Alarms are Satan's Play Toy

Philippians 4:11 – “…for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”

This morning I was able to sleep in.  Three cheers for me, right? I was soaking in the warmth and relaxation when my alarm went off and the world instantly turned sour.  The sound of an alarm has the wonderful talent of making life feel miserable.  I got up and was thinking about how I couldn’t wait to get home.  The alarm made me grumpy and I didn’t want to go out in to the civil part of the world and interact.  My impatience was being a bear and I wanted relief immediately.  In a world with so many things at our fingertips, impatience has grown.  If we can’t get it right away we are throwing a fit or making a stink in order to get our way.  Contentment is no longer an option for us because we don’t have to be content in a world where changes can be instantaneous.  We’re a spoiled people with selfish ways.  It wasn’t enough for me that I got to sleep in a couple of hours, I wanted even more after that—to not go in to work at all.  Of course, once satan got a toe hold, many more annoyances started pouring in. My morning wasn’t going to go smooth because I just couldn’t be content with what I had been blessed with.  Instead, my discontentment sent a cascade of rocks upon my head to make the day feel heavier and less than what it should have.  I essentially took away the blessing God gave me that morning and replaced it with an ugly human outlook which ruined it.  Praise God, He redeems us for our downfalls and doesn’t leave us to wallow in the pity parties we throw for ourselves.  Today, encourage yourself—force yourself to see the blessings for the day and don’t forget to cherish them as undeserved as they are.   

   

Psalm 63:5 –“I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you”.

A Good Snow Washing

 John 12:40  - Their eyes are blinded, their hearts are hardened, so that they wouldn’t see with their eyes and perceive with their hearts, and turn to me, God, so I could heal them.

 

As I was driving home from work (which is a community college), I was feeling very stressed and grumpy.  It’s finals time and my job is to oversee tests for many students.  A winter storm was moving in and students were antsy to get home to families while still wanting to get their testing in.  I simply wanted to make it home alive since I lived further out than any of them! I even remember thinking to myself while waiting for the last woman to finish up, “An accident becomes more imminent every second I sit here, lady.  Hurry it up, I want to live!”  My eyes were burning a huge hole in the back of her head.  I myself was losing patience just as much as the students around me who were stressing me out.  As I got in my car to leave, my stomach was in knots.  Knuckles white against the steering wheel, I pull on to the freeway to head the frightening way home.  It was very difficult to see through my windshield front or back because there was this thick grime covering the glass.  Nothing would wash it off! My response?  “Oh this is just great.  Add this to the list.  I can’t see and I’m going to slide off the road and die.” While I was grumbling out loud to myself thick snowflakes began to fall instead of the little ice pellets—it was breathtaking.  As it fell, I had to turn on my wipers in order to see the little bit I could through the grime.  To my surprise, after trying everything to get it cleaned off, the snow wiped my windshield clean and I could see clearly again.  I felt God figuratively rubbing my shoulders at that point as the peaceful snow fell, washing my grumpiness away.  It’s funny how God can use the strangest things to make us stop and realize that He’s there wanting to wash it all away.  Life is hard but we don’t have to let it harden us.  Our windshields are dirty but we don’t have to let them blind us.     

Proverbs 28:14 - Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

So Stressed!

Colossians 3:12

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

 Do you ever wonder if you sometimes have a mental illness due to certain behaviors you seem to revert back to during times of stress?  I sometimes feel like such a mental case that I’m sure people are watching me, ready to call the crazy house which they recently and conveniently added to their speed dial.  This is rather extreme but when I’m stressed, everything feels extreme.  My boyfriend could forget to give me the green M&Ms (which are my favorite) and I’m destroyed because he knows they’re my favorite!  It’s the end of the world; he hates me because he didn’t remember to give me the green ones.  Although many of us have been there and it can be comical to those around us, it can also be detrimental not just to ourselves but those around us and our witness.  Having no control is not going to help you and it won’t help the situation change any.  When I was younger my mom always used to tell me to choose my battles with the little cousin who stayed with us.  There are some things worth letting go because in the long run they don’t matter.  However, there are other matters that will need to be addressed in life; there’s no missing out on them.  If we approach those matters with patience and a clear head, they could end up being a wonderful step for us in life.  Life is ten percent of what happens to us and ninety percent of how we handle it.    

Romans 12:12

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.