Ellen

Weave Threads of Rejoicing into Your Life

July 22, 2021 by Ellen Leave a Comment

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Tired. Cranky. Summer sinus cold. John Ortburg, in his book Soul Keeping, suggests thinking of something you are thankful for before you get out of bed each day. He calls this “practicing gratitude”. This particular day, I wasn’t practicing gratitude very well. I was struggling to find something to be grateful for.

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

My foggy brain remembered that I had been memorizing these verses in 1 Thessalonians. Verse sixteen has got to be THE ONE scripture that is impossible to do! How can I always rejoice, pray without ever stopping and give thanks for everything – even the bad stuff? Can it be done?

Silently I climbed out of bed to dig deeper into God’s word. Settling into my favorite chair, cup of coffee in hand and favorite crocheted afghan around my legs, I began to study the scriptures.

Rejoice. To delight (charm, enchant, captivate) in God’s grace. To be captivated with God’s grace.

Always. At ALL times. Rejoice all the time. Pray all the time and don’t stop talking to God.

Give thanks. Eucharisteo, literally thankful for God’s good grace. In everything. All circumstances, good or bad.

Rejoicing, praying and giving thanks all the time is God’s will for us. His preferred will.

Pondering this information, I plucked at a loose thread on the afghan. Coming out of my reverie of rejoicing always, I noticed the beautiful stitches. They were intricately entwined. I knew if I pulled the loose piece of yard, it wouldn’t come out, because the threads were so tightly woven together.

Then I realized God’s word is like the yarn in my afghan. Interwoven. I can’t rejoice always, without praying and giving thanks. I can’t pray without ceasing unless I rejoice and am thankful in all circumstances. These three verses were knit together as tightly as my afghan.

I studied the crocheted afghan closely. It looked like it was made with one single thread of yard. Each stitch built on the single thread until a full afghan was created. One thread also holds these three verses together: In Christ Jesus. Without Christ in me, I can’t rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks in everything.

Just as each stitch in the afghan builds on one thread, each of these scriptures builds on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ.

With the afghan wrapped around me, I felt safe and content in its warmth. We can wrap God’s word around us, feeling safe and joyful as we go about our day, rejoicing, praying and giving thanks in all our circumstances!

Grace be with you,

This post originally published on June 29, 2014

What Do You See?

July 8, 2021 by Ellen Leave a Comment

It had been a long ride. Only two hours from the beautiful mesas, sandstone arches, and canyons of Moab, UT, the drive into Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado was hair raising, and seemed to last forever.

The mountain road leading into the park went straight up. Road signs were reminiscent of The Robot on Lost in Space: DANGER, DANGER! Sharp curves and steep grades kept my teeth gritted and hands clenched. I relaxed my hands only long enough to knead the knot forming between my shoulder blades.

Finally, we reached the lodge. We were told our room was a short drive down the road, on the right, number 110. We drove and drove until we could see no more rooms. All the numbers were in the two hundred range. Tired and confused, we headed back to the lobby.

“Yes, it’s just down the road, on the right. Maybe a quarter of a mile.”

We searched and searched, but STILL couldn’t find room number 110.

Off to the lobby, again.

“Honey, I’ll go this time, to save you some embarrassment.”

Inside I went, determined to get some answers.

“Ma’am, I feel like an idiot. We absolutely can’t find room 110. All we see are rooms in the 200 range.”

“Right, your room will be under those.”

“Under?” I said with a little snark and a lot of doubt in my voice. I was tired, cranky, and needed specificity!

“Yes, if you look closely, there is a little hill or berm, and the lower level rooms are behind that, under the 200 rooms.”

Well, there had been a little hill leading up to the rooms we saw. Off we went again, more alert and looking closer. Sure enough. If you’re peering intently at the upper level rooms, you can see a slight glimpse of the rooms on the lower level. Our level. Behind the berm. Luggage in hand, we marched up the hill, down the stairs and found our room.

We hadn’t seen what was right in front of us.

Our eyes were focused on what we could see. If we had truly believed the hotel clerk we would have looked a little harder. Persevered a little longer. Trusted that what she said was truth. We would have shifted our gaze to what was not seen.

We were walking by sight, not by faith. ‘Cause let me tell you, we didn’t believe for a second that there were more rooms than those we could see!

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 CSB

Walking by sight we only see our story, versus God’s bigger story. Trials, circumstances and even people, blur our vision. The reality is, God is working! We may not know or understand this side of heaven what He is doing, but we keep asking, keep seeking, keep praying!

When we flip our perspectives and walk by faith, we see in light of God’s viewpoint. We stretch our sight to include eternal things^⁠1, things not seen. Warren Wiersbe says that as we mature spiritually, we’ll be able to penetrate beneath the surface of life, and see things as they really are.^⁠2

That traffic jam that cost you 20 minutes? Could have been there to save your life.
That sandpaper person (bless her heart) who aggravates you so? She could be there to help grow fruits of the Spirit^⁠3 in you (patience comes to mind…).
That hotel room you can’t find? Keep asking, keep seeking, and your perseverance will grow.

And if we still can’t see the big picture? Well, then, that’s when we pray “Lord, I don’t know what You are doing, but my eyes are on You!^⁠4”

Grace be with you,

Ellen

¹“while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

²Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 577). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

³Galations 5:22-23

⁴2 Chronicles 20:12