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POWER TO RECREATE OURSELVES

Jesus is Jewish, so I study the Torah.

For this weeks Torah Portion I studied Shabbat Bereishit — “Shabbat of Beginning” — the first Shabbat of the annual Torah reading cycle, on which the Torah section of Bereishit (“In the Beginning”) is read.

The following Daily Thought is out of the Chabad.org for October 18, 2025. Its last sentence spoke to me:

Daily Thought – The Fragile Universe

As long as everything is going smoothly and you are doing everything right, every step is going to be predictable, as though you’re following a script. 

You go to school, you please your teachers, you graduate college and get a nice job. Nothing new. Nothing radical.

But with one failure along the way, one little crash in the system, and entirely new possibilities open up. Now you get to turn life around, all on your own.

The human universe through which our lives travel is so fragile. Perhaps it is intentionally so. Perhaps it is a great gift from our Creator, so that just as He created a world out of nothing, so we will create surprise and wonder out of the messes in our lives.

So that we can share in that most essential divine power: The power to recreate our own selves.

———–

A year ago I was in a BIG mess. I was tied into an important ministry role but felt burned out. I was tied into a high level professional real estate role and felt burned out. God saw the mess my life was in and slammed the doors on these two very significant professional and ministry positions.

I remember asking myself (and God) at the time “How do I get out of this stress and pressure?’ What do I need to change?” His answer was “everything”! Everything needed to change.

I had become so consumed by work, ministry and serving others that I had lost my purpose and felt trapped. The Lord answered my prayers in a very unexpected way – he suddenly removed me from these two positions and slammed the doors behind me. He removed the pressure by not allowing me to go back into ministry or to get another job for several months. He literally stopped “everything” to clean up the mess and to recreate my life.

God took and is taking my life in a new direction. It feels familiar, but yet it is brand new. I live in Granbury, Tx but it feels like Lakeville, MN. He is shifting me into more residential real estate but it feels a lot like commercial real estate. He has me coaching new agents, but it feels a lot like ministry. He’s even shifted my faith. It’s painful when God slams doors. That pain put me in a position to chose. I needed to chose to go forward with him, or go back to my old ways. The process of moving forward boosted my faith, trust and purpose. Instead of self-reliance, I have set my eyes on Jesus and am working towards who Rebekah Jo really is. Not Rebecca Jo, the name I was given at birth, but Rebekah Jo, the person God pre-destined me to be. I used to drive towards being the person I thought I should be, but now I am abiding in his love and allowing him to unfold who he is recreating me to become.

God has perfect timing. He aligned this re-creation to His calendar and to His Son. He opened my eyes and as I read the torah portion this week, the words revealed to me “Shabbat of Beginnings” which confirms I am in the right place. It speaks of starting over, and the promises of a fresh start. Isn’t that what Jesus is all about?

Therefore, if anyone is united with the Messiah, he is a new creation – the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new! 2 Corinthians 5:17

With surprise and wonder, God is cleaning up my messy life.

Shabbat Shalom.

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When facing giants, trust in the promises.

“Today if you hear is voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Hebrews 3:7-4:1

The Israelites were witnesses to God’s great miracles. He parted the seas for them. He created food for them. He lived among them in the tabernacle and showed them where to go through the movement of His glory cloud. Despite these miracles, the first generation of Israelites who were released from Egyptian bondage and were headed to freedom in the land of “milk and honey” were forbidden entry. They died in the desert because they refused to believe God and forgot about his miracles. When they heard the spies testimony about the giants in the land, and the high walls around the cities, they hardened their hearts and responded in fear.

This was not the first time this generation of Israelites responded in fear. They were often going to Moses and grumbling about their life in the desert. Complaining to him about the lack of food and water, and their living situation. They hated it so much they threatened to find a new leader who would take them back to Egypt. Wanting to appease their complaints, Moses would go to God and petition on their behalf. In his grace, mercy and kindness the Lord would answer the petition and answer their needs. This went on over and over again, in fact, at least 10 times.

