Heart Song: Offense

I don’t know about you but offense is a constant struggle to overcome.  Here’s a few examples of times I’ve recently dealt with offense:

Another woman in the aisle has her shopping cart in the way, totally blocking me from viewing the items I need to see.

Offended.

I hear that someone was gossiping about me.

Offended.

I’m driving and someone honks their horn, speeds up, passes me and gives me “the bird.”

Offended.

(There are so many other examples, and maybe right now the Lord is bringing offenses to your mind that you have dealt with for the sole purpose of refining you.)

  What I’ve noticed this last week, more than any other is that God is bringing those times of offense to my blatant attention.  It has been so obvious when I am about to receive an attitude of offense, that it is almost as if time is slowing down for just that moment for me to decide. 

“Am I choosing to be offended, angry, irritated, and bitter or am I choosing to forgive, let it go, extending grace and mercy?”

  So here’s my testimony, that God has been so good to me to reveal these potential offenses, making me more aware of the attitudes I’m receiving.  I’d like to say, “I’ve overcome and that nothing anyone says or does to me causes me to become bitter and offended.  That I let everything just slide off my back.” –But I’m afraid that I’m still a work in progress.  Thank you God for helping me become more aware of the choice of offense.

When you are faced with the choice of offense, what will you choose?

{Riding in Cars} Focus for the Path

Remember when you were a kid?  How everything in the world around you seemed larger than life?  Riding your bike through your neighborhood was more than a ride, it was an exploration and riding in the back seat of your car looking through the side windows was almost as fun as watching a movie. Times have changed haven’t they?  My kids hardly ride their bikes because of concern for safety and now when we go on long car rides they watch a movie instead of watching the amazing world going by just right outside their windows.

  As I momentarily returned to childhood gazing out the side window as my husband drove, one thing in particular caught my attention.  The world was out of focus.   It seemed to be just a fast blur of houses, mailboxes, trees and people going by. In fact I had to focus on just one object at a time to see any details of that object before we drove past it. 

  Now compare that same view of the world, that same road with the same houses, mailboxes, trees and people going by but gazing through the front window. When I looked straight ahead it was easy to keep my focus on the world going by.  I had time to see details of objects all at the same time and it felt as if we were moving at a slower speed.  The view I had of my world felt more manageable.  The world was in focus and that focus brought clarity for the path ahead.

  In Proverbs chapter 4, the author gives instructions for wisdom and it’s benefits and it ends the chapter with the following verses, starting in verse 20 ending with verse 27:

My son, pay attention to what I say;

turn your ear to my words.

21 Do not let them out of your sight,

keep them within your heart;

22 for they are life to those who find them

and health to one’s whole body.

23 Above all else, guard your heart,

for everything you do flows from it.

24 Keep your mouth free of perversity;

keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

25 Let your eyes look straight ahead;

fix your gaze directly before you.

26 Give careful thought to the paths for your feet

and be steadfast in all your ways.

27 Do not turn to the right or the left;

keep your foot from evil. (NIV)

  I highlighted those last few verses because that is exactly the verse that I thought of while riding in the car.  Fixing our gaze directly before us, not turning to the right or the left is wisdom for the paths ahead.

Does the world seem too unmanageable, seeming to pass by too quickly more often than not?  Make a decision today to change your view and share in the comments how that decision has affected your world, whether big or small.

Notes from God

No matter how many times I tell myself that I don’t care what other people say, words still hurt; I still hurt.  It’s not that I need the approval of others, but the people that I hold close have the opportunity to speak into my life and when I feel I’ve disappointed someone, thoughts of failure tend to rush in.  I know that those thoughts of failure and disappointment are a lie.  I know that in my Heavenly Father’s eyes I am a success….so why is it so hard for me to overcome the emotional uprising within?

 So I set myself up on a project to distract from the mental battle of failure; cleaning out my bookcase.  As I opened up books, considering whether or not they were worth keeping, my gaze caught underlined and highlighted sentences.  God was speaking right to me today.  (The second one was a little card stuck inside one of the books I had found)

Here’s the exact order I read my Notes from God:

1) “Growth comes when you have to overlook an insult, forgive a wrong, and do the right thing even when the wrong thing is happening.” –Joel Osteen, “It’s Your Time”

2) Expect a Miracle “Treasure this day, and treasure yourself.  Truly, neither will ever happen again.” –Ray Bradbury

3) “Never forget who you are –strong, majestic, fearless, fierce, protective, at rest, and unworried.” –Lisa Bevere, “Lioness Arising”

4) “God wants me to see that it was not the thing that the person did that matters, but my reaction to it.” –Roy Hession, “The Calvary Road”

  So what exactly is God saying to me today? I hear God saying, He loves me, I’m not a disappointment, I’m not a failure and that He has confidence in me. That is exactly what I needed to hear from Him today.

What is God saying to you?