1-54pm
The stories come in via sms or email or maybe people stop me in the building or in the street. They vary from news about their family to heart-wrenching accounts of difficulty and pain. This morning as I read one of these stories, I asked myself, ‘How do I answer this person?’ And then I prayed, because only God knows what is going on in someone’s life and only He knows the future. And for each one of us, He wants that future to be good. I was reminded of this:
This morning I was on the phone to a listener quite early on in the show. Subconsciously, I was playing with my necklace (actually it once was Granny’s) when suddenly it broke!…
Beads went everywhere….down my shirt, onto the studio desk and onto the floor. I gathered them up….and then had some fun…
Now they are with Kezia who has a church friend who will fix it. God can change a mess into a message! Love that!
I had to go to the bank today and stood in a very slow queue to get to the inquiry desk. I have to say, that I had to bite my tongue not to complain and I had to try and distract my mind to prevent myself from thinking complaints! I did not make eye contact or engage with the guy behind me who was making it very clear, in no uncertain terms, that he was upset with the bank system. I have to admit that I feel I have thrown in a few complaints lately! But I’m learning that the best way of preventing them is to not engage with others who will complain. I’m understanding there are ways to communicate making things that are wrong, right, without complaining. I think it comes down to offering solutions, not criticism.
Oh, we are all on this journey of life and we need to offer grace to one another & chill! AND keep our sense of humour! A lot of the time, it comes down to another word…
Surrender – that’s the word that came to mind this morning. My journey through the Bible has arrived at the book of Exodus & the account of Moses leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. Through the account of the plagues, you read about the stubbornness of Pharaoh. Exodus 9vs 7 says, “Yet his heart was unyielding…” It made me think of the times in my life, where my heart was unyielding & I too was stubborn. By God’s grace, I surrendered before causing too much devastation. In my experience, a stubbornness of heart is a very dangerous thing. I think it has something to do with pride, arrogance and selfishness. It’s very self-centred. As much as we may not like to dwell on it, God has called us to a life of humility, obedience & complete surrender to Him. The sooner we give up our selfish pride, the better. In writing this, I am reminded of Bill Drake’s lyrics in a song he wrong, “I am totally abandoned, wrecked at Your feet, I am smitten by forgiveness, broken and complete. Help me to die to my ambitions and my self-erected pride, help me live out on this altar, til in You I’m crucified.”
Surrender to God. You cannot go wrong.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Gratitude/Happiness Pic…I’m loving the early mornings…God paints an amazing sunrise every single day…
Spectacular!