How often do we, despite the evidence of God’s existence in our lives, choose not to trust God? How often do we, when presented with physical pain, financial hardship, poverty or a challenging circumstance, decide to grumble instead of believing in God’s promises? Be careful of this. Over and over again we are offered choices to believe. Creation is filled with the evidence of God, yet because we cannot see Jesus in the room we choose to see our circumstances as giants that cannot be overcome. Apostle Paul warns us about this in Hebrews 3:12 when he says “Watch out, brothers, so that there will not be any one of you an evil heart lacking trust, which could lead you to apostatize from the living God.” Which means, do not let your heart believe against God. We have heard the good news of Jesus Christ. We have witnessed his healing within us. We have seen the glory of his creation and as a result we are to believe in his promises and trust him.

Though the Israelites heard the promises and witnessed God’s miracles they behaved as if He was not true. They did not believe in his promises. Essentially, weren’t they calling God a liar? That is a very tough question, indeed. None of us would want to be accused of calling God a liar. But if you had a friend that disbelieved in what you told him, would you not state he is calling you a liar? Wouldn’t you challenge your friend by saying that he distrusts you? Why then wouldn’t the Lord respond to you in kind?

Paul goes on to explain in Chapter 4 of Hebrews that we actually should be terrified of responding in distrust. Responding in this way could result in our “falling short of entering into his rest.” He states, that the promise of God’s rest which is guaranteed in our belief of the “good news” will be at risk if we choose to distrust. He states that even though we have heard the “good news”, it does not do us any good if we don’t combine it with trust. We cannot just believe in Jesus, we must trust him. “For it is we who have trusted who enter the rest” (Hebrews 4:3).

So “Today, if you hear God’s voice, don’t harden your hearts” when facing difficult circumstances. Believe in Jesus who came and died for you, so that you may receive the promises. Hold firmly to that truth and encourage other believers to trust too. Together, as we walk in belief and trust, we will not only see our Lord slay giants and move mountains, we will also live in rest knowing we will soon walk into his promised land.

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A scientific approach to a spiritual walk

My heart is pumping and my mind is going a hundred thoughts a minute.  “What’s next Lord?”, “Am I making the right decisions?”, “What should I be doing?”, “Are you hearing me Lord?”, “Could you answer me Lord?”, “I’m confused and discouraged Father”.  “Father, help.”  These are my thoughts after experiencing an outcome that has not aligned with my expectations.    Remove the words “Lord and Father” and these questions are asked by anyone, including the unbelievers, trying to find their way through life.

I love to solve puzzles and complex problems.  Tearing apart the components and solving for outcomes is something I really enjoy doing.    Making decisions and walking them out with the Lord has become my life’s largest complex problem.    I’m constantly in my head working out the components and anticipating outcomes.  I experiment with my decisions by factoring in past results, considering the unknowns,  breaking down my data then putting them all together again in order to define an anticipated outcome.  A scientific approach using a lifetime of data.  Sometimes I’m right and the outcome is what I thought would happen but most times I’m wrong. 

Recently, I have been using much less life experience data and much more prayer, signs, wonders and Holy Spirit input to see if that strategy is more accurate.  Although, it has been a much more Kingdom involved process,  I’m still often times wrong in my outcome.  My expected outcome rarely aligns with what actually happens.

I’m right just often enough to keep trying, but not enough to find a predictable pattern.  Which ultimately is my goal.  My hopes in all of this experimentation is to discover a God led pattern to my life decision making.    To discover a strategy where I can be  so confident in my decision making process that I have much less error in predicting my future and can continue forward fully assured that I’m walking the “straight path” with God.

What I have discovered through these experiments, is that as much as I have become very good at problem solving, there are still too many variables to predict God’s outcome.  I continually refine my processes and data and yet, more often than not, my outcomes are not what I anticipate.   

Believe me, it has not been easy.    All this data.  All this thinking.  All this disappointment.  Yet,  I will continue trying.  However, through all of this experimenting I am learning some very important things. Firstly, God is more interested in my process than he is in my outcome.  Secondly, he loves the time I spend with him trying to figure it out and he is not disappointed when I get it wrong.  But most importantly,  even though for the life of me I can’t figure out my own way, God knows where I’m going.    God knows that no matter which way I turn, my path ultimately leads straight to him.  Which in the end is all that really matters. 

