Swirling Vortex of Chaos

If you have never worked third shift for an extended period of time then you may not be able to fully appreciate some of the unique perspective that it gives. One of the neatest things that happens for me is when i first wake up in the evening.

When I wake up (usually around 5:30 or 6:00) I am able to listen in on my family. With so many little ones our home is many times like a swirling vortex of chaos and yet so many times when I wake up what I hear is my wonderful bride skillfully managing this chaos and moving it forward. She is able to move it through homework, clean-up, sibling rivalry and towards things like diner, scouts and karate.

I do not know how she does it but I am thankful she does.

I love you beautiful!

Worry can be deadly

One of the most deadly things to a believer is worry. It destroys relationships. It can destroy our witness. It will destroy our bodies from the inside out. These significant consequences are some if the reasons why God spends so much time telling believers to not worry.

God clearly commands us to not worry but He also tries to reason with us in Matthew 6. Either way as believers we must battle against this most viscous of the enemy's attacks. I pray that each one of us will fight the fears and worries that hinder us from doing all that God wants us to do.

Marriage and Strength

Most of you know at least part of the struggles that my family and I have been through over the past few years. As I look back it seems as though all we have been doing is experience life as a roller coaster with highs, lows, twists and loops. At times this has been exhausting and others it has been exhilarating. Through it all though there have been two major constants.

First, my God has never left me nor forsaken me. There have been times when I questioned the path or the direction. There have been times when I felt as though I was all alone. In the end though I can look back and see that God has never ever left my side and that He walked with me and carried me through this journey called life.

Second, my wife has always been there. There have been times when our marriage was really struggling to survive yet I always knew deep down inside that my wonderful bride would be there. Sadly too often I took this for granted and failed to appreciate what an amazing truth it is to know that my Koishii would be there for me.

As we have walked this journey together I have gained a deeper understanding of what it means when two become one. I better understand that I cannot truly hide anything from my wife. She knows when something isn't right and she knows when "her Patrick" is missing and not around. I better understand what true strength and courage is all about. I better understand what it means to have a help mate. I better understand what it means to have a true friend.

I know that not everyone is meant to be married. I am not sure why God has chosen to bless me in this way but I am thankful that He has because I am not sure that I would still be here today if not for the love, strength and blessing of my wife.

Thank you, my love for all that you do. Love, me.  :)

Is God Real?

The simple answer to the question is 'Yes, God is real' but does this really satisfy the deeper question?

I think as we look at this question and ponder its siginficance in our own lives what we find is that what we are really asking is "Can I truly trust the fact that is real?" I think that most people would acknowledge that there is a god and that he is real. Where people begin to struggle is the more personal nature of that god. On the one hand people desire to have a god that is intimately involved in their lives (even if it is only for their benefit) yet when that happens they freak out and question anything  and everything that god is doing. I have seen this same pattern in both followers of Jesus and non-believers. Believers and non-believers tend to want the power and security of God but do not want the submission that is a natural result of being in the presence of God.

In the end when we ask whether or not God is real we are ultimately saying that I want God to be real and in control but I am not sure how to let that happen and I am afraid to let it happen. This fear can be powerful in both the believer and non-believer. It can easily keep us from experiencing the abundant joy that God has promised to those who will trust in Him. It will keep us from seeing the wonderful blessings that come from His abundance (John 1:16).

I hope that for each of us today that we will not allow our fears and insecurities to miss the incredible blessings that are all around us.

Doing

Many of you who read my ramblings are aware of the struggles that I have gone through at work. To those of you who don't know let me summarize by saying that it has been a tremendous back and forth battle. My last rotation was no different. It was difficult for me to be able to see the path and plan that I had to take. It was if I could literally not see, like my vision was literally being block. This began to change during my thrids night.

During my third night I could begin to see what I supposed to be doing and how to move people in to the right places to have a successful night. It wasn't 100% clear but my vision was returning. On my fourth night my vision was restored but what I saw made no sense to me. Normally, I find myself doing all kinds of feature moves and changes as well my normal follow-up. On this night it was clear to me that I wasn't to make any major feature moves (just one move in fact) rather I was suppossed to spend a significant amount of time getting one aisle worked so that one of my associates could finish it up. This made absolutely no sense to me yet I was at peace as I working. I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that this was my role for the night. I did other things as the night went along but I was at peace with it all. It was by no means a perfect night but it was a night of peace, something that hasnt happened in a long time at work.

It was a night that reminded me that following God's will/steps/path is what brings us peace. It may not always bring us what we want but what we receive will be satisfying.

God Hears Us?

Sometimes I think one of the most difficult aspects of he Christian walk is truly believing and resting in the fact that God hears us when we call/pray. We know in our head that He does and we have probably even experienced obvious answers to our prayers. Yet, many times there is this voice inside of us that finds it hard to trust that He is going to answer us this time. Or maybe it is more that we are concerned that what we are asking for is not in His will and therefore we will be disappointed in "lack of deliverance."

I think for me I long to hear an actual voice of reassurance. Many times I long to have someone come alongside of me and give me that hug that says this is going to be ok and it will be taken care of. In essence, there are times I just wish that I could actually be literally walking with Jesus.

I am not sure where you are in trusting that God hears us when we call but I hope that it is not an issue for you like it is for me. If it is an issue here are some verses that may help both us as we work through this with God.

Jeremiah 33:3
 "‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ 

Psalm 55:16-17
" As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice."

1 John 5:13-15
"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."

He is everywhere

One of the key points of Psalm 139 is that there is no place where God is not. There is no place where we can go to get away from God, this side of Hell that is. This fact is intended to be both a comfort and a point of fear and conviction. We were are in need of comfort it is a reminder that we are not alone. We are in the midst of great battles and struggles it tells us that He stands before us, beside us and behind us. We we need strength it tell us that we can have it in a moments notice and that He will carry us through it all.

On the other hand the fact that God is always with us should also provide us with conviction for the things we do wrong. It should be a reason we choose to not do things. The idea that God will see us doing it is a good enough reason for us not to do it.

I hope that today you allow the reality of God always being there to sink in. I pray that you will allow that truth to either comfort you or convict you or both.