Rejoice, Pray, and Give Thanks

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." ~1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

Rejoice ALWAYS, pray WITHOUT CEASING, give thanks IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. Oh my what a tall order! Always, without ceasing, and in all circumstances are all very daunting phrases that make you wonder, 'How on earth will I find time to do all of that too?!'

Take heart, for He tells how to do theses things in the very next verse. In Christ Jesus. What comfort those words bring for me! I know that I can accomplish His will of rejoicing always, praying without ceasing and giving thanks in all circumstances with His help.

There are two very important words at the end of this passage that I pray you do not overlook; 'for you'. I read them in two ways:

1. It is His will for you (me) to rejoice, pray and give thanks.
2. It is for you (me) that His will is to rejoice, pray and give thanks.

Still not clear on the difference? Number one means its something I need to do in order to be within His will. I'm following orders. Number two feels more like a gift. By rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in all circumstances I am going to be happier. And I am going to return that happiness as praise and glory to God. What a glorious circle to be caught in!

By being thankful and rejoicing through prayer, I see everything as a gift. And any gift from God does not need to be modified or controlled. By taking this gift presented to me, I can let go of the control I have wrongfully grabbed a hold of, and give it back to God. And for the days, and the things, that this is too hard for me to do, I can turn to Jesus and receive all the help I need in doing so.

-Eryn

Giving God Sole Control

"But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!" Psalm 31:14-15 (ESV)

Did you know that "trust" can be a noun OR a verb? As a noun, 'Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.' As a verb, 'Believe in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of.' In this context I choose both, (I'm female, I can do that!). By saying "You are my God", you are putting words and an action to your trust in the Lord.

 But, there is more to trust than just saying you trust someone, you have to actually trust them! Hence verse 15, "My times are in your hand;". To trust God fully, we must place our lives into His hands. We must realize, acknowledge and live out this truth daily.

How hard this is! I struggle with it daily. I put in my two week notice at work. Then I go to the mailbox to find a very large medical bill that must be paid in full. I must give up stressing how these things will work out. I must TRUST God that HE will take care of them, and without my worrying about it along the way!

Lord, please help me to remember, for I do know mentally already, that you are here for me. That you have it all covered. That all I have to do is proclaim your word, and give you glory. I pray to you in Jesus' name, Amen.

Hello. My name is Eryn, and I'm a Control Freak!

For those of you who don't know, I (Eryn) have started an online bible study through Melissa Taylor and Proverbs31 Ministries. The book we are using to guide us through is Let. It. Go. by Karen Ehman. We are two chapters into the book, and already my eyes are being opened just a little wider, and my heart is being changed.
Hello, my name is Eryn and I am a control freak. More specifically, I am a manipulative control freak according to the control quotient test at the end of chapter 1, of which I got a quotient of 36. I manipulate others by:

1. I try and persuade others to see my point of view and take on the same opinion that I have so we will agree, and I will get my way. 
2. I agree to do SOME of the things people ask me to do so that they will "owe" me. Please don't take this to mean that if I have done something for you that it was so you would owe me. This is only true in certain situations. 
3. I control my family by letting/not letting them do something based on my wants, desires, and preferences. When they don't agree with me, I sulk until they do.
4. I use my chronic illness to make others feel sorry for me so that they will agree with me and I will, in turn, get my way. 

BUT, I have hope and so do you! By going through this study I hope to learn how to do the following two things:

1. To determine the difference between being conscientious (our/my part) and being in control (God's part)
2. To control what I (we) should and TRUST God with the rest. 

As I write the above, something else occurs to me. But first a little background, I am also going through Mark Driscoll's book Who Do You Think You Are? as part of my small group bible study. In the first chapter Mark talks about idols, and uses it as an acronym.

Items

Duties

Others

Longings

Sufferings

Now for the something else that occurred to me. As I finished writing about being a manipulative control freak, and went to hit publish, I hesitated. I hesitated, because admitting what I admitted above is difficult to do and there were two things that I DIDN'T want to happen.

1. I didn't want others to comment on this and not agree with my point of view. Controlling much? But this is something I already admitted to. And something I am working on fixing.
2. I am deathly afraid of what everyone who is reading this is going to think of me. That falls into the Others in IDOLS category. Guess I better get going on fixing this issue as well...#sigh.

I am so grateful to be going through both of these books. I am learning so much about myself, who God wants me to be and how to be that person. Please pray for me. Pray for the transformation that needs to take place in me. That I can become the woman God wants me to be.

-Eryn