It's about the journey, not the destination

It's been a while...

In life I often tend to freak out over small things that happen...I THINK God is trying to tell me to quit being a drama queen...To be still and wait on Him...BUT that goes against EVERY instinct I have. Being a Manly man type, when something breaks...I wanna fix it!!! But...what happens is often MY quick fix solutions are NOT what God had intended...and the situation just gets worse! Wonder why.....?


Isaiah 30

1 "Woe to the obstinate children,"
declares the LORD,
"to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh's protection,
to Egypt's shade for refuge.
.....
18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!

Woe to the obstinate children...that make their own plans...
Mmm... Maybe I have been a little obstinate...wait...what does that even mean...


obstinacy - stubbornness: resolute adherence to your own ideas or desires


So kind of like sticking to MY plans when God has OTHER plans...

So I've been having a tough time...work has been HECTIC...Started a new job, walked into immense pressure...So I could need a little pick me up...


Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Sounds like a good plan! BUT the "consumer" in me rises up again and screams "WHY IS IT TAKING SOOOOO LONG GOD??!?!?!"...

*LIGHTBULB...

IT'S NOT SO MUCH ABOUT WHERE YOU END UP AS WHAT IT IS ABOUT HOW YOU GET THERE...
The same as life is not a destination, it's a journey...I am beginning to learn that God likes journeys...and sometimes on journeys you have to pull off the road, stretch your legs and look at the beauty around you...But we like to get where we are going NOW! I need to slow down and admire God's handiwork more...Stop and sniff the roses now and then and STOP trying to fix everything myself!

8 1/2

So...I have earned myself another nickname...8 and a half...
I was trying to play the riff to a certain song at band practice on monday night...
I was failing horribly...

Shane starts on the drums...
I am tapping my foot
counting out loud
waiting...waiting...too early...
Me: "someone said come in on the 8th beat."
Ray: "What?! no...come in on 9!"
Me: "doh...ok...eish!"

Shane starts on the drums...
I am tapping my foot
counting out loud
wait...for...it....
6....7....8..8-1/2.pling...half a beat too soon! WHAT?!
Ray looks dejected...I want to throw my guitar around...

Shane starts on the drums...
I am tapping my foot
counting out loud
wait...for...it....
6....7....8..8-1/2.pling...half a beat too soon! WHAT?!AGAIN!?!
Ray looks like he wishes the earth would swallow him...I wish it would swallow me instead...we are playing the song on sunday!!!

Ok...eventually I kinda figure out how to come in on beat 9...after about 5 attempts...

But...after chatting to another buddy today...I can see a meta...parraa...correl...connection between me coming in too soon and MANY other things in life...

VERY often we are going through a season of sorts in our lives...and when it's a bad season we want it to be over ASAP! When it's plowing season, it's time to plow! And it's HARD WORK! But without plowing in the plowing season...there will be no fruit later!

Proverbs 20 vs 4:

"A sluggard does not plow in season;
so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing."

"BUT God!!! I want the fruit now" Is a common saying...hahahaha...I find myself saying that often! Instead of chilling indoors while it's raining and giving the fruit time to grow, I run around in the rain, getting wet and misrable, looking for fruit that isn't there yet!!!! When God all the while is saying that I should just relax, wait for the rain to pass...THEN go plant...wait...THEN harvest the fruit...the whole while just seeking Him more! And...NOT the fruit...The fruit grows by itself...

Leviticus 26 vs 3 - 5:

If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

EVEN THE ANIMALS know when to do what! Why do we worry about when and how and and and and sooooo much!?

Jeremiah 8:7

Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
the requirements of the LORD.

God has said there's a time for everything!

Ecclesiastes 3:

"1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."

But noooooooo....we want to come in on beat 8 1/2 instead of 9...Then we wonder why we are cold, wet and miserable?! LOL...There's alot of waiting involved in getting to the fruit...alot of hard work...but we ALWAYS want to exercise our consumer rights and go down to the local Spar and go pickup the fruit just like that... That's not how it works...

I am currently in a season where I am waiting for fruit...Where's that fertilizer at? hahaha...nah...bad move...trying to speed up the process just does more harm than good...Time to push into God and see what He says...

That is all for now...
8 1/2 out :P

WOMAD!!!

