Our past is still with us in some ways. It defines us.
It is like a backpack full of trinkets and memories often weighing us down, yet we are reluctant to let them go for fear that we lose a vital piece of us in the process. And so we lug them with us into the present…because we can.

I recently read a story about a man who discovered that his childhood friend had been maliciously murdered. His friend had moved away when they were still young and their friendship had faded away like a summer sun in the evening. He hadn’t thought about his friend until one day he looked him up on the internet only to discover the tragic news of his passing.

I wonder sometimes about the things in my backpack. I bring to mind often some of my childhood friends that I have never seen since the day we drove away. Sometimes I replay memories like an old VCR tape, rewinding it and re-watching the action play out on the screen in my mind. I remember the dumb things I said or did because I was young and stupid. I recall the moments I thought would last for ever, but only found out how fleeting time can be.

When I was younger I would sit in the pews at church as if they had splinters and my rear end were riddled with those wooden shards. Time was laborious then, and an hour felt like twenty years. Now, much older, I sat in church yesterday, it was Easter Sunday, and that celebratory hour vanished like a blink of the eye. Isn’t it funny how time, growing older and maturity measures the minutes vastly different than when we were young and carefree?

I imagine that there is a grain of truth for us here.
Our days are surely numbered, and the older we get the more in tune we are with that realization.

Where minutes to a younger me felt like an eternity now quickly dissolves like a morning fog at the kiss of the burning, amber of a morning sun. Perhaps this is the lesson we all must learn. For doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible that a thousand years to God is like a day? If our collection of years and backpacks of the past amount to a mere speck of time compared to our Eternal God’s, why do I sometimes trust in my own interpretation on that time? Why do I struggle with embracing the Eternal perspective on things? Doesn’t He know better than my limited span of existence?

The bible also says “Who am I that you are mindful of me?” (Psalm 8:4)
Just think of it; the ageless, Eternal, Creator of the Universe is mindful of one who is the complete opposite of Him. Why? Because of my experience? Because of my sarcastic sense of humor? Because of all of my charm? NO. All of this comes from the One who created you and me. So why is He mindful of you and me? LOVE. Pure and simple. He loves us. He cares about us. He desires to walk with us in our day and be included in the journey.

I don’t know what’s in your backpack that contains your past. Perhaps some of it is cherished memories. Perhaps other items contained there is the of pain and misery of a broken childhood or family…and you still carry around those scars today. Perhaps it does define us in some ways. But then I also hope that there is a larger perspective, with far less pain than splinters in a church pew and growing up,…it is the eternal perspective. That there is some understanding of the Infinite God who would care for the finite – you and me. He longs to share in the stories of the past…the present, and journey into the future with you.

Just something more to ponder today.

I am not sure what comes next.
The good dream can sometimes turn bad.
Perhaps I’m paranoid like that.
The sound of the other shoe falling…
not yet dropping.

Why the rain and not the Sun shine?
why sorrow instead of joy?
A little light shines brighter than the shadows
exposes the lies, tears down the facade.
still the shoe is falling…

The color bleeds into the nightmare
casting shapes of deep blues in shadowed corners
the burden weighs heavy on shoulders unfit
laces, untied float in the air
my feet have hit the floor
and though I do not know what comes next
I take a second step.

“For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their anguish…Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress”
-Psalm 107:25,26,28

Have you ever been completely floored by the problems in your life?
There is a moment within this turbulence where it is as if a mighty wave has crashed over your head and there isn’t any air left to breathe. In this solitary moment, panic might set in and all hope could drain from your heart. It is in this instant of hopelessness that the threat of being swept away becomes a clear and present danger.

Perhaps you are dealing with an actual flood today. There are many in the Midwest that are struggling against real floodwaters, and we are praying in earnest for you! Still there are others, perhaps even some who are reading these words right now, who feel pressed in on all sides and feel the torrent of life flooding in, threatening to wash everything away.

Hold on! You are not alone and you are not yet washed away!
For those who are in hopeless situations – there is hope.
For those who are mourning – there is comfort and with it – joy.
For those who are suffering – there is healing and restoration.
God has not abandoned you, despite how it may feel at this very moment.
Even David felt as if he had been abandoned by God (read Psalm 22), yet David remembered that ultimately, even if everything were swept away – God would be there, holding dominion over everything.

Can we boast the same confidence in God in the middle of our flooded life?
Do we believe that the Almighty will remain with us and restore us as we pick up the pieces of our shattered lives? Psalm 107:25-30 doesn’t say that the people were spared the flood, but it does say that the Lord “heard their cries and brought them out of their distress.”

Have you cried out to the Lord?
It might not be instantaneous, but be assured that He hears you and will bring you out of this clear and present danger. He is, after all, the Good Shepherd and the Great Comforter. He will not leave you, nor will He forsake you in your time of trouble.

Questions to ponder:
What are your flood waters right now?
Who can you ask to help you and give you hope? (we were never meant to go at life alone – we need friends to encourage us)…who is can be your support and source of encouragement today?
How can we pray for you? (Please post your comments and prayer requests below and we will pray for your!)

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth (including the tempest and flood) will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

Prayer:
Lord I ask that you rescue those who are hurting today. You know the floods that encompass us. We place our faith in you and ask that you deliver us and restore the broken today. Be with those who need comfort today. Guide those who are lost. Restore unto us the joy of Your Salvation. It is in Your name we pray these things. -Amen.

