Duty is Ours, Events are God's

"The great thing that is our all in all to us is duty, and not event; for duty is ours, events are God's - our own duty, and not another's; for everyone shall bear his own burden - our present duty, and not the duty of the time to come; for sufficient to the day shall be the directions thereof: a good man's steps are ordered by the Lord, (Psalm 37:23); he is guided step by step.  Now all our duty is summed up in this one of following Christ.  We must attend his motions, and accommodate ourselves to them, following him to to do him honor, as the servant his master; we must walk in the way in which he walked, and aim to be where he is.  And if we will closely attend to the duty of following Christ, we shall find neither heart nor time to meddle with that which does not belong to us."

- Matthew Henry -

~Brittany

Thoughts on Discouraging Circumstances

Recently I have been struggling with discouragement.  I share this not to complain, but because I would like to share how the Lord is helping me to battle against it.  If we as Christians always "look like we've got it all together" we will never be an encouragement to others and we will hinder ourselves from honest transparency and growth.

The other morning when I was really feeling discouraged, the Lord brought to my mind that I need to speak His truth to myself.  I don't need to focus on the circumstances - I need to focus on truth, on God's word, on His commands, on His promises.  So, praying for help and guidance, I started studying.

The first thing I did was start with scriptural commands that applied to me: 

Scriptural Commands:

Do not fear

Do not be anxious

Trust Him

Sometimes we forget what God has commanded.  by being fearful and anxious I am in disobedience to Him.  That's not where I want to be!

Next, I started looking for passages of scripture that applied to what I was struggling with.

The Lord directed my steps to this passage in Numbers.  Once I found this passage, I started thinking on application.  Here is the passage, and my thoughts on it.   

"And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people."

- Numbers 21:4-7 -

The people were discouraged because of the difficulty of the way they were called to walk.  Because of this discouragement they began to complain and speak against the Lord and the man God had appointed to lead them.  The Lord punished them severely for their attitude.

When things get hard we must:

- Make sure we are in the way God has called and that we are following the leadership and guidelines He has placed before us.  Sometimes difficulty comes when we are walking in disobedience.  I must make sure I am not creating my own cross.

- When things get difficult, don’t look at the circumstances.  We must keep the end goal in mind.  We are pilgrims being called to another realm.  The temporal is only a tool and means in His hand.

- Do not lose heart.  Speak truth to yourself.  My greatest fears come not from reality but from what I imagine could happen.  Fear comes from the “what if” and the “how is this going to work?”  God didn’t give the children of Israel a detailed plan for getting out of Egypt to living in the promised land.  He just guided them step by step..  I must be willing to just follow His leading step by step.

- Do not complain.  We must not grumble against the way the Lord is leading us.  Everything is part of His plan, so we must take it patiently as that.  We must have faith, trust, and obey.  We must choose to be thankful for His plan and for His guidance.  We must refuse to complain because of difficulty or uncertainty.  This will keep us from becoming blinded by discouragement.

- If I have sinned by not walking in the way God would have for me, by not obeying the guidance He has given me, or by complaining against how He is working, I must confess this and repent of it.  I must turn my heart, and ask the Lord to turn my heart, to thankfulness and trust.  Start speaking the truths of God’s word to your heart and thanking Him for the ways He is working in the circumstances in your life for your sanctification.

 I was so thankful for how the Lord directed me during this time, and am continuing to study His word for truth to use.  The battle is not over, but He has given me weapons to fight with, and by His grace I am seeking to win each battle as it comes.  I hope that as I've shared this that it has been at least a small encouragement to some.  The Lord is always with us - closer than any battle we are fighting - and with Him we can always win!

 "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world:

and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

- 1 John 5:4 -

~Brittany

Learning to Sing ~ Finding Joy and Peace

Art thou weary, tender heart?
Be glad of pain!
In sorrow sweetest things will grow,
As flowers in rain.
God watches; thou wilt have the sun,
When clouds their perfect work have done.
- Adelaide Procter

"It is the life closest to the "Man of Sorrows"
who was Himself acquainted with grief
that can bring blossoms of joy and peace.
If His joy is in us, our joy is made full."
- Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

The song I sing is faint and sad,
Yet 'tis of love I'm singing;
And soon it shall be strong and glad
Through realms of glory ringing.

