Tag Archives: control

Build ~Five Minute Friday/#Write28Days

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Building Towers

“a time to tear down and a time to build,” Ecclesiastes 3:3b (NIV)/ Pixabay

I’ve recently returned home after spending a few days with my grandsons.  Oh, my heart is happy! We made a tent, read stories, played on the swings, and blew bubbles. Along with other little boy fun and games we also spent time together using blocks to build towers.  Here’s what I’ve noticed over the years, we adults are very protective of our towers!  While the wee ones like laying one block upon the other, their favorite part of building is actually the knocking down! And they are good at knocking down!  I’m ashamed to say that there have been times that I’ve had to bite my tongue because I was about to whine (or even get a little angry) when they chose my tower to topple!  Silly, right?

But aren’t we the very same way about building our towers in real life? I don’t know about you, I like to be the architect and contractor in one! In other words, I want control over my tower! We carefully stack our “blocks”: the job we have, where we live, who we marry, the goals we pursue, the people we spend time with and the tower gets higher and higher. We’re in command of it all. That is….until we’re not. The promotion we were counting on doesn’t come….a block wobbles. Someone we care about betrays us…..blocks fall. The phone rings and life is never the same…..the tower topples to the ground. We whine. We worry. We cry. We. Get. Mad.

Here’s what I’m learning: Our towers will always get knocked down.

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.  But if you give up your life for my sake,
you will save it.” Matthew 16:25 (NLT)

“You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” Proverbs 19:21

In other words, we need to stop trying to do the constructing ourselves and hand the job over to the true Creator, allowing Him to do the designing. When we build on the foundation that is Christ, our towers may teeter in the winds of life; circumstances may rearrange our blocks, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail. Our towers will not fall.

I’m going to be honest; it’s not easy for me!  Just like I wanted to protect and keep the carefully made tower I built with my grandsons, I desire to control my everyday.  Silly, right? Maybe you’ve been watching your own towers get knocked over, too.  It’s time we put away the self-made architects’ plans, give up the contractor’s hats, and instead become laborers building a life under God’s direction.   A life that when given up, is actually saved. It doesn’t get better built than that!

“For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
1 Corinthians 3:9 (NIV)

Linking up again with the wonderful writers at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com and at http://www.anitaojeda.com

 

 

A Baby Bottle Lesson

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"Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21 NIV

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21 NIV

My baby bottle years have been way behind me, that is, until my grandson was recently born.  Now, I’m reveling in every moment of holding him close in my arms while he drinks from his bottle.  This precious time is a blessing and a joy and believe it or not it has reminded me of a truth about myself:  I am a planner. (That’s a nice way of saying I’m a control freak)  At home, when I was teaching school, on vacation, at church events, in retirement, and on and on; I’ve wanted things to go the way I thought they should go.  A lot of my energy has been spent organizing, designing, formulating, and figuring out how to navigate life with as few disappointments, unwelcome surprises, or bumps as possible along the way.  Now don’t get me wrong, in day to day life, my strategies have been useful in accomplishing many things that had to be done,  but being so wrapped up in doing things myself I believe has caused me to be missing out  in my relationship with God.  Here’s where a bottle feeding helped me see a little more clearly.

Being almost five months old, my grandson has started trying to help feed himself.  He clumsily brings his hands up and attempts to wrap them around the bottle,  In doing so, more times than not, his hands get in the way and the flow of milk stops or he pulls the bottle completely from his mouth.  The result is usually a leg kicking, arm flailing, red faced yell.   In my hand I have everything he requires to be nourished and to satisfy his needs.  I offer it to him freely and with love.   All my grand baby needs to do is open his mouth and accept the life giving gift.  Do you see where this is leading?  Here’s my ah-ha moment……

How often have my attempts at planning life out my way actually hindered my receiving what God was freely and lovingly offering me?  Thinking I know what’s best, have I pushed unseen blessings away?

Have I faced times of famine simply because I’ve strived to do things on my own? 

Watching Carson trying so hard to feed himself has caused me to pause and reflect.  I’m reminded that God has me, and he has you, cradled in His arms and He’s offering us His very best for our lives.  

Life certainly can cause us to kick and scream while teaching us that we’re not in control. It’s time for me to give up my clumsy attempts at directing my purpose and my path.  I need to do less planning and more praying.  Let go of my timelines and trust God to provide everything I need at just the right moment. Maybe you’re ready to give up your control too.  Together let’s loosen our grip and open ourselves  to “drink” in the life He has waiting for us.

I have written this post as part of #livefreeThursday.  The prompt was “I give up”. Want to read more? Go to http://www.tsuzanneeller.com