by Sara Collins | Oct 3, 2018 | Finding Hope in the Waiting
Yesterday we saw that we should not be a complaining people. (You can read that here) But God also tells us to bring our petitions before Him. So what’s the difference? How do we come before Him without complaining? Maybe we can draw more from the Numbers 11 passage.
Moses listened to them complain. All the people throughout all the clans stood at the door of their tent and wept. They wept for everything they did not have. They lamented to Moses and to God. God heard them and His anger burned among them and destroyed some of the outer parts of the camp. This caused them to cry out even more! Have you ever listened to people who you are responsible for complain? It’s exhausting! Now imagine you are Moses and you are hearing six hundred thousand people complain! They want meat and they want you to provide it! How is he going to provide that?!?
Moses brings his petition before the Lord
“Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.” Numbers 11:11-15
At first glance, it seems like he is complaining to God about the people he is supposed to lead. But God listened to him (rather than destroy him) and gave him men to help him govern the people. So what’s the difference? Why did God listen to Moses to help him rather than let His anger burn like it did with the people?
Is it that Moses complaint was warranted while the Israelite’s was not? Did they come in a different manner — respectful vs. disrespectful? It could be these, but I think a clue comes from verse 4: the rabble who were among them had greedy desires… Some select people were greedy and they spread their malcontent to the rest of the people. They had God’s provision, but that wasn’t enough for them — they selfishly wanted more. On the other hand, Moses was doing all he could to care for the people. It was overwhelming and burdensome — too much for one person alone. He cried out to the Lord out of sincere frustration.
So we must watch our heart and make sure we come to God rightly.
In the next couple days we will look at the Psalmists for further examples of how to come to God rightly. For further study read James 4:1-10 …you ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions…
by Sara Collins | Oct 2, 2018 | Finding Hope in the Waiting
Way back when we only had three children who were all very young, Chris and I had the desire to stop renting and buy a house. But our income was meager meaning that what we could afford was also meager. We ended up in a double-wide mobile home situated on an acre of land in the country. Our plan was to be there only a couple years, then we would be able to buy something bigger and nicer. We were proud of our home, and very happy … at first.
Soon enough, however, we were there for five years and no closer to being able to move out than when we started. My household also grew. We now had six children whom we also homeschooled. Our tiny cardboard house with pitiful closets and no garage was brimming with 8 people and all the stuff we needed to live and do school. I trusted in the Lord and lived in His strength — most days.
But then I had days when it was all too much for me. It wasn’t fair, other people could just move at a whim while I was stuck here. I was discontent and had regular pity parties that God had to pull me from. During those times I would complain, not aloud to other people (except to my poor husband), but I would complain to God. I would express my frustration that my youngest two had to sleep on cots on the floor because I didn’t have enough room for two more beds. I would go into my monologue about how difficult life was as I had to squeeze all our homeschooling supplies into every nook and cranny and there was barely room for everyone to do their schoolwork! Didn’t God care?
I still read my bible consistently as I sought God’s peace. He speaks to us through His word and often His correction would come crashing down on me as I sought His guidance. At times, these reprimands of my poor attitude came as I read about the Children of Israel. On this particular instance, they were in the second year of their desert wanderings.
Now the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes…Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt…the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, the garlic. But now…there is nothing but this manna to look at! Numbers 11:1-9
It’s amazing to me how fickle people can be. God was miraculously providing for the Israelites’ needs. Everyday when they went outside to gather the manna, they could physically see God’s presence and love and care. But they complained about their misfortunes! They complained that they had to eat the bread of heaven instead of meat, cucumbers, garlic and leeks!
Oh, but God was showing me that I was doing the same thing! Complaining of all the things that I didn’t have but thought I deserved, rather than focusing how He was providing for us. Because even in all the chaos, God was taking care of us. He had given us a house to live in. It kept us dry in stormy weather, warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. He had also given us a low mortgage relative to the small house. While housing costs continued to raise for those in town, our living expenses stayed low. God had blessed us with that. Who was I to complain?
