Had a great discussion in the van tonight coming back from what will be one of the most memorable nights of camp ever about the difference in guys and girls.
We went in the the generic discussion about how guys vs girls think. Guys are stereotypically like waffles and think in compartments. What happens at work doesn't affect home and vice versa. Women think more like spaghetti. Its all interweaved and intertwined.
I've never fallen into the waffle compartment. Everything is intertwined. But I've become really good at hiding the fact I think that way.
Phillip from my team described it best. We agreed that we both think like waffles but sometimes our syrup spill over into the other "compartments." Sometime there is an overflow of syrup. We are syrup (preferably warm) thinkers.
The past week I've let some really silly thoughts creep into the back of my mind and bring me down. Yesterday, the Lord spoke very plainly and clearly to me. Most (almost every) morning I ready the daily My Utmost for His Highest devotional by Oswald Chambers.
The devotional yesterday was about fretting. Now I've heard the word fretting before, but never in biblical sense. Chambers definition of fretting was "getting ourselves “out of joint” mentally or spiritually."
I'm really good at getting myself out of joint. I would consider myself a heavy thinker. I read into everything more than I should. A lot of times I can totally get out of joint with whats going on and it's totally mental. I see things differently in my head....perception is reality. But perception really isn't always reality. Perception very often can be overtaken by deception.
Oswald nailed my personality. He says "Fretting always arises from wanting to have our own way. Our fretting....is cause by planning without God."
The places in my life where I am most affected by fretting are the parts of my life that I think I have the most control over. They are the parts that I don't want God to have control of because I think I know whats best for me.
I don't know what's best for me. I know what the world thinks is best for me.
Oswald's devotional is based on Psalm 37. Psalm 37 is a place I turn to often in scripture. The verse that says "Seek after the Lord and He will provide the desires of your heart," has always been something I have clung to.
But a new verse stood out in my mind. Verse 3 says "Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Cultivate Faithfulness.
Cultivate means to grow. Cultivate means to improve by intention.
What if I gave up fretting for cultivating my faith in God? Improving my faith by intentionally seeking after Him daily.
My fretting would disappear. I would be awakened the realization that He has totally control and I am just listening for His voice.
If you read this, would you commit to praying that I don't fret over my future? That I would be so focused outwardly, I don't have time to fret inwardly. Would you pray that I am cultivating faithfulness in my relationship and work?
