"All who labor"

As the morning affords just a couple quiet minutes, I'm praying and pondering my thoughts, my circumstance, my anxiety. Am I valuable? Am I replaceable? Am I appreciated? Am I used?

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

It is human to spend my days acquiring self-worth and approval from others. I am easily fixated on approval from mankind. Desiring validation and  commendation, I feel deflated without it. It feels heavy.

The fear of man lays a snare,
but whoever trusts the Lord is safe. Proverbs 29:25

Jesus whispers, "You are working too hard for man's approval and it is a heavy burden, so come. No matter what others say, how they label you or make you feel, believe in My estimation of you."
First Peter 2:4 assumes we are coming to Jesus, ("As you come..") and affirms that we will be rejected, devalued by mankind but God has chosen us and deems us precious and as we choose to come to Him, rather than men for our identity. And as we come to Him, we are being fashioned into the person He has designed us to be.
Fearing man will leave you a hot mess but rightly fearing God, as we come to Him, is being fashioned into a masterpiece.

Who am I

"I can't walk. I always have to share. My legs hurt. I can't bend my knee. Sisters are always mean to me. She called me a baby…." On and on and on the saga continues and I want to scream. God, help me know what to do. This is when I am most attentively listening for His answer and truly expect His reply in direction. In my reading this week, I realized I need the answer to a much bigger, important question, God, help me understand who I am. This prayer is far less frequent that the prior almost daily prayer. Since I don't usually ask God to reveal this to me, without invitation, the world provides a multitude of answers: Your skin is dull; eat this super food for radiant skin. You need to lose weight; crossfit will shed the pounds. You're angry; take a time out. You're overworked; have a glass of wine. You are better than this; give Mr. Difficult an ultimatum. You deserve it; buy it. Answers that don't satisfy, frustrate and are at times unrealistic. The prophet Jeremiah says this is a curse and is in fact turning our hearts from God or plugging our ears to God's answer.

This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
who rely on human strength
and turn their hearts away from the LORD.
They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
in an uninhabited salty land." Jeremiah 17:5-6

In contrast, when we ask God to answer the question and listen, Jeremiah says this man is blessed who trusts in God's answer and is living by a stream like a tree with deep roots and constantly bears fruit.

[This is what the LORD says:]"But blessed are those who trust in the LORD
and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8

In order to be confident in or trust God's answer implies that I'm listening to His answer. Listening to the world may sometimes seemingly bear fruit or benefits for a while, but the world's answer is planting our life tree in the desert and the water will run out and the benefits burn up with the sun. This is why we are seldom satisfied. We lose weight or face conflict at work and feel so happy and proud of ourselves. But it is seldom enough. We determine to lose more weight. To change our hair color. To have surgery. Get a new job. To join a new club…
Who am I? We don't ask God and so we inadvertently listen to lies: you are a wife, a mom, a teaching director, overweight, addicted to food, inconsistent, not good enough. All these things are temporary. And while some may be true as far as status goes, because they are not eternal, they are not fixing our eyes and establishing lives based on what is eternal; and therefore I don't believe it's God's answer.
Only God knows who I am. He understands my heart. Listening to God's answer to who am I is planting myself next to the fountain of living water and setting my thoughts on eternity. Eternally, I am beautiful, His child, forgiven, accepted, with Christ, living with purpose, never alone, made new, in eternal relationship with Him, significant.

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
and desperately wicked.
Who really knows how bad it is?
[This is what the LORD says:]"But I, the LORD, search all hearts
and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
according to what their actions deserve." Jeremiah 17:9-10

God understands my heart in this battle. He knows my heart is sly, slippery, easily deceived and sick beyond healing. I can not comprehend or am conscious of the vile, ill ways of my heart, but He does. And though it may be covered with dark, gooey muck, He can clean off the mire. He answers with eternal perspective if I choose to listen.
If I listen to the lies of the world, I may temporarily experience gain and delight, but it will not last and will soon become pain and curse. If I listen to God's answer, I can experience joyful, rich, meaningful life.

My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:20-23

How often do you stop to analyze your heart? What are you thinking, feeling, believing right now? Does it align with God's Word? Listen to Him and literally destroy the lies of Satan.

