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INSECURITY TRAP OF COMPARISON

I have been in this comparison trap of insecurity. Have you? I compare myself to: other women who seem to have it “all together;” to speakers at conventions and tell myself that I will never be able to measure up to their abilities; to couples who are my age and the reality that I have been a widow for almost 15 years and I will never have those adventures they are able to go on; to other authors and don’t understand why their books sell millions and mine sit in the cabinet; to those women who are on the magazine covers that tell us that others are younger, prettier, healthier, skinnier. I know that you compare yourself to some of these things and you have your own insecurity traps that try to bring you down with your comparison, that cause you to not fulfill the actual purposes that God has given for your life. Why do we do that to ourselves? It only impacts our lives negatively, brings heartache, affects our prayer life, our confidence, our contentment, our service and we lack the ability to have a fruitful life.

The Bible is full of insecure people. One example is King Saul in 1 Samuel. Chapter 9 verse 2 says speaking of Sauls father, Kish, “And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.” So, in other words, he was a hunk! Saul became jealous of David in 1 Samuel 18. When David came back from killing Philistines, the women danced and sang around him. Saul compared himself to David. This caused Saul to become depressed and even to the point of trying to throw a spear at David to kill him. This insecure trap of comparison sent Saul into a downward spiral of mistakes and ended up with him losing his kingship.

This trap overtakes every part of our lives. We can have pride and jealousy to the point of becoming focused on all the negativity, instead of focusing on what God has actually given us to do while we are here on this earth. Have you ever thought about this? Insecurity comes when we don’t believe what God says about us. If our identity is secured to people and what we feel about them or their measurements about us, then we are putting this world before God. The things of this earth do not matter and are untrue. The things God has told us about ourselves does matter and are the only truth! Proverbs 3:5-6 reads “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Verse 26 of that same chapter says, “For the Lord will be your confidence.” When we turn our focus from God and become insecure because of what we perceive others to be, we are comparing ourselves to earthly beings. Proverbs 4:25-27 reads, “Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you, ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil.” In other words, stay in our lane. Stay in the lane God has purposed for us while we were still in our mother’s womb. Don’t distract yourself and let yourself go down that rocky earthly path.

In Mark 12:42-44, we read of Jesus at the temple. He saw the rich giving much to the treasury. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, which only equaled a couple of cents. She did not look at the rich and think, wow, I can’t give that much. I might as well go on home. No. She gave what she could, possibly all she had. She did not compare herself with the rich. She did what she could. That is what God expects us to do. Do what we can. We all can’t be preachers, elders, speakers or authors. Serve the Lord with all that WE have within us. This widow knew she was loved by God. She knew she did not have earthly riches or possessions. But that did not stop her from doing what she could. Jesus saw her worth. Jesus saw her obedience and service. Jesus saw that the widows two little coins mattered as much, as those who could give much more.

Jael in Judges 4, is only mentioned once in the Bible. Deborah who was a prophet and judge, was very evident in this chapter also. To make this explanation short, I will tell it this way. Sisera was a bad guy who Deborah knows needs to be killed. He went into tent of Jael to rest. Jael ended up hammering a tent peg into his temple, which of course killed him. Jael was a nomad wife of Heber. She knew how to use a hammer and use a tent peg. So, she used what she had and used what she knew to fulfill her purpose. She didn’t think, ‘I am not as good as Deborah. I can’t do what she can do.’ No. She did what her purpose was given by God. The scripture says, “And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger…” as a result of her service.

I have felt that those who “are out there” doing their talents and purposes and are so visible to others, are worth more to our God. But that is so far from the truth. God wants us to do our best-with what we have-with what our God given abilities are. Whether we are scrubbing the bathroom floors at the church building, preparing the communion, organizing the bulletin, or preaching every service, we have to do it with all of our hearts in service to our God. Whether we are caring for those kiddos at home, working on a computer in an office or doing a very visible “in your face” job, you are loved by God and fulfilling your God given service. Don’t compare yourself to others. We are worth as much as we feel another is and so much more than we believe!

In the beginning of time, God created man and woman of value, because we are made in the image of the Trinity. In Jeremiah 31, God tells us that “I have loved you with an everlasting love…” Isaiah 49 tells us that God has “…inscribed you on the palms of My hands.” Romans 5:8 tells us that God gave His only Son, while we were still sinners, because He loves us so much and we are His. The chapter in Proverbs 31, tells women the value we are to Him.

