4 WriteStuff

I have shared with several that in January, I started praying God would refill our pond…Yesterday, I worked on clearing the drainage ditch from the field to the pond. This is presently a weekly task. Once I get the drainage ditch deep enough, we can install a culvert. But, we can’t use the tractor in this area because there are power and water lines in there somewhere.

Yup, another visual…reminds me of the verse, “18 And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. 19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh”

We want change, we want a new heart, we want an awesome life… but we don’t want to go through the pain and the work to get there. We want to hide in our prayer closet and come out to everything perfect… but the problem is that if God were to accomplish that, once we come out, we ruin it. We have to EXPERIENCE the change for our world to change… we have to remove those rocks and those things that block our heart from receiving God’s blessings, His word, His love.

Embrace the face of change? For women that usually starts with a haircut, but that’s another story… Change does not begin with God changing those around us, it begins by looking in the mirror DAILY and saying, “Ok God, what are we working on today…” God looks into our heart and reveals another step another area… another gem that was hidden beneath the gunk. Often the face of change looks like scraping one layer at a time off until we can install that culvert – that lifeline that fills us.

I can pray for God to fill my pond, and sit in a lawn chair waiting for Him to work, or I can grab a hoe and a shovel to take advantage of the water He’s already provided. An inch of rain raises the pond about 4″. God doesn’t NEED my help, but He wants me to have skin in the game and not just be a couch potato.

An amazing life to me, does not look like hiding in the closet and only allowing those in who blend in: speak and act like the surrounding darkness so as not to reveal the clutter within. The clutter: that drama, both others and that which we create and hold on to, clutters our space. No, I go to the closet to put on my armor, my attire (attitude) for the day. I am prepared and changed by what happens inside the closet, but life is lived OUTSIDE the closet – in the light: getting out there, taking a chance, accepting a challenge, embracing the change and experiencing the satisfaction, the pain, the joy, the blessing that comes from living life outside the closet…

Life is not about changing others to make life better… that’s not my/our responsibility or right. Life, relationships cannot change unless that daily heart change occurs first within the face in the mirror. We often carry baggage from the past, some of that prevents moving forward. Relationships cannot change until that baggage is released. We are creatures of habit and do what we know, which can look like forcing others into roles we know even if they are negative roles or not who they are.

Have you ever resolved to act different with a particular individual and then their words, their actions dredged up an old reaction? We cannot experience change from our resolved, it grows in a new heart and a new spirit. Change is about hitting our knees seeking and embracing Jesus’ change in us… while praying for and accepting others – as they are on their journey to who they will be. It’s about grace and mercy… It’s about love…. it’s about forgiveness… it’s about a new heart and a new spirit within US that comes when we open up our hearts to Christ and allow Him to change our hearts and our spirit to be more Christ-like. It is about living in the power of Christ.

Life can be an amazing Journey: protected by God, led by the Holy Spirit, in the life-changing presence of Jesus… Preparation for that journey begins in the prayer closet – that’s a good place to leave the baggage. But a new heart and new spirit requires that we get our shoes on and put feet to the path, skin in the game… that’s where we scrape away the layers and allow our hearts to be filled. What began in the dark, in the closet, will bring forth new life, a new heart, and new spirit in the light…

If you talk the talk, walk the walk.