Reassuring

P 2984 I haven’t got time for what you think of me.

/ DVH

Yeah, I know, cheeky eh? I’ve learnt that there are huge blessings in getting older — it’s like the biggest secret ever. Your bones may snap, crackle and pop, and your brain can’t always find the file you need in your head. But  I try not to concentrate too hard on the fact that my cheese is slowly sliding off my cracker! Mainly because I also run out of energy easily, so I have had to learn to prioritise.

I think that’s why some older people go doodle-lally as they age – they think they need to keep desperately trying to do the things they’ve done all their lives …  Old bodies aren’t designed to do the things young ones can do. I think of it like this – I’ve had my turn on the stage of life, it is time to stand in the wings and encourage the younger players. You don’t have to bow out, just be a mentor to someone else! You could start by teaching grandchildren to cook, most mums are too busy juggling a hundred things and trying not to drop one of them.

Meanwhile, brain cells dying off are actually a real thing! Don’t feel bad about it, or try to stretch yourself so you look like you are still 21, or 44, or some made-up end-figure. If you are older, you have other benefits to replace the instant clarity you enjoyed when you were younger. Things like this: you don’t feel the urge to constantly rush about, because you’ve learnt things have a way of taking care of themselves. You also hopefully learnt it’s OK to make mistakes, mainly because nowadays you can’t help doing it! 

Moses made a huge mistake at the end of his life… let’s just leave that out there, and say no more. After all He WAS Moses! Abraham kept playing pass the parcel with his poor dear wife Sarah – who was a very patient woman if you think about it.  And let’s not go into Job either … yet that old man ended up wiser in the end than he was when he started out. Just don’t ever give up on learning about, and from, the Lord!

And … here comes another benefit … when you get older, meditation comes more easily. At least once a day I end up meditating on the back of my eyelids – it’s really productive. I feel refreshed afterwards. It’s OK, by the way, my eyelids are both still there and functioning, I just can’t control when I close them as well as I used to. When I was younger I was always busy, but I also remember that being younger and having a family, you are often too busy facilitating other people’s lives. The only thing you end up meditating on is the rapidly growing pile of unpaid bills.

So, here is my text for today:“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. 

And here’s my observation. If there is a time for everything, then God has His eye on everything and we don’t have to worry about it. Which is why: “Oh well,” is rapidly becoming my new favourite saying. I know that  rich king, Solomon, who wrote this book said … ‘there is a time’ a lot.  He was a bit repetitive, but I find his sayings strangely reassuring. It means we need to take a breath when one of the aforementioned tough things land on us. When you get older you have time to sort stuff out and pray over it. There are lots of advantages to being older! Some of those things make me feel better about not being able to cash in on: “there’s a time to dance. ” I grew wa-ay past that place … ages ago!

Hallelujah! I am so glad there’s a time for everything and anything – even opposite things. Some Christians act like some of these ugly things aren’t in the bible. We all feel hate, just don’t camp there. Jesus would not have told us what to do about hatred etc. if we didn’t need to know it! My advice is don’t build a village around your feelings … move on. It’s OK to cry, just don’t let it be your lifestyle. There are so many sides to life’s spectrum – enjoy them all. The bad things make the good things even sweeter.  

Jesus had wa-ay more wisdom than Solomon anyway. Check out what He said about these negative things. However banning things, and making rules, usually encourages people to hide what’s going on when they can’t seem to avoid how they feel! This collection of verses totally reassures me that God knows about everything that goes on down here on planet Earth, and He has a plan, a purpose, an end-game for each one of them. YAAAAAAAY! SomeBody Else is in charge and it doesn’t have to be me! Remember, our God understands ‘old.’ He’s not called the Ancient of Days for nothing! 

In this later season of my life I am learning that bad things are total time wasters that can leave you feeling unfulfilled, ashamed and guilty. You wish you had never stuck your head down whatever rabbit hole that popped up in front of you, because your head can get stuck in there. Reflection comes easier with age. But, the truth is, I haven’t got time for what you think of me, because you probably DON’T! You are way too busy, and you have better things on your mind —- good for you. Bye. 👋

P 2363 Nothing can separate us ….

/ DVH

“So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are His lovers who have been called to fulfil His designed purpose.” Romans 8:28 TPT

While reading the above scripture it is worth our while to take into account the phrase “EVERY detail.” Jesus is so incredible, His redemptive work is so perfect and complete, that He can take all that rotten awful stuff we’ve done and work all that out for our good, and everyone else’s good as well! Well. What’s not to love about that? I am glad He took all that ghastly stuff I’ve done and bailed me out – He always has a wa-ay better plan!  

And as my mind is renewed I pray that I will see those things in you too!! This verse shows me that I cannot compare myself to you, because He is also working what is in YOUR life, together for YOUR good. So what’s happening to you may not remotely resemble what’s happening to me – even if it sometimes seems we share similar circumstances. 

Man, I’ve so learnt to hold on tightly to that phrase “continually woven together for good…!” That is so reassuring when it seems I’ve dug myself another dumb hole and can’t get out. What I can see when I read this scripture is that whatever shape I am being changed into, by His applied Grace, this means these things will fit exactly into whatever destiny and purpose He has in His heart for me. PLUS I will fit with whatever He is doing in you. 

At the same time this is where our fellowship will spring from – that weaving. Otherwise we simply talk to one another from our hopefully, renewed minds and emotions, and we are not building one another up in our most holy faith. Our shared passion for Him and His ways springboards us higher and higher and knits us together. Here’s a red hot tip for you  – a lack of real fellowship can easily mean one, or both of us are not truly walking in the light. The thing is, I can’t afford to think there is something wrong with you – it’s me that needs changing – what you do about your faults and weaknesses is not my business – you are here for Jesus – not my convenience. 

My hope is not necessarily in the removal of any of my difficulties, but rather it is about Him using my difficulties to shape me into His Kingdom plan for my life. Although in all honesty there are times I wish He’d tone that shaping down – a tad!! But it kind of changes the shape of everything that happens doesn’t it? It puts trials and tribulations in a different light. I need to practice looking at what is happening to me, and around me from that POV. Things like a grumpy in-law who has never really liked me. Or my boss who seems to actively seek out ways to make my life miserable. 

OR my teenager who WAS the most delightful child, so easy to manage and so compliant!!  But now, it seems like they have turned into devil spawn. 🙄 And now, this wonderful kid exists to pick holes in every area of my life. Now I can’t laugh right, or cook right, or drive right. Everything that happens between me and the kid is accompanied by grumbles, sighs and eye-rolling. Together with the kid’s dismissal of all the normal rules of well-mannered human conduct.  All the books say you are meant to love them with His love but you’re looking at them and … … 😱 !! Actually if it wasn’t your kid you might consider drowning it!

Be of good cheer, God will work all of this together for your good as well!  Just hit the “forgiveness” button and don’t take your finger off of it. Seriously.  We totally undervalue the value of forgiveness. We need to seek it when we are hurting someone, and give it when they hurt us. Forgiveness is powerful – IT SAVED THE WORLD. Billions of people were saved by one supreme act of forgiveness and unconditional love. Praise the Lord!

Our lives are His now. Now, other people cannot take away our ability to act like the Lord Himself did. It is always a choice. Choosing to live our lives His way is our demonstrated love toward Him. We live to love for Jesus’s sake and nothing we do, nothing others do, nothing that is thrown at us … can ever take His love away from us. 👋🏻