Not to mention the free gift of salvation that God blessed me with. Even while I was dead in my sins and hated Him, Christ died for me giving me salvation rather than what my sins deserved. (Eph 2:1; Rom 5:8; 6:23) In addition to that, God has promised He is not done with me yet. Philippians 1:6 exclaims, “And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” God was teaching me through this trial, removing the dross and sanctifying me causing my heart to be more like Christ (James1:2-4).
Just as the Children of Israel did not remain in the desert forever, but God brought them through it into the Promised Land, I knew He would provide a way for us as well. Reminders of His faithfulness are abundant throughout scripture, and I eagerly searched them out.
If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.
If I should say, “My foot has slipped,” Your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up.
When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, your consolations delight my soul.
Psalm 94:17-19
When life has become rocky and all you really want to do is complain, it is imperative to focus on God’s blessings instead (read this post). Remember what has He done for you and what is He doing for you. Seek out scripture and He will give you His peace. I have several Psalms that are my go-to scriptures when I am feeling this way including 34, 37, 55-57, 61-63, 66, 86, also Matthew 6:25-34 and Philippians 4:4-8 among others. What scriptures do you turn to when all you want to do is complain about life’s circumstances?
by Sara Collins | Oct 1, 2018 | Finding Hope in the Waiting
Do you feel as though you are in a “wilderness” of waiting right now? Are you struggling through a financial crisis, health issue, or maybe the death of a loved one? Maybe you are struggling through something else entirely and are wondering if it will ever end and if God even cares. It is in this that I want to give you hope. God is in the waiting times. I have spent a good deal of my life there. I struggled, I fought and, finally, I rested in the waiting.
Be still and know that I am God
Struggling to be still characterizes my whole life. Action is part of me. I always want to move. I usually feel bad for the people who sit behind or beside me in an audience because every three min or so I’m changing positions–I can’t sit still. Soon after I first met the man who would become my husband, he had me sit on the floor and just listen to this song that was 18 min long. Just listen and do nothing else. This was torture.
I am a doer–when there are problems I take action. I am constantly running thru the possible resolutions to any given problem that I am having. I find solutions and I act on them. Sitting idly by and waiting for an answer is not in my nature. And being patient in the waiting? HA! Oh no! That is not who I am. I am a natural leader; a project manger if you will. Because of that, submitting to God and to my husband, who is patient beyond all reason, has been a challenge to learn. But learn it I did, and I still am! It took financial difficulties, housing inadequacies, several children, and many other unpleasant circumstances for me to finally realize the ability to rest myself in God’s will and His perfect timing. God has shown me that He wants me to “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). I am to wait for Him and to trust in Him to provide. During the following days of this series I want to share with you what I learned through it all. It is my earnest hope and prayer that you will be blessed by it.
Here is a list of all the posts in this series:
by Sara Collins | Sep 11, 2018 | Homeschool
![let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 [a]fixing our eyes on Jesus, the [b]author and perfecter of faith](https://149350397.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/let-us-run-with-endurance-the-race-that-is-set-before-us-2-afixing-our-eyes-on-Jesus-the-bauthor-and-perfecter-of-faith-200x300.png)
What is the race set before me? Well, at this season of my life, my chief “race” or calling is that of homeschooling the 5 children I have left at home. I have other, secondary races: blogger, homemaker/wife, ebay reseller, women’s ministry leader, youth leader, Sparks (Awana) leader; however, God has called me, first and foremost, to be the primary educator of my children. And I must run the school year with endurance!
The new school year has begun and, with it, the anticipation and excitement of the new year as well as the joy of a fresh start on things we may have failed at last year. Old books have been put away or sold and new books are at the kids desks along with fresh notebooks, pencils, crayons among other school supplies. The initial library trip has already been made where we picked out books to go with the era of history we are studying. Homeschool co-op classes have been signed up for and our daily/weekly school schedule has been made. We are ready!
