Does it Matter More?

Tyler and I have had several conversations lately that start out "I want to lose x amount of weight."  We've been bombarded over the past few weeks with commercials and advertisements galour for weight loss programs, gyms, weight loss food, etc, etc, etc.  It's getting old pretty quick. 

Something else that is getting old are my thoughts.  I've been pre-occupied these past couple of months with what I call "vain imaginations" of myself.  In other words, my mind  has been pre-occupied on things that aren't true, but that overwhelm me with feelings of failure, inadequacy, and insecurity.  My vain imaginations aren't true, however I find myself living as if they were at times.  Ugh!  Didn't I already win this battle?

Tyler has been patient with listening to me talk about these things with him, but sometimes he's been frustrated because he feels wounded by my lack of trust in him.  He realizes I'm battling with inaccurate thoughts and constantly telling me what he sees, what he knows to be true about me.  "Doesn't it matter more to you what I see and know?" was something that he asked me several days ago.  That is a question I believe that Jesus has been gently asking me for some time now...Does it matter more to you what I see and know to be true or what this world is telling you?   

Do I value truth or vain imaginations?  Do I value freedom from or captivity to these vain imaginations?  Does my actions and responses reflect what I truly value?  It's easy to bow down in surrender to the natural, worldly patterns of thought.  Retraining or re-programming our minds requires us to be intentional.  God asks us to take captive and destroy anything that raises itself up against the true knowledge of God. So contrary to our natural tendencies.  How do we do this?  God has been calling to my mind Psalm 46:10-11; Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Cease striving means to let go, relax.  For me that means to stop being so prideful, believing that I can get it all under control on my own, and remembering how big and powerful my God is.  It means letting go of what I might be feeling is true and believing what He says is true.  I'm never going to "measure up" to the standards of this world, but I don't have to (I think I need to repeat that alot).  God is my stronghold and who I am is defined by Him.

Be glorious to me

I've been dumbfounded many times throughout my life by how involved and concerned God is with what seems like the smallest details in my life. It's like He's always creating a chance for Himself to show off...and He is. He is showing off to me so that He can be showed off through me.

I heard a question posed on a radio program not too long back that has stuck with me. "How can we share and show how glorious God is to others, when He isn't glorious to us? Ask God to be glorious to you so He can be glorious through you." I had never really ever thought to ask God to be glorious to me.

I started praying that He would be glorious to me. Of course I start looking for the neon signs and the "red sea partings" to show me His glory, failing to see the "small" things or things I take for granted daily that show off His glory just as much. I've begun to see His glory in the food He puts on my table, the air He uses to fill my lungs, doing the laundry, cleaning out the refrigerator...etc.

Is there any place or time that His beauty and glory cannot be revealed to me? How different would my heart and attitude be if I realized I can find it even in cleaning out my fridge and in making a huge mess on the floor just after cleaning it? There would be a holy difference that's for sure and I for one could use more of the wholeness that brings to every aspect of my life. You would see a whole lot more of Him and whole lot less of me.