It's That Key...

Good Meal Or Bad Meal?

 

I have mixed feelings about an image making the rounds on social networking sites. It’s a split screen of a hamburger and fries on one side and a salad on the other. It reads as follows:

“One ‘bad’ meal won’t make you fat...Just like one ‘good’ meal won’t make you skinny.”

As a person in eating disorder recovery, my antenna goes up whenever I come across images/messages which portray a kind of “half- truth.” I believe this image is, indeed, one such message. Yes, logically, we know one serving of junk food will not make us weigh 1,000 pounds. Likewise, eating a salad will not transform us into some mythical perfect being. Both are not realistic. But, this statement, while possessing this “half-truth,” still, however, contains its bottom line message: the certain desired image is a thin body.

To me, it smacks of a backhanded compliment. I remember once, when I was twenty-two years old, my younger roommate  (age nineteen) once told me, “you’re not that old.”

 (Those of you older than twenty-two, please feel free to chuckle here).

But I feel this good meal/bad meal sentiment is like that. It TRIES  to make us feel better, to soothe fears, to help. However, the main message still contains a judgment in it, saying, “even if you eat, the worst possible thing in the world (being fat) won’t happen to you.”

It’s the judge-y food equivalent to “The Wizard of Oz” Glinda-to-Dorothy question mark, “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” But the value placed on thinness and the fear of fat are still there.

It’s complicated, isn’t it? I mean, c’mon, let’s face it, since the beginning, there have been food issues going on. Ever hear of Adam and Eve?

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

Genesis 3:6

Yeah. It’s about desire; it’s about fulfilled need. It’s about something which “looks good.” But is it? And is it supposed to be that estimation to us?

That’s where much of the issue lies right? We subscribe more value to food than it warrants.

“Is not life more than food?”

Jesus, in Matthew 6:25

In its basic purpose, it keeps us alive. It doesn’t love us, comfort us, punish us or rescue us. It keeps us living.

And, ideally, from the wide variety of choices out there, food is designed to keep us healthy. Vitamins, mineral, nutrients, protein, carbohydrates and fats are a part of that process.

But where do we usually place our focus? On the calories, right? Enter the “good food/bad food” principle. And each one of us has a definition that falls under those headings, right?

Salads and vegetables usually fall under the “good” heading; ice cream and cookies usually comprise the “bad.”

But, while, yes, there are healthy and not so healthy choices out there, food does not have the power we believe it has. It’s a resource, a tool, a vehicle, something to be used for its INTENDED purpose. When it isn’t, however, that’s when eating disorders and unhealthy views/expectations come in, creating chaos and harm.

And we often don’t see it, gradually believing food/diet lies we’ve been exposed to over many years.

“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice: but what I hate, that I do.”

The Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15

And then, “all of a sudden,” we are astonished because we have issues and/or eating disorders? We don’t understand, exactly, just how we arrived to this place of pain and confusion. But, nevertheless, here we are.

But we miss some major points. First, God created food, for us:

“Who giveth food to all flesh...”

Psalms 136:25

More specifically, God takes care of our needs:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Matthew 6:25-32

God isn’t anti-food; He knows we need it. Food is not a sin to Him. Wrong attitudes, however, are. It’s not because God wants to punish us; He doesn’t want us hurt by lies. And isn’t that what diets, “good and bad foods” are: lies?

So, what’s a more “Godly” view of food? How about the following scriptures?

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.”

1 Corinthians 10:23

“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”

1 Corinthians 6:12

“And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”

1 Timothy 6:8

God’s not hung up on whether or not we eat a candy bar or a salad. He wants us healthy and happy. And He wants us focused on HIM, more than the food of the moment. Yes, that can be a challenge, especially if the food issue has been an all-consuming one in our lives.

But here’s where Psalms 136:25, once again, gives us hope:

“Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth forever.”

Did you catch that second part?

“…for his mercy endureth forever.”

We’re not in control; God is. And God is not intimidated with our bodies, our functions and our responses to food. He knows how to handle us. He knows our needs, including our needs for His love, wisdom and mercy in our lives.

 Let’s trust that, then, instead of our “good/bad food” thoughts!

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse

 

 

 

Becoming yourself...

Life...

Replace I With We...

Priceless

Some People...

The Side Effects of Anxiety...

Narcissus (Falling Into the Image)

 

Featured in the August 2015 issue of Serene Scene Magazine, Cruse discusses the role narcissism plays in our inferiority-driven addictive and disordered tendencies.

http://serenescenemagazine.com/serene%20scene/Serene%20Scene%20August%202015/FLASH/index.html?page=34

 

Each of Us Is That 100th Sheep

 

Featured in July 29^th’s Christians In Recovery, Cruse explores the power of the lost sheep parable concerning our lives and struggles.

http://christians-in-recovery.org/BibleStudies_Forgiveness_Each-of-Us-is-that-100th-Sheep

Keep Shining!