Oh, did you hear me say, “fresh start on things we failed at last year”? Ummm, yeah, failure is a big part of our homeschool. {oh the horror!!!} Not failure in grades, I make sure my kids have an understanding of a subject before they move on; no, our failure comes by way of stick-to-it’edness. The ability to stick with, or persist, in the plans I have made for our homeschool. The first several days or even weeks the kids are careful to get out of bed at the prescribed time in the morning and get themselves ready for school. They eat, read their bibles, and are in their places by 8:30 ready to learn. We bounce through our subjects in a timely manner and come to the end of the day having done everything we were supposed to do. But history tells me that that won’t last long. Reality catches up with my ideal schedule and throws it for a loop – and I get caught in the whirlwind. Fringe courses get dropped. Schedules get loosened – maybe a little too much. And my kids follow suit. It happens. Every. Year.
My oldest son (who is in college now) came home from his job and saw the new school schedule we had made. His only response was to laugh and shake his head, I had high hopes and he knows all to well my shortcomings. I told him this year would be different; he’s not holding his breath.
Let us run this race with endurance!
I am tired of ending the school year in survival mode. Tired of scrambling to make sure the core classes get finished and leaving the others by the wayside. This year I want to persevere through the school year and finish everything we set out to do! But how???
Limit outside obligations
The biggest threat to our homeschool every year has been interruptions from the outside. Errands, carpooling, appointments, not to mention the inevitable emergency of the day (or week if I’m lucky). In past years I’ve had to take a kid to therapy at 9am several times a week or drive my son, who was sharing my car, to the local community college. We’ve had dentist appointments, orthodontist appointments, ballet classes, you name it. Then there is the necessary grocery shopping trip! And while these things weren’t everyday, they were scattered in our schedule just often enough to make consistency impossible. Knowing this is a problem is half the battle and I have determined not to let these things interfere with my schedule this year — to the best of my ability anyway (remember those emergencies?!?). I made sure my son would be able to buy a car this summer to relieve me from carpooling duties, and we joined a ballet company that is down the street from us and has evening classes (the daytime “homeschool” classes just don’t work for us). Because mornings are the time we do the majority of our school, I do my best to schedule all appointments and do my grocery shopping in the afternoon.
Our area has a decently large homeschool population, thus there are innumerable good opportunities for us each day. Library homeschool programs, weekly PE programs, and classes at the local art museum just to name a few. I could be part of several different homeschool groups and go on all kinds of field trips. I was just talking to a friend last week and saying that even though I really wanted to do the weekly PE program, I was having a difficult time making it work with our schedule. In the end I had to decide against the commitment to be somewhere every Tuesday morning. Another friend talks up the local library program, but I have yet to go because I know that it would be just another thing. I have had to learn to take the good, better, best approach to decision-making and have come to the conclusion that minimal obligations are best for us right now. We have co-op classes we attend twice a month, throw that in with ballet, cross country, and church and we have a full schedule.
I do want to add that my strict limitations are not what is best for every family. I currently have 3 high-schoolers, one middle-schooler, and one elementary student. It takes everything I have to keep all those different needs afloat. When I start dividing our attentions elsewhere, I sabotage our success. My advice is this: know yourself, know your family, and know the time constraints of your chosen curriculum. Then do what is best.
Realistic Schedule
First, I normally made the schedule mostly by myself. There is a lot to consider: What subjects were we going to do when and how would we divide the two computers amongst the 5 students who needed them at various times throughout the day. I have to coordinate independent work with group work and the best way to stretch my availability. Scheduling all the in’s and out’s wrack my brain for all it’s worth.
This rime I brought in my my 12th, 10th, and 9th graders to help me schedule the day/week. We sat down with the list of subjects we had to accomplish each week and a white board with time grids drawn on it. With their help I was able to put together a good schedule that considered everyone’s computer, individual and group needs. This is something that, in the past, would have taken all my brain power and still would have come up short.
