Category Archives: Short and sweet

Familiarity, Part 2

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In my previous post I challenged others to let go of the familiarity they held with cherished possessions. To put them on hold for a season. Though this wisdom certainly applies to places and things it runs contrary to maintaining relationships with the people we cherish.

Take my wife for example. If I disassociate myself from her, this would not have a desirable outcome. The same would hold true of my relationship with my children, devoted friends, and God.

When I let go of my familiarity with possessions, it frees me to focus on relationships. It serves to elevate relationships over possessions. That brings me back to the season of Lent, and why so many people choose to do without favorite objects, and focus on their relationship with God and the suffering Jesus endured for all our sakes.

Don’t let familiarity with a relationship you hold dear breed contempt. Instead disassociate yourself from anything that stands in the way.

God is Enough

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When I am tempted to yield to doubt during troubled times, I have to remind myself that God is enough. The moment I believe God is not enough, I need to ask myself, what is my “plan B.” God’s got me covered!

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)

Providence

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I’ve been mulling over the word providence this week. Perhaps it’s because the word has a prominent place in one of the chapters I am writing. The word makes me think of providing evidence. My iPhone defines providence as “the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power.” When I put these two ideas together, it raises an interesting question. Is there evidence of God working in my life?

Perhaps you have asked yourself the same question. It has been helpful for me to take a look back over the course of my life to see when and where God may have had a hand in certain situations. This could be evidence of some good coming out of a bad situation.

Did a past disappointment spare me from an even worse situation? Were there any blessings in my past that I brushed aside or blindly took credit for? Whatever the evidence, consider that God was involved. Let it serve as a reminder that God is continually at work in our lives and knows what our future holds.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

Us

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In the beginning I spotted you. Was it because we were in the same place at precisely the same time? There had to be more to it than that. Something about you was different. Something about you caught my attention. Was it your kind eyes, or the happiness you seemed to carry with you like a bouquet of flowers–perhaps it was.

It could have ended there; two people who shared a glance. But it didn’t. I reached out with a polite word, or two, and you responded. We engaged in conversation, nothing profound. Did time seem to lose its meaning for an instant? Did we make a connection–it seemed unlikely.

In the days that followed we encountered each another several times. Was it a coincidence, or did we run in the same social circles? It’s funny I never noticed you before–I found that interesting.

I was curious to know more about you. Something about you mattered to me. My heart was warmed when I discovered that I mattered to you. I decided to trust you. I let you see the real me, not the polite pasted on version of me I use to impress others. You had a way of drawing out the essence of me. Our two separate life stories began to overlap. We were–friends.

As time went on, I felt at home being with you. Home was now–us.