Instead of falling into the insecurity trap of comparison and looking to others of this world for verification of who we are, look to God who created us. Realize that when we compare others to ourselves, we are falling into selfishness, because we want to be like them. God made us all for a purpose. God gave each and every one of us a gift to further His kingdom. Look to God and not this world.

Feeling insecure. We all do it. We all fall into that trap of comparison. God does not compare us to others. He loves each and every one of us and only wants the best for our lives.

Instead of comparing, be a cheerleader and a champion for others. See their service and be thankful for it instead of focusing on what you don’t feel like you can do or be. Get off your media devises when you realize you are focusing on the negative instead of the positive and comparing yourself to them. Philippians 2:4 tells us “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Be thankful for what and who you are instead of falling into the insecurity trap of comparison. It is truly a waste of time! It may not be our God given job to feed the 5000 like Jesus did, but it might be our job to be like the little boy who brought the loaves and fishes! (Matthew 14)

Till next time!                                  Keela

(My dad has now been living with me for a month. Some days are a struggle, but we are going to figure it out. However many years either one of us have on this earth, we will strive to make them the best we can!)

FOLLOW ME

FOLLOW HIM

Matthew 4:18-22 says “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee, their father mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

In these scriptures, we see Jesus calling Peter and Andrew (who were brothers), and James and John (who were also brothers.) Peter and Andrew were fishing. James and John were mending their nets. Fishing was their occupation. How they fed their families. How they were able to live their daily lives. Jesus tells them to “Follow Me.” The verses tell us that both sets of brothers immediately followed Him. We know that in Luke 4:38-39, that Peter had a mother-in-law, meaning that he was married. Jesus heals her when she is sick. We are not told if Peter’s brother, Andrew was married. We see that James and John were working with their father. Did they know where they were going? No. Did they know what they were going to be doing? No. Did they rely on Jesus to take care of them and their families? Yes. Jesus tells them that He “will make you fishers of men.” Do you think they totally understood what that meant? No. But, the point is that they trusted Jesus, so much that they did what He asked of them. Jesus uses the term “fishers of men,” because, like in a lot of His ministry, Jesus used terms the people would understand.

Would we be able to leave our families, leave our worldly occupation, leave immediately to follow our Lord? Can we leave the things in the world that pull us to them, instead of doing what God needs and wants us to do? We want to say yes. But would we? What pulls us away from meeting with fellow Christians to worship service? What pulls us away from serving others? Who, in the world, convinces us that we need to work harder and longer at our job? Who convinces us to take that one more drink, because it is just one more? Who or what in the world convinces us that we are not important or needed in this world and the best thing is to commit suicide? Or who or what causes us to be so depressed that we just loose interest in everything and fall into that deep abyss of feeling like you are not worth any love. This causes us to pull inwardly and loose interest in anything in the world, or more importantly, in service to the Lord? Can we do away with these obstacles and immediately follow Jesus and be a servant for Him?

We have to put all these worldly things away and remember who is the most important and only One we can trust. Psalm 118:8 says “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” We have to follow His words and be so intrenched in His word, the Bible, that we immediately know what we need to do in any situation, always putting Him first. Serve even when you don’t feel like it. Turn our backs on things in this world that lead us away from God. Stop listening to those “voices” inside our heads that tell us we are of no value to anyone, including being a follower of Jesus and in our service for Him.

We have to step out in faith, because God has created us in His image, loved us so much that He gave His only Son on the horrific cross for us. We have been created for a purpose, even when we cannot see that. We have to turn our backs on the things of this world and follow Him. It is hard to see what purpose we have been created for. Maybe you are older and you still don’t see your God given purpose. I feel no matter what age we are that we have a God given purpose. Sometimes, even having many different purposes throughout our life on this earth. Someone said, “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.” We are told in Philippians 1:5-6 “…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” If we trust and continue to serve Him in obedience, He will help us to realize our purpose (or purposes) and He will help us to fulfil them! Also, in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” and in verse 19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” And verses that were my mother’s favorite, Ephesians 2:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.” Neither God’s love nor His power is limited by human imagination or understanding.

The world, our family, may think we are crazy. We may make them mad and they turn against us. We know what God wants us to do. It doesn’t make sense and we don’t know how to do it. But we have to have faith and trust in Him. Well, when do we know that it is time to immediately follow Him, to fulfill one of our purposes for Him? Ask yourself, is it backed up by God’s word-will it make us more like Jesus-will it strengthen our relationship to God-is it in service to God or to ourselves? Many years ago, there was a man in southern Missouri, who thought God had actually talked to him for the purpose of killing himself. He had his body put in a freezer and then after a certain number of years he was to be thawed out and come back to life. My husband and I drove by and saw the freezer truck he was supposedly frozen in. I don’t know why he had such a crazy idea or what god he was following, but guess what! After that certain number of years, he was thawed and was still dead. They buried him. Doing that, had no Bible verses backing up this act. Was this act for God’s glory or his? I am sure when he originally killed himself, he had a rude “awakening” that he was not following the one and only God, don’t you?

