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Proverbs 14:23

All hard work brings a profit,
    but mere talk leads only to poverty.

This verse in proverbs was very much so true for me just recently.
I was working on a shed, which I have been building for a family member, and I reached the point were I needed to cut a hole in a wood panel to fit a window.

For some strange reason I just didn’t want to cut the hole???

I knew that the hole needed to be cut, but there was just this resistance in me.
The weather is all wrong today. (A valid reason, if it’s raining.)
My mind is is the wrong place. (Sometimes another valid reason. Trying to work out …. when you can’t concentrate can lead to all sorts of trouble.)
Let me plan this out a little bit more. (Some planning is good, but over planning is just putting things off.)
I’ll just work on this bit over here. (This one’s 50 50. If the bit over here leads you closer to the point of doing what you need to, then all work leads to a profit. However, sometimes just doing this is another avoidance tactic.)
But I don’t like the idea of a hole being made in the shed, I’ll then have to deal with the said made hole. (This one is total nonsense, and I know it. I need the hole. I want the hole. The window will never get fitted, without the hole.)

As I said, I had lots of sillyness stopping me from doing what I needed to do.

Someone also shared a thought with me recently.
There was a person who was going to climb a mountain.
They had done all the preparation work and had all the equipment that they needed, but they were not taking that first step onto the trail. The time had come and they just needed to do.
They needed to take that first step onto the trail but for whatever reason they just didn’t want to take that first step.

When our Lord God speaks to us, then can we sometimes be like the person in the above picture, or like me with my resistance to cut the hole in the shed?

Whether we are asked to climb a mountain or just go for a gentle stroll, then are we willing to say yes to our Lord God Almighty?

Are we going to do the work that we need to, or are we just going to talk about it, and remain in poverty?

Our Heavenly Father has so much richness for us to walk into, if we will just follow His prompting and His ways.

Sometimes, can we find ourselves in a place where we know what it is that He wants us to do, but for whatever reason, we just don’t want to do it.
We would rather talk it over and over again, just going round in circles.

The other stopping point can sometimes be that, we find ourselves in the place of, if I do …… then how will I cope with what comes next?

If our Heavenly Father is asking us to do something, then it is for our own good.
It’s going to be for our profit, if we listen to, and follow Him.
We should not be worrying about what comes next, as He will be with us, and He is able to lead and guide us, through all things.

We just need to hear Him, Our Lord God, and follow His ways.

Proverbs 14:23

All hard work brings a profit,
    but mere talk leads only to poverty.

This is the title of a mug that was given to me as a child once.

It was one of those mugs that was meant to tell you the meaning of your name. The rest of the text (that is on the mug) is below.

Daniel (God is my judge) you should always be aware of a judge who lives up there. Always watching you with love, be assured it’s God above!

It also has a picture on it, of a boy who had just broken a window, with the thought “WHOOPS!” There was then a big hand coming down through a cloud with an End of Year report on it.

I can remember never really liking this mug.
It painted a picture of a God who was watching my every move, and then compiling a large report of all that I was doing wrong. (I try not to dwell on how big this report was going to be. 🙂 )

I was not assured of a God who was above, but rather, I was concerned about a God who was watching my every move.

Needless to say, I tried to keep this mug at the back of the cupboard, just so that I wouldn’t have to look at it. 🙂

I have since become a Christian, and as such, I now understand some things a little bit better.

One of the things that I have come to understand is that “God is my judge” is a good thing to know, as a sinner who has been forgiven.
The end of year (or life) report has been dealt with by Jesus, at the cross. As such, I can now come to God with confidence, knowing that He Loves me and is even pleased with me. (Even when I’m not pleased with myself.)

God is my judge means that He sees what I’m trying to do, instead of the mess that I might actually be doing. 🙂

It actually means that there is a freedom for me to not be too concerned with what other people think of me, as God is my judge. (This is not a licence for me to do whatever I want to though, as God is my judge.)
But if I am more concerned with what God thinks of me, then I don’t need to be be worried about what others think of me, as it is His opinion of me that matters.

