Depth perception

I have bad depth perception. When I am riding with someone in the car I usually can't pay attention because I'll freak out thinking we are about to hit something. When I was riding with my husband last week he just zipped through traffic without a care and I thought about how he gets from point a to point b so much quicker because he can see when and where to move so much more clearly than I can. It got me to thinking about God's "depth perception" when it comes to moving through life. There are so many things that we panic about that wouldn't stress us one bit if we could see with His eyes, yet we fight Him when He tells us to take a step here or there. Imagine how much more smoothly life would go for us if we just trusted His sight rather than our own. If we started to trust Him blindly today we can't even imagine where we would be in just a short period of time.

False light can't hurt you

I was watching a movie about vampires. Sunlight kills vampires. A couple of vampires were in a cave and light comes through and one of the vampire retreats deeper into the cave in fear, the other one stops him and says, "It's false light, it can't hurt you."

The Bible says that we are the light of the world. What kind of light do you shine? Do the things that can only exist in the dark have anything to fear from you?

Self-Made Boxes

We tend to live in these self-made boxes. We put walls around ourselves to protect ourselves, but are we really protecting ourselves? Man made items have a life expectancy. Eventually these walls that you have put around yourself aren't going to be able to hold up to the storms and pressures of this life. We usually create these walls to protect ourselves from future heartache, but get a picture of that. There you are either curled up or pacing in this self-made box. Yes, you may be proud of your large sturdy walls, but they're holding you prisoner. Life is full of highs and lows. There is pain, but there is also joy. You can't choose to keep one out and not the other. Yes, you can manufacture your own joy. There are hobbies you can involve yourself in to keep you happy, but for how long? And how much joy can that really bring you anyway? Isn't it smarter to get stronger and prepare for the storms of life than it is to hide? You are going to have to deal with life anyway, isn't it better to equip yourself? Yes, the harsh may be harsher, but the joy will be greater as well. You will no longer be a prisoner and you will no longer be alone, and you'll probably like yourself better too.

Spiritual gifts

I'm fascinated with tests that help you learn about yourself, one of which is the spiritual gifts test. This is one of those tests where the results change over time, which has made me question if we gain and lose them due our faithfulness, or for the job God has for us at the moment. I'm sure it's a combination of both, but recently I had another thought. Maybe we are the gift. Maybe we are not empty vessels that God fills and empties as He moves from one job to the next, but maybe God has placed something in us that God needs to us to spread. If this is the case then maybe He uses spiritual gifts to give us influence in each environment so others will be accepting of the real gift that God is sending them for a time.

Hiding

Why aren't we honest when someone asks if we need help? Why do we say we're okay when we're not? Why do we think we should do more than is healthy? What makes us think we need to be stronger than we are? Why? What good could possibly come from it?

Be careful what you carry

The people and responsibilities in your life have a huge impact on your effectiveness. Not so long ago I was bogged down with people and responsibilities that were weights. They dragged me down. While I was doing good things and making a difference I was limited. I could only do what I could do. I know, that sounds silly, but it was true. The people I was caring for were incredibly dependent and/or unmotivated. The responsibilities I had were either things that tapped me out or felt like a heaviness that I had to push uphill on my own. Contrast that with now. The people in my life are now self motivated, passionate, positive people. They still rely on me for things, but the effort that I put into them is joined with theirs and multiplied. My responsibilities are no longer things that I have to push or drag, but things that pull or propel me. These are things that are greater than I am. I am no longer limited by what I can do and the difference has been who and what I surround myself with.