The simple answer to my life’s complex problem solving is one final and perfect outcome.  Which is, and always will be, God.

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Decisions with God

Working through our plans with God is complicated.  It includes signs, prophetic words, prayer, AND human reason.    We step out, we pray, we listen, we observe, we guess, and then we move without clear confirmation of whether or not we are going in the right direction until we actually experience the outcome.    Most of the time, if it’s God’s outcome than it isn’t what we expect.  So we end up in a place wondering if we actually heard God or moved without him. 

We are  always working through transition.    One foot in now,  walking in today, yet processing thoughts about tomorrow.  Where are we going God?  What do you want us to do?  We seek answers through prayer, fasting, prophetic words, dreams, study, journaling and quiet times with the Lord.  We experiment with our answers through discerning our steps and anticipating our outcomes.    Many times our expectations do not align with God’s outcomes.  Leaving us confused and uncertain.    This process is all orchestrated by the Lord.  He is truly in the middle of what we are experiencing, although we are unsure.    He has designed the process.  He has created the outcome.  We are walking with him, yet we cannot see him.   

Childlike faith includes not seeing where we are going, or managing our own outcomes.  Childlike faith includes hope in our tomorrow regardless of the darkness or disappointment within our present circumstance.    Childlike faith includes believing that God works EVERYTHING out for our good and his goodness is greater than we can ever imagine.  Childlike faith includes trusting God in such a way that He is allowed total control over our lives because we know that he loves us.

The mystery that is revealed through the adventure of our lives predestined through our Creator tells a story.  It is a story of faith.  It is a story of trust.  It is a story of love.    This story is revealed one step at a time, one day at a time, one season at a time.    We are in the middle of an amazing story which is our lives walked out with God.    We get to determine how it is revealed, we get to experience the feelings of the unknown, we get to live out the mystery of the miracles and the connections of the Kingdom.    We are not given a road map, but we are given clues to our certain destiny.    Clues revealed through seeing and listening for God’s revelation through his creation, words, signs and wonders.    We need to be open to these things in order to experience our journey. Being open to new things and living in wonder requires childlike faith.  When we live with childlike faith our uncertainty becomes clear and our lives unfold like a beautiful flower in the middle of the Garden of Eden.

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Becoming

I sit in my desk chair this morning weeping.  Reading in scripture “For it is He who trusted who enter the rest” Hebrews 4: 3.   After a life time of pursuing, after a lifetime of achieving, after a life time of going after things that I perceive are who I am, I discover all has been for naught.  Even while I have lived in the perspective of “following God”.  Trying with my whole heart to do as he has called me to do; pressing into scripture; understanding his signs and living by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I discovered today that my underlying motivation has taken me into a lifelong journey that really has not been the way the Lord has wanted me to live.   That although my heart is in the right place and my desires are pure in that I truly want to live my life following the Lord, it has been encumbered by a deep root of performance that has influenced every decision I have made.   A mind set that is deeply rooted and developed from my early childhood upon layers of acceptance seeking, shame avoidance and people pleasing.    Becoming a person that people like.   Becoming a person that people admire.   Becoming a person people want to know.   Becoming a person that my family would be proud of, my husband and daughter will love, and my friends can trust.  Becoming the person my boss finds valuable, my business peers find inspirational and my co-workers find pleasant to be around.  

 “Becoming” is a word that reflects performance.   It is a tricky word because the world encourages “becoming”.   The world likes people who “become” all of the things that are popular and endearing to those who represent the world.   However, scripture reflects “becoming” is not what we should endeavor to be.  In fact, the Lord says, we must “rest” and we must “trust”.   It is “He who has trusted who enters the rest”.  Rest requires trust.   Rest requires letting go of all that I deem important and replacing it with all that God deems important.   Rest is the opposite of performance.   Rest requires letting go of works. 

Letting go is not easy.   Trusting is not easy.   Resting is not easy.   It means, giving up all that I have become to receive all that He has.   It requires a complete willingness to walk into all that he has for me and not all that I want for me.    Performing for God requires resting in Him.   Obeying God requires trusting him.    Resting and trusting are states of being, and not states of doing.  Mind bending thoughts for one who has lived 50 years performing.   Living under the lie that God requires me to do something, living under the perspective that I am doing well when I am performing well.    Living under the pressures of the world, when the Lord says reject the world.   

