Just a thought by coppi

He gives us strength to turn our messes into momentum and our battles into victories.(Robert Morgan).

His strength, His guidance, and His love is a rock I heavily lean on.  In all my “messes” I have created, if I will totally surrender to him, He is faithful to walk me through from the valley to the mountain top.   In the tabernacle study, on the day of atonement, the altar was the place for burning animal sacrifices. It showed the Israelites that the first step for sinful man to approach a holy God was to be cleansed by the blood of an innocent creature. For a sin offering, a person had to bring an animal — a male one without blemish or defect from the flock or herd.  Do you think for one moment, an animal sacrifice went to the altar without kicking. I don’t think so.  As, Jesus told, the apostle Paul (then known as Saul) on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians, “Paul, Paul, it is hard for you to kick against the pricks”, which is a Greek proverb, but it was also familiar to the Jews and anyone who made a living in agriculture. An ox goad was a stick with a pointed piece of iron on its tip used to prod the oxen when plowing. The farmer would prick the animal to steer it in the right direction. Sometimes the animal would rebel by kicking out at the prick, and this would result in the prick being driven even further into its flesh. In essence, the more an ox rebelled, the more it suffered.  The same analogy can be for us.  When we kick against God’s guidance and do our own thing, we incur a mess.  Only when we totally surrender, can God intervene and lead us to the mountain top.  I have asked myself many times, why do I kick against God’s will – I presume, I think I know what is best for me, and if I insist on following my will, hoping God will eventually agree with me, I usually find myself in a “boiling pot” cooking with stress.  It’s only when I truly surrender and stop kicking do I find peace, love, joy, and out of the stress-boiling water pot to the fresh springs on the mountain top.  I know I need to stop “kicking” and start believing that my Abba Father wants more for me than I want for myself – will I ever learn, I ask?