No Panic in Heaven Even When You Feel Stuck

Our youngest granddaughter Stella does not like her car seat.  She’s a bit of a Houdini and can wriggle herself out of anything less than a fully buckled in contraption.  Given a long enough ride in the car and she will begin to maneuver to get loose. “I stuck!” she will declare quite loudly. Lots of noise is made as well. Grunting, groaning and more declarations of her situation. It’s cute to us but she’s serious in that once she’s had enough we all know she’s had enough. She has no problem expressing herself, especially when she’s “stuck”.  Same thing happens when she’s trying to dislodge a toy from the toy box. “Stuck!” she loudly proclaims until she manages to pull the right toy loose from the pile inside the box.  Relief comes when Stella is freed from being “stuck”. Sometimes the situation gets so desperate for her that you can hear panic rising in her voice. “S T U C K!” Someone generally tries to come to her aide in those situations, either by calming her down or by helping her get the toy released. If you know anything about Stella’s story you know she has plenty of help – nobody lets her fret for long!

I think about times in my own life when I have felt “stuck”.  You know the times.  When we feel bound by life’s situations and circumstances we are like Stella – we begin to lament, often loudly, “I’m stuck!” We’re strapped in and feel like we’re in the longest, roughest ride of our lives. It’s hard to feel anything but the pressure of the straps of life. We can’t do the driving, we can’t choose the road, we can’t take a deep breath. We cannot get relief and we don’t know if relief will ever come. Are we destined to live stuck? Are we never going to get out of the situation and walk away?

Other times we are trying to get hold of things we want. They don’t seem to want to dislodge so we can take possession of them. We groan and struggle and huff and puff. Still that thing we think we must have is stuck. We continue to work and plan and beg and plead – just because we want it. Maybe we’ve been told we could have it so we’re trying to make it happen. Frustration, consternation, impatience and fury come to our assistance but they are no help at all.  Will we ever take hold of it? Will that prize ever come from beneath the pile holding it down so we can possess it? We find ourselves in a panic and that just makes things worse.

God speaks to my heart: My precious child. There is no panic in heaven. When you are stuck in the situation you don’t like and you are fretting and pleading and trying to force your way out, I am there. Nothing that comes into your life causes panic in the Kingdom. While you may be surprised at the sudden trap of trouble, trial or testing, I cannot be caught by surprise. While you are in a panic I am fulfilling My purpose in you. It is a teachable moment for you as you learn to let panic go and allow My peace to enter in.  In due time I will loosen the hold of the momentary light afflictions you are going through and you will feel free again. Don’t try to make things happen on your own – you’ll just stay frustrated. Relax your hold on even those things that are promises you have received. In due season you will reap everything I have for you. In time, the thing that seems so elusive, the promise that hasn’t come forth will be released to you.  You can trust Me in the meantime and relax for it is peace that will guard your heart and your mind so that you can quit being frustrated. I AM that I AM. No panic, just peace. No fuming, just faith. Look to Me when you feel you can’t go another moment and I will carry you through to the better day. I am loosening the hold life has on you little by little. Although it’s imperceptible to you, one day you will see just how truly free you really are in Me.

Oh beloved, replace that frown with praise! God is with you in your situation. God is working it all out for your good and His glory. God is changing things for you so that you will learn to walk free in Him, no matter what happens.  He loves you and He’s for you so you can rest in His promises for the rest of your life, free as a believer in Christ! Ultimately His goal is that you become more and more like Him. Relax, rejoice and remain – abide in Him and watch as He turns things around just for you.

I Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.

Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

The Tomb is Empty! Grave Clothes Left Behind!

Today we celebrate Easter. We observe the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We’ll have the usual Easter meal, dying Easter eggs, songs for the occasion and more.  When I was young, we always got Good Friday off as well. Christian holidays were honored and revered back then.  To celebrate something means to honor (as a holiday) especially by solemn ceremonies or by refraining from ordinary commerce. There are few if any businesses that close on this day anymore. Yet Easter remains, in the hearts of believers, the most important celebration in our faith.