Today I realize that the old Becky had become something that was not God’s desire.   His original plan for me was to become what he has designed me for and not what the world requires.   Today I am ready to give up the world and walk within what he has designed.  I do not know who that Becky is, but I’m sure she is amazing.   Because all that God creates is amazing.   I get to discover her every minute of every day as I move into my tomorrow, not living by performance, but by just trusting and resting in Him.

butterflies photo credit goes to https://stocksnap.io/author/suzyhazelwood

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From Abram to Abraham; from “now what, Lord? to “what’s next, Lord?”

12 Now the Lord said[a] to Abram, “Go from your country[b] and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”[c]4 So Abram went,

https://biblehub.com/esv/genesis/12.htm

Abram was 75 when God told him to “Go”.    God told him to leave his family, friends and home to head out to a place unknown.   God told him that he would go to a place he would show him.  God did not tell him how quickly he would get there, he didn’t even tell him where he was to go.   In obedience and trust, Abram just went.  It doesn’t seem as though Abram asked God a lot of questions such as “where are you taking me?” Or “what should I pack?” Or “what am I taking with me?”.   Scripture doesn’t reference any questions asked by Abram, instead he just went.    Why did he go?  Apparently, Abram had spent enough time with God through his first 75 years that he had learned to hear his voice.     He not only recognized it, but he also knew to obey it.    Abram is referenced within the first 12 chapters of the Bible.   He is brought into scripture right behind Noah.   In fact he is a direct descendant of Noah, through Noah’s son Shem.  

Abram went on his way to Canaan and landed at the Tree of Moreh.   The Lord APPEARED to Abram and gave him the promise that as far as he could see he would give that land to him.   That is a very big promise.    The land was occupied and Abram did not have any family with him other than Sarai and Lot and they did not have any children yet, so I’m sure he had a hard time imagining that he would own all that he could see.   From there he went to Bethel.   I wonder why he left?   Scripture does not reveal that God asked him to go.   He went from Bethel to Negev.   So even though he was brought to Canaan (the promised land), witnessed God, and received the promise of having that land, Abram chose to leave it.