YES!!!!

The Confidence Gap

 

In an issue of “The Atlantic,” the article, “The Confidence Gap,” written by Katie Kay and Claire Shipman, emphasizes how the woeful state of confidence exists in the female gender. Here are some disturbing discoveries:

“In studies, men overestimate their abilities and performance, and women underestimate both. Their performances do not differ in quality.”

“Women applied for a promotion only when they believed they met 100% of the listed qualifications. Men would apply when they met 60%.”

“What doomed the women was not their actual ability to do well on the tests. They were as able as the men were. What held them back was the choice not to try.”

Yep, discouraging, isn’t it?

This is not about bashing men. However, it is about addressing the existence of confidence in women. Is it there? Where is it? How much exists? What is it dependent upon?

Reading the article, I couldn’t help but view my own situation, especially in the eating disorder context. I was notorious for believing in and striving for perfection. I couldn’t get on with my life unless and until I achieved this impossible standard.

 “I desperately wanted my dad to notice me. I learned very quickly that one surefire way to do that was by winning awards. When I won something, I wasn’t completely worthless or useless. I was productive; I was ‘earning my keep.’ I set impossible standards for myself. Try as I might with award after award, I’d eventually disappoint everyone, including myself, proving that I wasn’t worth anything after all.

            My perfect attendance record in school is an excellent example. For three years in a row, I did not missed one day of school, knowing that I would win a perfect attendance certificate, tangible proof on paper that I was worthwhile. It became a standard I had to maintain because my dad seemed pleased in my performance. Of course, he never said that he was proud of me, but he did lay off the criticisms briefly. So for the next few years, I went to school with colds, sore throats and influenza. I remember going to school once with a temperature of over 101, sitting at my desk, on the verge of throwing up, yet only thinking of that certificate.

            When I reached junior high, I became so sick once I had to stay home. I felt defeated and anxious. My dad, who had never really been sick with so much as a cold, was unsympathetic to my condition. With each passing day I stayed home from school, the tension mounted. Three days at home, according to my dad, was enough. He became upset at my mom for being ‘such a terrible mother.’ After three days home, he had enough. He decided he would take me into school to make sure I got there.

            On the way to school, he was fuming and I was scared to death, but my fourteen-year-old mind wanted to know something. We’d never had any father/daughter talks about anything, much less about the existence of a loving relationship, but I got up the nerve to ask him, ‘Do you still love me?’ His answer? ‘If you do this again, I won’t.’

            His answer proved it. It was my fault. I had to prove myself in order to be loved. I wasn’t the cute, good little daughter he should have had. If I could just look right and act right, he’d love me. All I have to do, I decided, is be perfect. That’s all.”

Through the eating disorder filter, that perfection, indeed, took the shape of emaciation, constant dieting, punishing exercise and overwhelming self-loathing.

It has only been within the last ten years I’ve come to see it’s not about perfection, but excellence in life. We can do well; we can do excellently. And that reality is not predicated upon perfection.

What is stopping us, right now, as women, from pursuing our dreams, desires and goals? Are we paralyzed by fear of not being perfect? Do we have confidence in ourselves- and in our God, even, in spite of our human imperfection?

After all, what about this scripture?

“For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

Luke 1:37

Let that, be we male or female, be our confidence!

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse

 

 

Can you see God?

Salvador Dali nails it...

Obsessed With Unattainable Thinness?

 

Featured in July 24^th’s Christians In Recovery, Cruse discusses the beauty/body image issue via two significant sex symbols in pop culture: Sophia Loren and Sophia Vergara.

http://christians-in-recovery.org/Issues_EatingDisorders_Obsessed-with-Unattainable-Thinness

 

Differentiated From a Doormat...

Your Temple Body

 

Once upon a time, as children, summer represented freedom, didn’t it? We looked forward to being sprung from school for those glorious three months of fun, sun and play. Once upon a time, I wore my navy blue swimsuit with white footprints on it, never once preoccupied that I was too fat to wear it.

But then something changed. We started to change. Growing up, in various ways, was not for the faint of heart. As we entered adolescence, all of a sudden, summer took on a different tone. As responsibility increased and adulthood loomed, we started to focus on less fun things: summer jobs, preparation for college and, especially if you were female, conforming a rapidly changing female physique into a thin and acceptable enough one, at least, according to swimsuit criteria, anyway. Now, I avoided wearing a swimsuit. Now I believed I was too fat and hated the way I looked. Now I spent each summer devising a different, revolutionary and transforming diet which would help me lose that unwanted weight and fix me, once and for all. And I wasn’t the only one in similar pursuits, was I?

