You Kill it; God will Fill it

Recently, when I went to camp with my son, Jack, the camp was very conscious of food waste and after each meal, they’d scrape the scraps into what they call the pig bucket.  Then they’d weigh it to see how much waste there was.  It was amazing, no matter how frugal we were trying to be, there was always waste.  If we took a look at our life, how much waste would we find – wasted time; peace, money, energy?

They also had a saying at the dinner table “if you kill it, you fill it” – meaning if you eat the last of something you have to go to the kitchen and bring more back for your table.  That reminds me of the times I’ve chosen to trust God.  When there was little, He made it enough.   When I would “kill it, He would fill it”.

I say all that because many times we make decisions and set priorities based on financial needs; self-imposed lifestyle standards and will stay miserable to achieve them.  There was such a time as this when George and I had just built our new home and we needed two incomes.  I was working at a place that had some things going on that I couldn’t agree with and every day I’d go to work with a knot in my stomach.  I kept praying about it and the Lord took me to Proverbs 17:1 “It’s better to have a dry morsel in peace, than a feast in a house full of strife.” 

Enough said!  I took this as saying it is better to have a little and be happy than having more and being miserable so I resigned my position and began my life as a consultant.  I had to learn to trust God since the weekly paycheck was no longer available.  It was one of the best decisions of my life - to choose peace over profit. 

What I found was that the greater profit came in being my own boss - being able to be with my son, relying on God for a paycheck instead of a corporation, and to find the value in myself – and over time, I ended up making more money as well.

Over the years, I have known people who feared losing their jobs and would do anything to keep them.  I’ve known people, who after losing their job, mourned it for years – even though it wasn’t their dream job.

Yes, we need to work.  We need to pay our bills.  But I have learned, when we trust God, He never takes us backwards, He moves us forward.

If the place you work is stealing your peace or your values, you may need to rethink your priorities.  Is it worth it?  Giving up your peace; possibly your health; your relationships for a job?  A job that may not even be your calling or your dream job…

You can get a paycheck anywhere; but where does joy come from? 

I heard a sermon about where Jesus counsels the rich young ruler.  The rich man wanted to know how he could get into heaven.  He had his religion down pat – he kept all the laws, he was a good man, but still there was an obstacle in the way.  Jesus knew the man’s obstacle was his love of money.  Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor and then to follow Jesus.   The man went away discouraged.  He wasn’t willing to part with the thing that was keeping him from the best thing.

Peace is a path we can choose… or not. 

Many times we’ll hold onto the thing that is hindering us from having all the things we say we want.  We say we want a happy marriage; We say we want to be healthy; We want to be happy – but the very thing we’re chasing, that is causing all the strife, we’re unwilling to give up – maybe it’s status, maybe it’s money; maybe it’s “our way or the high way” mentality; maybe proving ourselves worthy, maybe it’s a certain lifestyle we’re after.  Regardless the reason, if it’s not working, admit it, change it and move forward.

I liken situations when people’s lives are a mess and not quite working out – to those takeover shows.  Where a business is failing and ready to shut its doors and declare bankruptcy.  The pros come in and begin to make it over but the owner fights them every step of the way, even though the pros have proven themselves time and time again and it’s evident the owners don’t know what they’re doing.  Really?!?  That’s how we are sometimes.  We’ll ignore the obvious.

Take inventory of your life – How is it working for you?  Why do you do the things you do?  Know your misery is not because of a person or a place, but because of a choice.  Your choice to live according to a set of priorities that are out of order.

Sometimes people act as if re-prioritizing is going backwards – let’s say reprioritizing involves a smaller house, a less expensive car, a lower paying job.  I see it as moving forward – allowing more time for family, doing what you love, having peace, giving God an opportunity to advance you.   

So don’t go after the feast for the sake of the feast.  If you can obtain the feast in peace.  Awesome!  If not, just know, you can be content with a morsel knowing that if we kill it, God will fill it.  And with that assurance, we won’t see it as merely a morsel, but as a pathway to peaceJ

Being Perfect is Overrated

Have you ever noticed that sometimes no matter how much we do, it’s never enough?  The people around us, the people closest to us, are still wanting more, expecting more.  As I began to seek the Lord on how to end the endless cycle of killing myself to make everyone happy and still falling short, I realized many times there was a motivation behind my actions – Yes, I wanted my family and friends to feel loved and cared for but in reality I think I wanted love in return and was trying to prove myself worthy of that love. 

When I was talking to God about this, He took me to Hebrews 10.  In this scripture it talks about the annual sacrifice that was given for our sins and how that sacrifice cannot make us perfect and how the annual ritual itself is just a reminder of how we’re not perfect and can’t be perfect, or else there would be no need for the sacrifice.

That’s the case with us trying to earn love; to deserve love.  Every time we sacrifice too much to try to prove ourselves, it’s a reminder of how imperfect we are.  We can never be perfect enough.  Love is not something that can be earned, it is a gift freely given.  Perfection does not even factor into it and if it’s a requirement, then it’s not love, in the true sense of the word. 

My point in writing this is that sometimes, don’t you get tired of having to be “on” all the time- constantly trying to do it all, leave no stone unturned, cover all your bases, to think of everything.  I know I do.

In this class I took they said “Grace without mutuality is enabling”.  I think that is a good measure to determine where our “off” switch should be.  If you feel like you have to prove yourself worthy of someone’s love, you may very well be enabling them to carry on and not love you unconditionally.  If they don’t reciprocate or if you’re always having to forgive or overlook their shortcomings and the grace doesn’t flow both ways, you're enabling them to treat you in a way that is not edifying to both of you.

But how about if it’s just something inside of you, something from your past, where you weren’t loved without conditions (and I use the word “love” loosely here).    In Hebrews 10:18 it says “Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.  What this means to me, in the context of this writing, is that when there is true love, no sacrifice (proving of worthiness) is required.  We need to get this thing or we’ll wear ourselves out trying to earn something that is already ours.

 

“Dear Lord, help us seek out and find the motivation behind our actions.  Lord, where there is a feeling of unworthiness; of needing to prove ourselves; the desire to be perfect, I ask that you bind that thing and fill that space with the assurance that we are loved by the most high God.  That we cannot make ourselves perfect and are only made perfect in you.  That we are worthy of love and we do not have to earn it, we only have to love,  according to your word and your way.  I thank you and praise you in Jesus precious name.  Amen”

 

“The gift is not the gifts she gives, but the gift she is J”