Need light?

For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. Psalm 36:9

Have you ever had one of those stressful stretches of time? One that lasts over several weeks? I’ve been going through one of those myself, lately, and as pressure and stress levels seemed to be crescendoing out of earth’s orbit last night, I decided to apply a simple “talk-through” technique to my emotions as I plugged away at an impossibly long “to do” list.

Here’s what I did: With every little thing I worked on—mundane as each one was—I talked to God about how glad I was about that little part of my life. Putting away the dishes? Thank You, Lord for these dishes and the ability to clean them! Sorting clothes for laundry? Father, thank You for giving me these clothes and a great washer and dryer! Paying bills? Thanks, God, that I can do math and that there’s some money left over after paying these! It may not be much, but I’m not broke, glory to God!

And as I continued in this vein, it wasn’t long until the stress started ebbing away and peace seeped back in, quietly reigning once again.

This morning however, I remembered a scheduling detail I became aware of yesterday that played a huge contributing factor in my spiraling stress the day before. It still bothered me, and it was something that was pretty much out of my control—unless I made a great big scene and pushed several levels of people around. I started feeling the stress creep back in.

I prayed. I prayed in the Spirit. And then I verbally committed the scheduling to God—to accept it as is or let Him rearrange it if He saw fit—without my personal interference.

And do you know what He spoke to me? It was eye-opening! He said, “There’s a difference between being a prima donna and being led by My Spirit.”  Burn!

How many times have you and I demanded our own way, insisting we were being led of the Spirit, when in actuality, we were being led by our flesh—our preferences, our fears, or our biases—absolutely clueless about our own motives?

As I repented and prayed in the Spirit—a gusher this time—God’s great comfort came upon me. An old praise song rose up in my heart, and as I sang it, once again it was well with my soul:

“For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. With You is the fountain of life; in Your light, we see light.” (From Psalm 36:9)

When you make Jesus the Lord of your life, then you have given Him the right to have His say-so in every aspect. And that is very good.

Dorothy

Due to my very busy schedule, I will be sporadically adding to this blog in the next few weeks—sometimes on, sometimes off. Just check back periodically to see any new entries. Blessings! 🙂