The Survival Float

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

Sunlight glittered on the swimming pool in front of me. I overheard an instructor speaking to a student who had been in the water for quite a while. He said, “It looks like you’re getting tired. When you’re exhausted and in deep water, try the survival float.”

Certain situations in life require us to spend our mental, physical, or emotional energy in a way that we can’t sustain. David described a time when his enemies were threatening him and he felt the emotional weight of their anger. He needed to escape the distress he was experiencing.

As he processed his feelings, he found a way to rest in his troubled thoughts. He said, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you” (Ps. 55:22). He recognized that God supports us if we dare to release our problems to Him. We don’t have to take charge of every situation and try to craft the outcome—that’s exhausting! God is in control of every aspect of our life.

Instead of trying to do everything in our own effort, we can find rest in God. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking Him to handle our problems. Then we can pause, relax, and enjoy the knowledge that He is sustaining us.

God, today I give my problems to You. I know that You are in control of everything and I believe You are willing to help me. Please help me to find peace in You.
From the website:  "Our Daily Bread"

In The World - Not Of It

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

" . . . seek those things which are above . . . Set your affection on things above . . . Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth."  Colossians  3:1,2,5

     A small girl was watching her mother working among the flowers.  "Mother,"  she said,  "I know why flowers grow; they want to get out of the dirt!"  We Christians are in the world, but not of it (John 17).  With our feet on the ground, we are admonished to set our affection "on things above, not on things on the earth"; we are risen with Christ and are to "seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God"  (Colossians 3:1-3).

     What is the mysterious force which causes a sprouting seed to grow up instead of down?  I plant a bulb upside down in the ground, but it always comes out "right side up."  It is the sunlight above which attracts the plant to itself.  Plants always seek the sunlight.  Notice how your house plants turn and bend way over to reach the light from the window.  Why is a sunflower called a sunflower?  Because it turns with the sun in the morning to the east and follows it to the west.  Why does a dandelion open only on sunny days but remain closed on dark days?  It is the power of the sun.  Obstruct the sunlight and life fades out.  I threw an old rug to dry on the lawn and forgot to remove it, and all the grass turned a sickly yellow, from which it did not recover for weeks.  As a plant seeks the sun above, so we are to "seek those things which are above."

     The clouds of earth often obscure the sun, but by the wings of faith we can rise above the clouds and dwell in the eternal sunlight.  The ladder of faith, made of two uprights, the Word of God, and prayer, supporting the nine rungs of Galatians 5:22,23, is long enough to reach beyond the clouds of doubt, fear, and defeat.  Walk in the light of His Word and rise above the things of earth.

"Bread For Each Day"