The Path of Least Resistance

Isaiah 55:8 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

Sometimes life doesn’t make sense. Over the last few months, I’ve been pondering why we are forced to spend so much of our time at work, often doing something we don’t enjoy, so that later in life (if we live that long), we are able to “retire” and enjoy ourselves. Our lives are so short that it seems meaningless to live this way. I go through periods where I wake up and find it very difficult to get out of bed and go to work, and I gloomily tread through the evenings knowing I must get up the next day and do it all over again. All the while, my list of things I’d like to do just keeps getting longer and longer as it is neglected. I begin to feel like life is out of control, like I’m reaching my wits end, like nothing makes any sense and nothing feels right.

I know I’m not alone in these feelings. I hear people often say that they are tired, stressed, overwhelmed, over-worked, under paid, unappreciated, depressed, and unhappy. So why are we all feeling this way and spending our short time here dissatisfied? What can we do about it?

I’ve thought about this a lot. I decided that if I’m not happy doing the work I’m doing now, I have three choices: first, I can just continue to do it anyway; second, I could quit working and probably eventually become homeless; or third, I could figure out what I would enjoy doing and do it. Now granted, I would enjoy not having to work another day of my life and spending every waking minute doing whatever I wanted. But the reality remains that bills have to be paid and food has to bought, and I am not, unfortunately, independently wealthy. So… I decided to go with option three. I am in the process of starting my own business. I am excited, but it is a painstakingly slow process. There is a part of me that would love to just quit my full-time job and devote all of my time to this business venture. And those days when it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning, or tough to get through the night of dread, it seems really easy to just call and say, “I’m never coming back to work.”

It’s times like these, though, that it is imperative to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with the Man Upstairs. You see, sometimes I think we get so caught up in what we want and what we think we need that we often neglect to include God in our plan or just pray to Him that He’ll give us what we want. Rarely, do we actually stop and consider whether our desires fit his plan and even more rarely do we set aside the time to listen to what He has to say. When things get especially rough for me and I just want to quit, I try to take the time to just sit and listen. Often, I come away with a sense of peace that I must continue to work my full-time job for now. It’s not peaceful because I like it, but it’s peaceful because I know it’s His way. He wants to provide for all of my needs and He knows that He has already blessed me with a steady, good job to do that. Besides, I’m sure there is some reason that He wants me to come in to my work place everyday. He must need me there for something.

Does that mean I should abandon my dream of owning my own business? No. It just means that I have to do things God’s way. For some, that may mean quitting their job and moving into retirement. For others, it may mean finding more time to spend with family. Every one’s situation is different and I can never begin to give advice on what someone else should or shouldn’t do in their own lives. But I do know that His ways are the best ways even if they don’t align with our own ways. And whenever we choose to go down a path without Him or against His will, we are guaranteed resistance.

What is He directing you to change on the path you are walking right now?

Demolishing Debt

Proverbs 22:7 – The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.

Proverbs 22:26-27 – Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.

1 Corinthians 7:23 – You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.

They say that one of the greatest causes of divorce is disagreements over finances. Thankfully, my husband and I seem to be on the same page in this area and have been very diligent in our spending since our first date. We managed to plan our wedding without accumulating any debt and in the first 7 months of marriage, we have paid off almost $8,000 in previously acquired debt. Over the course of last week, we decided to revamp our budget a bit. I created a spreadsheet of all of our bills, their monthly amounts due, and due dates. We looked at those pesky annual expenses that seem to sneak up on us every year like our auto registration fees, snowplowing service, and vacation expenses. We took those and added them into our monthly budget so that when those bills came due, the money would already be there. We also looked at any areas we might be able to cut costs.If we had implemented all of the cost saving measures we found, we could have reduced almost another $300 in outgoing expenses every MONTH! We took a look at our remaining debt (two student loans and a mortgage) and also what our savings goals were over the next few years (a larger emergency fund, a third vehicle, and a basement remodel) and decided to implement only some of the cost cutting measures. That being said, we should be debt free (with the exception of the mortgage) by next February. We are excited and motivated!

So what does all this have to do with a Christian daily-living blog post? Well, God has some pretty strong opinions about debt and His ideas are pretty motivating to us to get all that accumulated debt paid off. When we make a choice to go into debt, we become subject to those we are borrowing from. This could be a bank, a friend, a family member, etc. Nonetheless, we are then required to behave according to how that lender directs us. We must make payments when we are told and in the amounts we are told. If we don’t, we are penalized. Debt can very quickly spiral out of control and we can begin to lose things that we hold most dear. In some cases, our relationships. God does not include this in His plan for our lives. The Bible tells us over and over again how much God wants to and has already blessed us. So much so, that He has given us everything we need. A debt free life should be our way of life.

Sometimes getting to that debt free life means making some painful cuts to the things we enjoy for a while. For example, we have committed to eating on a $50 per week budget until our debt is paid off. That means creative grocery shopping and coupon cutting. It also means we won’t have prime cuts of meat for dinner or an excess of pre-packaged foods for snacks. We are also cutting our spending allowance each month. This means we must be conscious of the plans we make and we must find ways to spend our time that are cheap or even free. We are also looking at cutting out our satellite TV bill each month. Now that it’s summer, we can get outside and walk, work in the yard, play tennis, read, study our Bibles, or just sit and chat with another instead of watching a couple of hours of TV each night.

I highly encourage every single person that is taking the time to read this post to sit down and examine your spending habits. Make it a challenge to yourself to see how much debt you can pay off and how quickly. If you’re already debt free, make it a challenge to see where you can cut spending to increase savings. God wants us to enjoy our lives, not be bound by working off our debt for all of our years. I finished off our new budget binder with a cover sheet displaying this verse: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).”

