A Full Plate
I sat down to journal last Saturday, and I told God how hard it had been lately to follow Him. With all the distractions of the world, the craziness of life, caring for others' concerns, and weights, trying to take their weight as my own, which becomes extremely burdensome. I was letting others cast their cares my way, and I wasn't casting them on to Jesus. So as I sat with my husband for breakfast that same morning, I shared with him some of my journal writings of the day, my loves, it was actually 5 1/2 pages long, seriously, that was a major breakthrough! Okay, may I just say how thankful I am for a husband who loves God more than me, let me tell you that is even more major! Okay, moving on, he says to me, Marie as you are telling me this, I see before you two plates, one is the situations of life, your job, your bills, money, kids, marriage, life decisions, conflicts with others, and everyday hustle and bustle. That plate is full, sometimes overflowing, cause we just keep piling stuff on! And on the other plate is simply the word GOD, nothing else is on it just GOD. (By now, tears are streaming down my face at the clarity of this simple illustration.) Keven goes on to say how the first thing we do when we get up in the morning is, feed off the plate of life. A bite of money problems, a bite of the job, and then a taste of life circumstances, a fork full of bills, a spoon of marriage, and at times a double shot of kids problems, along with a sip of school issues, (single parenting could have it double,) and for dessert major life decisions. After eating all of that comes heartburn, indigestion, bloating, weight gain, and then comes the regret of why did I eat so much!! Then our sleep is miserable, tossing and turning with unrest.
Then there is the plate of God, and your first taste of His presence is peace, and then the aroma of love fills the rooms of your senses. You get to nibble on grace, and get a fork full of mercy and goodness, then as you sit down (yes you actually get to sit at the table and enjoy the meal) you get to drink from the cup of kindness and self-control, wow, do they taste great together. And for dessert, you have gratitude, with some extra humbleness on the side. When you're done eating from that plate, you have complete contentment. That is a feeling that we can live with every day that we wake up, and lie down, and actually receive good rest.
So now that you have had all those plates in front of you, and have reminisced with family, via zoom or within your small gatherings, I pray that as you read this, that you reconcile with yourself and consider which plate you will eat from in the days to come. How will your life be seasoned, with regret or contentment?
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
What a great reminder of those plates huh?
In the Heart of The Master,
Marie