You Don't... What?!

 Did I ever tell you about the time we lived in a desert? 

Well, it wasn't really a desert but it felt like one.  We were all alone, we lived there for five years. We didn't have local friends or a church body but we grew more there, spiritually, than ever in our lives. We had the Lord, His word and one another. 

It was during our desert time that the Lord taught us about

... headship and submission and what it means to be a helpmeet

... modesty and what that really means

... the dangers of age-segregated activities, especially in worship and Bible study

... the principles of a courtship model of relationships

... the health value of eating clean

and more.  Maybe I'll expound on those topics in another post but for now I want to talk about something else.

Why do we believe what we believe?  We realized we could support all of the above and homeschooling and more scripturally.  So we began to look at all of the choices and decisions we made to see if we could support everything with scripture.  

We realized that in the Old Testament when God wanted His people to do something, build something, celebrate something, He gave them very specific details... measurements... dates... times... very specific.  He told them exactly what He expected and how to live pleasing to Him.  In the New Testament we also see commandments... Jesus was baptized so we should be also.  The Last Supper, 'do this in remembrance of me'., and others.  They are more general but still it's very clear what God wants of us. 

This is the filter we began using to evaluate our choices and decisions. And  you know what we found?  God, who so clearly explained in scripture how we could please Him and what He expects of us never asked us to celebrate the birth of His son!  He didn't even tell us when Christ was born. Why?  Surely celebrating the Birth of Jesus is a good thing? Right? Why did God not give us that information?  Why did he not say 'on the x day of the y month in the year z'...?  He certainly did that in many other places. We puzzled over this for a long time.  We read and read.  It's just not there.  Why is it not there?  What does that omission mean?  It has to mean something, God doesn't make mistakes, He didn't just forget to tell us.

That line of questioning led us to research Christmas from a historical perspective.  We learned of it's pagan origins and we read scripture where we are admonished not to 'mix things of this world with the things of the Lord'. Bingo.  We are His, we are set apart. We have to seek Him in all things.  We just don't believe that celebrating Christmas is His desire for us.  

We also believe that we are all on our own walks with God and He will show us what He wants of us in His perfect timing.  We are not all convicted of the same things at the same time, or maybe never?  

But for us... no.  We do not have the freedom from the Lord to celebrate pagan holidays that are mixed with 'godly' ones.  So we do not celebrate Easter either. We certainly teach our children about the birth of Christ and what that means for us.  We also teach them about His death and resurrection.  You don't have to "do" Christmas and Easter for your children to learn about Christ and His sacrifice for us!

Whose Opinion Matters to You?

Or rather, whose opinion *should* matter to you?

 [Of course, the Lord's opinion of us is all that really matters... but speaking from a human perspective, I continue...]

 Respect.

 The opinion of those whom you respect are the only opinions that you should think twice about, in my opinion. (Ha, accidental play on words there!)

 I say this because I have talked with so many people who are upset because of someone else's opinion... and this "someone else" is most often someone they don't even respect. Why does that opinion matter to you? It shouldn't. Don't let it.

 If you have expertise in some area and someone with less or no expertise tells you that you are doing something wrong... why let that bother you?

 With the exception of Biblical moral standards, there is very little 'right' and 'wrong' in this world. There is 'more than one way to skin a cat'... it's okay for each of us to have our own personal 'right way' but it is Not okay for us to demand others do things our way... or cast judgement on someone for having their own 'right way'. (I'm talking about personal relationships here, not employer/employee ones. Of course, if you are the boss and you want things done your way, that is your right and privilege.)

 Years ago I was an experienced, successful breastfeeding mama and someone expressly shared strong opinions that I was doing it wrong. It made me so mad. I fumed for days. Then I realized how foolish I had been to allow this opinion to affect me so strongly. The opinion giver had never been a breastfeeding mom as he was a man! Ha! Why did I let that bother me so much? It, obviously, stuck with me and I eventually realized whose opinion should really matter to me... those people that I respect, people who have a measure of expertise in their area. The rest, just let go.

Letting Go...

"Let go and let God"... such a common phrase... Why is it so hard sometimes though?  There is a particular struggle in my life right now.  It grieves my heart so deeply and I want to 'fix' it so badly.  I should be able to.  I think.  But should I?  Can I?  No to both.

I keep trying.  I keep 'doing all the right things'.  And the struggle is still there.  The hurt and pain... still there.

So, again, I realize the problem is that I keep giving it to Him and then taking it back.  It's not a conscious thing.  I think this is something I should be able to fix.

A few days ago, the struggle reared it's ugly, sinful head again and the Lord deeply convicted my  heart... He told me I need to leave it with Him.  This is not mine to fix.  It is His.  There are complexities to the situation that I do not know... that I do not need to know.  He has this.  He cares way more than I ever could.

And as I wept and truly gave it to Him and purposed in my heart to leave it there He flooded me with His peace... truly a peace that passes all understanding... a peace I can not really explain.  But it's true and deep. That is His... the peace and the ability to heal... His.  Mine is to Leave it there.  To recognize when self tries to fix things again.  Mine is to realize my fallibility... to continually leave it with Him. To keep my heart open and my hands open. He is faithful.