I laughed at Chrissy when she described her delight over this picture with her babies. She said that when one starts to "blow" they all do (somehow I remember that more clearly than I would like too!). Little James decided to erupt..and what tickled Chrissy was the others looking so intently at him, trying to decide if they too ,should be concerned and begin erupting themselves?! All the while, Chrissy was looking deeply into his eyes assuring him that everything was fine and there was no need for such uncertainty!I wonder how many time my Father has done the same for me?! In the midst of uncertainty how many times must He have spoken softly and lovingly to me, while looking deeply into my soul, assuring me that everything is fine and their is no need for fear? In all honesty, I would hate to know how many times!
I so easily find myself looking around to my immediate surroundings and circumstances and to those in closest proximity of my heart and try to rationalize how everything is going to turn out. Much too often fear triumphs. The crazy thing is it seems to go unnoticed at first. All I can see is the "urgency of the situation of the moment" and the "in my face" reality stands 10 foot tall, or so it appears. I'm one of those on the couch with all of my energy focused on James and letting him determine how I will respond, rather than looking into the eyes of my Father as He tries to remind me that I'm one of His and I can trust that everything really IS fine...no matter how "undone" James is at the moment.
He reminds me once again that this present reality is not reality at all! I carry in my bible one of my favorite definitions. It is the definition for the word TRUTH found in John 1:17.
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, grace and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ.
The Greek word for truth is Aletheia, which means the "unveiled reality pertaining to an appearance. The reality clearly lying before our eyes as opposite to a mere appearance, without reality!"
Wow! That "thing" that is going on in your life is only a "mere appearance without reality" and what God is doing behind "the appearance" is the true reality! We're all busy looking at James and he is really upset and he is really upsetting us...what if he's right and the sky is falling...then what? If you can still your heart and drag your eyes away from what is stealing your focus and quietly poise yourself...you will hear the Father's soft voice and see His loving eyes fixated on yours, assuring you that everything that has stolen your focus is a "mere appearance without reality"!
You would also hear Him say that His grace is sufficient. If you will notice in the verse in John that "grace" precedes the word "truth". For truth without grace is only half truth! Jesus never intended for us to face truth without His grace to do so. You see the problem with James is that he is only seeing the problem and not the grace that is available for him at the moment. That is when fear takes over.
So I don't know about you...but I'm choosing not to look at James but rather fixate on the grace given me to embrace the truth of the moment...the real truth! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and ALL things work together for my good!
He will ALWAYS have the last say and He has already said that you are "the apple of His eye" and that He longs to be gracious to you and He rises to show you compassion. He has plans to prosper you and give you a hope. And He also said that He will perfect that which concerns you...so I guess James will just have to cry alone this time...because I'm trusting my Father!