So, what am I saying? God does not directly talk to us today. But He does put in our path ways that we can serve our purpose. I was checking out in the grocery line one day behind a woman buying some baby items. She ended up not having enough money to pay for everything. I helped her pay for what she needed for her baby. I could have ignored that “pushing” from God. But it was for His glory not mine. It was a way I could serve, be a light for Him and be an example of immediately being a follower of His.

One of the points of the verses we started with is that we are to put God first. If we do that-keep our focus on Him-follow and trust Him even when it doesn’t make sense-follow His lead-follow His word in obedience-do all for His glory-immediately rise up and serve Him; then the path and purpose we are living for will be exemplified in our lives.

Follow Him in all you do and think! And remember, Joshua 1:9 says “…Be strong of good courage; do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” What an amazing promise through the ages! Trust in God and immediately follow Him!

(I am taking a little break, for about a month, to six weeks. My dad is moving in with me on May 26^th. This will be a huge change for him and for me. I need to focus on getting him settled and into some type of schedule. Before Thanksgiving last year, I was stressed and worried about this decision. Instead of giving this decision to God, I tried to “fix it” myself. But that was not working for my benefit or my dads. I then gave it and trusted it, to God and His plans for me and my dad. I immediately found peace. I know that if God leads me to it, He will lead me through it. Things have “fallen into place” and we feel this is the best option for my dad at this time. Say some prayers for him and me that we can follow this new path, God has given us. To Him be the glory!)

Till next time!

                                                                     Keela

SCARS OF THE HEART

SCARS OF THE HEART

Psalm 147:3 “He (the Lord) heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

When I was in grade school, I fell off the merry-go-round. At that time, there was gravel all around the playground equipment. (I know you young mothers, just shrieked, WHAT!) When I fell, I skinned up my knee and it was bleeding. A friend helped me to the nurse’s office. (Not sure if there was an adult on the playground or not. WHAT!) Anyway, my mother took me to the doctor and I had to have stitches. To this day, even after almost 60 years, I have a big scar where I fell and got stitches. I am sure you have experienced something like that either thru an accident or surgery. Those are scars we can see. Scars that keep reminding us of something that happened long ago. Sometimes we want to keep picking at those scars-keep looking at them and wondering why this has happened to me. We keep looking at the pain and forgetting the power in the healing.

Well, we also have scars that we cannot see. Scars of the heart. I recently was blessed to be part of a convention of over a thousand women, as a vendor talking about and selling my books. It is several hours away, but I and precious friends make the trek every year because it gives us a much-needed boost of encouragement. There are speakers-a comedian-an acappella singing group and all group singing (have you ever been a part of over a thousand women singing together in one place? All I can say is wow!). Of course, I want to sell my books but the main reason I continue to go as a vendor is, because of the reaction from the women who come to my booth to hear what my books are about and my testimony. I can usually tell when I am touching someone’s scars in their heart. I ask them if I can come give them a hug. They start telling me of their hardships and pain through tears. I am able, with God given help, to help them to realize that they are not alone. I am able to show them, there are others who understand their deep pain that have caused those scars in their hearts. I let them know, there are others who also keep picking at their scars, holding onto their pain. I want to let them know there is hope in the only true healer of their scars of the heart, Jesus! Then, I pray with them while hugging them.

There is so much pain in this world! So many types of scars. Some scars I have heard from women were because of: abuse as a child-parents who only cared about themselves and left their kids to fend for themselves-depression and thinking of suicide-verbal and physical abuse from a husband-marriage ending in divorce-effects from drug and/or alcohol-happenings beyond a person’s control-cancer and other illnesses-some trials and pain they have done to themselves-reckless words that cannot ever be taken back-grief over a lost loved one-and so many other trials of this life that have left embedded scars in their minds and hearts. Through tears, one mother told me about her daughter, who had two small children. Her daughter’s husband had chosen to “sooth his scared heart” through alcohol and drugs. He had recently committed suicide. Here was a mother’s precious heart that had been scarred because of choices another person had made and was grieving for her daughter’s forever scarred heart. I talked to a woman who was in depression and was seeking help for her forever scarred heart. Another woman told me she had been a caregiver of five family members, all in a row, until they passed away, one by one. Years ago, my husband preached at small churches who could not afford a preacher. He told me of an older woman (she was actually my age at the time), who, through tears, confessed to him of a scar of her heart that she had “picked at” for many years. She had an abortion as a teenager. She had never told anyone. By her confessing and talking to my husband, she was freed from that painful scar through the healing power of God’s forgiveness. She still had that scar, but instead of picking and reliving it day after day, she was able to learn from it and find healing. Where there is painful wounds and hopelessness-forgiveness mends and heals.

