Always having to relearn that leaning lesson

I have a book by Ruth Chou Simons called Gracelaced; Discovering Timeless Truths through the Seasons of the Heart. As the title suggests, Ruth takes the reader through the various “seasons” of winter, spring, summer and fall with thoughts and scripture references that relate to the seasons of our hearts. I added journaling to my reading of this book last year and I do as much as I can get through depending on where I sit the book down and forget to pick back up again.

The last two mornings I have worked some more on the “winter” while we still have a few weeks left and the subject of today lines up with my daily devotion yesterday and the sermon series we are doing on mental health. Last week’s sermon was on worry and anxiety and this week, it seems every thing I have picked up for devotional time goes back to that theme.

So for our time together today, I want to just walk through my journal pages with you for Ruth’s section on “Lean”. Through Scripture, her written thoughts and some question prompts, here is what I gleaned:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: 5-6

Each day is filled with unending choices, Ruth points out. She shared her list, but I made my own and will add here for you:

How to manage time and get things done
What to keep and what to purge
Where to put what is kept
Where to give/pitch what is purged
How to pray for family and friends
How to interact in situations each day
How to develop and grow in relationships
What to do for a healthy lifestyle
What we will eat for meals and what to wear each day as we seem to have a variety of places and events back to back

This prompted me to write: As I look over my list, most are “earthly” things. Teach me to lean on You. Where does this start? And how do I do this daily? I am reminded of Sunday’s sermon with the verse about worry. So I will focus on that for now.

Jesus told us not to worry about what we are going to eat and what we are going to wear. My personal struggle with this verse is finding the balance between the thought that needs to go in to meal planning for us and knowing what clothing I will need that is appropriate for the activities of the day ahead, and yet not moving into worry. In other words, where is the line for an over thinker like me?

Ruth adds a perspective to this that helped me greatly. She says that when we begin to worry about these things, the small decisions (and large ones) each day, it has a root of fear about our lack of ability to choose wisely. She points out that all of our decisions, big and small “…aren’t meant to highlight our own wisdom or ability to stay the course, but rather to reveal where we put our confidence.”

She also writes that, “The straightness of the path has less to do with the ease of our travel than the direction of our true destination.”

How did I practically apply this to observing my own Method of Operation on a given day?

Let’s use the “worrying about what we will wear” line item.

Many days, our schedule involves back to back events with some possible costume changes in the mix. Or not. As I debate what I will wear to the first call of the day and then what I would like to wear after that to other things, I can get in a stew about making the right choice for the temperature of the weather and the climate of the culture I will be engaging in. I want to be “right” when I show up at the various places in my planner.

Keeping in mind that there are many who could care less about this, remember this is MY example and you can plug in your own angst producers. When I begin to stand in front of an overfilled closet, lamenting that I have nothing to wear…I am most likely leaning on my own understanding. I want to have made the right choice for everywhere I will be showing up that day.

In fact and truth, if I lean not on me but put my confidence in the Lord, I can probably stop fretting and just make a quick decision that will cover all my bases. I may not be the best dressed….I may be in workout clothes when we decide to stop for a bite to eat on the way home for tending grandchildren, but it’s okay. If I have a visitation tagged on to the end of a full day of errands, I can tuck a pair of dress pants in my bag, wear a top that will work and head off. Or, heaven forbid, wear nicer jeans the whole long day and not listen to the voice of my mom in my head about wearing jeans to such a thing.

Please hear me, I know that is very simplistic, but that is the point of both of those Scripture verses.They are meant to be lived out in the very normal, every day decisions of our lives.

My foundation is God. He is my wisdom and my counsel. When I am spending too much time in my head with my own thoughts, I most likely am not leaning on Him. I am putting my confidence in my wisdom and it is a daily recalculating maneuver to get back to His path. I love that Ruth points out, just because it isn’t easy doesn’t meant it isn’t headed in the right direction. But I don’t need to make it more difficult by taking over the navigation.

I will close with the three Scriptures she gave to dig deeper and what I gleaned from those:

Psalm 9:10 Those who know Your name trust in You because You have not abandoned those who seek You, LORD.

Psalm 32:10 Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the LORD will have faithful love surrounding him.

Jeremiah 17:7 The person who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence indeed is with the LORD, is blessed.

Who trusts in the LORD?

* Those who KNOW His name

What benefits come with trusting in the LORD?

* He does not abandon us

* We have faithful love surrounding us

* We are blessed

You are loved and blessed and not alone, my friend. Be calm and carry on <3

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