Character

One Rebellious Donut

I love donuts. I’m from Texas and I’d have to say I believe every Texan loves donuts. You can find a donut shop in every large and small town across the state. Since moving to Hawaii, I have relegated myself to only being able to eat donuts from the grocery store and although sub par, they cure the craving.
So today while grocery shopping, I decided to give into my guilty pleasure and buy 2 donuts to eat with my Starbucks coffee on the way home. After checking out, I thought better of getting a Starbucks drink. I am doing my best to live a healthier lifestyle in 2014 and that combo seemed like trouble.
Every once in a while I’ll think to myself “I wonder how many calories are in this donut?” But I never actually inquire because well, I really don’t want to know. I just tell myself that it is a rare treat and I’m sure it’s not that bad.
Thing is, today, I asked myself that question while eating that delicious chocolate donut and replied to myself in my normal “you don’t want to know then you are accountable” thought. Then another overriding voice came into my mind. A thought that reflected more about myself than I wanted that donut to – That’s how I read God’s Word.
Yikes! Am I avoiding specific areas or truths of the Bible because I don’t want the knowledge that makes me accountable to choose the right path? When I scarf down those donuts then it goes against my desire to live healthier in my eating choices. I am responsible for the changes in my body because of that choice. Now maybe that means I cut something out later or exercise more to cover that guilty pleasure but either way, those consequences land solely on me.
The way I choose to study God’s Word, including choosing not to look into specific teachings, THAT shapes my spiritual body. Now I may be growing in other areas but the things in life that I am just saying “lalalala…don’t want to know” are producing spiritual consequences. Sometimes I feel like I keep repeating the same lessons over and over, maybe the truth is that I am repeating the same lessons over and over because I’m making a choice to NOT learn new ones.

Food for thought today…yes, pun intended! I’d love to know your thoughts so leave a comment below.

Suffering From Impatience? Me too.

Exodus 6:9 (NLT)

So Moses told the people of Israel what the LORD had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.

Hi my name is Christy and I’m an impatient person. I’ve been suffering with this all my life. It seems to partner itself with my need to be in control of all situations. Together, these characteristics are a force to be reckoned with on any given day. I see the improvements that the Holy Spirit is doing in me. I haven’t yelled at my children in 3 weeks, although, in my mind, I have a thousand times. It’s challenging to balance so many roles in my life, as I am sure it is for everyone.  I see myself being just as many of the children of Israel – so caught up in the harsh reality of life and the bitterness that settles in when nothing seems to be working in my favor that I can ‘t even muster enough hope, much less faith in action, to even listen to what God is saying. My current situations deafen me to hearing God’s plan.

But not only is His voice comforting, it comes with the full power of heaven enforcing (or imposing) His will into the situation. On any given day, I am in desperate need for an encounter with Jehovah Jireh, my Provider. And there is one place I am guaranteed to meet up with Him – in HIS WORD. It is life. It is the source of all hope. It is THE game plan on winning in the battle against impatience.

When the circumstances of life have you loaded down, let His word relieve the burden. It will still be difficult to move through the tasks because you can’t control everything, at least that is what I keep finding out, but you can control self and you can exhibit patience IF you have the love of God in you.  No matter how dark the times, He is light. His compassion and mercy are fresh everyday!