There is a recent story told about a pet hamster that escaped his cage. The little girl who owned the pet hamster frantically searched the house in the hopes of returning him safely to his cage. After searching and searching, the little girl finally recovered her pet from under the refrigerator where it was happily hiding. The little girl returned her hamster to its cage, but began to notice something rather troubling about her pet…it wouldn’t move.
The hamster would not eat or drink either. The little ball of fur would just sit by the bars of the cage hour after hour.

Finally after three days of this issue and fearing for the hamster’s health, the little girl, accompanied by her parents took the pet to the local vet. The Veterinarian observed the hamster in the cage, still un-moving and propped against the bars of the cage. She took the hamster out of the cage and curiously it walked normally and interacted…but when placed back in the cage it would once again prop itself against the cage and remain.

Finally the Veterinarian did some further examinations of the hamster. Upon closer study she noticed that one of the pet’s cheek pouches was more pronounced than the other. With a little prodding and prying, the veterinarian finally came to a conclusion and a quick and painless remedy for the hamster’s condition. The pet wasn’t sick at all. It had just stored a refrigerator magnet in its cheek pouch and had been stuck to the metal bars of the cage for three days.

As humorous as this story is, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some sort of parable type moral to be shared here.
Are we like this pet hamster sometimes?
Are we stuck to the bars of our cages, without any hope of prying ourselves free?
Is our ‘stuck-ness’ self-inflicted?
Have we consumed things harmful to our body, souls & minds? And try as we might, we can’t let go and we are held captive to the walls of our cages…

What sort of magnet have you consumed?
-Is it personal doubts in the abilities that God has given you?
-Is it the lies the world around you has told you about who you are…and you’ve consumed those lies? (Believing them whole-heartedly until it becomes the truth?)
-Is it fear of failure or rejection? So instead of trying anything, fear has held you captive for far too long?
-Is it self-confidence and even believing that God would call someone like you? Because you don’t think you have any talent, or skill, or really anything God would need?

These ‘magnets’ hold us back.
Keep us bound to our own self-inflicted imprisonment.
The Father Of Lies wants us to remain stuck there.
Why?
Because we cannot impact the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth if we’re held captive in our cages. We offer little threat to this world in terms of being witnesses for Jesus…while magnetized to our cage.

Break Free!
How do we break free from the cage?
How do we own our inadequacies and fears?
We confront them for what they are – lies.
We acknowledge that we don’t have the strength…but we know someone who does. God has promised us that He would never leave us or forsake us. He has also promised to give us what we need (2 Thessalonians 1:2-12) all we have to do is call out to Him and He will be there. This doesn’t mean that things will always get suddenly easier, but it does mean that we will begin to tap into a power much greater than our own. We will begin to see the things we have consumed in our hearts and minds that hold us captive and stuck to our cages.

What is the ‘magnet’ that you have consumed that you need to let go of?
Declare it today.
Write it down.
Pray it out loud to the Lord.
We need to really verbalize it out loud so that we can name it and then let it go. When we do this, we will find the freedom that God has for us, and we then will see the plans that He has for you and me.

Oh and, leave the magnets on the fridge.

😉

-Something more to ponder today. –

Prayer:
Dear Lord, help me to let go of my magnet.
I confess that I cannot do this on my own.
I need your help.
I confess that I am inadequate in_________________________(you name it).
My strength isn’t enough, and I need your help.
Remind me of Your truths.
Remind me of how You see me instead of what the world has told me that I am. I desire to be free from this.
Guide me and help me to hear your voice today.
In Your name I pray these things.
-Amen.

I recently read a quote that said, “be an encourager, the world already has enough critics.”

Confession Time:
I have often been overly critical and negative.
Perhaps you haven’t seen me like this, but I have caught myself silently (and sometimes not) judging situations and others. I have felt the shame of these moments. Who enjoys being judged by others? – No one. And yet, I have arrogantly taken it upon myself from time to time and become the judge with black gown and all.

Have you been guilty of this too?
Have there been moments that you have looked down and realized you have the gavel in hand and are about to pronounce judgement on others?

Friends, it is much easier to judge other people.
We can sit back and observe situations and decisions that people make and never encourage. It takes a lot more effort to step into the ring with someone and offer sound encouragement without strings attached or to lord some semblance of power over them…just to be present with a word or two of love and compassion.

The world needs more encouragers and less critics.
It needs more people willing to step into situations and to be friend, not enemy. There are people all around us every day who feel all alone in their circumstances and the worst thing we can do isn’t to judge them or even say unkind things to them, no, the worst thing is to stand idly by wrapped in our own apathetic blanket of self-righteousness…and do nothing.

Friends, fellow ponderers,
if we are to indeed be salt and light in this world as God has desired us to be, then we need to stop casting stones like pharisees and start wrapping our arms around people who haven’t experienced the love of God in a long, long time – if ever. A word of encouragement has a way of warming the heart and making the soul push forward despite the hardships of the past. We can help light the way for others if we just began to offer encouragement and put down the gavel.

Nelson Mandela once said, “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”

Homework Assignment For The Day:
When you catch yourself passing judgement on a situation or person, offer ONE sentence of encouragement instead. Reach out to that person you just judged, or were about to judge and encouragement them in some small way. Don’t do it half-hearted, like a sibling in the backseat of the car being forced to apologize to the other sibling…instead practice encouragement and see how your perspective changes and those around you.

“God created you to do AMAZING things!” Ephesians 2:10

Something more to ponder today!