Pain is walking into the plan.
Faith is being uncertain.
So many small anecdotes I have learned to help me -R E M E M B E R- because human beings have a brain that is so dang wildly mysterious and oftentimes out of control. We forget certain things or we choose to hold on to certain thoughts or we twist certain truths into a lie or ugly lies into better looking lies to justify ourselves. We must be good and right. We must be found not guilty. And we run from being found out or naked and exposed.
So remember.
There is only one truth and one way and one Life, and His name is Jesus.
I've got a training method that makes more sense than the wild behavior of my brain being allowed run wild as if it always held on to the right thoughts and let go of the bad ones.
All of that is connected to desire, and honestly I have some desires that are not good for me so I know the desire will subtly manipulate my thoughts to get what it wants. Which makes it sound like my desires are not me, when of course they are me and they are my responsibility, but I'm more and more sure that I'm wrong. So even though they are me, I am wrong! This realization helps me trust myself less and trust the only truth, Jesus, more. He is right and good and perfect in all of His ways.
My desires are not always right. For example, my desire to get perfect grades without having to study will twist my thoughts into somehow justifying cheating which I know is not good for me, even though good grades are good for me, especially if I manage to get them by using an optimal way of studying efficiently. Howeevr, somewhere along the way things get real twisted. I want to be skinny but I also want to eat a lot. Meaning I should eat a lot of healthy food and workout because I can get what I want, but things will get twisted and I'll try to starve myself instead or overwork my body in ways that are not healthy.
Desires that are not centered on Christ lead to destructive behaviors that harm us physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.
But when I -R E M E M B E R- I'm wrong I can humbly bring my thoughts to be renewed by the Word of God. He is the truth that rescues me from myself.
About the plan I'm walking into:
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
-Jeremiah 29:11
About the impossible obstacle in front of me:
"I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you"
-Isaiah 43:2
When I begin to fearing losing or missing out on something:
"Don't be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom"
-Luke 12:32
When physical pain hits:
"For it has been given to you on Christ's behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him,"
-Philippians 1:29
When I forget what love looks like and if that's what I'm showing to my friends:
"This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers"
-1 John 3:16
"No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends."
-John 15:13
When I lose hope in myself:
"Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God."
-Psalm 43:5
When I can't feel God near me:
"And remember,
I am with you always,
to the end of the age."
-Matthew 28:20b
When I forget who God is:
"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
When I feel like there is no justice:
"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her fountain run dry."
-Jeremiah 51:36
When I'm feeling weak as heck!:
"But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me."
-2 Corinthians 12:9
When I lose my way and think that God has abandoned me because things are so bad:
“And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
-Isaiah 30:20-21
When I forget just how much God gave up for me and that He is holding back good things from me:
"He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?"
-Romans 8:32
When I get confused by what I hear/see/feel about who I am or what my circumstances mean:
"Absolutely not! God must be true, even if everyone is a liar, as it is written: That You may be justified in Your words and triumph when You judge."
-Romans 3:4
All I do is win.
When I'm unsure about taking on a new thing or taking a risk:
"so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do."
-Isaiah 55:11
It's all God! He is sovereign and whatever I do will be His will being done as I only commit my ways to Him. Through and through.
So many good words of truth in the Word. It's my food. My breath of life again and again. My resurrecting love.
Sometimes we forget.
Actually everyday we forget.
We are always receiving grace for our forgetfulness!
But these truths bring us life.
They remind us: -R E M E M B E R-
When what you know in your head and what your actions reveal to be in your heart don't seem to match up, that's when we are being called to remember.
I often pray this prayer:
"God, what's going on in my heart?"
Then I open up every ugly thought and let Him show me what's beneath the anger or the busyness or the exhaustion or the boredom or the anxiety or the fear.
Then I pray:
"Remind me of the truth."
Because it is written:
"When the Spirit of truth comes,
He will guide you into all the truth.
For He will not speak on His own,
but He will speak whatever He hears.
He will also declare to you
what is to come."
-John 16:13
Prayer is a pause to remember the truth, without which we live a lie. If we are forgetful then prayer must be just as habitual as thinking.
Jmegrey
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