Steps to maturity

The Excellent Wife, by Martha Peace
Chapter 7: Christ, The Wife's Heart

This was a rough week…after reading this chapter I decided to sit back and try to remember what thoughts occupied my mind this week.

I know that I was not as committed to my bible reading this week, in teaching and spending quality time with my son, in being patience with him and my husband, and overall being loving and most importantly my focus was not on God but on me.

It seems like whenever I fold in (look inside myself), I looked less to God and more to the world things that are suppose to give me comfort and provide an ‘escape’. This week my (False Saviors/refuge) p.63 was the television, I turned the TV on more than usual. I was frustrated, annoyed, easily irritated and did not really know why.

• “Pursuing a false savior only compound sin and makes matters worse. What may start out as a temporary relief measure may end up enslaving the person and could very well becomes idol/lust” p.64.

What my heart was on this week
This week my heart was on Mother’s day coming up. Although my Mother died 23 years ago, I started really missing her when I had my son. I did not really get to know her because I was 7 years old when she passed and here planning to go to a Mother’s day breakfast by myself and feeling really alone. On top of this, I took my son to the pediatrician yesterday and she asked the usual question “you just have this one?” That usually doesn’t bother me but I miscarried last month so all I was thinking was ‘it could have been two’ and how much it would have been nice to be pregnant right now. The worst part is that I did not share any of these with my husband and became secluded, reserved and closed off…

So these are the places my heart was this week, my moments of weakness as I let ‘the flesh’ take over. The truth is, I have never being happier, never being more grateful, God have been SO SO SO great to me. He had and continues to show so much grace and love. I am happy with who I am now and how I am ‘redefining’ myself in the biblical guideline not the worldly one. It is important to know and treat these ‘thoughts’ as a moment of weakness and not dwell on them otherwise they can quickly become idols. We need to quickly look to God and pray.

• “He wants your thoughts motives, and choices to be focused on glorifying him. He should be your greatest longing and desire and refuge/ your thoughts, motives, and choices should be set on glorifying Him, not your idolatrous heart’s desire” p.64

I shared my thoughts/heart this week because regardless of how ‘understandable’ it may be, this is what Peace called ‘idolatry’. My heart was on many things this week, but not on God, I remember moments when even my prayers were incomplete sentences and thoughts, and I just left it at that…like I said, it was a bad week.

Why is it so hard for us to focus on God especially when we feel lost in ourselves, marriage, job, live and everything? In her list of ‘false God’ p.60, Peace listed alcohol and drugs, my first reaction to that was ‘well that make sense because we know that to be an addiction’. Well, what about the other items on the list like good health, having a Christian marriage or a child …what is wrong with wanting good health? As Peace explains…by itself there is nothing wrong with it but what we do with that ‘want’ is the key. Does it occupy your heart, does it keep you away from God, and does it give you excuses to be angry, bitter, anxious, and unloving toward other? In a way, I think all these stuffs (good marriage, child, and job) could be addictions too, yes it is not drug or alcohol but it occupies our heart, we think about it constantly, it keeps us from functioning like Christ loving people. I don’t know about you, but this sounds like addition to me. I think the moment we start saying to ourselves “as soon as I have that job, (good marriage, that kid) then all will be fine and I will be happy again”, we should stop, repent, pray, and put our trust in the Lord.

Praying

• “Delight yourself in the lord and He will give you the desire of your heat” Psalm 37:4)”

The other part of this is how we pray. We have to be careful not to treat God like Santa Clause and give him our Christmas wish list, but at the same time we are thought to be specific in prayer. The key, as Peace discussed, is that when we focus on God, throughout the day and in our prayers, our heart desires will change and become more like the one Jesus wants us to have.

• “Ask God to give you new heart’s desires. Then proceed to seek God with the same passion and energy that you are currently expending on idolatrous desires” (1 john 2:15-17) p.69

Our purpose is to focus on God and our ultimate goal is for our lives to glorify Him. When we focus on that, God would give us our true heart’s desire and lead us on the path that will glorify him as our heart changes.

• “14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” 1 John 5:14,15.

Peace gave us some ideas on right desires p.69

1. That I may know God's Word and obey it!
2. That I may delight in Him!
3. That I may seek Him with all my heart!
4. That I may be pleasing to Him regardless of my circumstances!
5. That I may cultivate an attitude of joy and gratitude in what God is doing in my life no matter what my husband does or does not do!
6. That I may have joy in God deciding how my life and circumstances can glorify Him the most, that He can use me for His glory!

Peace also gave some ideas on ‘how to set our minds on things above’ p. 70

1. Think about and deliberately delight in the Lord- His works (creation, salvation, personal pruning in your life).
2. Build contentment in your life. Frequently thank Him for your circumstances. Think about today and the future in a positive way, look forward to what God is going to do in your life and how He is going to be glorified through you.
3. Pray and ask God to give you new motives for "it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). If you delight in Him, He will give you new desires and motives in your heart. Again, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart"(Psalm 37:4).This means He will replace your idolatrous desires with the desires He wants you to have.
4. Invest more of your spare time in Scripture, meditate on Scripture, memorize Scripture, and think about Scripture.
5. Make your goal to please the Lord, not personal happiness.
6. Be alert to sinful anger (you'll feel frustrated) and/or anxiety as an indicator that your motive is likely not righteous. As soon as you are aware that you are sinning, confess it to God. Take the time and effort to think a God-honoring thought in place of the idolatrous thought.

----------------------------------------------------------
Don't forget to email (adzele@gmail.com) me your Praises and Prayer Requests so we could rejoice and pray with you. For privacy, I will leave your name out of the post.
Thank you!