A song of love and sighs today,
Of love and joy tomorrow,
To Him Who poured His life away
Upon the tree of sorrow.
- Anonymous.

"We must learn to sing - to sing as we enter the valleys of shadow.
We sing as we work.  We sing as we rejoice.
Can we sing as we suffer?
How difficult it is to sing when you cannot see beyond affliction.
But the secret is to look beyond the immediate circumstance
and behold the reward in glory."
- Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

~Brittany

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:

but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;

but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,

that ye may be able to bear it."

~ 1 Corinthians: 10:13 ~

"The secret is Christ in me,

not me in a different set of circumstances."

~ Elisabeth Elliot ~

"All the way my Savior leads me.

Jesus doeth all things well!"

~ Frances J. Crosby ~

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,

shall keep your hearts and minds

through Christ Jesus."

~ Philippians 4:7 ~

~Brittany

Peace in the Heart ~ The Music of Life

In me... peace (John 16:33).
There is a vast difference between happiness and blessedness. Paul had imprisonments and pains, sacrifice and suffering up to the very limit; but in the midst of it all, he was blessed. All the beatitudes came into his heart and life in the midst of those very conditions.
Paganini, the great violinist, came out before his audience one day and made the discovery just as they ended their applause that there was something wrong with his violin. He looked at it a second and then saw that it was not his famous and valuable one. He felt paralyzed for a moment, then turned to his audience and told them there had been some mistake and he did not have his own violin. He stepped back behind the curtain thinking that it was still where he had left it, but discovered that some one had stolen his and left that old second-hand one in its place.
He remained back of the curtain a moment, then came out before his audience and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen: I will show you that the music is not in the instrument, but in the soul." And he played as he had never played before; and out of that second-hand instrument, the music poured forth until the audience was enraptured with enthusiasm and the applause almost lifted the ceiling of the building, because the man had revealed to them that music was not in the machine but in his own soul.
It is your mission, tested and tried one, to walk out on the stage of this world and reveal to all earth and Heaven that the music is not in conditions, not in the things, not in externals, but the music of life is in your own soul.
If peace be in the heart,
The wildest winter storm is full of solemn beauty,
The midnight flash but shows the path of duty,
Each living creature tells some new and joyous story,
The very trees and stones all catch a ray of glory,
If peace be in the heart.
--Charles Francis Richardson
-Streams in the Desert, for September 28th
~Brittany

Out of Any Circumstance - I will Call upon God

Out of Any Circumstance

As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. (Psalm 55:16)

Yes, I must and will pray. What else can I do! What better can I do? Betrayed, forsaken, grieved, baffled, O my Lord, I will call upon Thee. My Ziklag is in ashes, and men speak of stoning me; but I encourage my heart in the Lord, who will bear me through this trial as He has borne me through so many others. Jehovah shall save me; I am sure He will, and I declare my faith.
The Lord and no one else shall save me. I desire no other helper and would not trust in an arm of flesh even if I could. I will cry to Him evening, and morning, and noon, and I will cry to no one else, for He is all sufficient. How He will save me I cannot guess; but He will do it, I know. He will do it in the best and surest way, and He will do it in the largest, truest, and fullest sense. Out of this trouble and all future troubles the great I AM will bring me as surely as He lives; and when death comes and all the mysteries of eternity follow thereon, still will this be true: "the Lord shall save me." This shall be my song all through this autumn day. Is it not as a ripe apple from the tree of life? I will feed upon it. How sweet it is to my taste!
-Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook for August 28th
~Brittany

God Governs Your Circumstances

 "God doesn't drive an ambulance,

He never shows up afterwards and tries to put the pieces back together.

Its not how He works.  God governs the chaos.

We need to put roots there, because the world is broken.

We need to put roots there, because there will be a day,

if you have not been there yet, where you are perplexed but not crushed;

where you are confused and its hard to reconcile

the goodness of God with your circumstances."

-- Matt Chandler--

~Brittany

Have Faith in God's Future Grace

 

Sometimes faithfulness to God and his word sets us on a course where circumstances get worse, not better. 

It is then that knowing God’s promises and his ways are crucial. Faith in God’s future grace for us is what sustains us in those desperate moments.

-Jon Bloom

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Posted by Breanna