It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do

It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do… than to face the responsibilities of not doing it.
-- B. J. Miller

A few days ago I had a doctor’s appointment. I made this appointment a while ago so I was well prepared for it, laying out our clothes the night before and setting the alarm so we wouldn’t be rushed. The morning of my doctor’s visit, we followed our regular got-somewhere-to-be routine and left the house in plenty of time. I got GG where she needed to be and had roughly 50 minutes before I had to be at my doctor’s appointment.

Since I had so much time to spare, I decided to take a different route than the one I usually took to get to the doctor’s office. I believed this route would be shorter – it wouldn’t take me around the city like the other route did, and although it was an unfamiliar route, I knew that my keen sense of direction would guide me and still get me there in enough time. I even had enough time to stop and get coffee, even though I’d already had 2 cups.

… even though my intuition told me to go the route I knew.

Funny thing about intuition – sometimes its infusion into your thoughts is so swift and subtle, you disregard it. I presumed that thinking about the other route was just me doubting my ability to figure out the new route. Besides, I had plenty of time to work it out. So, on I drove.

… and on… and on… and on… and… on…

An hour and 10 minutes later, I stood at the doctor’s receptionist’s desk rescheduling my appointment because I’d missed it.

Had I simply – and I mean SIMPLY – obeyed my instincts – God’s gentle, divine, and all-knowing prompting – a ride that should have only taken 20 minutes would not have taken a full hour! If I had followed my first thought/that still quiet Voice, I would not have gotten lost and had to double back and sit in long lines of traffic. Because I did not follow the holy urging in my gut/center, I not only spilled the piping hot coffee on my newly dry cleaned coat, I have to wait a whole ‘nother month to get in to see the doctor!

Bet I’ll be obedient next time!

Or will I?

See, I have this faulty tendency to rely on my own thinking, my own understanding, often forgetting that Elohim composes all the details. I forget that even the small inner voice that beckons beneath all the “stuff” of my life is Elohim calling out for me to follow Him at every moment. Sometimes the faith I have in myself often erroneously displaces the faith I have in Elohim, and, of course, those are the times I end up getting lost, going the wrong way, doing hasty/careless/dense things, and having to do them all over again. It seems I have to bump my head in order to learn my lessons instead of just being faithful and obedient in the first place.

Geez! When will I learn? Hopefully I got it now. Or, at least I’m getting it.

My mishap is a very simple example of one of the parables Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount – building on rock instead of sand (Matthew 7:24-27). Trusting my own thoughts and understanding is like building a house on sand that floods and gets sucked under when the storms come. I’m flawed, susceptible to selfishness, and have no knowledge of the whole picture – I’m human. But obeying God and relying solely on His commandments is the rock upon which my house/prosperity/arriving on time at the doctor’s office is built.

God told me which way to go so that I’d not lose my way and be saved. He didn’t just tell me that for the big stuff but for all things. It stands to reason, if I can listen to, trust, and obey Him Who is perfect in knowledge/speaks from heaven/gives me counsel/is above and over all – even and especially in the small things – certainly my faith and obedience are with Him in all things.

Let the peace of Christ rule on your hearts

Let the peace of Christ rule on your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
-- Colossians 3:15

When I got this "Verse of the Day" early this morning, in no way was I feeling thankful. As a matter of fact, what I was feeling this morning was so irreverent and cynical, if I told you how I really felt, you might block my emails, call me a hypocrite/fraud, and burn every last "Thought…" you'd ever received from me.

And peaceful? Yeah. Whatever.

Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad… maybe. But I was having a hard time with the ideas of "thankful" and "peace."

I'm not sure where my energies were during those sacred and hallowed hours before the alarm went off/don't know where my unconscious had been, but when the alarm went off and I turned over to smack it – yes, this morning I smacked! the alarm – this verse was waiting for me via email on my phone. As is my custom – with one eye open and adjusting to the brightness of the little screen – I read the verse and several other morning meditations before getting out of bed. None of them did anything to eject/reject that "whatever" feeling. "Yeah, thanks for waking me up this morning, Lord, and thanks for letting me have a good night's sleep, Jesus. Thanks for that baby girl of mine, and, oh yeah that job. Thanks, Father, for all those people who love me, but G-o-d, I just ain't feelin' it this morning, and I surely can't fake it."

You remember how Winnie the Pooh's friend Eeyore went about the Hundred Acre Wood as a gloomy and melancholy donkey, rarely optimistic about anything, and mostly dispassionate about everything? Eeyore was so pessimistic/cynical/gray that he looked at himself in the stream, thought his reflection "pitiful," crossed the river, looked again, and thought "no better from this side." That's how I felt this morning.

And there are just some mornings/days that it's just that way. Where "so what?" is your mantra and "whatever" is the theme. Is that a bad thing? Well, it depends.

If every day is lackluster and you can find no joy, no matter how brightly Jesus shines it in your face, and you can't even "fake it 'til you make it," perhaps you're in a little deeper than is typical and that's a bad thing. And, if to you, Eeyore sounds like an optimist, or he's "just keepin' it real," something isn't right deep down in your psyche and it's time to get some help.

Now most days I'm like Tigger, pouncing on everything and full of drive and enthusiasm. Some days, I'm like Rabbit who is very busy and on the go, forgetting to even stop and take in all that I should be thankful for/am at peace about. Today, though, Eeyore was my guide.

And it would be hours before I felt differently.

Hours because I forgot that God has called me into obedience, no matter how I feel.

Jeremiah 11:4-5 (MSG) says, "Obey what I tell you. Do exactly what I command you. Your obedience will close the deal. You'll be mine and I'll be yours. This will provide the conditions in which I will be able to do what I promised your ancestors: to give them a fertile and lush land. And, as you know, that's what I did…" No matter what, as a Christ follower/student/lover, my obligation is to do as He says. If Elohim says to drop everything and follow Him, I must do so. If Jehovah Jireh (the God who provides) told me to quit my job and trust Him, my mustard seed faith would be charged and activated because I would have to quit in order to be obedient to His command. God told me to be peaceful and thankful – and even, and especially when, I didn't feel like doing so this morning. My obligation was to find a way to be peaceful and thankful. Not mope around and be stank all day.

I heard a minister say yesterday that being thankful doesn't mean you don't have problems, it just means you can face your problems with a better attitude and disposition. If only I had remembered that while I was reading this morning, perhaps I'd have been able to paint this day more glorious.

A few hours ago, I reread the verse, read it in different translations and prayed about having the peace of Jesus reign in my heart no matter what I'm feeling. And the more I read it, the more I prayed on it, the more it began to take hold of my heart because, in fact, that's what peace does – it rules your heart and makes it content/cheerful /satisfied/worry-free. And when your heart feels like that, you have no choice but to be thankful!

So, tomorrow morning, when the alarm sounds and I roll over to quiet it, I will read my "verse of the day" in ready obedience/deference/agreement. I may even turn on the light.