If I can truly grasp this, then I can know the freedom to be who I am meant to be. I can me, but walking in complete obedience to Him, my Loving Heavenly Father.

Father,
You see me and know me.
Forgive me and help me when I get things wrong.
Help me to always be moving closer to You.
My Loving Father.
Amen.

I had arranged to help a family member out by doing some work for them recently. As the time was coming near, I received a phone call.

“I’ve gone out and I’m going for a walk along the river with a friend. If you still want you do the work, then there is a key available ……”

There’s more to the story than I’m writing here, but this version makes my point that much better. 🙂

Well, I thought. You don’t want to be available, but you’d still like for me to do the work???
Hmmm, let me think about that one for a minute.
Day off for me then. 🙂

I stayed at home and did some work which needed doing in my own garden instead.

As I was working, the phone call kept making me smile.
It’s OK, you can still do the work, but I’m going to have a nice walk along the river, kept playing through my mind.

Then the thought, “Do we treat God in this way?” Came to my mind.

Does God make plans to bless us, only to have us be distracted and go off and do our own thing instead?

Do we leave God waiting and wanting to bless us, because we thought we had a better offer, and took that instead?

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

Psalm 81:13-16

 ¹³ “If my people would only listen to me,
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
¹⁴ how quickly I would subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes!
¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
    and their punishment would last forever.
¹⁶ But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

You could consider reading all of Psalm 81, it covers this thought so well.

So, we have “honey from the rock”, on offer to us….. if we will just hear and follow our Lord.

Or in other words, Blessings in Abundance, if we will just hear and follow our Lord.

Father,
Yes please, I would like to have your Blessings in Abundance in my life.
Please help me to hear You that much better, so that I can then follow You, that much more.
My Lord God Almighty.
Amen.

This picture was some thing that was spoken to me, some time ago.
It was shared by someone who was trying to explain to another person, why he knew he could believe what he did.

There were two people in a dark room.
Neither knew where they were.
Both were looking to see if they could work out were they were.
After a while, one of them became tired. He settled down and was soon asleep.

But the second person carried on looking.
After a time, he found a small glimmer of light. On going to the light, he then found a door.
Outside the door, he could see that he was in the country side.
He had been inside a barn. There were green fields all around. In the fields just over the way there was cattle eating the grass.

On seeing this, he ran back to the other man in order to show him where they were.

However, when he went back into the barn, the door closed tight behind him.

He then woke the other man and told him, “I know where we are. We are in a barn in the country side. There are green fields all around us. There are cattle eating the grass in the field just over there.”

The other man just looked at him and replied, “What are you talking about?” We searched for a while and found nothing. We are in a dark room and that’s all that there is!
You don’t need to share the funny dream you just had with me.”

The one who had continued to search knew differently.
He knew where they were. He knew the country side was just outside, even though he couldn’t find the door to step into it again.
He knew with a certainty that could not be shaken.

I also have experienced the reality of God in such a way that I Know that He is real. I might struggle to demonstrate this reality to some people at times, but it does not shake my steadfast certainly in who He is.

If you would like to have this same certainty, then just like the first person, carry on looking for Him.

Luke 11:9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Do you ever have times when you just miss the obvious?

It can be staring you in the face, but for some reason it just passes you by.

It can be like the man who, when asked to move a car, went to the back of the car and tried to push it. Only to find it wouldn’t move.

It would have been so much more effective if he first took the hand brake off and put it into neutral instead of leaving it it gear.

He could have even gone go the front of the car instead of the back so that he would have been pushing it down hill instead of up. The car was parked on a hill facing upwards and he was only asked to move the car, he wasn’t told which direction to move it.

He could have even sat in the drivers seat and turned the key (which was in the ignition) and then just driven it.

Hopefully our moments of missing the obvious are not as bad as the above, but we can all have them.

