Monthly Archives: September 2011

The Influence of a Woman

Posted on by

12

Before I get into my topic for today, I wanted to give you a brief update on my blog.  Because I think it is incredibly important to be purposeful in everything you do, I recently wrote about the purpose of my writing and this blog.  You can check it out here: “No Apologies.”  In that post I had asked for any topic suggestions or questions that you had for me.  After reading through the responses I received, I’ve decided to write about some of those things in the coming weeks.  Here are some posts to be on the look out for:

  • Becoming a Jesus-Follower: My testimony
  • A Day in the Life: My life being married to a recording artist
  • The Sabbath: The forgotten command
  • Sharing Your Faith: How to live a lifestyle of evangelism
  • How to Encourage Others Effectively
  • Dating & Marriage: The purpose of romance in the believer’s life
For today however, I wanted to write about the powerful influence of a woman.  I am currently reading through 2 Chronicles and am greatly enjoying it!  I have learned so much through studying the history of the Israelite people in Kings and Chronicles and strongly encourage you to read straight through these books if you never have. (This is actually my first time to read straight through them!)


Chapter 21 describes the reign of King Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, grandson of Asa.  Jehoshaphat, though not perfect in his reign, was known for how he sought after the Lord.  He was humble and trusted in God in moments of adversity.  And Asa, his grandfather was also a man who sought after the Lord and trusted God in hard times.  With such a rich spiritual heritage, I expected Jehoram to follow in their footsteps.  But to my surprise, this chapter starts out with Jehoram killing all his brothers as soon as he became king.  It doesn’t even give a reason why he did this.  He also led the people of Judah astray by enticing them to worship other gods (v. 11).  So what happened to Jehoram?  How did a guy with such a great start to life turn out so bad?


Well let me introduce you to his wife.  Her name is Athaliah and she is known by her parents.  This girl is the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel.  Ahab was king of Israel and was more wicked than every king before him!  This is one bad dude.  He was also married to Jezebel, who was a very deceitful, conniving, evil woman herself.  1 Kings 18:19 mentions how all the prophets of Baal and the Asherah (the false gods and idols of the day) ate at Jezebel’s table.  To sum up this couple’s life: “Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him.” (1 Kings 21:25)  Can you imagine growing up in this home?


It is Ahab & Jezebel’s daughter who marries Jehoram and clearly she had a significant influence on him.  ”Jehoram walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did (for Ahab’s daughter was his wife), and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.”  This same story is written in 2 Kings 8:18: “Jehoram walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab became his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.”  This one woman had more influence on her husband than his father and grandfather.


In the very next chapter of 2 Chronicles we see her continue to have an affect on her family.  Once her husband, King Jehoram dies, her son Ahaziah becomes king.  And what does it say of Ahaziah? “He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly.  He did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab.” (22:3-4)


As I read these chapters this morning, I couldn’t help but notice the incredibly powerful impact this one woman had on her husband and son.  Judah went from having good kings that trusted in the Lord and sought Him with all their heart to wicked kings that did evil in His sight so quickly.  And it is all because of the influence of one woman.


This has lead me to ask this question: what kind of influence am I having on my family?  I might not be causing the same kind of great evil in my family as Athaliah caused hers, but I still need to evaluate how I am…….  Do I criticize my husband and cause him to shrink into passivity?  Or do I encourage him and strengthen him to step up into his God-given leadership positions with confidence?  Do I have an complaining and woe-is-me attitude that makes my home a sorrowful place to be?  Or do I have a grateful and cheerful heart that brings joy to our home?  Do I treat my daughter like she is an inconvenience to my day and a burden?  Or like she is a blessing and a wonderful gift to be celebrated and enjoyed?


I might not be seeking to cause evil and wickedness in my family, but I do have an influence.  And I believe my influence can be just as powerful and long lasting in my family as Athaliah’s was in hers.  And I pray that God will continue to grow me into a woman whose family is blessed and better off because of her.

List-focused vs Jesus-focused

Posted on by

7

Thanks to those of you who have already responded to my last post, Back to the Basics. This is a response to one of the comments on that blog. Someone asked “How exactly do you intend to shift your focus from your to do list to Jesus? What do you intend to do differently?” Thanks for responding and that is a great question!

I first want to mention that I don’t think to-do lists are bad in and of themselves. I think writing out a list of things that need to get done is a helpful tool and very useful. I don’t think I will ever stop doing that as a way to stay organized and on task. But like any good thing can, my to-do lists often take the place of Jesus in my life.

