Getting Past the Arrows

Some weeks we are so busy living life that we don't stop to think about the big picture. We think about the fact that we are totally out of bread, and milk, and lunch meat and can not go home today without going to the store on the way.  We give attention to the many tasks at our job that, if given precedence, would keep us there until the evening hours.  However, leaving our child at school until then is totally unacceptable.  Oh the many plates that we spin in life!  Then there are the pressing details, like what am I going to get to fill the eggs needed for my daughter's Easter party?!?

No, that shouldn't be a pressing detail, but don't we feel like that sometimes? 

We allow the small things to become big and add pressure to our own inside pressure cooker.

Some weeks we are so consumed with the things required of us that we don't stop to think about who we are or the larger story we are a part of.  We have jobs that want our best.  We have family that need us present.  We have friends who like to spend time with us.  All things that we want, love, like, and desire.  All things that require of us - time, energy, emotion, thought.


Then, there are those days or weeks when the fatigue of busyness sets in and we think about the big picture.  We begin to evaluate the reality of how we are doing in the areas of our lives.  And many times the arrows from the world, those words that have been spoken against us, those things that have made us feel less than adequate in the past, can begin to bombard us.  Sometimes they have been intentional and sometimes not.

My heart is to live the life I was born to live.  To use my gifts and talents to the best of my ability.  To be the best wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister that I can.  I often fall short of that goal.  Sometimes due to my own shortcomings.  Sometimes because I dwell too much on my surroundings and how others are doing an their accomplishments in those areas.

So many others are such wonderful wives, mothers, friends...... They do such a great job.  I mean, where do they find the time?  How do they know how to parent so well?

Then I realize what I need to do to bring things back into perspective.  I need to remember that I was called to live a life different than anyone else.  The make-up of who I am is different than you, just as yours is different from anyone else.

I also need to take a breath and spend a few minutes with the one who created and put all of those details together.  It is amazing how turning my focus to Christ can change my perspective, how asking Holy Spirit into my current situation brings peace.  It's in this that those things that I've hidden away come flooding back.

Things like:
For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.  "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11

Praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power. -Ephesians 1:17-19

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.  -Proverbs 3:5-6

It's passages like these that remind me that the influences of this world don't have to guide my life.  I make choices, but I also have someone to lean on.  If I need wisdom, I can ask for it, and get it. (James 1:5)

This world will try to batter our dreams and goals.  The influences of this culture will tell us that we aren't good enough or smart enough or have the right look to accomplish them.  That we don't have the right words or the right presentation.

But we have all that we need. (Hebrews 13:20-21)  We also know where to get all that we need.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ¹⁷ God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. -2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

I many times think back on a phrase my pastor would tell us.  "Any area of your life that does not glisten with hope is a lie." (Bishop Paul Zink)  When I am feeling overwhelmed.  When the cares of all that I need to do are weighing me down.  It is at those times I need to look back to my source, where my hope comes from.  Spend some time with God.  Read His Word, worship, pray, be quiet.  In the quiet, all of the arrows of the world are deflected.  They are silenced and true forward motion can begin again.