Being overwhelmed is an experience we’re all familiar with–we have too many things to do and not enough time to get them done. Often times, when we are overwhelmed, it brings us to a place of exhaustion to the point of not wanting to do anything but rest or stay put.

The response to the people being overwhelmed in this passage however, presents the complete opposite response, they ran. Rather than being overwhelmed by the typical things that overwhelm our world such as stress, anxiety, fear, etc. they were overwhelmed with wonder. The second those people saw Jesus, everything they were arguing about became less important than going over and running to greet Jesus. On that note, I encourage you all to take a moment to think:

Has encountering Jesus ever overwhelmed you with wonder?

In this parable, Jesus encounters a boy who has an impure spirit that has taken away the boys ability to speak. The people around the boy had been unable to drive out the spirit, however when they brought the boy to Jesus, the spirit reacts:

So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for the one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
Mark 9:20-24 NIV

Notice how the same people who were filled with wonder and running to greet Jesus just a few verses ago are now experiencing some doubt and are apprehensive over the situation. Jesus quickly shuts the doubt down by saying “Everything is possible for the one who believes.”

We are no different now then the people Jesus refers to in this parable, sometimes we are filled with wonder and excitement, and then all of a sudden doubt and reasons why we shouldn’t receive what we are asking in Jesus’s name for creep in. It is in those times when we need to rest in the truth of this parable and know that everything is possible for those who believe.

What prevents you from believing that everything is possible for the one who believes and in what ways can you ask God to help you overcome your unbelief?

There are many different motives by which we make our decisions to do or to not do something. One of those motives is necessity. We need to eat food, drink water, and sleep in order to survive. The necessity of each of those actions makes seeing the importance of doing each of them very simple.

Does prayer have the same level of importance as eating, hydrating, and resting though?

While there’s a highly likely chance we will all wake up to live another day physically if we didn’t make the decision to pray today, is it just as necessary to do?

While not everyone we know is going to answer this way, I’m going to bet that if we asked Jesus this question, his answer would be “yes,” and he lived his life on earth accordingly.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. Mark 1:35-39

We see in this passage that Jesus made it a priority to get up and pray. When his disciples find him, a couple of different reactions take place. The first is the shock of the disciples that Jesus is up in solitude while there are so many people who are looking for him. The second is Jesus replying by saying they’re going to go somewhere else rather than back to the place where everyone is looking for him. Why did he do that? He didn’t say that out of spite for the people who were back at the other place looking for him, he said that wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

How did Jesus know where he was supposed to be? He knew because he made prayer a priority, and he did nothing outside of God’s guidance.

So Jesus answered them, “I am telling you the truth: the Son can do nothing on his own; he does only what he sees his Father doing. What the Father does, the Son also does.” John 5:19

Think about it for a minute—if Jesus can do nothing on his own and only does what he sees God doing, and prayer is the way in which we are able to communicate to God here on earth, how far would Jesus actually have gotten if he didn’t pray? Not very far.

The same can be said about our own journey here on earth. We do not serve a Father who holds back on us. When we see the necessity of prayer and make it a priority, God guides us on our path here on earth just as he did Jesus.

How can you make prayer more of a priority in your life? Where is it that God is wanting to take you?

We are called to love with all of our heart, and all of our soul, and all of our mind. Unlike our hearts and our minds, our souls are intangible.

Although none of us can physically touch it, all of us have a soul. But are we taking care of our soul in an effort to make sure it is well?

The world knows very well how to take care of our hearts and our minds. If we want to take care of our heart, we maintain healthy diet and exercise routines. If we want to take care of our minds, we learn new things, keep our thoughts healthy, and talk things out with others as needed.

How do we take care of our souls?

Just like our physical bodies, our souls hunger and thirst. They need to be watered and fed. What do they hunger and thirst for? The food and water we’re all in search of to nourish our souls is God.

God sees a hungry soul, and to it he says “I’m going to fill this with what is good”

God sees a thirsty soul, and to it he says “anyone who drinks the water I give them will never thirst again”

Why is it so important that we be people who can say with confidence that “it is well with my soul”?

Our souls are priceless, for it is said,

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Matthew 16:26

With that I say, how is your soul doing? How can we each seek to be people who nourish our souls so that we become the people who are loudly proclaiming “It is well, it is well with my soul”

I know, you’re probably wondering why I even bothered to ask that question, since almost every household eats the same things. Let’s face it, the mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie were too good to pass up – we got seconds, and now we’re stuffed. Everything we just stuffed ourselves with? It has an effect on us. Our stomach likely feels like it’s going to explode, classic eyes are bigger than your stomach syndrome. And that turkey? Yep, it’s makes us tired, and it’s not in our heads – it’s science, consider it a side effect of all of that tryptophan.

