As wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, friends and coworkers, there are many tasks we must accomplish in our daily lives. Whether it is to bandage a skinned knee, wipe a tear, clean a bathroom or head off to work, we all must wear many hats.
Today as I sit at my sewing table, I perform the job position of seamstress. A pile of "to-do's" lie waiting for my attention. As I inspect the clothing articles, I notice a dress shirt that has lost a button. Luckily in this case, the button was not completely lost and had been temporarily placed into the shirt pocket. With button in hand, I carefully inspected the area to which it came from. A few little threads were all that remained, making the space look strangely empty.
I then proceeded to thread my needle and begin the task of button replacement. Carefully, the button was placed on the spot from which it came. Then one, by one, the stitches were made. Each pass of the needle was followed by a slight tug of the thread and a check to see that my work was secure. Pass after pass of stitches were made in hopes that the button would never again lose hold.
As I continued to sew, my mind began to wander and I thought... Are we, God's children, like a button? Do we let our eyes shift from the Lord to another direction while our threads are secretly loosening? What happens if we do not keep God's word or stay focused on Him? Do we loosen further and further until eventually we break completely from our strings and fall far from Him?
In our complicated and busy lives, it is sometimes easy to forget God and tend to our own human needs and plans. Our daily duties can cloud our minds, keeping us away from God and His will for our day. Even Christians with the BEST of intentions can fall prey to worldly desires and its crafty seduction. Perhaps we feel protected from this because we have filled our lives with wonderful Christian activities. A good thing...YES! But if there is an aching or strange emptiness while doing so, could it be that God was never invited to the festivities?
The wonderful truth is that no matter what, God remains faithful to us. And because of His enormous grace we are kept safely in His " pocket " while He patiently waits for our willingness to be reattached.
In understanding God's faithfulness, we first must thoroughly understand the language meaning of the word "Faithful". The dictionary explains the word as such:
"Faithfulness" - maintaining allegiance; constant; loyal ....accurate; reliable; exact (and the list goes on).
The Bible has many, many scriptures pertaining to the subject of Gods faithfulness.
Isaiah 25:1 "O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. " 1 Corinthians 1:9 "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. " Psalm 89:8 "O Lord God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. "
You see, it because of our own lacking (sin) that we fall away from God. It remains our responsibility of focus and spiritual discipline. The spiritual life which has begun with the word, demands to be nourished and maintained. It is only then that the Holy Spirit can continue work and turn our hearts back to God and the proper spiritual path.
As I write this devotion, there is an old Hymn that comes to my mind titled "Turn your eyes upon Jesus". The words are as follows:
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace".Helen H. Lemmel 1864-1961
Helen says this so beautifully! The way to keep our path straight is through Jesus. Keeping a clear focus on Jesus leads to truth, light and eternal values.
When it seems we have lost sight of God it is not that God has moved away from us. For as the Bible states, God is constant, God is faithful and true--rather, it is because we have ALLOWED ourselves to lose sight of God. We have not allowed the Holy spirit room to do His wonderful work in us.
Isaiah 45:22
"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: For I am God, and there is none else."
But do not despair as God reminds us in Deuteronomy 4:29" But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. " Prayer is our connection to God. Daily intimate prayer is our only spiritual tool against the struggle of worldly distractions.
Making it a point to pray every morning has been such a blessing for me! I've found it incredible how early morning prayer keeps me focused on God for the day. My day then becomes HIS day, and not my own. Miraculous things happen when I surrender all to God and His eternal purpose. Suddenly life has perspective and meaning. I joyfully go about my day knowing all I do is for the Lord and His kingdom, however small the task. The Lord gives me incredible peace, a peace that passes all understanding, and in turn.... another secure stitch is added to my button.