I want you to think about Jesus while He was here on earth. Think of all the scars He had, mentally and physically. Think of when He was headed to the cross: the crown of thorns on His Head-He was whipped with a whip that had metal on it that caused deep pain and scarring-nails, about the size of the nails used to build a railroad track, hammered into His hands and feet. Why did He do that? The answer is for all of us! Read Isaiah 53. No room to, of course to type the entire chapter, but wow, it tells us of some of the sorrow and scarring He received. Here is just a small sample: “He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…He was wounded…He was bruised…stripes…oppressed…He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.” What was the reason for those painful scars?1Peter 2:24 says “…who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-by whose stripes you were healed.” He wentthrough that for me, for you, for everyone!

I have had many, many scars throughout my life. Visible ones and ones no one can see. That is true of all of us, if we would just admit it. Instead of asking the why for the pain, we need to ask God to help us to see what we need to learn from this painful opportunity, in this moment of time. Our scars are in the past as a place of reference and not a place that we take residence.

Psalm 34:17-18 “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.”

Behind every scar, is an untold story of suffering. People have asked me why I share my heart scars, why put myself through the remembrance of that pain. 2Corinthians 1:3-4 is the reason. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

We have to share our scars to help others and bring glory to our God. As you do that to help others, you receive healing! You never know who needs your testimony to help heal their heart of their scars. That healing comes through the knowledge of God and His healing power. God places people in our paths who need our help and encouragement. That is what I pray weeks before I make the trip to the conference: for God to lead the women who need to hear my story to my booth and that God will give me the right words to help heal their scars and help them to stop picking at those painful scars.

Showing our brokenness, is a bridge to helping others to heal. It is a better help than pretending wholeness, which is a lie. Don’t be ashamed of your scars! They are proof of God’s healing power.

None of us want painful scars. But this life is full of pain and heartache. Reach out to others who are looking for healing. Guide them to professionals who can help them and let them know there is a way to healing, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! To God be the glory!

Till next time!                                           Keela                                           

TRUTH IS

TRUTH IS

Truth Is going back to that day 14 years ago when your husband passed away and you are sitting staring at the wall. Truth Is standing in front of a judge, in defeat because of bankruptcy. Truth Is when your children have all left home and you feel lost. Truth is losing your home to foreclosure. Truth Is loneliness. Truth Is physical pain. Truth Is getting old. Truth Is your child has turned away from the truths they were taught as a child. Truth Is feeling grief and guilt because you have a miscarriage. Truth Is your child is suffering and you don’t know how to help. Truth Is realizing you made so many mistakes along your path on this earth. Truth Is in grief. Truth Is depression. Truth Is bursting into tears. Truth Is holding your mother’s hand and watching her take her last breath. Truth Is coming home from your twelve-hour day of work, and sitting in your car getting up the energy to go into your home to a mentally sick and physically sick- depressed husband. Truth Is having so much physical pain that you are crying out to God for relief. Truth Is sadness. Truth Is aggravation sitting in a wheelchair and not able to use your legs like you use to be able to do or want to do. Truth Is being far away from your younger grandkids. Truth is we are afraid of our future. Truth Is wanting to be with your adult grandkids but know they are living their own lives without you. Truth Is feeling like you are just disappearing into the abyss of pain and loneliness because you don’t want to leave your four walls. Truth Is asking why. Truth Is telling your teenage daughter you don’t have enough money to pay for the queen nomination dress she wanted because you do not know how you can pay the water bill on time before they shut it off. Truth Is in the fact of wars between countries and all the hunger and devastation we see on the tv from them and feeling helpless as what to do from the safety of your home. Truth Is hopelessness. Truth Is questioning your faith and the trust you want to have in God. Truth Is does anyone really care. Truth Is asking ourself, are we of any value. Truth Is wondering if the thoughts put into a blog are touching and helping others.

