A thought for those who are hurting

Just a few hours ago, Beth Moore published a blog post (see link on home page). I read the following quote where she so perfectly stated a thought I've never bothered to articulate. I truly appreciate the ministry of Beth Moore and have learned life-changing approaches to Scripture and application under her teaching. I will be leading a study with a small group starting in April. It's Beth Moore's Esther study.

Without further adieu, here's the statement I so appreciated:

To me, the line is drawn where the glory to God and the good to the listeners profoundly exceeds the pain of the testimony. If the listener will likely be left with graphic visuals and oppressive thoughts or pervasive sadness, we need to refrain from telling it in detail. In those occasions, generalities are best. We don’t have to tell people everything to tell them an important something. We also have to be very sensitive to the other people – often family members – whose secrets are inadvertently told as we tells ours. These are HUGE issues that need to be worked through with great sensitivity. Mind you, I’m talking about audiences here. I’m not talking about counseling sessions. We do indeed need to find someone trustworthy and mature in the faith, with a gift for counsel, to hear our whole story."

Fill it up!

Do you ever have a conversation with someone else or with yourself and seemingly out of nowhere, God shows up? Not that he's not always there or you don't think he hears every thought or spoken word. But really, there are times when we're not thinking about it and then he shows up. I actually like that about him. As my life with Christ has strengthened, it happens more frequently and he's closer than a brother in that regard.

Here's an example. This morning, my 4 year old son wanted a sippy cup of chocolate strawberry milk. But this time he wanted to make it himself! I've been letting him do more things independently or under adult supervision since he recently turned 4, so we went to make his milk and that's when God showed up. I started to pour the chocolate syrup into the cup and then remembered that my boy doesn't need me to do that for him anymore. So I took the cup and said, "Here, I'll hold the cup and YOU fill it up!" I heard God smile over my shoulder and say, "Yeah, that's more like it!!!" That's probably the very thing my son was thinking as I handed him the brand new bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup and let him put as much as he wanted. I was concerned that he wouldn't stop, but he did. He looked to me wondering what would be the right amount and I coached him along.

My thoughts that followed went something like this.... Sometimes God wants to hold our cup and hand us the syrup. He wants to see how much we want of him, how much we truly desire him, how much we'll fill up on HIM. It's okay to go overboard. It's okay to stuff ourselves to the gills when it comes to God. You'll never burst! (And he is calorie and fat free.) So what would you do if God handed you the cup? Would you fill it up with him or something else?

Just my thought for the day.

~L