I am a coastal kid that enjoys the mild climate with a marine breeze and sunshine. Growing up with springtime weather ten months out of the year, you get spoiled. Then when you have to travel outside of your comfort zone, you just don’t know how to act … what to pack, what to wear, what hair products to tote … will I need a flat iron or will I just give in to the messy bun or baseball cap?
Creatures of comfort are the ones will the least amount of adaptability when things drastically change. My chiropractor has a sign in his office that says: “A stiff branch breaks.” I think that can be said of the human mindset.
So circumcise [that is, remove sin from] your heart, and be stiff-necked (stubborn, obstinate) no longer. Deuteronomy 10:16 Amplified
And apparently GOD says that can also be the condition of our heart. To be ‘stuck’ in our own ways to the point of shutting the door to growth and blessing. I don’t want that to be the case for me, nor for the ones I lead. Just like moisturizer and emollients keep the skin supple, I want my heart to be tender and receptive to the Voice of GOD.
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear [and worship] the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul [your choices, your thoughts, your whole being], 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? Deuteronomy 10:12-13 Amplified
The Lord was patient with His People. An eleven-day journey took them forty years because they simply refused to follow through on the commands GOD had given them. When I consider this wilderness experience, I shudder at the thought of forty years walking in a proverbial circle because I couldn’t get my act together and just obey. It’s one of those face-palm moments when you suddenly come to your senses and realize that GOD had been wanting me to pay attention for a long time — and I just couldn’t seem to understand why I couldn’t grasp His message. Can anyone relate?
When we work ourselves into a tight little place where it feels comfy and secure at first, but we refuse to allow the Holy Spirit to bend us and cause us to invite His stretching of our will, we can become hardened and stuck. Stuck in that rut of checking off the boxes: breakfast, grab the keys and planner for work, go to work, come home grab the electronic devices, dinner, mini devotional read and hit the pillow to begin again tomorrow. We seem to ignore the gentle nudges that speak to our hearts from GOD. It’s a wonder that we don’t grow — we’ve checked off all the boxes and haven’t left room for other unexpected experiences.
I’m in for learning as much as possible — about the character of GOD, His Word, His desire for my life … all of it. And with it, I know, is the challenge to respond to all of that. But I’m up for growing closer to Him … are you, Friend? I acknowledge that the trail will lead me through some difficult terrain; like really messy, uneven, hard-to-walk-in places. It won’t be the first time the Lord has heard me cry out, “I’m in a ditch, GOD, please, oh please, rescue me!” Amazing … He continues to love me through all my fussing and fighting and questioning.
Let us commit to becoming more flexible to whatever the Lord brings to us. This will grow our faith by leaps and bounds and result in joy and victorious living. And who knows, Friend, we just might be able to help someone else with a similar experience further down the road.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. Psalm 1:2-3 NLT
I love you to Heaven and Back, Girlfriend ~~
LindaRJohnson, TitusTwo Visionary
Titus Two 