Giving Up or Giving In

 

By Andrea Merrell

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. 

At just the right time

we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Galatians 6:9 NLT

 

 

“I give up,” the man said. “This Christian life is too hard. I can’t possibly do everything that’s expected of me.”

Unfortunately, he had put unrealistic expectations on himself that were impossible to live up to. He felt like a failure. He constantly disappointed himself and believed he was letting God down in the process.

Trying to live a perfect life will wear us down and make us want to quit. But the Bible says, “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good.” Why? Because “at just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

So what exactly is the good the verse is referring to? What does God expect from us? According to Ecclesiastes 12:13, we are to “fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

God doesn’t want us to make serving Him so difficult that we get tired, frustrated, and burned out. He doesn’t want us to quit. His desire is for us to stop striving and surrender ourselves completely to Him. To love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That’s what the Christian life is all about—not in all the doing, but in being ... exactly who He created us to be.

Are you weary? Don’t give up, give in.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com and Zachary Ferguson.

Are You a Good Listener?

 

By Andrea Merrell

You should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry.

James 1:19 CEV

I watched a TV show recently where absolutely no one listened. They heard a few words and made assumptions, then either jumped to conclusions and tried to take over or stormed away without a clue as to what was really going on.

Listening—and really hearing what the other person is saying—has become a lost art. We are too full of our own opinions and ideas that we want to jump in and derail the conversation to fix the problem and prove we know more than anyone else. Or else ignore what is being said.

Proverbs says, He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him (18:13 NKJV). The MSG really brings this Scripture home: Answering before listening is both stupid and rude. Ouch!

If we want to build and nurture our relationships, we must learn to listen. To put our thoughts, ideas, and stories aside while others are sharing their own. The Word for You Today gives us five suggestions:

• Don’t interrupt.
• Try to understand their point of view. Don’t assume.
• Don’t rush to conclusions. Keep listening.
• Don’t put them on the defensive by constantly correcting them.
• Validate the speaker. Everyone wants to know their words and feelings have value.

This is an area where we can apply the Golden Rule. If we want others to listen to us, we must first learn to listen to them. We are to be quick to listen and slow to speak.

Are you a good listener?

Photo by Alireza Attari on Unsplash

 

How Do You Handle the Whys?

 

By Andrea Merrell

I know the Lord is always with me.
    I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
    My body rests in safety.

Psalm 16:8-9 NLT

 

A young husband dies. A godly man. Healthy. Leader in the church. Everyone wonders why.

A single, hard-working mom loses her job and her home. She has to go on welfare. No one can understand why.

I’ve had my own share of whys over the years, especially when both my son and daughter became prodigals. There was no logical explanation for their actions.

David—shepherd, psalmist, and king—experienced the same dilemma. Throughout the Book of Psalms he cried out to God and asked “why?” But even when he didn’t get the answers he longed for, he said, “I know the Lord is with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad and I rejoice. My body rests in safety.”

David knew where his help came from. He was able to rejoice even when there were no answers to his whys. He gave up the right to understand and chose to trust in the Lord—no matter what. His joy and sense of well-being were not determined by his circumstances.

There are many things that will remain a mystery until we see the Lord face-to-face. If your whys are not being answered, give up the right to understand and trust the Lord instead. Then you can safely rest in His loving hands.

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Isolated Images.

 

You Can’t Hide from God

 

By Andrea Merrell

Lord, you know everything there is to know about me.

Psalm 139:1 TPT

 

“No one can know what I’ve done,” the young girl said through bitter tears. “I’ll never tell another living soul, and neither can you. It would ruin me.”

Her secret was safe with me, but what she failed to realize or accept was that God already knew.

When we try to hide those so-called secret sins—especially from God—they tend to take on a life of their own. They become our master and push us further into the darkness. No one understood this better than the psalmist David. He wrote:

Lord, you know everything there is to know about me. You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind. You are so intimately aware of me, Lord. You read my heart like an open book, and you know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence. You know every step I will take before my journey even begins. (Psalm 139:1-4 TPT)

When we understand how intimately acquainted God is with us, it changes everything. He know us inside and out, even better than we know ourselves. And He waits with open arms for us to come to Him and lay our burdens at His feet.

If you’re struggling in this area, pray along with David: God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through. Find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way—the path that brings me back to you (Psalm 139:23-24 TPT).

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and artemisphoto.

Beware of Sacred Cows

 

By Andrea Merrell

Beware of … the deceptive teaching 

of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 16: 11b-12b

“Wow, another sacred cow bites the dust,” my husband said as we left church one Sunday.

The sermon had centered around old, man-made traditions we had both been exposed to growing up. All the dos and don’ts (mostly don’ts) that had become etched in stone in certain religious settings.

The problem? None of them lined up with Scripture.

I thought back to my first memories of church as a child and all that I was taught. The “rules” so to speak. Unfortunately, over the years every church I attended seemed to have its own set of rules, causing even more confusion.

I always wondered who made those rules. And why did they differ so drastically? Just like the Pharisees and their man-made traditions, all those dos and don’ts revolved around a person’s actions. Their performance. How they dressed. How often they attended church. No tattoos. No piercings. No holey jeans. No smoking. No drinking. No R-rated movies. I once heard someone say if you go to a bar or a pool hall, you’re surely going to hell. I even heard a preacher ranting online recently about conducting church services “in the dark,” as he put it, and having a rock band on the platform. Drums, it seemed to him, were of the Devil.

Many years ago, I heard the story of a church that split over men wearing ties and another over women wearing makeup and jewelry. Jesus warned the religious leaders of His day about coming up with their own rules.

In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young writes:

Do not be like the Pharisees who multiplied regulations, creating their own form of godliness. They got so wrapped up in their own rules that they lost sight of Me. Even today, man-made rules about how to live the Christian life enslave many people. Their focus is on their performance rather than on Me. ~Jesus

Thankfully, God is the only true Judge, and He looks at the heart—not on what we do or don’t do. When we try to live by man’s opinions and standards rather than God’s Word we end up in bondage, always dealing with guilt and condemnation while trying to measure up.

God never intended for us to live that way. Instead of playing by the rules, let's allow the Holy Spirit to be our guide. He will always lead us in the right direction.

Photo by Diana Shchurova on Unsplash