Don't Be In Such A Hurry

Ever since my last post, "Finding Peace and Joy", I've been feeling this tugging to come back to it. Back to the verse, "When you sacrifice a thank offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf." Lev 22:29 It's the part about acceptable to the Lord that's been gnawing at my spirit.

I have to be honest, I lumped those two verses together, not just because they were very similar in nature, (dealing with the meat of the offering and how it had to be handled) but so I could be done with them. With the whole Fellowship Offering and Leviticus deal. I wanted to move on. See what was ahead in this mission to share what God says about thanks in His Word. Wow! Did I learn me a lesson! I asked for your prayers that I share God's messages and that I wouldn't get in the way of it. "Oh, ye (me) of little faith.... " I think I've just been disciplined by my Almighty Father. He has been gentle and kind... but He is a tenacious one, I'll tell ya.

So, we'll be looking at acceptable offerings then. What lands in my spirit when I think about this in today's worship is how we worship. What it looks like to us. What it looks like to God. What distracts us from really truly turning our hearts over and trusting Him. Now-a-days we no longer have to be worried about how old a calf, lamb or goat is, how long it's been with it's mother, on what day we slaughter them, and how quickly they are consumed once they've been offered. Thank goodness, right?! But what God does want from us now is our devotion; personal and in gathering (worship/church).

Last year my life was very different than this year. My life was, in a way, put on hold. Mom was sick, so I made a vow to be with her as much as possible to help out and simply spend precious time with the woman who birthed me, loved me and raised me to be who I am today. That year was very precious for countless reasons... but one of the biggest lessons that I learned was to put my needs, mom's life, my family's care in God's hands. By doing this I had to learn to "get with Him" on a daily basis. I've tried this many times in the past and I've always failed and faltered. I never stuck with it. Sure I prayed. I read my Bible on and off. I attended church. But not consistently, daily, finding my special time to "talk it over" with God. I've always heard of and met some of these people that took their "quiet time" seriously and made it a priority and they couldn't live without their daily dose of Jesus. I never got it... really... until last year. He "carried me," as mom often said, through the most difficult times. Now that the really hard part is done and mom is safely in His ever-lovin' arms, I still crave my special time with Jesus. You know.... like you crave, NEED, that first cup of coffee in the morning. If you skip it, you end up wondering why you're feeling off or you have this nagging headache. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. That kind of need. I finally got it... I NEED JESUS. Every day. I know it sounds crazy to some of you that I just figured this out. But it's true. The thing is though, I had to slow down to realize it. God made me slow down for mom's sake... I had to.

Now this year is super different. Mom is in heaven. My kids are all gone to school from 7:35 - 3:23. I have this new flexibility, so I thought, this freedom... Well, guess what? It gets found out and assumed that this "free time" must be filled with activity. Let's all get in a big 'ol hurry. Right? I have been working on protecting this new portion of quiet in my life for the last month and a half. When people mourn many times they fill their lives with being busy... I suppose so they don't have to think about their loved one and be sad about their absence. I decided after all of mom's details were completed that I was going to do the opposite. I wanted to feel the loss. I wanted to cry and miss her. I wanted to think about what we had just been through. I wanted to think over the lessons that I had learned. I wanted to hold ever so tightly to Jesus' hand and feel His comfort and peace. I wanted to cry with Him... tears of joy and sadness... together.

Recently a bunch of balls have been thrown my way. Opportunities of great interest. Personal bits and pieces that would look great in my life... oh, and I have time. I got to juggling these ideas around and looking at the pretty balls and how nice they would be tossing around in my life. How others would see me and think, "oh, what good things she's doing with her time." Ahhh... and there lies the trap. What others think. Oh, it can be a crafty one. It's one of the big traps at church. Why do we go in the first place? Do we go to satisfy ourselves or others? Do we go because it's the right thing to do? Do we want others to look at us and see what a good person we are? Do we go because it's a good place to lick our wounds after a tough week livin' in the world? Do we go for personal agenda? Or to set an example for our kids? Why? Why do we go to church?

Whatever the picture you have of church in your mind, set it aside for a minute and consider God's image (of church). I found that the Greek word ekklesia, or church, comes from two roots: ek, meaning "out of" and kaleo, meaning "to call." In 1 Peter 2:9 it says the church is called out to be "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God", and that its purpose is to declare God's praises. In Acts 2:42 it tells us about the early church and their mission to worship God, encourage one another and share God's love with the world, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." We belong to God. He created us for His good pleasure. He loves each one of us as His own precious child. What He wants from us is for us to love Him back. To get to know Him personally. To honestly worship Him together as a chosen people, a holy nation... in church.

So, today, are our sacrifices (mostly of time and devotion) worthy to God? Are they honest, pure and unpretentious? Are the acceptable to the Lord? Mine haven't always been. I think I've illustrated (at the start of this very post) how I just blew it this week. God is worthy. Are we?

In this life there are countless things to worship and give thanksgiving praises to God for. It's not an issue of what to be thankful for.... though our vision sure can be clouded at times by the trials and trouble of this world. If you are having difficulty finding things to thank God for... ya know what? You can ask Him to reveal those blessings to you. You can. And He will. Give it time. Don't rush. Be ready to be quiet and listen after you pray your honest prayer. God doesn't mind if you unload your worries, concerns, and even flat out complaints with Him. Actually, he much prefers that you unload on Him rather than your mate, your friend, your neighbor, or anyone that will listen.

Over the last couple of days I have learned a lesson from God that I am thankful for... "Child, don't be in such a hurry.... I have more to share."

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b