It's up to you ...

Just thinking about beautiful butterflies with their painted wings. Sometimes their wings get tattered by the storms, color diminishes, fall to the ground, sadly left. Everyone pays attention to the beautiful ones, they get all the attention. No one photographs a butterfly laying damaged on the ground. Liken this to humanity and I fear its the same way with people. In fact, people are quick to cause pain and sorrow for others and especially pay no attention to what they consider 'less thans' or damaged goods. It's like taking a beautiful butterfly and wiping the color off their wings and stomping on them. Let's look to lift the spirits and offer grace to everyone we come in contact with so that their lustre can return and being loved and valued...know they are beautiful.

--oOo--

Cluttered with Conflicts

Sometimes life seems overwhelming. I have an old book of Psalms in modern language written in 1973 (Phelps, Corita - Psalms Now). I try to read one every day. I was glancing back yesterday and found one I marked as "significant" May '08. Do you ever do that? Mark some area of your Bible with a date because that area of Scripture spoke to your situation and you were encouraged by it, convicted by it or felt it necessary to highlight in bright yellow and then often months or even years later you find yourself in that passage again and wonder why it was significant ... whatever it was had come and gone.

I remember May this year though. I was worrying about provision to keep the house afloat until it was completed and ready for sale. Fretting about trying to figure out what to do to take care of the situation. I applied for loans, but hey though I have equity, I don't work (not that I hadn't been looking), the problems with those 'bad' loans were surfacing right and left and lenders were beginning to reign in their lending practices. I hit roadblocks wherever I turned. So an older woman with no job, small social security etc. made me fall into what previously would have been an easy loan with the calls that would let me know I was yet again turned down.


What I love about David's psalms is that quite often they begin complaining about his situation to God, whining even, and then as he spends time in communication with God his whole attitude changes - his outlook becomes brighter even though the circumstances are no different than when he sat down with God. By the end of these types of psalms you find him totally praising God. This is the miracle of the Holy Spirit's work, isn't it! It's totally supernatural!!! Why we do not take our problems to God right away is just because we are as dumb as sheep! At any rate, in May this year I was conflicted and this Psalm spoke to my situation and I too was renewed by God.

Be encouraged. Spend time with God. He likes it and we benefit in ways we cannot comprehend it's so mysterious, yet real.

"O God,
my life is cluttered up with conflicts.
And there are times when you seem so oblivious to it all.
The pitfalls before me, the weaknesses within me -
all this is most depressing.
I feel as if I am groping in utter darkness.

Break into my darkness, O God.
Set me free from my hang-ups.
May these daily pressures that threaten to strangle me
drive me to Your fountainhead of grace.
Then night will give way to the dawn,
depression shall resolve into joy,
and I shall sing Your promises once more.

O foolish spirit,
why do you fret over so many things?
God is here!
He knows all about your troubles and trials.
Renew your faith in Him, and rejoice.

I shall rejoice!
No matter how black the night,
God is ever-present and eternal Hope."

Psalm 43