Maybe you can’t see Easter in your situation. Perhaps a relationship has died, gone unforgiven, kept behind the stone in the tomb of life. Maybe someone decided you weren’t worth it, you had no value, and you were as good as dead. Maybe your prayers seem unanswered. You’ve sought God, you’ve visited His Word, you’ve looked into the tomb, but you still see death. You want to feel better, see things better and be better. But you look and see, no matter what you do, the grave clothes seem to drag behind you and trip you up. You see death everywhere, you don’t see a way to have anything alive again, not even your own life.

There is hope for the hopeless and help for the helpless. When Jesus died on the cross that was not the end! It was only the beginning! He rose again! Not only did He come out of the tomb, He left His grave clothes behind. He walked out completely triumphant, completely alive, completely victorious.

Oh beloved, rejoice! It’s Resurrection Day! It’s time to discard those grave clothes you were never meant to wear! God says to you this day, I AM the Resurrection and the Life – you, when you believe in Me you will live! He says discard those deadly things which want to cling to you – unforgiveness, animosity, bitterness, wrangling, discord, pronouncements, judgments, decrees, sentences and more…Every single piece of grave cloth that tries to hang onto you, or that satan himself wants to say you must wear – they are free to be cast off!

Run to His Word and see – His tomb is empty! You are completely free! God loves you so much that He went to the cross for you, He went to the grave for you, He rolled back the stone for you and He is making intercession in heaven for you this very day! He is for you so much that He has made a way for you to live FREE! Rejoice in this Easter, for it’s like no other!

John 11:25 Jesus told her, "I AM the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.

Revelation 1:18  I AM the living one. I died, but look--I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

I Peter 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation.

I Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reflect His Glory by Abiding in Him

When Danny brought our live tree into the house it was wrapped up tight so that the limbs wouldn’t get broken during travel from the tree farm to the store.  That made it easy to manage from the store to the house as well. But once inside that tree needed to have its bindings removed.  By the time I got home, the tree was looking quite full.

Danny had cut the binding loose, sat the tree in a reservoir stand and positioned it just right.  Throughout the day he had poured water into the reservoir – several gallons by that evening. The tree was not only bound up, it was thirsty. As it took in water it also began to branch out, and display its true splendor.  We thought it looked like a good tree with a straight strong trunk, but you never know how it will look once you get it home.  This tree was beautiful. The care we are giving it, fresh water daily and vacuuming up any needles around, decking it out with all our finest decorations, has given it a truly regal look.

We’re a lot like a store bought Christmas tree. For many, days are spent going from one destination to another. There are ballgames, piano lessons, homework, office management, car repair, vacuuming, dusting, washing, and more. There are issues and problems everywhere. Misunderstandings, misgivings, misappropriations, mistakes and more. More bills, more broken things needing fixed. We find ourselves being tossed around as we go from one problem to another, one appointment to another, one destination to another. Before you know it, we can be bound up as tightly as that Christmas tree. 

But when we come into the house of the Lord, into the presence of Jesus, we begin to unwind. He takes our bound up lives and begins to remove those things that have us so bound up. Just as He laid aside the grave clothes, we too are able to lay aside those things that bind us.  He also gives us living water so that we never have to thirst again, even in the dry days of disappointment or discouragement.  He sets us securely in His Word so that our reservoir of living water never goes dry.

Oh beloved, let God take you into His presence! Let Him lovingly apply the Word to your life so that you can move freely and show all the splendor a child of God can show! You were meant to be lovingly displayed as His precious possession. You were meant to live a full and beautiful life.  All you have to do is let God take the bindings from your heart and life. Let Him love you as you were meant to be loved. Let Him feed you and care for you as only He can. What wondrous love is this that the Lord of Heaven and Earth has picked you and set you securely in His Presence to show His glory all the days of your life! What absolute care is yours as He is your Caretaker. He will never grow tired of you, you will never dry up and be thrown away! For His care is Eternal! You are His beloved and His love and care is your path to true beauty and true rest. Rejoice!

Deuteronomy 14:2 You have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God, and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure.

Psalm 94:18 I cried out, "I am slipping!" but Your unfailing love, O LORD, supported me.

2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.

Isaiah 41:9 I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, 'You are my servant.' For I have chosen you and will not throw you away.

Psalm 92:12 But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.

Psalm 73: 23-25, 28 Yet I still belong to You; You hold my right hand.  You guide me with Your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but You? But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things You do.