Saturday, February 6, 2016

Unproductive Habits

Papa has me doing a reassessment...
Of myself.

I try to keep short accounts.
Most often the Spirit lets me know when I have done something that needs correcting.
I keep Him pretty busy!

Yet, there are subtle things that He handles differently.
Those subtle things can be attitudes or perspectives that shift slowly or that lie under the surface.
They aren't often evident.
At least not to me. 

So from time to time He gently reveals to me that a little extra work is in order.
This morning was one of those times.

Currently I am working my way through a small book by Graham Cooke entitled "Coming into Alignment".
At the end of each chapter there are questions to answer and exercises to do.
Finishing a chapter I got ready to work my way through that last section but the first question is as far as I could go.
"What are your unproductive habits?

Unproductive in light of my desire to follow Jesus closely and please our Father.

To be honest I couldn't think of too much.  Yes, Words with Friends can be too enticing at times....
But what else?
I asked the Spirit to reveal anything that I needed to see and then decided to sit on it for a while and see what came to light.
I would never have come up on my own with what was revealed.

I like order.
No, actually I love order!!
Order means that things are easy to find and there is no problem keeping track of the schedule.
In other words I like to be in control and have things go MY WAY!

There there is reality....

No time to put everything where it belongs...
Resulting in some frustrated hunting being required on occasion.
A schedule that gets squeezed for one reason or other....
The result leaving one exhausted.

Note two telling words...

Frustrated
 
Exhausted

Both because this lady loves order and finds it challenging to go with the flow.
Oh, I appear to be going with it, but often there is turmoil under the surface.
Papa has been working with me to "be in the moment" for some time now and let Him order things.

Today He showed me that I am being unproductive when I resist.
Frustration and exhaustion are not productive.
Frustration is me out of step with the changes that are occurring around me.
This results in exhaustion.
Neither are from Papa.

Instead of internally stomping my feet and digging in how about letting it go trusting that Papa has the plan and He is in control?

By His grace I can do this.

One of my favorite verses comes to mind...
"You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind (both its inclination and its character) is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You."  Isaiah 26:3 The Amplified Bible.
So as I keep my eyes and heart fixed on Him, relying and trusting Him, confident that He is loving and faithful I will constantly experience that perfect peace that only He offers!
Isn't that so much better than having to have everything one's own way??