It sounds funny to think I could make a to-do list an idol in my life, but it happens regularly. Here are some lyrics from the song “Clear the Stage” by a friend of ours, Ross King:

Anything I put before my God is an idol.
Anything I want with all my heart is an idol.
Anything I can’t stop thinking of is an idol.
Anything that I give all my love is an idol.
We must not worship something that’s not even worth it.
Clear the stage and make some space for the one who deserves it.


(Wow do I love that song!) “Anything I can’t stop thinking of is an idol…” Often that is all I am thinking about in a day: what’s next on my to do list. How can I get more done? When is Lively going to sleep so I can get things 2,3, and 5 done on my list. I will choose to be productive rather than sit with God. And I often long to get everything done way more than I long to get to know God more. Unfortunately, all these things point to my list being an idol in my life.

This doesn’t mean I can’t ever make a list ever again. Jimmy has also been an idol in my life, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be married to him. It just means I have to always to make sure that God is still on the throne of my life and my number one priority because everything else is always trying to take His place.

So, how does a list-a-holic keep Jesus the focus of her day? Before I write out some practical ways that I do this, I wanted to mention that first and foremost it is a heart attitude that keeps Jesus central, not a step-by-step program.

The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 is the best picture of what it looks like to be focused on Jesus rather than focused on doing. Mary is sitting and listening to Jesus and Martha is busy getting her home ready for Jesus. Martha had great intentions in all her busyness, but the Bible says she was “distracted.” Distracted from what? From Jesus! But Mary had her whole attention on Him and was resting at His feet. The question for list-a-holics like me is always this: “Well then, does that mean I sit around and do nothing all day but pray and read the Bible? Practically I can’t do that. There are actually things that have to get done.”

The book “Grace Walk” by Steve McVey gave me great insight into this. Here is a quote from the book:

Jesus could have said to Martha, “Now calm down. What you are doing is good, but what Mary is doing is important too. Both serving and resting have their proper place. Martha, you need to learn balance.” Yet that isn’t what He said. Instead, He said, “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” How many things? One thing is needed–resting in Him. Does this statement minimize the importance of serving Jesus? Not at all. How do you suppose Mary would have responded if Jesus had asked her to bring Him a glass of water? She would have immediately have spring into action. On the other hand, if He had asked Martha for a glass of water, she might not have even heard Him because she was too busy making His bed–and He wasn’t even sleepy! Do you see the point? Resting in Christ is the sole responsibility of the Christian. Everything else flows out of that.

The point is this: when you choose to daily keep your focus on Jesus, He will clearly lead you in everything else. And instead of wasting your time on frivolous things that won’t matter in the end, you will spend all your time on important things that do matter because you are being directed by Jesus. I don’t want to be so distracted with my to-do list that I can’t hear the direction Jesus is giving me. I want to rest in Him and in His peace, knowing that as I do that, He will help me accomplish everything that actually needs to get done. It might not be everything I wanted to get done, but it will be exactly what He wanted for me that day. And after all, Jesus knows way better than me the best way to spend my day.

So in light of that, here are a few things that I do to try and stay seated at Jesus’s feet all day and keep myself from being a frantic Martha:

SET APART TIME WITH GOD AND HIS WORD FIRST
This is by far the most important thing for me. If I just start my day doing, doing, doing, it will be 4pm before I know it and I haven’t thought of God once. But if I dedicate some time for reading my Bible and journaling in the first part of my day, even if only for 15 minutes, that makes a huge difference. This time is a refocusing time. Every morning I wake up with my default set on myself and the things of this world, which is a product of living with indwelling sin and in a world that doesn’t revolve around Jesus. So I have to intentionally change my default setting in my mind by refocusing on more eternal things that I can’t see. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corin 4:18) It is very unnatural to focus on things that are unseen. It doesn’t happen by accident, it takes effort. That’s why it’s so important for me to have time to refocus my mind on my unseen God. Reading the Bible is key because it is 100% truth (2 Tim 3:16) that I can count it. It is also living and active (Heb 4:12) and gives me ammunition for the day to fight off things that threaten to take my focus off of Jesus. Then spending time communicating with God through writing helps me to not just gain head knowledge but communicate with Him about what is on my heart and mind and ask for help in those situations.

