Wilderness

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 NIV

My family and I decided to explore the wilderness that surrounded our camper. We followed a trail and trekked up the mountains. All was going well until we came to a fork in the path. My husband wanted to go one way and I wanted to go the other. I felt like it was the right way to go.

We disagreed on which way to go for quite awhile. The main reason we were disagreeing was because we left the map back at the camper. We had thought there would only be one path to take and it would be good. I really didn't want to end up lost in the wilderness.

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to choose which way would be the best way? Were you afraid of being lost in the wilderness? The wilderness can be scary and overwhelming when you can't see which is the clear path to take. There are trees, bushes, and vines blocking the view. What should you do?

That time on the trial I didn't feel afraid especially if we went the way I felt we should go. After our brief discussion my husband hiked back to the camper to retrieve the map. Turns out the way I wanted to go was the right path to take. We wondered up and down mountains and ended up walking down 700 steps to see a beautiful water fall.

Our path through the wilderness brought us to a glorious sight because we trusted in our guide, not only the map but the one true guide who can lead us out of all our troubles! Allow Him to lead you through the wilderness without fear because He is with you.

Silent

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

Around my house silence rarely happens. There is always someone making noise: toys banging, dishes clanging, music playing, children talking...Never a quiet moment around here.

There are times though when children are napping or at night when the entire household is asleep and silence fills the house. It's in these moments I try to be still and silence my mind before God. Do you know how hard it is to make my mind stop thinking? This is often evident when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep because my mind won't be quiet.

Sometimes I know the Lord wants to speak to me, and I can't hear Him because of my mind wandering. I wonder what He has to say, and I really want to listen but it's so hard.

Our world is so full of noise that it's hard to keep silent. Right now even with nap time going on I am sitting here hearing all kinds of noises. Spring must be arriving because the birds are sure chirping up a storm. The kitty is moving so I hear the jingle of his bell. I have the windows open so I can hear the traffic going by and neighbors talking. An occasionally, the dog has to make sure she's heard. The fish tank filter is bubbling water. So even without electronics there is a lot of noise.

So how important is it for us to be silent? I believe it's pretty important because without the silence how can we reconnect with the One who wants to guide us. As we go through our day maybe we can not turn on the radio in our cars or any other noise makers and try to hear the Lord, once you can quiet your mind. I am sure He has some important message to give us.

Gratitude

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 NIV

As a little girl, I was taught to say "Thank you" whenever I was given a gift. In fact, I used to do this thing with paper and a pen. I'd write thank you notes to my grandparents for the Christmas or Birthday present they took the time to buy for me.

As I have deepen my faith, I have learned to have gratitude no matter the circumstances. I thought about this last night while watching "Cast Away". In this movie, Chuck Noland, a FedEx employee who takes care of productivity problems, is summoned away to take care of a problem on Christmas day. The plane he was on crashes into the Pacific Ocean. He is the only survivor and ends up on a deserted island. He manages to survive four years and was able to make a raft to sail away from the island where he is found by a cargo ship. He comes back to discover he was pronounced dead and ends up losing the love of his life, since she married while he was gone.

While I was watching this, I wondered could I show gratitude if something like this happened to me. Could I really praise God for being on an island where I had to drink coconut milk and eat fish? Could I praise Him when I had no family or friends to be with me? Could I have thanked Him while my plane was going down?

I'm not sure if I could, but I have been through tough times and have been able to thank God for them. It isn't always easy, but when I try and look for something to be grateful for during the tough times it makes the tough times not so tough.

No matter what we are facing, there can be something to be grateful for. Chuck could be grateful that he didn't have to drift in the ocean, he was led to dry land. He could be grateful for food to eat and something to drink. He had his thoughts to keep him company, he could be thankful for those memories. While the plane was going down, he was the one holding the raft. He could be grateful that he had the raft.

I will continue to praise God in all circumstances even when it seems impossible.

Empty

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV

I don't know about your house, but at our house it seems that the trash can will be overflowing with garbage and no one cares to be the one to take it out. Everyone kind of walks by it and either completely ignores it or will shove one more piece of trash into it.

Why do we do this? Mostly because it's not trash day and apparently the trash can can't be emptied until trash day. Watch out when we don't have a trash day because of a holiday or because we missed it, we don't even want to talk about what happens then.

Have you ever had anything from your past that you've needed to empty yourself of? Past hurts or disappointments can be hard to get rid of.

There have been things that have happened to me that I really like to be emptied of. In my heart, I know I need to forgive the one who hurt me and let go of what happened. I really believe I have forgiven that person and have moved on. Then something happens again and all the past pains resurface.