Wishing you a happy and blessed week of savings!

Please God? Pretty Please?

Ephesians 1:11-12 – In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you find something you really want and you start praying (even begging) God to give it to you? You even petition your friends and family to help you beg (I mean pray) to God that you receive it? I tend to be the annoying family member or friend that calmly states, “Well, if it’s meant to be, it will be.” I say annoying because I know how it feels when you’re in the middle of that strong irrational desire and someone calmly and rationally attempts to bring you back down to reality. But more often than not, that annoying person is often right.

Over the last week I was petitioned by someone to pray that they would receive the item they so desired. My response? “If it’s meant to be, it will be.” I did pray though. I prayed that God’s will would be done, that His ultimate purpose would be fulfilled, and that his/her heart would be open to whatever that purpose and will was. The following day, I got a phone call letting me know that the item so desired was not obtained. Unfortunately, that letdown led to some anger, resentment, depression, and anxiety on behalf of the person desiring it. I tried to offer comforting words and encouragement, but we all know it’s hard to hear that when we’re in that place of disappointment. It’s hard to understand why our begging to God just didn’t work.

Funny thing happened though. The following day (just two days after the first petition), I got another phone call requesting prayers and petitions for an item “even better than the first!” Suddenly, my annoying response kind of clicked. “If it’s meant to be, it will be.”

When we’re in the midst of wanting something so badly, we forget so quickly that God has our best interest in mind. We get caught up in praying (and begging) God to give us what we want that we forget about the possibility that the object of our desire may not be the best out there. Even though we can’t see anything better, nor can we imagine anything better, our God can see ALL things, ALL possibilities, ALL blessings. He knows what we need, He has a plan to bless us more richly than we can even imagine! It’s up to us to take a step back from our objects of desire and just kindly ask:

Father, please, if it’s in your will, may I have this blessing? And Lord, if for any reason, it’s not in your will for me to have this, I trust you. You know what it is best for me and I know that you desire to bless me in ways that I cannot even fathom. Let your will be done. Amen.

Where Is God In All Of This?

Romans 8:38-39 – For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

He is greater than all of this.
He is power to go on.
He is weeping in the midst of this.
He is saddened.
He is offering strength to move forward from this.
He is in the heart of the hero.
He is by our side through the experience of this.
He is our provider.
He is the great healer from all of this.
He is victorious.
He is our comforter despite this.
He is redeeming.
He is above all of this.
He is light.
He is love surrounding all of this.
He is reconciling.
He is hope in this.
He is courage.
He is assuring in the course of this.
He is our Father.
He is leading us out of this.
He is freedom.
He is a friend in the middle of this.
He is available.
He is wisdom inside of this.
He is righteous.
He is safety in the core of this.
He is great.
He is justice because of this.
He is forgiving.
He is fighting in the face of this.
He is planning.
He is creating even through this.
He is holy.
He is good regardless of this.
He is perfect.
He is God, unchanging.

Biblical Fitness

1 Timothy 4:7-8 – Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

About three weeks ago, I started a new workout routine. Okay, I’ll be honest, about three weeks ago, I started a workout routine. I’m pretty impressed with myself as I haven’t missed a day yet. I’m one of those people who doesn’t necessarily look like I need to work out (or so people tell me), yet I am winded after walking up one flight of stairs. So I made a commitment to myself to get into shape so that I could be healthier and have more energy. Okay, time to be honest again. It’s almost shorts and bathing suit season and I’d like to be presentable to those who will be forced to see me in shorts and bathing suits. I’m not really trying to “impress” anyone (other than my husband) but deep down inside, I do want to look good and healthy on the beach.

With that in mind, my husband and I started a circuit training class last week offered through his employer. It’s a great way for us to work-out together and mix up our exercise routine a little bit too. Following our first class, we were finishing up dinner and opening up our devotional for the evening and the above verse was the heading. As I read those words, “For physical training is of some value, but…” I felt a sense of shame come over me. There I sat devotional on one side of me, workout schedule on the other. I glanced over to the workout schedule and noticed all the check mark’s, notes, and big red stars. I looked back at my devotional….no marks at all. My Bible? Dusty. Hmm, I thought, perhaps I am more “out of shape” than I thought.

I continued reading. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 12-13, 15-16).

I started thinking about God’s ultimate purpose for my life and how much time I was really spending pursuing it. While God does expect us and encourage us to take care of our bodies while we’re here on earth, we’re expected to do that upkeep not to impress others, but simply so that we can go on living out His will. After all, after this life, our physical bodies don’t matter. My perfect three weeks of working out will not prevent my neighbor from having a heart attack or lower my best friend’s cholesterol. In other words, my physical fitness progress will not save anyone else. But my biblical fitness, that is a powerful thing. If I am spiritually fit, my teaching, my conduct, my words, my faith, my level of purity all become a testimony to every single person I encounter. And as I encounter them, I have the opportunity to save them.

I am not giving myself wholly to godly things. I have become distracted. I have not been watching my life and my doctrine closely. I have not been persevering. My focus has been on things of this world, not the next. I have spent much more time on bicep curls and triceps extensions than on bible verse memorization. I have run many more miles than the chapters I have read in my Bible. I have tracked my fitness class attendance much more diligently than my bible study or worship service attendance. I have not been training myself to be Godly, as God intended. I am more out of shape than I thought.

Being able to climb a flight of stairs without becoming winded is nothing compared to being able to climb that glorious staircase into heaven and say to my Father, I have persevered.