When we choose to live our life under the direction of God and not ourselves we oftentimes find ourselves in unfamiliar circumstances where we aren’t sure what our next step should be.   If we are young in our faith walk and still developing our ability to hear the Lord, then these circumstances are very difficult to navigate.    Our first reaction is typically to go back to our human process which is to use reason, worldly experience and  the input from other worldly friends.   This a natural reaction because our inexperience with God has us in distrusting or maybe unaware of his ways.   Worldly decision making is typically how we have been raised and taught.    Critical thinking, gathering data, and considering risk are the popular approaches to worldly decision making.    Our parents model these processes, the schools teach them, and the Church has not been very effective in teaching believers how to trust God.  As a result,  we grow up applying worldly processes to our decision making and as we experience the results over and over again,  we become ingrained into trusting in our own ways.   In Isaiah 55:8  it says, “For your thoughts are not my thoughts neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord”.   Herein lies the problem in trusting our own ways.    The world’s process works fine as long as we stay in the world.  It’s when we make a choice to follow the Lord’s ways that the world’s ways becomes a problem.   We try to apply reason, data and risk to problem solving, yet at the same time ask the Lord in prayer for His ways, and the result is typically confusion.   Why is it confusing?   Because we are using human reasoning and not trust.   We have not developed trust in God, so we don’t know how to move forward with him.    Developing trust in God requires letting go of our own ways.  Letting go of our own ways when we can’t see or hear God is difficult, because our natural reflex is to go back to our own way.   Why do we go back to our own way?  Because of risk.   Following God is risky because it’s an undeveloped strategy.   Add risk into our decision making and most people will default to what they know and not to faith.   Abram had the same issue.  It seemed that he got confused about where he should be even though the Lord spoke very clearly to him that he was in the promised land.  Why would Abram leave the promised land?  Put yourself in his shoes.    Through faith you have left everything you know, traveled far far away from there to a place that is unfamiliar, and filled with foreigners and foreign ways.   Every day you’re with strange people in a strange land.   You heard God give you clear direction to “go” and he has also given you a clear promise over this strange land and people, but God isn’t with you 100% of the time and every day you are put in circumstances that are uncomfortable. Though the Lord has told you it is your promised land, you still feel like a foreigner.  Their ways are not your ways, is uncomfortable enough, but now add a famine to the mix. How would you respond if you left your home and your livelihood and now couldn’t feed your family?   Would you stay or would you go somewhere else?   As your family is becoming hungry looking at you to provide and you are praying in earnest but the Lord is not putting abundance on your table, what will your decision process be?  Your resources are disappearing, what will you do? Will it be to trust in God and in His promises or will it be to go back to worldly reason and go find some food?    Until you have surrendered to God in this manner you will never know the true answer, you will speculate.   Until God puts you in a position of complete trust, you will never be able to experience it.   Complete trust requires giving up all that you know for all that he is.    It requires giving up your ways to his ways.    Until you are able to do this you will have one foot in the world and the other foot in faith.   Standing in confusion as to which way to go.   Trying to choose faith, but too scared to really do it.   Faith requires complete trust.   Complete trust requires giving up all that you know.   Maybe even giving up your family, friends, job, home and bank account.   Are you willing to do this?   If you haven’t done this, then I challenge you to question your faith level. Abram who became Abraham is one of the fathers of faith that Paul describes in the book of Hebrews.   Faith is the answer.   How well are you truly doing at it?    Answering that question will lead you to the answer for your circumstances.   There is no other way to truly follow Jesus but through faith.   How well are you doing at faith? Answer that question.   Answer it honestly.   Better yet, ask God how he thinks you’re doing at it.   If His answer is silence, then the response to silence is to get going.  Get going in your quest for faith like Abram.  If you don’t “go”,  you will be left wandering and wondering.  Wandering in your circumstances and wondering what to do next.   To “go” means to walk forward in complete faith.  To “go” means to be willing to give up all that you know for all that God is.   To “go” means to sit at the foot of the cross and give all that you have to serve Jesus.  To “go” will lead you to finding your new identity, your provision , your peace, and God’s promises for you.   Hold the Lord’s hand and move forward in faith.  Let him guide your way.   It seems very risky, but the truth is that the world’s way leads to confusion and eventually death. God’s way leads to eternal life. 

God’s way leads from “now what, Lord?” to “what’s next, Lord?”

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Deep breath in, then slowly exhale

So Abraham waited patiently in faith and succeeded in seeing the promise fulfilled. Hebrews 6:15

Stay Steadfast. Hold. Don’t panic. Keep your eyes on the prize. Believe that a better day is coming. You can’t see it, but your future is bright and good. God loves you and is good. This too will pass. Jesus will bring victory.

These are some of the thoughts I try to repeat as I walk through this flurry of adversity. I have faced trials before, many trials. But this series of trials seems to be lingering longer than normal. I’m exhausted. I wake up every morning feeling as if I did not rest. It’s as if my mind continued to dance in room of adversity all night instead of resting peacefully. Heaviness is in the air. It’s not only a physical heaviness, but also a spiritual heaviness. The dark and toxic air wants to choke my hope and darken my optimism. Fire battles rage, Covid battles rage, relationship battles rage and physical battles rage.

I would like to think that I am an optimistic person. It’s in my nature, whether it be learned or natural, to look at the bright side of things. But, when trials last over a period of months, and the atmosphere is filled with toxic air and the sun cannot be seen for weeks, my human spirit starts to get tired and my optimism starts to wane. Even a marathon runner knows the finish line is coming and by keeping that thought in the forefront he is able to press through that final hill. However, this series of trials are lingering, and the finish line is not in sight. Making it hard to keep pressing through the never ending hills.

Endurance. Hills build endurance. Why do I need endurance? Because even though these trials will end, there will be more to come. Future trials will even be hotter and longer. Why? Because the enemy is raging. He is in his final hours and he knows it. He is backed into a corner wounded and flailing. He is attempting to do as much damage as he can before he admits defeat.