That is a lot of negative Truth Is.   Those of you who know me personally and have read my books or my blog, realize that I am talking about the Truth Is from my life and from those I love. There is no way I have enough type to list all my negative Truth Is of my life. I am sure you can identify yourself in my Truth Is.

The subject of this blog, came to me while watching a Hallmark movie tonight. (I know that surprises you! Ha!) I have been a fan of Janette Oke books for many, many years, especially her “Love Comes Softly” series and “When Calls the Heart” series. Years ago, when movies were made of her first series of books, I got my daughter, daughter-in-law and granddaughters hooked on them as well. Who can even count how many times I or they have watched them. I was watching “Love’s Everlasting Courage” movie tonight once again. I cried at the same times, laughed at the same times, became stressed at the same times and felt the love for these movies all over again. And I remembered the realization that there are still good movies out there that no cuss words are uttered, God is included in the message of the movie and love is shown for each other. The one I watched tonight had God’s message all over it. It showed the overwhelming sad happenings-daily struggles with their lives-how grief took over their lives-the human feelings that came from all those emotions. The scene that especially hit me tonight, was when the dad was telling his adult son that God is everywhere even in all the bad times he was facing. The son was experiencing grief-anger towards God-hopelessness feeling God had forgotten him. The father reminded the son that there is always something positive in the situation, if we choose to look past the pain and remember God’s promises that He will never leave us or forsake us, even in our hardest times. The blessings are ever present in the pain. If we had no pain, how could we truly have unshakable faith, hope and trust in God and His promises.

So where can we look for the spiritual Truth Is, as the hard times come? Truth Is what? John 17:17 says “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” The word in that verse is the words of our God given in the Bible. Psalm 119:160 “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” The God written Word does not merely contain the truth; It Is THE Truth. We need to study, meditate on and turn to God’s Word when the hard Truth Is come our way. God gives us His Words in the Bible, to help us with their lives in Bible times and for us today. He gives us hope, when the Truth Is we are hopeless. Hebrews 6:18-19 “…by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast…” God does not lie in His truth and hope for us in troubled times. Psalm 56:8 “You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle…” The Truth Is, God loves us so much that our tears are so precious to Him, that He counts them and puts them in a bottle, during those times that we are crying out to God in pain, anger and grief. Hebrews 13:13-14 “For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore, by Him let us continually offer our lips, giving thanks to His name, but do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” The Truth Is, Ican help others, by sharing my trials and sharing God’s Truth. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)The Truth Is, thisworld is not all there is for us. We have an heavenly home that will make all of those negative Truth Is obsolete. The biggest Truth Is that I have learned through all my deep pain and struggles is this: continue to pray in the middle of the tears, tell God how you are feeling and ask for His guidance. I have learned the Truth Is, I have to reach out to Him in thanksgiving-hope-faith-trust-bearing my soul to Him-boldly going to Him, even in anger when I don’t understand. Doesn’t He already know what I thinking and going through? He wants me to reach out to Him and pull Him close to give me courage when my Truth Is that I am afraid-when I think my Truth Is beyond any human understanding-when my Truth Is to learn to praise Him through the storm by seeing the positives. He will return my trust within the knowledge of His goodness. My Truth Is that I, in remembrance, that I am headed to a much better heavenly home with Him eternally. This and the things of this world, are not my home. Psalm 56:3-4 “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You, In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?” I have not enough type to explain all of God’s Truth Is.

I have felt so many times in this life the hard, negative Truth Is, of this world, in the struggles-pain-grief-depression-caregiving-disappointments-loneliness-not understanding-hopelessness. I am thankful and praise Him, for the hardships. Truth Is in my life. I am stronger-more faithful-more confident-a speaker to women’s groups-an author and encourager because of it. The bottom line of this blog is that the Truth Is, not in this world and the things of it. Truth Is the purpose of my blog. It is not to know what type of response it gets, but rather to do my part to plant the seed of the Word of God and let Him take care of the rest. Truth Is in our heavenly Father who gave us His Word, and loves us way more that we can possibly understand! (Ephesians 3:20-21) Even when you are falling and getting stuck in the mud, remember, Truth Is of this world. God, who Is Truth is always with us helping us take one more step.

John 8:31-32 “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him. ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’.”

Remember, whatever your Truth Is in your life, turn to the only one who IS TRUTH and He will set us free!

Till next time!

                                                                                     Keela

(If you look up the movies I love, remember, they are good for children and are packed with so much action and full of God. But, be sure to have a Kleenex handy!)