Side note: Being a mom now has caused me to have to rethink when I spend my time with God. My days often start out with a crying baby that needs my attention which doesn’t always allow for the very first part of my day to be dedicated to reading the Bible. So I have been setting apart her morning nap time for my time with God. It is still pretty early in the day and allows me some time to myself to really refocus and connect with God. Whatever your situation is, if it is unreasonable for you to spend the first part of your day in the Bible, get creative and find a solution that works for you. Do anything you can that helps to refocus and reset your default to Jesus instead of self in the early part of your day.

STOP AND PRAY
I need little check-points throughout my day to help me keep my focus on Jesus. It could be an alarm on my phone that just reminds me to spend 3-5 minutes reconnected with God or singing a worship song or re-reading a favorite verse from what I read that morning. It’s amazing how 2 or 3 check-points in a day keep my eyes fixed on Him. It is also important for me to pray about things as they are happening. Just having an attitude of prayer about all the menial tasks in my day reminds me that life is ultimately about sitting and listening to Jesus as He directs my day.

USING MY SCHEDULE TO MY ADVANTAGE
Currently, I am still nursing my 8 month old daughter. This means that there are times in my day when I am sitting in silence in her room nursing her. I will often use this time to my advantage to pray for others, sing worship songs to myself, or memorize scripture. It is built in down time in my day that I can use! Maybe for you it is a morning and evening commute you can use to stay focused on Jesus. Listen to worship music or a Christian podcast while you shower and get ready. Again find creative ways to use time that is already built in to your schedule.

PODCASTS: REVIVE OUR HEARTS
This is a personal favorite of mine. While doing a task that is somewhat mindless in my day (laundry, dishes, unpacking boxes, etc), I will listen to my favorite podcast, Revive Our Hearts. These are 28 minute episodes of a radio program run by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Not only are they fun to listen to, but give me spiritual food for thought in my day. It is another tool for keeping my focus in the right place. There are many great podcasts out there and radio programs that could serve this function, and they are all free!

WRITING MY TO DO LISTS IN MY JOURNAL
I have started doing this in the last few months. Instead of using a separate piece of paper for my lists, I will write them in my prayer journal. This way, I can have an attitude of prayer when trying to decide how to spend my day. I can also write out everything I think needs to get done or that I want to do, and then ask God what He thinks is and isn’t important. I admit, I don’t hear a voice from heaven saying do this and don’t do that. But doing this has definitely given me more sensitivity to God’s Spirit inside me to be more discerning about how I should spend my day. It also helps me to hold my list more loosely knowing that God might have other plans for me that day.

I would love to hear what you do to keep Jesus your focus throughout the day. Feel free to add your comment to this post and let me and everyone else know. Here’s to keeping Jesus our focus today! Nothing else is more important!

Back to the Basics

Posted on by

5

Today it’s back to the basics for me.

As you know from my last post, we recently moved. Life is becoming less chaotic with each day and with each box unpacked. Though my life has always been busy, changing houses and cities has added a whole new level of chaos to my normal activity. I walk out of our bedroom each day surrounded by tasks that need to get done (half of which I never get to).

But it seems like this is always my mode of operation: living and dying by my to-do list. It is my friend and my master, I love it and hate it. I define my value and my day by how many things got scratched off. But in addition to my list of tasks, I have recently been thinking of other goals I have: reading more, writing more, playing violin more, exercising regularly, and the list goes on. Those goals feel so unattainable that just writing it all out makes me feel exhausted.

It’s in this that I remember what I have been reading lately in 2 Chronicles. King Asa and King Jehoshaphat of Judah both sought the Lord. I have begun highlighting all forms of the verb “seek” in these chapters because I see it surface so often. Reading their stories reminded me of a favorite verse of mine in Matthew where Jesus said: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33)

I have known this verse and it’s implications since I have in high school. If I hear pastors mention it or quote it, sadly my response is often, “Oh yeah, I know that verse. I’ve already learned this lesson, so this doesn’t apply to me.” But I am ALWAYS in need of being reminded of the very basic and simple principles of the scriptures. It seems I have a knack for forgetting the lessons God teaches me through His word over time.

I am glad for the reminder of this well-known, but often forgotten truth: that seeking Him first should be my number one goal and when I do this, God helps me with everything else. So today, I am going to strive to shift my focus from my to-do list to Savior of my Soul. I pray that God will help me be like Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, and not Martha, running around trying to get things done. That’s my prayer for you as well. Let’s be Jesus-followers, not to-do-list-followers.