Indeed, as adolescents and as young adults, a lot of us started looking for escape and comfort from the pressure of our increasingly complicated, high stress lives. Enter addictions, compulsions and disorders. Suddenly, coping becomes the answer, via drugs, alcohol, food, diets, eating disorders and all types of external promises of hope and happiness. You may have never dieted or developed and eating disorder, but you probably have sought out some release valve to endure the pressures, pain and stress of your life, right?

The summer season focuses a lot on the body. Starting as early as January and February, fashion and health magazines seem to contain all kind of articles promising “makeovers,” “new bikini bodies” and “the perfect diet plan” to ensure losing that dreaded winter weight. And summer is all about skimpy swimsuits, revealing clothes, prom/pageant dresses and, brides and bridesmaids to be, let’s not forget that end all, be all event, known as the summer wedding!

I know I sure couldn’t forget that event myself; an excerpt from my book, “Thin Enough: My Spiritual Journey Through the Living Death of an Eating Disorder” illustrates my own descent into madness, only to discover the answer was not found in my thin bridesmaid frame.

“One of my ‘goals’ was fitting into a bridesmaid dress for my cousin’s wedding…At that time, I weighed around 115-120 lbs, which translated into a size 9/ 10 dress.

            By June, I was about 95-100 lbs and the dress swallowed me. I felt my accomplishment as the seamstress cinched in the sides of the waist. Yes, I was getting smaller. My cousin could only look at my mother in stunned, horrified disbelief. But, hey, I was successful!

I really started obsessing the two weeks prior to the wedding. Looking back on my diary entries, I wrote a repetitive string of comments like, ‘I’m not going to eat today or tomorrow,’ and ‘I can’t blow it now. I’m so close.’ ...

            …The August wedding eventually came and proved to be both anti-climactic and tense…At 82 pounds, I tried on the dress and discovered that’s all it was—just a dress. Yes, it was hanging on me, but it didn’t really mean anything anymore. I was too exhausted for it to mean anything to me...”

A frequently used phrase, both in and outside of Christian circles, has been “the body is a temple.” Most recently, in the diet and fitness arena, it’s taken on even greater prominence, as emphasis on maintenance and lifestyle, including the upkeep of physical attractiveness, seems to be of the utmost importance. So, temple it is! We concentrate on the outward structure.

But we miss the point of the temple, the sacred point. A temple is not simply a building. It is a place in which God’s Spirit resides.

“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?”

1 Corinthians 3:16

So, we would do well to take care of that structure, not simply because we want it to look pretty, but because each one of us is entrusted with such a great and honorable responsibility and opportunity. God has chosen you; God has chosen me. How will we respond?

It’s shortsighted and harmful to only look to the quick fix, whether that be the crash diet or the addictive substance we designate to be our “solution.” Only God is meant to be that.

This summer, as we lighten up in our attire and become more body conscious, let’s remember our bodies are not merely “things.” They are precious vessels; let’s treat them as such. That may mean eating healthier, exercising, seeking and maintaining professional recovery programs. But is also means viewing ourselves as the incredible spiritual beings God has called each of us to be.

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Let’s think about that as we view summer!

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse

 

 

 

 

What’s My Spinach?

“In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.”

Psalm 138:3

When I was a little girl, I remember buying into the Popeye- eating- his- spinach- and -becoming powerful –thing hook, line and sinker. I believed it so much so, after eating my spinach, I would then take to running around the farm, waiting for that strength to suddenly kick in and I guess, launch me into the stratosphere.

Yeah, I’m still waiting on that one.

I started thinking about this incident in relation to my eating disorder development and recovery. And I started seeing idolatry in how I saw spinach.

Now wait, I haven’t lost my mind. Please give me a minute here.

I equated spinach with something more than what it was. Most of us, as kids, go through a stage in which we hate it. Some of us, perhaps, never grow out of that stage. But, most of us are told to eat it because it’s “good for us.”

So, it’s not the spinach itself, but what it represents.

And as the spinach went, so, went other things in my life. (Does this statement sound like a soap opera voiceover to anyone else except me? Never mind).