I am also doing things differently regarding my personal daily to-do’s. Remeber that multi-faceted list of “hats” up there, my secondary races? In the past I have scheduled my kids days and hoped to be able to accomplish those things in the midst of it all. I have fantasized sitting beside them with my computer open and all of us working independently side by side. HA! Rarely did it ever work out that way. When I tried to focus on myself and my projects, I couldn’t focus on them. And when I tried to focus on them, I couldn’t focus on my other projects. And since I wasn’t focusing on any one thing at a time, I didn’t excel at any of it. So this year I’ve divided the two. My focus will be purely on school in the morning. They will get my full attention. Then I have designated 2 hours in the afternoon just for blogging and after that ebay, church, and other homemaking obligations.
I bought a good calendar for myself to keep my day organized in. I get frustrated with calendars that are geared toward a specific thing (i.e. homeschool or blogging) because, while they excel at that, they leave no room for my other priorities. I found this calendar by Ruth Soukup of Living Well Spending Less and it is a good fit for me. I love it because it uses the time block system and it has space before each month for me to brainstorm the projects I want to tackle that month.
Putting all these standards in place doesn’t necessarily ensure success, but it does make it easier. My constant prayer is that, this year, I will succeed in finishing strong!
How do you feel about your homeschool? Do you have any measures in place to help you persevere through the inevitable rough patches? I’d love to hear about them.
by Sara Collins | May 31, 2018 | Faith
The psalmists had highs and lows; joys and sorrows just like us. In Psalm 77, Asaph relates a particularly low time in his life where he doesn’t feel the presence of the Lord. He then determines to do something about it.
In verses 1-9 Asaph lifts up his complaint: …In the day of my trouble I sought for the Lord…my soul refused to be comforted. When I remember God, then I am disturbed. When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint…I am so troubled I cannot speak…Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has God forgotten to be gracious or has He in his anger withdrawn?
Many of us have had at least one time in our life where feelings of despair and depression overwhelmed us. We can relate to Asaph’s complaint of discouragement and the inability to hear from God. Days drag on like weeks, as the sadness builds up inside. We can try to bury the feelings deep, but the pain keeps erupting. The darkness is never-ending with no light in sight. We pray, crying out to the Lord, but it is all in vain; it seems there is only silence from Him. Thoughts of God only cause a bitterness in spirit; it seems as though God has forgotten and His grace will never fall upon us again.
A choice
In verse 10 Asaph comes to the realization that his grief has distorted his view of the unchangeable God in his mind. He made a determination to focus on God’s goodness and past acts of deliverance: I shall remember the deeds of the Lord. Surely I will remember your wonders of old. I will meditate on all your work and muse on your deeds. (v 11-12)
Asaph chose a specific time in the life of the Nation of Israel, particularly the crossing of the Red Sea, on which to dwell. A powerful event where God displayed His might and, by His strength, redeemed Israel from captivity.
Following his example, we too can make a choice to focus on His goodness. We can choose to remember the blessings of God; his wondrous deeds and acts of benevolence. I suggest 3 different things that you can meditate on to help bring clarity to your mind:
- Personal blessings. How has God shown His care for you in the past? What specific blessings can you point to showing that He has carried you through other hard times and He will get you through this one?
- The many examples in the scriptures of how God cared for His people. You could choose to study the life of David and how God kept him as he ran from King Saul, or Esther as she overcame fear to do what God called her to do. God’s word is rich with illustrations of his care.
- Read biographies of past saints and see how God worked in their lives. People like Franny Crosby, Elizabeth Elliot, George Meuller, and Gladys Alwaryd just to name a few; regular people like you and me who God used in extraordinary ways. Their stories will encourage your heart and remind you that God works in the darkest of circumstances.
The final verse in the psalm states simply, “You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” Asaph’s situation hadn’t been fixed, the hard times weren’t over, but he now had confidence in the Lord and His guidance. As we choose to focus on God’s goodness we will gradually come out of our slump. God’s grace will shine.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3
![let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 [a]fixing our eyes on Jesus, the [b]author and perfecter of faith](https://149350397.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/let-us-run-with-endurance-the-race-that-is-set-before-us-2-afixing-our-eyes-on-Jesus-the-bauthor-and-perfecter-of-faith.png)
