Good Thursday morning! Well, you can actually tell the difference in the ice level of the window panes between -15 and -6. Not that I have it down to an exact science yet, but there is a noticeable difference. Now to see how much difference my body feels when the temp gets up into the 30's or 40's today. We have endured some cold weather the past three or four days, but at least we didn't start the fun with an inch or two of solid ice as many areas of the country did. This had to be one of the largest and coldest storms on record. People will start talking ice age again here pretty soon. Global warming: probably a very risky subject to bring up in the eastern parts of the U.S. right now. Keep your head on your shoulders (literally) and keep quiet about that subject until things have thawed out for a bit.
Speaking of off-limits subjects, what subject is off-limits between you and God? I don't think the Bible forbids any subject between us and God. But I have in the past avoided talking to God about some things, usually things in which I am guilty and know it full well. Just as Jesus told us not to hide our light under a basket, so we shouldn't try to hide a subject from God. Hide a subject from the One who knows our innermost thoughts already? Now isn't that a silly notion? Absolutely, but I can assure you that I have tried it. "Don't want to pray about that, God might tell me to stop doing it!" Of course, if God has already told you in the Bible to stop, and God would tell you to stop if you asked Him about it, more than likely you already have the conviction of the Holy Spirit on your heart. So why didn't I stop?
When we put a subject off-limits in our prayer life, we don't get to ask God for the strength to stop doing what we shouldn't be doing! Not only do we need to confess the sin and repent, but we need to ask God for the strength to succeed in our efforts to bring it to a halt. We cannot do any of that if we try to hide the subject from God. Not one of us will succeed in our own strength, and yet we don't ask for help because we are uncomfortable with bringing it before God. Silly, just plain silly. And we have all done it.
The other side of that coin is true as well. When we should be doing something, and we haven't started, we need God's strength to get going and keep going. If we don't bring up the request to God, how can He grant it? We need God in everything we do. As we get older, we often have a little extra incentive to remember to ask for God's strength. Taking the trash out may be something you do as a routine chore, but what if you grow prideful in doing the little things? "Don't need God's help for this. No need to bother the Almighty when I do this all the time!" Suddenly, when you reach down and pull up the bag, a little catch on the side of the container, just a bit of that friction really, causes you to pull harder than you normally do and... "urk!" the ol' back goes out on you for the first time. Now the trash is forgotten as you stagger over to an open patch of carpet and fall down and roll over, flopping on the floor like a cockroach in distress. The dog gives you an odd look like, "What the heck are you doing?" and then jumps on you to 'help out'. So much for that little task you were so proud of doing in your own strength.
We have learned over the last several weeks in our Thursday Bible study to invite God into everything we do. Our strength and abilities are such untrustworthy things, here in a moment and gone in a flash as the old saying goes. We must learn to trust in God in everything and certainly bringing up any subject with Him in prayer is a good start.
Have a great and hopefully a little warmer day today!
Bucky
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