So what can we do to try to not miss the obvious?

Possibly remind ourselves of the obvious.

As a Christian some of the obvious I need to remind myself of are below.

God is real!
He is an actual real person who does exist.
He’s not some made up fantasy figure, who only exists in stories and people’s imagination.
He is truly real and has an impact on everything, whether we see it or not.

God LOVES us!
HE LOVES us with a LOVE that is everlasting.
HIS LOVE for us will not fade, perish or spoil.
HIS very nature is LOVE and HE DOES LOVE us with an everlasting LOVE!

We have messed up.
We have got things wrong, and have gone our own way.
We have effectively turned our backs to God and tried to do things our way.
We have fallen short of the glory of God, we have all turned to our own ways.

The consequence of turning away from God is eternal separation from God.
This is a big problem for us, as separation from God means separation from all that is good.
The technical term for this is Hell. An eternal existence in Hell.

God is not happy with this, and has put in place a rescue plan.
God has sent His son, Jesus, into the world so that all who call on Him will be saved.

Those who acknowledge and accept Jesus, as Lord and Saviour can now come to God with no fear of condemnation.
The way is open to enter into our Father’s house with confidence, because of what He has done for us.

I have accepted His offer of a rescue plan and I have asked Jesus into my heart and life. My all that I have.
Because of this, I can now enter into the presence of my Heavenly Father.

These are some of the main obvious things that I remind myself of, so that I can, and do look to Jesus and the Father for all that I need.

I understand that some people do not agree with me with these beliefs, but for me, they are not just beliefs, but truths.
They are the truths that mean that I can know God in a real and meaning full way.

One example of this knowing God in a meaning full way, is this very post you are reading now.

I woke up this morning not knowing quite what to do.
I felt the pull of a computer game vying for my attention. I didn’t really want to play the game, but it was calling.
So I asked God, please give me something more meaning full to do.
I was then reminded of this post that I had started, but then stalled on.
I have now since spent my time on something that is useful and will hopefully bless someone, instead of just wandering through an imaginary land that just occupies my time. I’ll just save that for another time when it is right to do so, and try to not be too absorbed by it.

In short, God heard me and gave me something better to do.
This time I managed to hear it, and act upon the thought that was given.

God is Good, all the time.
And all the time… God is Good!

Father,
Thank you that You are real.
Thank you that You care about me.
Thank you for giving me this to write, instead of unplugging my brain and plugging into a game.
Help me and everyone to see and hear you that much better, so that we can all follow your ways, that much better.
Our Lord God Almighty.
Amen.

This is something, that somebody said to me once.

The full version goes along the lines of…
Close your left and right hands.
Now have a look at what is in your left and right hand.
Is it useful or helpful to you?
If it is, then hold onto it. If it isn’t, then let go of it.

When I first heard it, I just thought, all I have is empty air in my hands. What are you talking about?

It took another person to explain it to me a little bit better.
He said, sometimes things come our way that we are meant to take hold of and keep, even if it is only for a while.
But there are also other things that can come our way that we are not meant to take hold of.
These things we are meant to let go of, so that it can go and find the one it is meant for.

The explanation made a bit more sense to me.

As I have pondered on this thought at times, I have thought, do we judge or look down on the things that aren’t for us?

It can be very easy to think, “What a lode of nonsense that is” to something that wasn’t meant for you. (You might even be thinking that about this post, now 🙂 )
But if something is not for you, it doesn’t mean that it is of no value.
To the one it is meant for it could be just the thing that is needed. It’s just that you can’t see the value of it, because it was never meant for you.

So, can we hold onto the things that are meant for us, but can we equally let go of the things that are not meant for us. Whilst trying to not judge the things that we need to let go of.

Father,
Thank you that You do have good gifts for us.
Help us to hold onto the good gifts that are meant for us.
Help us go let go of the things which are not meant for us.
Please give us the wisdom to know the difference.
Amen.