While stuffing ourselves with food on Thanksgiving Day – or any day for that matter – is uncomfortable for a while, I’m going to bet we’ve all taken that risk. A little discomfort is nothing compared to the delight that the food brought us in the moment. Though we may not eat after that meal for the remainder of the day, we come back the next day ready to fill ourselves with more food, it’s in our human nature, if we want to survive, we have to eat. Any time we sit down to eat, our body is trained to tell us once we’ve stuffed enough food into our mouths, it tells us “I’m full.”

This concept of being stuffed is a pretty easy one to understand if all we talk about is food. To do that though, would take so much away from what the word “stuffed” has to offer.

Filling ourselves goes far beyond just filling ourselves with food. As humans, God gifted us with the ability to make the choice as to what we fill ourselves with, it’s called having free will. However, those things we fill ourselves with have a variety of effects on us. Depending on what we fill ourselves with, those effects can be good or bad. In the book of Galatians, it lays out for us the effects, or actions, that take place as a result of living a life filled by acting on human desires and living a life of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[c] you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:17-23

Seeing the results of the actions of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit, it seems like a no-brainer which one is better, but a lot of times, our actions aren’t a reflection of that. Why not? Likely because living a life acted on our own desires is quite frankly a lot “easier.” Living a life of being filled with the Spirit and pursuing what God has for us is hard. If it were easy we wouldn’t need God. Though it may not be easy, if we can get to the place that God is truly in control of our lives, we can live with a freedom unlike any other.

Now maybe you’re someone who has made that commitment, you’re filled with God’s Spirit, and you’re pursuing the life he has for you. Then, you make it to a certain point of the path and begin to doubt why you made the decisions you did. We all have needs that require being filled all of the time, like the need for community, and regardless of what actions we take, we all have the same amount of time to fill them. If our needs aren’t being met in the way we expect, it can cause us to doubt God and his goodness. In those moments, we must remember that God is always at work and will always provide us with every need we have to continue on the path he has designed for us. 2 Corinthians 9:8 says:

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times,
having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

With that I ask, how can we continue to be people who live mindfully in the things we stuff our lives with this holiday season, not just with food, but with God and in our time and interactions with others as well?

]]> http://emilybernathauthor.com/stuffed/feed/ 1 352 http://emilybernathauthor.com/lofty-grace/ Mon, 22 Oct 2018 21:29:47 +0000 http://emilybernathauthor.com/?p=299 “It is when a person walks at night that they stumble,
for they have no light.” John 11:10

Lets first take a look at this from a physical sense. Makes a lot of sense, right? I’m guessing we’ve all been there before, walking around during the night and stumbling on something we didn’t see. It probably caused us some pain, maybe we even needed to go to a doctor for healing.

But could that phrase mean something more? When we live according to our human nature, we live in darkness. For some of us, that may sound scary. For me, it was a matter of both comfort and uncertainty. When I lived in a season of extreme darkness, I was lost. I had no idea who I really was—who God made me to be. I stayed in that darkness for a while partially because it seemed to be safe. If I started walking to try to find the way out, I would inevitably stumble along the way and experience pain, so I stayed put.

Turns out, God had other plans in mind. You see, there is this light out there that is so bright, darkness can’t even comprehend it. So much so, that, the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and this light are the same. This light, it saves. This light, it found me in my discomfort. This light, shines bright enough to bring peace to all of us.

The best part? I didn’t do anything to deserve it, and yet it still chose me. But why? Well, you see, there’s this thing called grace, and this light, it gives the loftiest grace of them all.

Thank God, because once I saw this light, I realized just how dark my human nature was. Why would anyone want to shine a light on the person I knew I was in my darkness?

It turns out, this grace, this lofty grace, was unconditional to anything I had done. I didn’t deserve it. None of us deserve it. And yet, there this grace was, waiting for me. With this grace, I gained strength. Strength to stumble my way out of the darkness. Strength to discover my true self in this light. And strength to shine this light to others so that they may know who they are as well.

The work required to free us from the darkness of our human nature has already been finished, all that’s left for us to do is receive. Receive the light. Receive the grace. And live in the freedom that only this light and this grace provide.