Month: April 2018

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:10).

I am finishing an online class that I needed to take in order to renew my substitute teacher certificate. I’ve been busier than I want to be lately and feeling a bit resentful. I have no plans to teach full time-not that anyone would hire a 70 something lady to teach. I do want to substitute, though, thus, the online class. Do you ever feel resentful?  I resent the time I’ve had to give to this class which caused me to neglect my blog and a few other things. I suppose I should be looking at the positives.  I am gleaning some good things from the course, but some of it is best used if one is the regular teacher and not just the substitute.

I recently began thinking about that word “renew.” Much better sounding than “resentful”! The Bible speaks of renewal. Actually the Christian life is a renewal. We have been contaminated by the things of the world and Christ cleans us and renews us. Colossians 3:10 reminds us “we have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

I am grateful for the Creator’s renewing work. We see it all around us in nature this time of year. We’re finally beginning to see the flowers and trees budding and blooming and the grass is growing!  As happy as I am about nature’s renewal in the spring, I am more so with God’s renewal in my life. I look forward to Sunday worship, the preaching of the Word, and remembering Jesus’ sacrifice at the Lord’s Supper. My spirit is renewed and refreshed as I commune with Jesus and His people. I need this time with other Christians. My week doesn’t feel right without it.

So, yes, I am experiencing some resentment, but I’m trying to focus on the renewal-not just for the certificate to substitute, but for life. Without the renewing work of God in my life, living isn’t very purposeful.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

 

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5::16).

Do you ever feel like you’re in a cold spot? I don’t mean the weather, though it is cold here. I mean spiritually. There are times in my life when I feel like I’m stuck in a glacier—cold and barely moving.  I’m longing for the quiet meadows filled with sunshine and soft grass beneath my feet. I want my soul to feel like singing as the fluffy clouds float in the breezes. Instead, my soul is trying to get my prayers higher than my head and the songs are silent.

This is a picture of a praying mantis egg case. Since winter doesn’t seem to want to allow spring to come, it was recently covered with snow. It was in a cold place—it was icy! It doesn’t look like anything with life in it.  But when the time comes there will be tiny praying mantises crawling out of it. I think my life is a little like that icy egg case.  I feel like I’m in a cold place spiritually, but when I open the Bible I am assured that God still cares. He has not left me alone. I can continue to depend on Him to keep His promises. Spring will come! My soul will warm and once again feel alive! I know this because God keeps His promises. He never changes. I’ve been in cold places before and when I stay connected to God through His Word, and when I continue to pray, I eventually leave the cold behind. The warmth of His presence will once again bring life and rejoicing back into my soul!  Thank you, God.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).