Are You a Well Watered Garden?

On our way home from church the other night, my husband told me that the teacher of the men's Bible study he was in, asked a show of hands of how many men were out of work. My husband said there were too many hands to count. Out of about 500 men, there were close to half who raised their hands. My husband was among the group who raised his hand.

It seems as though we are amid an epidemic of unemployment. It is rare to find a man who knows that his job is secure. We praise the Lord with those friends we have who still have their jobs, because we have even more friends who have lost theirs. It would be very easy to get panicked by what we see going on around us.

My husband is in real estate & has not had a closing since September. So, he is on the job search to find some part time work until the real estate business picks back up. In the mean time we have experienced extreme financial adversity. It has been very hard & many times my husband & I have struggled with depression as we trudge through this journey. But we always have the Truth of God's Word to bring us through & remind us of his wonderful promises of provision.

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

There are so many times I have found myself on my knees crying out to God for direction & mercy. I felt the life was being sucked out of me from this "sun-scorched" land. His silence rang so loud in my soul. "Where are you God?" I know that He is with me, but His silence is unbearable at times.

When I find myself beginning to doubt whether or not the Lord will really provide for us, I turn to His word & speak out loud his promises. It is the only way I can replace my fears & doubts with hope for tomorrow. I am like a well watered garden because I have been drinking of the Living Water. Below are a few of my favorite verses to meditate on.

Lamentations 3:22-23, "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed for his compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Isaiah 41:10, "So, do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Psalm 125:1, "Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion; which cannot be shaken, but endure forever."

Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS." Read the whole chapter!

Colossians 1:17, "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

When we are in the midst of impossible circumstances, we often do not think of ourselves as being something pleasant to look at. But when we can come to a place where we can rejoice & praise him while living in difficult times, we are like a well watered garden, flourishing, colorful & pleasant to the eyes to our God. Our praises lifted up to him are like a sweet aroma, satisfying to the senses. I don't know about you, but this is what I want. I want Him to see me as a beautiful desert flower that blooms amid the most dry and treacherous deserts.

How does your Heavenly Father see you? Are you praising him or asking why He is letting this happen? Yes, we are living in a sun parched land. Many of us are enduring extremely difficult times, but He promises to meet our needs, he promises to guide us & he promises to strengthen us. Believe that! He has never broke a promise yet & He never will!

1Timothy 1:12, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service."

My husband writes a blog for men , mostly focusing on the fathers Biblical role in their home. He had a neat story on his blog this morning & I wanted to share it with you.

In learning how to have a Christlike prayer life, we need to approach every aspect of life in prayer…when we take a walk we can pray about it, when we are about to make a phone call-ask the Lord to direct what you say, when you type an email to someone-ask God to direct what you say and how you say it, etc. Approach each area of life by saying “Lord, I can’t do one thing apart from You. Father, with Your power and might, please, do this ‘thing’ through me.”

*One time someone asked a dear older lady what her “prayer method” was? She simply replied, I don’t know nothin’ about method. I just pray like this:

When I wash my clothes, I pray, “Lord, wash my heart clean.”
When I iron the clothes, I pray, “Lord, iron out all these troubles I can’t do nothin about.”
When I sweep the floor, I pray, “Lord, sweep all the corners of my life like I am sweepin the corners of this floor.”

This is being in an attitude of constant prayer…and this is a real prayer life all day long.

Scott Bailey (c) 2009

*story was found in Ray C. Stedman’s “Talking With the Father” book.

An Old Hymn to Pray

A few Sunday's ago, our pastor had us turn in our hymnal(yes, we still use hymnals) to an old hymn that we had sung before, but not often enough for me to remember. This time we didn't sing it, we spoke it as a prayer. Than a friend gave me a copy of the hymn printed on nice paper. I keep it by my desk & have begun to use it as a prayer. As you read the words of this hymn, I urge you to ask the Lord how you can, not just speak the words, but apply them as well. There is so much that Christ wants to do for us, but we must seek the mind of Christ in order that we may gain his insight & wisdom.

May the Mind of Christ, My Savior

1. May the mind of Christ, my Savior, Live in me from day to day, by His love and power controlling all I do and say.

2. May the Word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour, so that all may see I triumph only throu' His power.

3. May the peace of God my Father Rule my life in everything, that I may be calm to comfort sick and sorrowing.

4. May the love of Jesus fill me as the waters fill the sea; Him exalting, self abasing - This is victory.

5. May I run the race before me, strong and brave to face the foe, Looking only unto Jesus as I onward go.

6. May His beauty rest upon me as I seek the lost to win; and may they forget the channel, seeing only Him.

Go to this website to read the story behind this hymn. You can listen to it also. I encourage you to print it out & keep it where you can ponder & pray these words.

Jesus Method of Dealing with Stress

There is a popular belief that Christians only experience stress if they are sinning or somehow outside of the will of God. Mary Fairchild, the Christian Guide at About.com, writes:

"Stress and anxiety for a Christian can take on many different shapes and forms, yet in general, for most Christians, stress boils down to one idea - lack of trust in God."

While it is true that lack of faith in God results in unnecessary stress, it is also true that Christians are required at times to walk-in-faith through stress.

Even Jesus Christ experienced stress. In fact, His state of psychological stress was so severe that it has since been written about in medical journals: Hematohidrosis is a condition in which the blood vessels around sweat glands dilate to the point of rupture, whereupon the blood flows into the sweat glands - coming out as droplets of blood mixed with sweat.

This is a physical phenomena not frequently experienced, even in the most stressful circumstances. Yet, Jesus found Himself sweating blood on the evening before His crucifixion.

During this period of time, Jesus demonstrated for every Christian how God equips a saint to think about, walk through, and succeed when under necessary STRESS:

S - Scared to death of the
T - Time just ahead, yet
R - Resolving to
E - Exude grace while being willing to
S - Sacrifice our very life, if need be, to
S - Succeed in God's goals for us.

Jesus was literally "overwhelmed with sorrow", "full of anguish" and "falling face down" in prayer.

Next time you find yourself psychologically struggling, do what Jesus did:

P - Present your fears to God as honestly as you can
R - Relinquish yourself into His hands
A - Agree that He is Sovereign and ask for as much mercy as is possible given His goals
Y - Yield yourself fully to His choices for your future.

Marnie Swedberg is a leadership mentor to thousands of women, speakers and women's ministry leaders from six continents. Learn more about her life, ministry and published resources here: http://www.marnie.com

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