So we will start with Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver. I have already discussed how much I am enjoying her book, and how through the suggestions in this book I have been able to reconnect in a profound way with God. As all I did was give you the biggest things I took from the book before, I will continue in that vein. Hopefully it will inspire you to find God in your life again and to keep him there.
1. Find a balance. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it does need to have a rhythm that fits you and your life.
2. Balancing work and worship, God and service, is hard, but worth it in the end.
3. Keep Christ as your anchor, as your fulcrum. In order for me to be balanced, he must be the supports. That doesn't mean I have to feel guilty if I miss a day of Bible study, especially if I was in service somewhere, but it does mean to have that relationship with God, or I will not be able to keep up when the storm hits.
4. I am a work in progress. Changing my character is a process. The Lord is refining me. He does that through tests, sufferings and other character building fun stuff. Sounds like fun right? Yeah OK. Again, I remind myself if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth as much.
5. God wants to be a partner with me and most of all he wants me to persevere. She backs this statement up with many different verses, anecdotes, and practical ideas. She again is very descriptive and helpful in helping me determine where I am and where I need to be.
So that wraps up the book. As you know I have greatly enjoyed the lessons learned. Hmm, enjoyed may be the wrong word, but I have benefited greatly by working through her Bible studies. I have learned an awful lot about me, about hidden resentments, about open sores, and most of all about the healing love of God.
Interestingly I read chapter 12 first thing this morning, did her Bible study, then settled in for my personal reading and meditation time. Before opening my Bible, I pray for enlightenment, that He will guide me in learning what he is trying to tell me. For an open heart and mind and for understanding. So I open my Bible to Romans 5 and start reading...
Rom 5:2,3-5 says "And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hears by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."
OK Lord, I get it!! When the Lord wants to push a point, he really makes it clear doesn't he? Joanna Weaver discusses different reactions to strife/ struggles in our lives. I have always known that I escape. I look for the way out. She calls this the Jonah approach. That's me.
I do believe that God is trying to tell me something. It's time to stop hiding. It's time to turn into the struggle and partner with the Lord. It's time to accept the character building. Now does that mean that I will jump for joy the next time I have a problem with my daughter. No, but it does mean that I will do my best to be thankful for the lessons I am learning from it. It means that I will rejoice in my Lord, knowing there is a light at the end of the tunnel and again that I trust in him and HE has a PLAN!! I will persevere in my relationship with Jesus and with him I will come out ahead.
Paul continues in this chapter about God's love. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ dies for us." (5:8) and "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." (5:19).
I mean really, what more needs to be said?
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