HOARDING OF THE MIND

A recent poll showed that 90% of doctor’s visits are related to stress. The mortality due to stress-related illness is alarming. Emotional stress is a major contributing factor to the six leading causes of death in the United States: cancer, coronary heart disease, accidental injuries, respiratory disorders, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide. Wow!

I am sure you have been stressed many times in your life. I know I sure have. Recently I was stressed trying to find someone to help me with my taxes. I have several things going on in the next couple of weeks and wanted to get it done. I will have people over for either a devotional, play bunco or a teen girls class. (One good thing is that I will have a clean home, having so much around the same time as each other!) I also am planning towards the event in mid-April, I go to each year in Wichita, where I have a booth to sell my books. So, I also had to throw into the mix getting my taxes done by the deadline! The feeling when friends helped me and I got them filed without costing me an arm and a leg, was thankfulness and peace! I was able to take a deep cleansing breath. But guess what, there is always something else we can stress about, around the corner, just waiting for us.

I have mentioned before, that my daughter and I love the hoarding shows on tv. (I think part of what we like about them is, we look around at our homes and think, oh, maybe our home doesn’t look so bad after all!)  We look at their homes in disgust and unbelief! How can the people live like that? They have hoarded so much stuff that they can’t even see the floor of their homes and they only have a small path to walk on. The smell is unbearable. Then, when professionals come to help them clean out their clutter, they want to keep things that have rat droppings on them or they get stalled in the process because they want to look at everything that has been hidden for years, sometimes decades! Stress starts to overwhelm them to the point they shut down and want to keep it all.

Isn’t that the same way we are about hoarding of our minds? We hold onto so many things, that eventually they take over our minds and hearts. We zero into something that is stressing us out. We hold onto that stress until it takes over our minds to the point that we want to keep-hoard that stress. We forget what is truly important in this life on earth. We forget the reality that we are only on a short journey on this earth. Eternity waits for all of us. There are so many things we can hoard-hold onto, that tend to mess with our minds and hearts. Some of them are: unforgiveness-worry-arguments-anger-stress-depression-money issues-loneliness-lack of confidence-lack of time-selfishness-negativity. There are so many other things you might add to that list. Did you recognize yourself in any of those mind hoarding things? Well, I have held onto all of them at one time or the other, and some of them at the same time!

So how do we release and throw away all those things that we hoard in our minds. Well, we first have to realize we are holding onto all those things. Of course, our next thing we need to do is pray to God to help us see what we need to do. We sometimes need to reach out to someone we trust, to help us see the reality of what we are doing to ourselves. We need to go to God’s word that “speaks” to us giving us insight into what to do and how to find peace.

Genesis chapters 37-50, tell us the story of Joseph. We have all read about the tough road he had to follow, which was none of his doing. He was thrown in a pit and sold by his jealous brothers to Potiphar, who was an Egyptian. He was framed by Potiphar’s wife that he had tried to rape her and he was thrown into prison unjustly where he was forgotten. There are so many attributes, from the list above that he could have hoarded in his mind and heart. He had been unjustly mistreated beyond his control. But the scriptures tell us that God was with Joseph and after years he ended up rising to leadership power. Because of this power, he saved the Jewish nation from starvation in the famine. In Genesis 45:5 he tells his brothers, “…God sent me before you to preserve life.” Also in Genesis 50:20 he tells his brothers, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” God had a plan within Joseph’s life to bring a better future for the Jewish people. Joseph could have held onto all the normal feelings his life could have hoarded in his mind and heart. If he had, the future of the Jewish nation would have been a whole different story. I honestly don’t know if I could have been so forgiving as he was. Do you? Do you think he had a bit of stress in his life?

We spend so much wasted time holding onto those things in our mind that we cannot release! We step on them and mash them down into our hearts. We are headed down a very stuff filled road. Not seeing the obvious and only seeing what our minds have been trained to see for so long. All those things in our minds we hold onto, only threaten to swallow us up into the hoarding of the mind, showing us a distorted reality.

Try to see yourself like God does: loved-saved-honored-blessed-more than the things of this earth. Don’t start or keep holding onto things in your heart that are negative, causing hoarding of them, and you just don’t think you can get rid of because they have intertwined within us to the point of hoarding in our mind. God does not want us to live like that. Neither should you. If you recognize that you are hoarding in your mind, you have become stressed, reach out to God-the scriptures-to a trusted friend-a trained Christian professional. God has told us how to rid ourselves of what we thought were treasures!

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Till next time!

                                                              Keela