It has been a challenging summer for many but I hope you have found some refreshment. This year I am enjoying learning watercolour painting and studying the book of Psalms at my local Bible college. I’ll drop some art works in my writing. I’m looking forward to all I can do this year.
Unshakeable Trust
Over summer I bought five books by Joyce Meyer on the topic of trust and freedom from worry! I got them second hand from the Christian Value Bookstore here in Christchurch. The first book I read is called, ‘Unshakeable Trust’. In it I found a gentle call to trust God more with the details of my life. Her writing is definitely aimed to be a blow to anxiety, but I liked that was that it wasn’t focused on it. I don’t know about you but sometimes I find a lot of mental health words like ‘anxiety’ make me feel a little anxious! Well on finishing the book I thought I was ‘so on to it’, calm and feeling like I ‘got it’. But that of course that was easier read than done. As you will know the lifetime of challenges continue!
One of my favourite quotes from the book centers on the cause of many worries.
‘I urge you to resist the temptation to worry about your children, and instead trust God to do in them what you cannot do. Only God can change people!’.
She goes on to say that God can overcome the results of mistakes we have made as parents. That encourages me to both pray and trust God with my children. Joyce also reminds us that God, ‘wants to partner with us in our lives, and when we let him do so our minds can be at rest’.
I am a work in progress when it comes to peace of mind. A couple of days over the holidays I wasn’t just worried, I was very anxious. I hadn’t felt like that in some time. It was due to a situation but also contributed to by closely following news stories that disturbed me. I need to be on guard regarding the effect of disturbing news on my soul and creativity. What I experienced at that time was very unpleasant and it renewed my compassion for those who experience anxiety. Thankfully it was resolved soon as I withdrew from the news, and took some action.
Through that situation I learnt that sometimes my worries could be put to bed if I did more research about the thing I was worried about -and trust God to do the rest. Sometimes I journal my concerns as prayers and find that helpful to get them out, commit them to the LORD, close the book and carry on feeling lighter for it. There are other situations where I can’t pray or write away the anxiety and I need help from a wise friend. In recent months I have had a small change made to a medication which has also helped reduce anxiety. I am grateful to God for this answer to prayer.
Tracing the Gold
In recent days in the South Island of Aotearoa there has been a sharp resurgence of interest in finding gold. There is a proposal for a large mine in Central Otago. On a small scale people are panning at secret locations within rivers in the region. It’s a serious business! I remember as a child on holiday in Arrowtown panning for gold in the river. The excitement of getting the most minuscule amount was ecstatic! We came away with a little glass tube with a few bits of gold dust in water to shake! Even the tiniest trace of gold sparked my imagination and fascination with what I could see. I want to share with you about finding traces of gold in our journey with God. True gold that magnifies God’s character and invites trust.
In Joyce Meyer’s book she encourages the reader to list some of the times the reader has experienced God’s faithfulness in their life. This is an activity than can track with life. I like to think of this as ‘tracing the gold’. Years ago when I was very depressed God spoke to me about ‘glitter along the path’. The concept was that every single day there would be glitter of God’s faithfulness and love for me – small but significant things to be grateful for. Things that would sparkle brightly along my difficult path. The gold came from moments like a spontaneous invite to have a cuppa with a friend, another mother walking to school with me, a scripture, a conversation or phone call from family. The scripture that went with this was Lamentations 3:21-23 (NIV).
‘Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail, They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness’
Jeremiah’s words point to the practice of remembering – deliberately recounting God’s golden track record. Despite the awfulness of Jeremiah’s situation he found hope as he deliberately recalled what he had learnt about God. He remembered – no matter how hard it gets – God is faithful to show us new compassions every single day of our lives.
Like many of you will do, one way I trace the gold of God’s faithfulness is by journaling. Sometimes I write a few sentences about a day, other times because of an insight I write more. I have noticed that writing about God’s goodness in a day helps calm me to trust him and stirs gratitude. I pause to consider an answer to a prayer or relief for a concern that had weighed on me. It slows my thinking and can help prepare me for sleep. I often feel closer to God when I write. I’m not religious about journaling, and I can miss several days but I don’t worry about this. I don’t think journaling should be a nag, – rather something useful, that helps us remember and connect with our heavenly Father. I stop and ponder, give thanks and treasure the trace of gold – God’s faithfulness in my life. The Holy Spirit enables this process. This gold reminds me that our Father is worthy to be trusted, and he must love this trust too.
I hope you are encouraged in some way by reading this. Feel free to share this with a friend or leave a comment, perhaps about how you ‘trace the gold’.
Blessings,
Bronnie
Christian Value Books are in Papanui, Christchurch NZ and have a great online search feature for all their second hand books. They deliver near and far (https://www.christianvaluebooks.co.nz/).
Watercolour paintings of ‘Nugget Point’, Catlins, Aotearoa New Zealand and, ‘Metalic Beads’ by Bronnie Tressler
Book by Joyce Meyer is ‘Unshakeable Trust: Find the Joy of Trusting God at All Times, in All Things’. Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 2018. Quotes from p.210 and p.10.
Reviving Hope 