The world is oblivious to this evil. It has adapted to the toxic air. It has learned how to breath despite the pollution pouring into its lungs. God’s world does not include toxins. Gods world does not include strife. Gods world does not include threats and death. But the enemies world has convinced itself that this is the best it can do. This world does not know God, so it is lost in its perspective. It is drowning in toxic thoughts and adapting, instead of fighting for life and truth.

As I look out the window today, my view is dark. Smoke filled air has settled over the land and the sun is no where to be seen. But, the sun is still out there. It rises in the sky and passes by minute by minute to measure each day. I cannot see it, but it’s there. It is waiting for its moment to breakthrough. Jesus is also waiting for his moment to breakthrough. Though the battles rage, and we cannot see him, he too is just waiting for the right moment to enter in and bring His victory. Knowing this, I take a deep breath in and slowly exhale, then repeat. Enduring the battles and waiting on the promise.

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Rest for your soul

Photo by Victor Freitas on Pexels.com

I was exhausted from life.  Working so hard to be the best mom, wife, daughter and real estate professional I could be.   Don’t get me wrong, my life was great.  I had a great job, a husband who adored me, lived in my hometown surrounded by family and friends, a beautiful home and a very beautiful and healthy teenage daughter.  I was living the life that I created and wanted.  I strove hard to have all of these things.  It was my definition of “living the dream”.  By all appearances I’m sure most thought I was living a blessed life and honestly, I was.   I was pushing 40 years old and had achieved all that I had worked for.   Yet, there was something missing.  There was a call in my heart that I couldn’t quite answer.   It wasn’t a new call.  It was a voice that I had been trying to please all of my life and here I was at the pinnacle of achieving everything a person could want and that voice was still there, unquenched. 

It was a loud voice.   One that would wake me up every morning, literally flying me out of bed, commanding me to get started on all of the things that needed to be accomplished that day.   Day after day I ran like I was running out of time and every moment was filled with production.  I was running, working, coaching, cooking, cleaning, leading, and loving has hard as I could.  You name it, I was doing it, and at a very high level.  I eventually hit a wall, exhausted, but the voice didn’t quit. It yelled, “don’t stop!  there is more to do!  get going!” So, even in my exhaustion I kept running.

Does this life sound familiar to you?  Are you exhausted?  Is there a voice inside of you driving you to move ahead, but you can’t ever seem to get to where it wants to take you?

This is not the life God intended for you.  Productive, yes, successful, yes, blessed, yes, healthy, yes, but exhausted, no.   Being exhausted is not in God’s plan.

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

I’ve heard this verse preached a hundred times.  I’ve read it in my bible a hundred times.  I’ve repeated it in prayer a hundred times. Yet, why was I still so tired?   Why was I still weary and burdened?   What does it mean to take Jesus’ yoke?   How would taking his yoke find rest for my soul?   

Jesus was painting a very vivid picture through his words, but I had a very hard time understanding his analogy.   I understood what a “yoke” was, but I didn’t understand the context he was using it in.

I grew up on a farm and had brothers who loved horses, which is where I learned about a yoke.   My brothers were skilled in training teams of large horses to pull wagon’s and I loved to watch them do it.  They would start by training each horse individually, one at a time. First, they would hook up one of the horses to pull until that horse was confident in its role and obedient to my brother’s directions. Then they would harness the second horse to pull along side it.   The first horse was the one that was trusted to do everything as commanded because it had learned how to be obedient to my brothers voice.  The second horse was guided to learn through the first horse, which made his learning much easier.   The lead horse listened to my brother (their “master”) and the second one followed what the lead horse was doing and together they pulled the wagon.  

I loved riding on the wagon when the lead horse obediently trusted my brothers guidance and the second horse obediently followed the lead. However, it was scary when either one of them decided to disobey and move within their own will. These actions caused the horses to work against each other and veer the wagon into a direction my brother didn’t want to go. My brother would then have to correct their disobedience. Through correction, they learned that working together and listening to him created a much better experience for all.

