A little bit of wisdom for crazy times

It can be hard to focus. 

Some days, especially if you are someone like me who has to choose intentionally what you think about and focus on, you can spend several minutes chasing a spaghetti noodle around the sink with the sprayer hose.  Or on social media.  Or whatever.

Nothing wrong with mind numbing or spacing out occasionally.  We all need to take our foot off the gas and coast every now and then.

But in times like these with what's going on now with an election coming soon, floods in the South East of the US, war in Russia/Ukraine, whatever is happening with Diddy, and just about a zillion other things - I know some people get really distracted.  Really distracted.

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What do you do as a believer?  What good things does God offer or promise that can be what we can chose to focus on rather than allowing the fear of all that stuff get to you and make you feel hopelessness, fear, or other awful things?

Well, he offers a lot of things!  NONE of those things impact your relationship with God.  None of them.  You're still and always 100% forgiven.  The Spirit of God is within you, by faith, not by feeling.  He's given you all that you need to walk with him in this life.  All you need.  You're good.  For real.

None of those things mean you're immune from physical or social things going on around you.  Wars still happen.  Weather still has consequences.  Politicians still do what they do.  People still try to get you riled up for reasons they may or may not understand.  

God never promised us excellent conditions.

And if THAT's what you're looking for...well that's probably fodder for a different post sometime.  Those aren't God's promises for today.  No one in the New Testament were promised any of those health and wealth things, ever.  People suffered genuine loss or persecution because of their faith.  More on that another time because it's a HUGE issue for a lot of people who have a certain idea of God.

But if you do understand what's promised and what's now available - or if you just want to grow into that, but are okay with the mystery of not knowing it all yet - here's two things to remember and practice as you move through crazy times.

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In Ephesians 5, Paul, a guy who wrote a lot of the New Testament, said, "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is."

Here's two things that can help us, based on what Paul says throughout the whole 5th chapter of Ephesians (check it out here later if you want).

1. Don’t let just anything settle into your mind. 

Be aware of the fact that things "settle" in your mind and sometimes you need to clean out the cobwebs, sweep away the dust.  All sorts of "common sense" things can be helpful but some are not.  

A lot of things we grow up with and/or are taught aren't noticed because they're just running in the background of our mind like software on a computer.  

It's good to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Jesus. Even what we think are "good thoughts" sometimes need to be updated. 

Paul said not to be drunk on wine in verse 18, but instead be filled with the Spirit.  And in Colossians 2, he reminded us that a lot of ideas take US captive.  He's not saying you can't have a beer, but to be aware - be very aware of what you allow to run your mind.

Run any thought or idea or feeling through your growing understanding of Jesus and allow the Spirit to teach you what's worth holding on to and what's in need of an update.

 

2. Fill your life with reminders @ good things from God.

 

In the first century, back when they didn't all have books, smart phones, the internet, etc - people had songs as a way of remembering what was important.  Stories of culture, romance, and just about anything were put into song format and people remembered and shared songs.

Think about how powerful songs are.  There are a lot of ideas that are deeply engrained in your mind and heart because you learned songs over the years.  Think about some of the song lines below and how many of them you automatically know the next line for...

 

Oh, say can you see…                                          
Amazing grace… 

867-5…                                                                    
Freedom’s just another word…
I got friends in low places…                                
Jesus loves me…
Happy birthday to…                                             

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long...

At least some people know most of those and could probably sing along to a lot of different songs if they were played for them.  

We have a pretty strong song culture today, even though we might not use it like they did in the first century.  They didn't have nice tunes or four part harmony like we have today.  They sang antiphonally or without what we'd call harmony.  More of a call and response kind of monotone singing.

What was important was the words they would say or sing.  Words or the story were THE focus, not how catchy the tune was.  That's why Paul would tell the early believers to speak to each other in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs - it was like super easy ways to remember the good things from God and to remind each other of those those things.

If songs work for you to remind you of the good things from God, excellent!  Make sure they're actually conveying or saying what's true from God and not just a favorite old song you like to hear.  

I've heard and sung many a song that was actually counterproductive in helping people connect with good things from God - things like wrong teaching, guilt, heavy syrupy emotional things that brought people down unnecessarily.

If songs don't work for you, as I've discovered they don't for many, then find what does work for you.  Maybe Post-It notes that have a verse or a truth that you need to be reminded of constantly.  Put in on your mirror or your dashboard or on the home screen on your phone.

Find some ways that work that actually, consistently remind you of the good things from God and use them all the time.

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I'll add a couple more soon from Ephesians 5, but I've found that for many people, these two are the key to getting out of a pit and getting started.

You aren't alone if you're someone who needs that kind of extra help.  It's actually NOT extra, it's pretty normal and it's the way God made us to function.