Remember Where You Are Standing

I love the geneology of Jesus. It is so full of disgusting people. To begin with, Jacob was a liar. Then Judah had babies with his daughter in-law. Then later you have Rahab, the prostitute, who gave birth to Boaz. Boaz married a widowed Moabite. (Moabites were the descendents of Lot and his daughters . . GROSS!) They had Obed the grandfather of King David. oooo David! That's a good descendent, right? Well, he murdered a man and stole his wife and it was out of that relationship that the lineage continued. And it continued down until Joseph, the father of Jesus. Wow! And you thought YOUR family had problems. Why would God choose to send his son through a family like this?

To make ME feel better!

Actually, I think I have given into the lie. I think that if I get this degree or acquire that job then I am worth something. I have to have this title behind my name. I have to win the love of those people. I have to be a good person. All of this in order to be a person of worth. How did these people get their names in history? What did they do that was so outstanding? Not much. They screwed up big. But God refused to let their personal failures define their worth. It is God who defines our worth. When we die nothing that we did here matters. Sure a generation or two may remember us for a while but then it's Bethany who? So, when I am bombarded with thoughts of "I can't pass this class" or "I can't get that job" I will remember that my plans are not in my hands. If they were then yes I would definately mess things up. But God has perfect plans. And he usually waits until the very last minute to reveal it to you. I think He likes to watch me squirm and laugh a little. But I need to remember where I am standing. I can look behind me and see that I have made some screwy choices before. But I am standing today. God put me there and He has plans that await me. I just have to remember to trust in the One who is eternal for He gives me my worth.

Attitude

Do you ever feel like the world is against you? Does it feel like God puts a rain cloud above your head sometimes, just to piss you off? These are honest feelings. Sometimes life sucks, but it is how we handle the suckiness that shows the world who we are. I went to a group therapy meeting for a counseling assignment last semester. Their topic of the night was attitude. I have to say that they have more reason than most of us to have a bad attitude and yet they spurred one another on toward faith and submission to God. Some face poverty, some jail time, some face custody battles. And in spite of it all they stay steady to their commitment to God. Yeah. I lose sight of the most important thing sometimes: my commitment to God. One little wrinkle in your day can start of snowball effect of bad things. Or are they really that bad? This week was a bad week. I dropped my contact lense in the toilet. Then the zipper on my coat broke in the midst of 8 degree weather. Then a textbook got stolen. My car died. blah blah blah. . .So what do we do? How do we have a good attitude when life sucks? Bing Crosby said in A White Christmas, "Count your blessings instead of sheep." That is actually good advice. For those in the group therapy session their biggest blessing was their sobriety. They knew what it was like to be at rock bottom looking up and every day they had their commitment to God in focus was a good day. Let's have an attitude of thankfulness and contentment. Okay this is used well but never over used:
"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you" Philippians 3:13-15

We are surely not perfect. Paul knew he wasn't perfect but we strive. It's the striving that makes the difference and our Focus who ensures we get there.