In Jesus’ analogy, he is wearing the yoke of The Master (God) who has the reigns.   He is inviting us into God’s journey, along side and underneath his yoke.   If we choose to do this, not only does Jesus promise that he will carry the burden, but he will gently and humbly teach us how to walk with him.   As a result, the yoke is easy (not hard to do) and our burden is light. (Jesus may have more than one meaning attached to his use of the word “light” in this scripture, but for this story let’s assume he means “not heavy”.)

Hidden in this lesson are the promises we have when we are willing to let go of our independent life and replace it with one led by Jesus. It’s hard for us to imagine that when we put a yoke on our shoulders that we will actually experience rest. However, this is Jesus talking. He’s already proven He will carry the cross for us, so why question his willingness to carry His yoke?

With no other strength available, I have learned to apply this verse to my own life and found that Jesus’ promises are true. As I ignore the voice that drives me towards some unreachable personal desire and instead learn to listen to Jesus, I’ve discovered that not only is He a gentle and humble leader, but he is truly giving rest to my soul.

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Word advice from the greatest influencer

Photo by Plann on Pexels.com

I’ve noticed that with the advancement of social media we have seen a growth in the use of words. Often times the use of words is not helpful, encouraging or a benefit to the reader/listener. Instead, people are using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter to have an unfettered opportunity to spew.

Apostle Paul says:

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 

Ephesians 4:29

It’s interesting how the person spewing typically wants to have some sort of influence.  They want to spew their advice or opinion and have it received with some sort of favor or fervor.    Hoping to get a response of acceptance and/or action by those they are spewing upon.  Unfortunately, most of the time those responding in fervor are in disagreement which in turn, sometimes just fuels a caustic word explosion from all those involved.  Eventually, this caustic conversation ends and the participating parties move on to another post.  However, what they aren’t aware of is that in time those caustic words will have to be accounted for.

The greatest influencer of all is Jesus Christ.  His social media is a book called “The Bible” and it’s the most popular book ever written.  Most of the world has seen it, most have heard words quoted from it, and millions have read it first hand.  As a result of His book, Jesus has many followers. But it seems many of them don’t want to heed His advice.  He has much to say in the Bible about how we use words, but if we only memorize one it should probably be this one: 

Jesus says:

“I tell you, on the day of judgement people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Matthew 12:36-37

We need to be careful and not careless with our words.

These aren’t my words, they’re His.

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Seeing, Faith and Moving Forward

I have found in my journey with God that it isn’t always clear whether he wants me to move forward or camp. Why doesn’t He make it just as easy for me as it was for the Israelites?

Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tent, the people of Israel continued their travels; and they camped wherever the cloud stopped. At the order of God, the people of Israel traveled; at the order of God they camped.

Numbers 9:17-18:

He gave them a cloud and fire, those were very clear and definite signs. The cloud appeared during the day and fire was lit at night, both rested right on top of the tabernacle in plain sight for all to see. There was close to a million people in the desert keeping watch for His movement. I’m sure His movement couldn’t have been missed when there were so many eyes paying attention to him. But, Hebrews 11:1 and 6 give us a clear reason why he doesn’t use a cloud or fire today. It doesn’t take faith to follow a cloud or pillar of fire, it takes vision. He was trying to teach the Israelites how to follow him through seeing his movement, but for us, faith is the requirement.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1:

Faith is conviction of things not seen, which would be hard to obtain if we are using our eyesight to follow a cloud or pillar of fire. We have assurance according to Proverbs 16:9 that the Lord will establish the steps of of our plan. Steps require action. It’s pretty hard to have God establish our steps when we are standing still and waiting for a sign.

Walking forward in faith means that we need to believe that He exists and hope in the plans that He has for us. Walking forward in faith is understanding that we don’t need signs of His direction as much as we need to believe that He is with us and that the steps He has for us are safe, protected, good and secure. When we see our feet moving it is a movement that has been triggered by our brain, so how can it be a step that is directed by God? How do we know that the steps we take forward are His and not our own? Because scripture says He directs our steps. Is it that simple? I believe it is. If we have a heart for the Lord and have committed and surrendered our lives to Him as our King, then we can also rest assured that His word is true. If His word is true, then according to Proverbs 16:9 He will direct our steps and that is a promise we can stand on.