Yes...WOMAD...not WOMAN...As in weapons of mass destruction. Random I know...connected to this post...sort of...Refer to the address of my blog if you have any questions as to WHY I would post something like this :P

When I read the Bible...I choose a book and read it through...I don't know how I choose a particular book or if it "chooses me"...I have been reading 1 Samuel...

The first part that stuck out to me was how the people disrespected God...trying to use His ark as a "lucky charm"...Flip! How often we try treat God like our genie...we sit around...ignore Him, until the paw-paw hits the fan, then all of a sudden He's our best mate again...A pet peeve of mine are when you have "friends" that you don't hear from for MONTHS or YEARS...then all of a sudden you get a call, sms, email or whatever from them "how are you doing? whats news? oh...can you please help me with XYX?"...It's like HELLO I don't only want to know you when you need something! BUT we treat God like that! And it's not cool!

1 Samuel 4

1 And Samuel's word came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. 3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from Shiloh, so that it [a] may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies."

They were scared cos they got defeated...and instead of relying on God they wanted to use His ark...bang...defeated...God aint no lucky charm!

Later, in 1 Samuel, I was reading about how the Israelites had NO WEAPONS...they had no way to defeat the Philistines...The Philistines controlled all the weapons and blacksmiths, so that the Israelites could not make any weapons even...they were basically powerless...

How scary is this: 1 Samuel 13

"22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them."

THEY HAD NO WEAPONS!!!! But Saul's son Jonothan said

6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few."

Foolish bravado? Or Faith? BUT...He still asked God's advice/for God to guide him.

8 Jonathan said, "Come, then; we will cross over toward the men and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, 'Wait there until we come to you,' we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, 'Come up to us,' we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands."

And it happend JUST LIKE THAT! The Philistines tuned them...come here so we can give ya'll a beat down...and Jonothan said to his amour-bearer "God has given them over into our hands"...The two of them (along with God) killed 20 philistines right there!

Then the Philistines panicked BIG TIME! WOW! A WHOLE ARMY...and they fell apart...stressed themselves to death :P...ran around like headless chickens and even started killing EACH OTHER!

"20 Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. 21 Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit. 23 So the LORD rescued Israel that day, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven."

YOH! powerful scriptures...(as they ALL are :P ) hehe...
Sometimes in life things are going down and WE run around and try to make a plan OUR way...try this try that...and then things go WORSE and we wonder why! When what we SHOULD do is listen for God...wait in expectancy...When God fights for you NOTHING is impossible!!! 2 guys climb up a cliff...whack 20 other guys (something that was quite a feat) and a whole army goes bossies and starts killing each other!

Only now after putting in down here...in a formulated thought (sort of)...does it ACTUALY hit home...WOW!!! The timing of this is AMAZING!! And it's where I am reading at the moment...God rocks!!!

Until next time...stay tuned...Climb the cliff!

P.S. Maybe I can negate the effects of my careless words by writing a book or something... hehe

P.P.S I have been wanting to take up rock climbing for a while now :P

EGADS!!!

EGADS! I was sitting here thinking about how things go wrong sometimes...alot of times...and how it just gets me down. Things at work don't go well...I have a fight with my family. I drop my bike on its side (no...I didn't drop it again...just makin a point)

...BUT...

Romans 8:28 - 31 came to mind:

"And we know that in *all things* God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Frigging WOW MAN!!! God is on our side...and He works in ALL things for those that love Him (that would be US)...ALL THINGS...even the bad things...how?I don't always know...and sometimes it literally takes YEARS to find out...look back at things that didn't go the way you wanted them to...About two years ago I considered moving closer to work to make life "easier"...my plans fell through...if things had gone MY way I would never have ended up at one way! I would have never met the amazing people I have...I would have been smouldering instead of burning for God...WOW...

When tough times get you down and it feels like NOTHING is happening and you aren't getting anywhere...look to God and His word...
Luke 5:5:
"Simon answered, 'Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.'"

Sometimes it seems as if life is on "pause" and you aren't getting anywhere...you fish and you fish and you fish and....nothing...not even a lil fishy...you get frustrated...you want to pull your nets in and go home...but...sometimes you just gotta try once more...when Jesus says do it...you do it...even if it goes against EVERYTHING the world or your head or other people say...you DO IT...I have been there...many times...with many things...gym, church, friendships, worship team, work, family...NEVER GIVE UP!!!!

Hebrews 12:1-3 (from the message):
"Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!"

Yikes...500+ words again...sorry guys...I really should write a book :P