How do I get past this? I can't completely ignore it. I don't need to shove anymore thoughts into it. I need to be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and completely empty myself of this old garbage. When I am finally able to empty myself of these past hurts, I have more room to fill myself with the preciousness of Christ and with Him I can overcome!

Examination

Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40 NIV

Alright everyone, please get out a clean sheet of paper and a pencil, we're going to have a pop quiz!

Just kidding.

But do you ever sit and ponder about your life? I find myself doing this when my birthday is approaching or the beginning of a New Year. I think about what I've done since my last birthday and ask myself, "Am I better off?" As I approach the new year, I ask myself, "is there anyway I can improve?"

Examining our lives sometimes happens on a daily basis. We feel bad when we've done something wrong. We might feel joyous over something that went right. Sometimes we examine our relationships and wonder if they are working out, especially when there has been a disagreement. We examine if we are raising our kids right, did we do everything we could to make our children productive adults? I wondered this each time one of our children entered adulthood.

Maybe at times we examined our life and wondered, "what can make it better?"

For me for my life to be better I need to return to the Lord. Usually, when things aren't going so well it's because I haven't been reading the Bible or praying. I've ended up too busy and eliminated the one thing that keeps me grounded. Why do I do this? I know the Lord is the one who guides me, but sometimes distractions come in or my schedule is messed up and I drift away.

Lucky for me the Lord has drifted away or gotten to busy for me. He is always right there waiting for me, so I can pass the exam.

He's right there for you too, so examine your life and come to the Lord. He'll be happy to have you! This is one exam you can ace!

Journey

Show me your ways Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 24:4-5 NIV

Vacations and trips are so much fun. I love being able to plan where we are going and the journey we are going to take to get there. Some of the roads are familiar. Some roads offer detours. Some have delays. Some of the roads are new and exciting.

The days leading up to our journey are filled with excitement of all the things we hope to experience. We have planned what we would like to do, and we've planned how long it will take us to get there. The packing of the clothes and food make the journey seem more real, and sleep the night before barely comes.

We have joy every time we see a new state sign making our destination even closer. When we finally arrive we are overjoyed! Each day of our journey brings us something new to see and learn about. We sometimes plan to much and not get much time to relax, but enjoying the new sights is worth it.

There are times when our journeys haven't been much fun. One time before we even began our journey the brakes went out in the van we were taking and we had to cancel one of the activities we were going to do. The disappointment on everyone's face as we drove by the amusement park knowing we couldn't go in was not the best journey.

There have been times when the journey to get where we were going took longer than expected because we ended up stuck in snail pace traffic. Also, there was the time when I caused the traffic to be delayed by totaling our travel trailer across three lanes of the interstate.

On this life we are all on a journey. A journey to run the race that has been set out before us. Sometimes the journey is fun and exciting.We are loved, we have a great family, we have great friends, our jobs are working out well for us... Other times the journey hasn't been much fun. We get sick, our loved ones pass away, our friends betray us, we lose our jobs...

God has a journey He would like us to follow, we need to allow Him to teach us the right journey we are supposed to be on. Will you allow Him to guide our journey?

Humans

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 NIV

Have you ever just sat and people watched? I'll admit it, I have. I mean what else am I supposed to do while I wait for my family to finish riding a roller coaster. There is quite a crowd waiting around these rides, so I'm not the only one.

Humans are interesting. We come in all different shapes and sizes. We come in an array of colors. We each have our own distinctive look, even if someone looks like us there is still a different look about each of us.

We were also created to be able to think, to reason, and to choose. Face it everyday we get up with choices to make: What will I wear? Do I have time for a shower? What should I eat for breakfast? Do I have time to pray or why even bother it doesn't do any good anyway?

My choice is to have an authentic relationship with my Lord! He has been there for me even before I was placed in my mother's womb. He knew who my parents should be. He knew when I should be born, even if my mom and dad weren't quite ready. He knew which schools I should attend. He placed me in the right church at the right time, so I could hear his message of love and forgiveness. He help me realize that I have to choose to have a relationship with Him. There was nobody else who could make this choice for me.

I chose to follow Him and make Him my Savior in the back of that small church. I can remember the exact location. The sun was shining in the big front windows. The church was empty. As I stood there I claimed His name as my name, and I KNOW He's made a difference in my life.

So humans, each of you have a choice to make as well. My hope is that you have already chosen to follow the ONE who created you. He can and will make a difference in your life just trust Him to work through your life. Think about it this way, How is everything working out for you without choosing Him? Do you have a peace and a comfort knowing that no matter what happens God's got this? Maybe it's time...