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps

Proverbs 16:9

Where our decisions get a little cloudy in our walk is when we start to waiver in our trust and belief in God. If we stand assured in our belief, then we can also stand assured of his directing our steps. However, if we aren’t secure in our belief then our steps become a little more shaky. But this is not God’s fault. He has made His position pretty clear. Without faith, it’s impossible to please him, so faith is a requirement. But this requirement also brings assurance of those things we hope for. Hope is an expectation of a positive outcome in those things we DON’T see. So, then it seems we should be more assured of those plans we can’t see than those we can. Because God has assured us that if we have faith, that our hope is secure and our reward is coming. Contrarily then, those plans that don’t require hope because every step is clearly planned may not be as secure because we are using our eyes to walk it out and not our faith.

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

Another important consideration: The first generation of Israelites that Moses led out of Egypt relied upon their vision to move forward yet most of them did not make it out of the desert alive. God gave us a gift in Jesus that they did not have. If we want to make it out of the desert alive, then it would be smart to follow Jesus.

The Battle

These past few weeks, my thoughts have been filled with confusion and pressure.   Professionally, I have been pressing hard to plan my future.  I love timelines, planning and execution.   I don’t disagree that everyone should have at least a little bit of order and planning and goal setting does give one a direction to take.  But, I take planning to an extreme.  I’m a master planner.   Most people set a few goals for the New Year and are totally ok with forgetting about them 3 weeks later.  Not me.  I put together a plan and commit to it. I take my yearly goals down to quarterly goals down to monthly goals down to weekly goals down to daily goals and down to hourly goals.   I then create daily action plans and prioritize every action.  Sound intense?!  Oh yeah.  I love it.  Why?  Because I love achieving goals and striking “done” on each one of my actions.   This behavior has allowed me to achieve high performance accolades, gain material wealth, travel the world, and really leverage my time.   The world loves people like me.   They call us “high performers”.    I was sold on this lifestyle until I hit my 49th birthday.   

On my 49th birthday, I looked back at what I had accomplished and said “wow” that was great, now what?  I looked ahead and said to myself, now that you have “been there and done that” what’s next?  I had realized that even though I had achieved the American dream of a successful career, big house, getting my daughter through college, creating a non-profit ministry and having a healthy bank account, there was still something very, very important missing.   I had learned a whole lot, gained a whole lot of stuff and did a whole lot of things, but the hole in my heart still wasn’t filled and honestly, I was exhausted.  Something was still missing, and I didn’t have the energy to go find it. 

I have found what was missing. Ironically, it didn’t take much energy to find Him. But I still battle with performance.  It sneaks up like a fox and it works like this.  I have this period of creativity where I am just enjoying life, not striving, but creating.   Watching birds, enjoying the flowers, and putting color, shapes and faces on paper.   No real anxiety or stress and not pressing to do anything but create.   Then performance somehow sneaks in. I don’t see it until it suddenly appears spinning like a tornado inside my head, driving me towards goals and confusing me with thoughts of things I need to accomplish.   “You have a lot to do, a lot to accomplish, people are depending upon you, and you don’t have a lot of time, get going!”   Those are the words I hear in my thoughts. I then hear  “Take a deep breath.   I’ve got this.”  (The Lord speaking).   “I don’t understand.  What do you have?” I ask.  “This” he says.  I hold my head wondering what “this” is.    All I know is that I am filled with anxiousness in my head I need to get rid of these confusing thoughts driving me towards some professional goal.   I don’t pray for help because I don’t think I need it.  I believe I need to solve this confusion myself.   An uninvited, but welcomed voice enters my head again and says “Rest.  Take a Sabbath.”  It’s the Lord speaking.  In response, I think  “What? Really? I’m already behind the eight ball in time and you want me to rest?” His answer “Yes, rest. create. I’ve got this. You can rest because I have your plans and I have your future.   You will walk it out with me and it will be in perfect timing and all that needs to be done will be accomplished exactly within my perfect plan.   Now go create! I’ve got this.”  says The Lord.

In the beginning God CREATED the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1