After Christmas it has been one thing after another, mostly illness – each one minor but it was back to back and draining which is the main reason why Hamish and I have been quiet. I’m sorry about that but as I don’t want to post just for the sake of posting, I only want to post when something really is on my heart. This is why the tumbleweed has been rolling through here of late. I either couldn’t think straight, due to not feeling well or didn’t have photos or videos to make the illustration and I know how much everyone loves videos and photos!
Sometimes in life it may seem like we are running in circles, never seemingly making much progress and not feeling like we are getting anywhere.
Recently we took Hamish out for a walk and while we were trying to get our gear together at the beginning of our walk, Hamish was running in circles presumably draining some of his energy. Watching him do this it struck me that I had been feeling like that – running in circles and never seemingly breaking out of it, to feel like I’m moving forward – making progress.
If you can relate to that, maybe like me we can go through a kind of checklist and see if there is something deeper that is going on or what we can learn from it. I’m not really doing that here but I thought of a couple of different things that may make us feel like we are running around in circles.
In Ecclesiastes we are reminded that there is a time for everything in our lives, bad as well as good. So illness will probably happen and bring us down, even for a short time. So it’s a case of getting through it, but while we are doing that, maybe we can see it as an opportunity to show others in our lives – non Christians how we handle the tough times – do they see God at work in our lives when we are in pain – are we gentle and loving? Are we thinking about how to witness to the doctor or nurse, in how we are responding to things - that we are trusting God? Or are we selfish, only thinking about ourselves? We may not be thankful that we are ill but we can be thankful that if we are trusting God through it, good will come from it. We might never know what it is – it could be our witness to someone we might never see again but it might be one of the stepping stones for them to come to know Jesus. Or maybe from the illness, we can learn to be more patient or understanding to others.
It might not be illness with you (or just something to get through.) But whatever it is, if you have a close walk with God, don’t be discouraged as you might think you are walking in circles when in fact you are an important part of an intricate pattern that only God sees.
Recently we took Hamish out for a walk and while we were trying to get our gear together at the beginning of our walk, Hamish was running in circles presumably draining some of his energy. Watching him do this it struck me that I had been feeling like that – running in circles and never seemingly breaking out of it, to feel like I’m moving forward – making progress.
If you can relate to that, maybe like me we can go through a kind of checklist and see if there is something deeper that is going on or what we can learn from it. I’m not really doing that here but I thought of a couple of different things that may make us feel like we are running around in circles.
In Ecclesiastes we are reminded that there is a time for everything in our lives, bad as well as good. So illness will probably happen and bring us down, even for a short time. So it’s a case of getting through it, but while we are doing that, maybe we can see it as an opportunity to show others in our lives – non Christians how we handle the tough times – do they see God at work in our lives when we are in pain – are we gentle and loving? Are we thinking about how to witness to the doctor or nurse, in how we are responding to things - that we are trusting God? Or are we selfish, only thinking about ourselves? We may not be thankful that we are ill but we can be thankful that if we are trusting God through it, good will come from it. We might never know what it is – it could be our witness to someone we might never see again but it might be one of the stepping stones for them to come to know Jesus. Or maybe from the illness, we can learn to be more patient or understanding to others.
It might not be illness with you (or just something to get through.) But whatever it is, if you have a close walk with God, don’t be discouraged as you might think you are walking in circles when in fact you are an important part of an intricate pattern that only God sees.
picture 1
Look at the first picture, all you can see is a small black even boring circle but when you draw back you can see it’s not really a circle at all but an important part of the London Underground, where a lot of people pass through. Do you need to know that your life isn’t a black circle – going nowhere?
We mostly don’t see God’s big picture but it’s vital to know that if we are walking closely with God we are a vital part of His plan, if we let Him use us.
Or maybe you are in a period of life that you actually are walking in circles going nowhere, either in everyday life or your spiritual life. If you are, then take an example from Hamish, he eventually stopped and turned and looked and went to me.
Do you need to stop and turn and really look and come to God? Or maybe you are a Christian but have lost focus for a while and been running around God, He might even be at the centre of the circle but if you don’t allow Him in and slow down with what you are doing, you will never get back to the walking (moving) forward with God, going where God leads and wants rather than running around doing your own thing trying to please God.
I don't know what is going on in your life, only God knows and if it's self inflicted or not. But whatever the reason or wherever you are, God can lead you through it and out if you let Him.
We mostly don’t see God’s big picture but it’s vital to know that if we are walking closely with God we are a vital part of His plan, if we let Him use us.
Or maybe you are in a period of life that you actually are walking in circles going nowhere, either in everyday life or your spiritual life. If you are, then take an example from Hamish, he eventually stopped and turned and looked and went to me.
Do you need to stop and turn and really look and come to God? Or maybe you are a Christian but have lost focus for a while and been running around God, He might even be at the centre of the circle but if you don’t allow Him in and slow down with what you are doing, you will never get back to the walking (moving) forward with God, going where God leads and wants rather than running around doing your own thing trying to please God.
I don't know what is going on in your life, only God knows and if it's self inflicted or not. But whatever the reason or wherever you are, God can lead you through it and out if you let Him.
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