Battle On!

Published by christi on August 17, 2023

The battle I reported in last week’s post still rages. (Not that I really expected it to be over…)

The good news includes:  I am remembering to set boundaries around my house morning and evening, to armor up when I sit down to the Word each morning. (Maybe I should put it on as soon as my eyes open.) We have weathered some crises this week and more have arisen. We have been given an ultimatum about our house that requires swift, thorough clearing. (Not much sorting is going on, but lots of things are going in boxes and being removed from the house.

This kind of upheaval makes my heart sore. I feel very ragged and tears are at the ready as I write this. The word “ruin” came up in my readings, and feels very appropriate.

— I recognize that our little disaster is not nearly as world-shaking as so many that are going on around the world with wars, famines, floods, and fires, but this is my disaster.  (I am praying for their comfort and help, and for their hearts to be drawn to Papa-God through this!) This is the tool God is using in me.–

The ruin in Jeremiah 13 is a object lesson that God gave the prophet. It goes kind of like this:

“Jeremiah, go get yourself a new linen belt. Put it on. Comfy? Yeah, feels pretty good, doesn’t it. Holds things in place, doing its job.

Now, take it off and go hide it on the banks of the Euphrates.”

Jeremiah might have been scratching his head a bit over this one. But he did it. Many days later, new conversation:

“Jeremiah, remember that linen belt I had you hide? It’s time to go get it.  Yes, there it is, right where you put it. What do you see?”

“LORD, it’s ruined, useless, good for nothing!”

The word of the LORD:  This is what will happen to my people that I love, but who don’t love me, the ones who chase after other solutions, other loves than me. They will become ruined, good for nothing. What I wanted was for them to cling to me as closely as that linen belt clung to you before you hid it. I wanted them to “be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.”

When I cling to my stuff, my plans, my reluctance to do the hard work of sorting instead of clinging to my God, I become good for nothing, ruined. When I listen to the whining and the panic in my brain about all the work we must do (and quickly), instead of my Papa-God’s offer of insight and strength, peace and hope, I am good for nothing. At least nothing He wants.

Time to de-junk my brain, too, as I am seeking to keep on the path of

Following Jesus every day in the everyday,

Christi