well.
It's time for me to live in the knowledge that, just like my silly phone, what I am looking for is already right smack dab in my hand.
How about you?
You learned this much earlier in life than I did. I pray you can apply it more consistently than I have. Although I am more consistent now than I was in the past, I am still prone to the "overwhelmingness" of daily life. Let's try to remember not only what we have in our hand but Whose hand we are in.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteChristy Nockels has a great song that I think ties in well with this subject. It's called "Healing is in Your Hands". A couple of lines are "Our present, our future, our past is in Your hands. We're covered by Your blood." And then it goes on to say, "In all things we know that we are more than conquerors, You keep us by Your love. How high, how wide, no matter where I am, healing is in Your hands. How deep, how strong, now by Your grace I stand, healing is in Your hands."
Such comfort to know that not only are we in His hands, but as you said, all that He is and has given us is readily available to us!
Stress makes us crazy! : )
ReplyDeleteI like that story, and that you would tell it.
xo
-L