"For everything
was created
by Him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible
and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities —
all things
have been created
through Him and
for Him.
He is
before all things,
and
by Him
all things
hold together."
-Colossians 1:16-17
I love breaking down the words in the bible to get down to the real depth of what the words are saying:
Everything = By Him + through Him + for Him
I mean that equation right there has so much in it I could write a thousand pages on what that truth reveals! But I won't. Or at least not now.
The point being...I am just me. Jamie. This morning I made plans and created a mental to do list, and the moment I sat down to begin my time of talking with God in prayer, I looked on my phone instead, drank my coffee and ate fruit, and then opened Instagram, my email, (all of which were NOT on my mental to do list) haha, and LO and behold time was just zooming by!
I wanted to have my list moving in action, but there I was. Not doing it.
Before I move on to better and meaningful things let me backtrack a few days and show you how God has been molding my spirit and mending my heart.
About a week ago I was driving along the freeway when a small rock cracked against my front windshield. This is not he first time my car window has been hit by a rock. Normally I'd be too scared to do anything at first, I'd feel the pressures of needing to get it fixed, the cost of repair and the ways my friends and family might view me as so unfortunate--which would make me need to gain back whatever dignity I lost from that. However, I saw it and I went through a whole new set of mental processing. Namely, I saw opportunities of growth in my character and in my trust in God and my relationship with others. I was still disappointed, but I wasn't fighting back my pride.
Three days later I was going to school, arrived 15 minutes before class was going to start, couldn't find parking for 20 minutes, and ended up having to park on the opposite end of campus. It would take me an additional 10 minutes to walk to class. By the time I parked I was already 10 minutes late. I calculated that I would now be 20 minutes late, and initially felt how unfair it was since I got to campus 15 minutes early! I sat in my parked car feeling what I always feel when I'm running late: Late. Feeling late is feeling like you're not on time. It's a feeling I really don't like because it makes me feel pressured and rushed and frantic. Haha. So as I sat there in my lateness I decided to open an email and read it. After that I steadily got out of my car, gathered my things, and smoothed the front of my clothes down. If I was going to be late, I was going to enjoy it. I was wearing really uncomfortable shoes, which made that just a little more difficult, but that only meant I had to walk much slower. So I did. It took me 15 minutes to walk to class. I was very late, and it wasn't like I loved it, but I didn't hate it either. I knew there was a reason for why I couldn't find parking and why I ended up wearing the shoes that I did that day, and I rested in that space of meaning. A little boxer's corner in the ring.
Yesterday I was driving and thinking about how all these seemingly small events have revealed such huge changes in me...and then CRACK! A huge rock on the freeway hit the other side of my front windshield and made a crack twice as big as the first one!
I seriously stared at the fragment of chipped glass, and then smiled. I think I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, which, if you're driving by yourself and you get that double feeling, it almost always ends up in laughter. Laughter always wins against tears, because it's just so ridiculous--to let your sadness meet your laughter and not find that irony more funny than sad is rare.
Life keeps happening.
I keep getting thrown fumbles.
I fall, I fail, and I consider Colossians 1:16-17.
Everything finds its place before God.
Every event, every failure, every joy, and every day is before God who has said that this, whatever it is that you are living through, is BY God for some purpose since it went THROUGH God's hands and is ultimately FOR God to make Him more real and true to us.
He wants us as we are.
He paid for that desire with the blood that spilled from His Son's hands, feet and side.
We can come before God as ourselves: failures, frauds, phonies, and fearful.
Let the everyday things show you His every involvement in your life.
Yes there are worries and concerns about the future, and those will never get resolved in the present.
Let me say it again: THOSE WILL NEVER GET RESOLVED IN THE PRESENT.
Why? Because the future is not about our problems being fixed. The future is about the way we find out God's actions from the past. We live in the present, with hope for the future, encouraged by God's faithfulness in our pasts.
Worry/anxiety is usually just a defense against boredom or fear. Boredom and fear are usually a defense against our belief that God is really there, and loves us. So let's be real. Instead of worrying, fearing, or getting bored, I encourage you to come to God just as you are...just there at the core of it all: a defenseless child. With the sobering recognition that there really is nothing you can do to control the outcome of the future.
So what is God doing right now for you?
Have you sat in the boxer's corner? We need that. He sees when we are getting beat up or running low on energy. And He's got a gameplan, but you have to sit down and take a moment to gather your senses back. To refuel and restore lost energies. Rehydrate. Then again...maybe the match is done. And you lost, but the real victory, the victory that's better than winning a match is coming home and celebrating anyway because that's what love is. It's not about winning or losing, it's about you, just as you are.
God is all about that greater victory.
You + Him.
Everything else is a means of getting there.
"For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together."
He's there.
Our present situations are
BY HIM, THROUGH HIM, and FOR HIM.
If God is FOR US, then yea. Whatever is for Him, is also FOR us, His beloveds.
Let His love permeate your worries, fears, and anxieties. Today is for you, because today is by, through and for Him.
Jmegrey
Go to Him.
Especially when your mental to-do list gets botched up. Haha. (I'm still going to attempt to do it, but it's a little different this time, and I hope you experience that shifted curve in your life today too)
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