Finding Faith in the Mess
How I broke free from the American Church and found my faith. themessymingling.com I never realized how much the Church had a hold on my faith. Not a particular church. Just the church in general. The ways, the rules, the traditions all seemed to lead …
We are sitting and waitingWaiting for someone to tell usWaiting for another human to tell us it’s okay, it’s safe, this is how you do it….I’m tired of waitingI’m exhausted by other humans & our pressNot because they are bad, but because they are messyThey …
We all want this to end. I don’t care what you believe, who you believe, or what your “truth” is right now. We all are waiting for something, anything, to save us from this madness.
Who/what will save us.
We are reaching, grabbing, chasing anything and everything that might bring us a smidgen of comfort. Every day we whisper under our breath, “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” And then we reach for all the things that make us feel better, feel more in control, or feel the slightest bit normal.
Can I be frank? None of the things you are reaching for will save you.
There’s only one Savior.
themessymingling.com
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Information can’t save you.
Comfort can’t save you.
Normalcy can’t save you.
You can’t save you.
Leaders can’t save you.
Money can’t save you.
Health can’t save you.
…
What a relief it is to know that none of that can save you. Because the One who actually can save you is SO much better.
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I’ll keep this one short and simple. All the things we think will save us, all the things we reach for to bring us some small bit of comfort are fleeting. They slip through our fingers like sand. Press into the One who can save. You have a Savior. I promise He is better then anything you are reaching for.
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
I’ve felt a shift. Have you? We are looking here, there, and everywhere to find our identity. We are grasping at many things to align ourselves with. Gender, sexual preference, political party, likes, dislikes, alumni, nationality, racial profile, what we stand for, what we hate. …
Hearts exposed Narrative Idols For the past few months, I’ve woken up, looked outside, and wondered what the day would bring. I start out hopeful; full of sunshine. By the end of the day, I would find myself exhausted. You, too? I started taking account …
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:17-18
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:4-5
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 It’s taken a month of quarantine for me to move my fingers over the keyboard. 1 Month. Like many of …
I read a meme the other day. It said, “I called in sick today. I was sick of other people.” It got me thinking.
When did our annoyance with others become the norm?
Look, people are weird. We are messy and hard to get along with most of the time. But, when did we start disliking each other so much?
The same day I saw the meme, I noticed how people interacted at Costco. Now, look. I, too, get frustrated with the Costco free sample stampede. But, not to the point where it instills anger. As I walked to my car, I noticed people being unfriendly in the parking lot and buggies left out even though the cart return was inches away. I wondered when we stopped taking care of each other.
It made me sad.
In a perfect world, y’all we would follow the rules. We would be nice even when we didn’t want to. We’d let him go first. We’d let her have the parking lot. And, we’d put someone else’s buggy back just because it was the right thing to do.
When it comes to people and how to deal, I look to Jesus. I’m going to be honest here. Sometimes, Jesus’ reaction to annoying people makes me roll my eyes. I mean, You are the Son of God. These people are wrongly accusing You. You could have easily done something spiteful to humiliate them. But, no. You do the opposite. You don’t engage.
Jesus doesn’t engage.
Some of us need to stop engaging. We need to release those people from our grip of annoyance and free ourselves from the trappings of frustration. Because honestly, our irritation only inconveniences us not them.
Today, when that person drives you crazy. When you find yourself rolling your eyes instead of flashing a smile, what can you do release kindness instead of frustration into the world?
I wonder what our world would be like if we released kindness instead of frustration towards each other?
Be the change. It doesn’t take much to smile at someone. You never know. That smile could be the change that (annoying) person needed.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
We just celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary two days ago. I wrote this post back when we celebrated 15. It still holds the same value today as it did a couple of years ago. While there is no secret pill to take to have a …