Anyway, back to the idolatry thing. When I was a child, through watching the Popeye cartoon, I was convinced of the spinach’s effects, believing outside things could strength me and make me somehow better. And indeed, a definition for the word, idolatry cites anything from which we derive strength and energy or anything to which we willingly give our strength. Yep, ding, ding, ding! Sounds about right. When I was a kid, zooming around the farm after my bowl of spinach, I had no clue whatsoever that I was buying into a spiritual lie. I was just fully expecting to activate into my own version of a super hero Popeye, taking complete charge of my life; I would never being weak again.

But the problem was, I was setting myself up for the disappointment of the “overpromise and under-delivery” of my chosen idol.

And I kept going with the same idol throughout my life. Only, the “spinach” changed.

As a girl, I next bought into the beauty idol. In the context of fairytale princesses, magazines and television, I didn’t stand a chance. Beauty was a force; it was aesthetic spinach. If, therefore, I could only obtain, possess and sustain it in my life, I would be strong, happy and perfect. Beauty would magically propel me through life at 1000 miles an hour. I’d be set.

My beauty spinach drove me to such extremes as the pursuit of impossible thinness and perfection. Enter: eating disorder havoc; enter; eating disorder idolatry. What started as another innocent diet, turned into a sinister thought process of “keep going, lose more weight and go further.” That turned into anorexia, with food restriction, exercise obsession and punishing rituals. Unless I met a certain standard of specific daily calories, sit ups and hours on an exercise bike, I was worthless and weak. If, however, I achieved that quota, I was omnipotent. I was Popeye, strong and invincible.

My bulimic phase, however, threatened that position. As physical, spiritual and emotional hunger overtook me, I soon spiraled into a monster which had none of the self-control I prized. Now, it was about doing damage control, which meant an endless cycle of bingeing, exercising six hours a day, using diuretics and laxatives. And then, what followed was the shameful secrecy and desperate self-protection- even though I got “caught” on my behavior on numerous occasions. New spinach? Was this new idol making things all better? Was I safe? No. Was I healthy? No. Was I in control? No. But was I chasing that unrealistic spinach effect, oh yes!

And now, years later, in my recovery, I see how that unattainable spinach kept changing; it was a moving target, that, no matter how much I focused on it, I still couldn’t get it. Addictions, obsessions and compulsions work like that, don’t they? Food, alcohol, drugs, shopping and gambling are just a few examples of that strong spinach, promising, that if we consume them, we’ll find our answer, ourselves and our peace. However, we never do.

We run and run and run, chasing after this thing or that thing, panting, exhausted as these promised solutions only dissolve into mirages. We reach our hands out to them, but only retrieve emptiness. Or, if we think we’ve found a permanent answer, we discover, eventually, it is not sustainable. It cannot continue to promise the answer indefinitely. Everything has its expiration date. And sooner or later, we experience that reality, feeling confused, bereft and betrayed. We’re never left feeling better though, are we? Idolatry failed us. We are shocked and saddened to accept that news because of the hope we invested in it.

And that’s largely because idolatry isn’t the answer; no substitute ever works. God is who, what we need as that answer to our lives, not anything else.

“My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.”

Psalm 73:26

Maybe you never bought into the Popeye/spinach connection of strength. But what is your chosen spinach, your answer? Is it things like substances, money, power, image, material possessions or approval?  Or is it something else, something so personal and meaningful to you, but not on a given list? Do you know what your hearts longs for? It is a heart issue:

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

Proverbs 4:23

Don’t despair about the current state of your life. It’s not hopeless, even if you’re struggling. Take your heart to God. He’s your strength, He’s the answer you’re looking for.

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.”

Psalm 28:7

Nothing and no one else can take that place. Accept no substitutes. Assess your idols. Where have they brought you? Whatever state you find yourself in, it’s never too late. Take your heart and life issues, even when you fall in life. And let God be your spinach, Popeye.

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse

 

 

 

Under Construction

Ta-Dah!!!! Finished!!! Nothing more to be done; I’m perfect. Sounds great, doesn’t it? How many of us out there strive for this end all, be all perfection? How many of us get such tunnel vision in the scrutiny of details that we forget to give ourselves a break of grace in this process called life? See yourself here? Do you see yourself under construction or under oppression?

God has told us that it is He who will perfect the things concerning us (Psalm 138:8). We, therefore, don’t need to have every issue, every second, every single thing of our lives figured out. God tells us that His thoughts are not our thoughts anyway (Isaiah 55:9).

Right now, are you obsessing, or rather, WHAT are you obsessing about? Who you are, what you’re grappling with in your life is not all there is to the story. You and I are under construction. Part of that construction process involves the truth that God’s Grace is needed because we are imperfect and will blow it, sometimes, big time, during our lives. But these mistakes don’t overwhelm God at all. He takes even our mistakes and works incredible things from them. Check out Romans 8:28:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
While you’re under construction, whatever that may mean to you, remember, God’s the Architect, the Master Designer of it all. His plan is never to leave you as a broken road or bridge; you are created to be His incredible victorious child of purpose. And so, the construction continues. Go about your life being under construction, not under oppression; you’re worth God’s process in you!