Define

They were waiting for a cold spring day fit for the movies. Sunday's chill and forecast for snow fulfilled their desire. Captivated by Cinderella, even mom as enthralled. Let's get this right, her name was Ella. When her step-sisters and step-mother find her with ash from the fire's cinders on her face, they taunt  her by calling her "cinder"Ella. When all is revealed and the Prince finds the mystery princess and begs her name, I was appalled when she answered, "My name is Cinderella!" I wanted to stand up and shout, "That's not who you are! You are Ella!" I resisted the urge, for the sake of my family's embarrassment.
Mark Driscoll taught, "Your past might explain you, but it doesn't define you."
Define means to explain or identify the nature or essential qualities of; to describe. My past is not who I am.
I spent some time before bed, looking through my childhood, wedding and early years of our family scrapbooks, pondering what from my past do I let define me? As I pondered, I thought about the daily path I walk as a mom, a wife, a leader; the struggles and battles each role has attached. My thoughts poured onto my weakness, misgiving, faults and strains. And then I realized, not only does my past experience not describe me, my present circumstances do not identify me. Only my standing with Christ defines me. Who am I?

• I am forgiven of all my sins (past, present and future.)
• And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14
• I am a child of the King. 
• See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1a
• I am secure, He will never reject me. 
• All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. John 6:37
• I am a temple of the Holy Spirit.
• Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? 1 Corinthians 6:19
• I am never alone.
• And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.. John 14:16
• I am new (not fixed up).
• If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 1 Corinthians 5:17
• I am given eternal life now!
• And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3

When I sat down with my scrapbooks, I felt heavy, burdened, distressed, not so much by my past, but my present. After God spoke to my soul, I felt lighter, lifted. It just took reminding and listening.

Will you approach God with your "scrapbooks"? What are you letting define you? Is it true? You are a child of the King!

Before the blossom

Why is it at Mother's Day, Christians pull out Proverbs 31? The woman described seems like the ideal model. She's amazing: a blessing to her husband "all the days of her life," works hard and willingly, provides for family, friends and the poor, creates a home and clothing to protect her family and therefore has no worries for her family. She's wise, in shape, in the marketplace, disciples her children, works in ministries, is dignified, fears the Lord, teaches, proactive, prays…. How in the world?
I think what comes first is clearly at the beginning,

"She is far more precious than jewels," (v. 10b). 

She knows who she is. She's not just someone's wife, mom or mentor. She's in Christ. The Proverbs 31 woman knows that she is the jewel of her heavenly Father's eye. She knows, He rejoices over me with gladness; He will quiet me by His love; He will exult over me with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17). She is in Christ.
Planting season is upon us. Peering through a book from the library, gaining tidbits of knowledge, I noticed a tip for planting annual seedling: "Pinch off any flowers or buds so the plant can focus it's energy on getting it's roots established rather than flowering, then water well." This Proverbs 31 woman, establishes her roots in Christ. She knows she is fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). She knows she is the apple of God's eye (Psalm 17) and that she is His treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6), she's forgiven (1 John 1:9), gifted (1 Corinthians 12:7), and blessed (Ephesians 1:3). After she's grounded in Christ, she can focus her energy on the rest of her attributes and blossom.
Establishing her identity in Christ, is only the beginning of her spirituality. If you noticed, in my gardening book, the last phrase was, "then water well." I think the wise Proverbs 31 woman waters in verse 15:

She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.

Rising "while it is yet night" is her daily multi-vitamin. Solomon was not referring simply to physical food. He was also speaking of spiritual food. When the alarm goes off at 5am, I'm not always excited to jump out of bed, but I know that if I don't, I'll regret it. If I wake early, spend time marinating in God's Word, I'm ready to give. Contrary, if I hit snooze for an hour, waking the same time as my family, I am like a dry wilting, stressed plant, and it's ugly. The wise Proverbs 31 woman knows she needs a daily spiritual vitamin. This rich time of fellowship with God in the morning, feeds our spirit throughout the day and gives us energy to blossom.
Read Proverbs 31:10-31. Which attributes of this Proverbs 31 woman convicts you the most? She is overwhelming! Select ONE area that you will focus on this week. Can I suggest you begin with establishing your worth in Christ or nourishing your spirit with Him daily if these are areas of conviction?