Five forty- five am. Still dark. Alarm goes off. I get out of bed wishing I didn’t have to. I go out of one bedroom into another one, to wake up the kids. No one will be happy.
By the time we head out for school, lots of things happen: showers taken, breakfast fed, correction given, booboo’s kissed, grumpiness clearly expressed, silly laughter hushed, and a second coffee desperately needed. Joyful noise, angry noise- all compressed in those two hours before we hand them over to the poor teachers who I highly respect and feel for.
And everyday it seems to be a repeat performance.
Most times I leave the bedroom unprepared to deal with my own frustrations, struggles or sins… let alone deal with other people’s frustrations, struggles, or sins.
Deal with YOU first
- Peek into your heart and mind. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
- Pick up the bible and don’t open to random pages. Have a reading plan. Take it from one end to the other or, choose a book of the bible. Follow a devotional book. Don’t take verses out of context to make them fit your need, you risk misinterpreting the Scriptures. That’s how you come up with a Prosperity Gospel. “Keep this book of the Law always on your lips, meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” NIV Joshua 1:8
- Pray like crazy. David prayed when he was crushed by sin. Hannah prayed when she desired a baby boy. Moses prayed when others frustrated him. Paul prayed for the ‘thorn in the flesh’ to be taken away. Jesus prayed for food, for miracles, and for pain to be removed. Talk to Jesus all day long, and in the end be ok to say as Jesus did: “yet not my will, by yours be done.” So, pray like you mean it. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” NIV Romans 12:12
- Put feet to your faith. On this one I will let Scriptures do the work: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it- not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it- they will be blessed in what they do.” I’m pretty sure if you were to look into the mirror and see chocolate ice cream all over your face you would try to fix that with a splash of water, unless you are a toddler and don’t know any better. Or, after lunch break at work, you go to the bathroom and you see that bright green spinach leaf stuck on your white- yellowish teeth… you would try to fix that. When we look into the mirror it makes us take action. The Bible is our soul mirror. Let it trigger some action today.
Memory Verse: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
Things I need to work on:
- read the Bible daily for at least 10 minutes a day for one week, the second week increase to 15 minutes.
- pray throughout the day for big things, for small things
- be consistent with my quiet time with God