 

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse

 

 

 

Sick and Sad Reality- WHEN? WHEN?

Wired

Surviving an Abusive Childhood

 

Featured in July 20’s Christians In Recovery, Cruse discusses the role fear and abuse can play concerning addiction and disorder challenges.

http://christians-in-recovery.org/Issues_Abuse_Surviving-an-Abusive-Childhood

 

That Expectation

To the Point...

Try Again

Where the Magic Happens (Outside That Comfort Zone)

The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud --- the obstacles of life and its suffering. ... The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. ... Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one. ”
― Goldie Hawn

We are creatures of comfort. We don’t like pain and uncertain circumstances. But unfortunately, that is what life is all about- uncertainty. We cannot control all of what we experience while we live. And that’s troubling.

Comfort zone is an oft used term in our culture. Let’s face it, we all want to be in that zone.

Yet, true growth, change and meaning are not found in that comfort but rather outside of it.

I heard about how the majestic eagle deals with its offspring. When helpless eaglets are just hatched, the parents create a cushy nest, safe and warm. There’s no need for the young to get their own food; it is brought to them. They have a luxurious life.

However, as they grow, edging ever closer to adulthood, that cushy nest starts to change. It is no longer the warm and comforting bed it used to be. Gradually, the parents start adding sharp pieces of bone, twigs or even thorns, all for the purpose of encouraging the eaglets out of it. Uncomfortable, the offspring learn it’s best to get out of this prickly nest, fly and soar into their lives.

Discomfort- it can move us into all we are supposed to be in life. However, it’s up to us if we go kicking and screaming or if we embrace the awkward pain of uncertainty. It’s okay to have questions, to feel out of sorts, to stumble. That is human.

“I beg you, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

 

And that is where the magic does happen.

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
― Anaïs Nin

 “We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”
― Anaïs Nin

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse

 

 

GO!!!!

Refillable

Are we there yet?

Visualize this scenario. There’s a car ride going on, containing one or two parents/adults and at least one child in the backseat. The child’s view consists of the following: the back of the driver’s and passenger side seat, perhaps, some toys, games or word puzzle books, strewn throughout. Maybe, depending upon the vehicle, there’s even a Disney film being played on a television screen, just above Mommy or Daddy’s head. We should be hearing the voice of an animated character or the chirp of an irritating child’s song. But, instead, what do we hear?

 “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

Does this sound familiar?

If you have children or remember being one yourself, you’re probably familiar with this nagging, repetitive question:

Are we there yet?

We want to get there already, wherever “there” is.

“Unto a land flowing with milk and honey...”

Exodus 3:8; 33:3

It’s the Promised Land, filled with conscientious manners, harmonious relationships, well-behaved children, realized dreams and no bad hair days.

Yeah.

So, when we’re reminded of 2 Corinthians 3:18, we rarely feel enthusiastic about the process…

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

In the pursuit of arriving “there,” you and I often bypass one crucial place: patience land. No, it’s not an amusement park.

“In your patience possess ye your souls.”

Luke 21:19

We’re even less enthusiastic about going there! But, isn’t the word “patience” that destination and journey we all experience?

God knows we need patience MORE than we need to be “somewhere.”

 “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

Romans 8:25

But there is a reward for it:

“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”

Hebrews 10:36

Patience: not a warm fuzzy, but a reliable thing, nevertheless.

“And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.”

Joshua 23:14

Doesn’t seem like it? Well, it probably has something to do with our spiritual nearsightedness.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

1 Corinthians 13:12

Just because we are not “there” yet, doesn’t mean we’re a hopeless failure. And it certainly doesn’t mean God’s ambivalent or a myth. He’s real and relevant, working in the middle of our blindness, obstacles and circumstances. Scripture tells us about the reality of a season:

 “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”

Ecclesiastes 3:1

It happens to everyone; there are, indeed, certain experiences we need to go through as individuals. Whether it’s a patience or character building exercise, protection or simply laying the groundwork for even more spectacular blessings, we need to get over our egos and realize our finite beings, despite our desire to know everything, simply would not be able to deal with it.

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”

John 16:12

Our ego says, “Are we there yet?” God responds, “Not yet.”

 

“He hath made everything beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11

We’re not there yet, but we are getting where we need to be with God.

“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”

Isaiah 46:10

Relax…and enjoy the ride.

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse