Cranky days. Stressed out days. Confused or anxious days. Days that we end up thinking, saying, or doing wrong things. Please tell me that some of you, in fact, also have days when you finally look up at the heavens and say, “Lord, I’m a mess. Please help me.”
Yes, I imagine most of us can be a mess mood-wise every now and then. Hormones might play havoc with our moods at times, but other times we may not be handling stress very well or we might have fallen prey to the tactics of our spiritual adversary, the devil. He loves to keep us tied up in fear, anxiety, or confusion. He loves to make a mess of us.
Some days we’re a mess physically. It might be due to lack of sleep or a health problem that we battle at times. For me it might be lingering symptoms of my post-concussion syndrome or some sore joints associated with the inflammatory arthritis that began paying me visits when I was just in my thirties. And every now and then I get sick with other illnesses or bugs. I’ve even been known to injure myself. You too? Yes, sometimes we’re a mess.
Occasionally, the mess-monster invades our work lives. For me, that’s my writing efforts. At times I can’t seem to move forward or get past the hurdle of the blank page. Getting started on a new piece—whether an article, a chapter, or a blog post—is one of the hardest parts of writing for me. That’s when I allow distractions to derail my progress.
Other times, my brain feels foggy or clogged. The words don’t flow and I struggle for each sentence. I grow more frustrated by the minute because I’m falling further behind in paring down the stack of projects I’m trying to complete. So yes, sometimes I’m a writing mess. And I bet you feel like a mess in your work life at times too. Am I right?
And then there’s our spiritual lives. We can also be a mess in that area. As I mentioned before, the enemy tries to color our moods and emotions, but he also does his best to keep us falling into the traps we’re most vulnerable to. For me that can be pride, a critical spirit, or the tendency to try to perform to stay in God’s good graces even though Jesus has already done that for me. For you those traps may be different, but we all fall into them, don’t we? We can all be a bit of a mess spiritually at times, can’t we?
The good news is that God doesn’t turn us away when we’re having messy days. He wants us to cry out to him and admit when we’re a mess. In fact, he probably wonders why we don’t do it earlier.
Next time the mess-monster comes calling, how about we apply the brakes earlier than usual? Why not cry out for help earlier? Our God is ready and waiting to come to our aid. We’ll all—our families included—be the better for it.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 NIV
*What other tips could you recommend for dealing with the mess-monster?
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Dross Before Gold: Photography, Arts, and Other Skills
Compliments sure feel good, don’t they? I never dreamed they were in my future as I snapped photos right and left during our vacation to the Tetons and Yellowstone, several years ago, but that’s exactly what happened after I started sharing my photos.
Much to my delight, several people commented about what great pictures I took while on our trip. What fun to hear people say things like “Beautiful shot” or “What wonderful photos” after they’d looked at my albums on Facebook or the ones I posted here on the blog.
What they didn’t realize is that I took lots of bad shots in order to achieve the glory shots. They didn’t see the dross that preceded the gold.
Believe it or not, I downloaded over 750 photos to my computer after we returned home. Plus, I’d already deleted the without-a-doubt duds from my camera during the trip. After getting a chance to examine my haul more closely at home, I sent several more shots to my computer’s recycle bin. Even with that, I shared only a portion publicly. Bye- bye, dross. Hello, gold.
As I learn more about whatever camera I’m using and put in more practice time, I won’t have quite as much dross to sift through during future photo-athons. But you know what? I don’t mind the dross so much if I end up with some gold to enjoy.
Photography’s not much different from writing—or any other skill or art for that matter—in the dross and gold department. I write lots of so-so sentences before I finally get some good stuff. I delete and revise certain words or phrases as I type and get rid of others after closer examination. Then I select just the right ones to share with the world. Bye-bye, dross. Hello, gold.
Looks like the old saying “practice makes perfect” proves true once again. It’s up to us to decide if we’re willing to put in the practice to perfect the skill, to deal in some dross in order to gain the gold.
Is it worth it? My spirit says “yes!” Does yours say the same? Okay then—what are we waiting for? Let’s go for the gold!
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.“ Colossians 3:23 GNT
In what skills are you working to achieve gold?
*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out in early May. One lucky subscriber (new or current) will receive a $15 gift card to Barnes & Noble and a signed copy of my book to use personally, give as a gift, or donate to a library. *Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.
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*Flickr photo by photosteve101, Creative Commons License