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Circumstances vs. Certainty

I recently read a devotional taken, in part, from the book Winning the War in Your Mind, by Craig Groeschel. I haven’t read the book, so please do not write me about endorsing a book by someone I know little to nothing about. I do know this, however: a section of this devotional provided an aha moment for me, and I cannot take credit for a thought not originally my own, so I share its source here.

How often, in the midst of a trial, difficulty, hardship, or other “off-script” moment have we heard, shared, or read for the hundredth time, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4, ESV)? It really is an amazingly impactful verse—when properly applied.

The application is what I suddenly realized I had been viewing all wrong.

Maybe it’s just been me (and in that case, you have my full permission to roll your eyes in disbelief at my simplemindedness in not “getting it” until now). Maybe I’m the only one who has clung to this verse with all my might, wondering why it wasn’t “working.” Maybe I was the only one feeling like I was failing at rejoicing in my circumstances.

Circumstances

I don’t know your current circumstances. I can care; I can pray; I can, in some cases, understand them. However, I don’t know how God has prepared you for this moment. Nor do I know why He has entrusted these circumstances to you.

I do know this: your current struggle, no matter its depth, is very real to you. It is your struggle.

Therefore, don’t look at your circumstances in light of someone else’s. You don’t have grace for their difficulties, and they don’t have grace for yours.

Let’s face it: you just can’t rejoice in the word cancer. You will find it hard (if not impossible) to rejoice in the word no, especially when you have pled with the Lord to change your circumstances. But this verse is not about rejoicing in the circumstances.

It’s about rejoicing in the Lord.

Certainty

Circumstances change. Our viewpoint of them changes. Our response to them changes as we mature and grow. Our memory of them can even change as we learn to filter them through what we’ve learned from them. (Think of the expression, “Hindsight is better than foresight.”)

God, however, never changes. In Malachi 3:6 (ESV), God proclaimed of Himself: “For I the Lord do not change….” If this was true in the situation for which He stated it, and He indeed does not change, then it is still true today. (And it is!)

That is what—no, Who—we are told to rejoice in via the repeated lesson in Philippians 4:4. Let’s read it together again with that in mind: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (emphasis mine).

His love for us is certain. His presence with us is certain. His care for us is certain. His promises are certain. His truths are certain.

He is the One we are to rejoice in—no matter the circumstances!

Challenge

So here is my challenge for you today: Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in Who He is and in what He has done and is doing in you and through you. Rejoice in His promises. Rejoice in His love. Rejoice in the fact that when difficult circumstances arise, He is still there. He is still God.

Now that’s something—SomeONE—to rejoice in!

Additional reading:

Malachi 3:6

Isaiah 43:2 (Written to a specific group at the time, yes. However, same God, same truths about Who He is!)

Philippians 4:4-8

Hebrews 13:5

By Petals from the Basket | March 28, 2022 | Uncategorized |

Ten Years of Changes

Ten years ago today, March 26, 2012, I hit “Publish” for the first blog post on this website. On this anniversary of the launch of Petals from the Basket, I want to answer a question I asked myself this week:

Knowing what you know now, what would you go back ten years and tell yourself as a new blogger?

The photo from the first blog post, March 26, 2012
  1. Be yourself. When you try to be like “the other bloggers” (both well-known and otherwise), there is no longer a need for you to write your post. Your audience most likely will overlap those of other bloggers, but there will be a niche that you can fill in your own unique way.
  2. Be consistent. Don’t overestimate your ability to show up. Never underestimate the need to do so.
  3. Be intentional. Writing with no purpose isn’t worth someone’s purposely taking the time to read. Determine why you’re choosing to write and stick to your purpose.
  4. Be wise. You will have unkind readers. You will have flatterers. You will have imitators and plagiarists. You will have readers who open their hearts to you and tell you that your blog posts encourage them. You will have thank-you notes and notes that tell you how lame your writing is. You will have followers, you will have what are commonly called “haters.” Learn to know the difference and not be distracted by the latter.
  5. Be real. You quite likely are the only one thinking that others are putting pressure on you to be the perfect blogger. Write with intelligence, but don’t allow your “perfect everything” to serve as a disguise for your personal imperfections. There is no need to air your dirty laundry; however, be authentic in sharing that your life has stains from wrong choices, and then share the lessons you learned to help keep someone else from making those same mistakes–maybe that’s why you went through it in the first place.

This blogger is back, and she’s back with a desire to be herself, to be consistent, to be intentional, to be wise, and to be real. So hang on, sweet faith-friends, we’re in for a fun ride!

As you can see in the post written ten years ago today, I was walking through a major life change. Since that first post, I have journeyed through a seemingly endless season of change. Yet through it all—through every month, day, moment of those ten years—I can say three things:

  1. “Jesus led me all the way.”
  2. God’s mercies have never failed me. They are new every morning! (Lamentations 3:22-23)
  3. I still have my little gray-and-white chalkboard—and it’s still a clean slate.

By Petals from the Basket | March 26, 2022 | Uncategorized |

Our Psalm 23 Staycation

From the outside looking in, it probably wouldn’t appear that Joe and I have been overly busy this summer. But our house definitely has been a hustle and bustle of comings and goings since early spring. Don’t get me wrong—we love our “embassy” (you can read more about that here), and we count each guest as a gift we get to treasure. But we found ourselves becoming “plum tuckered out.”

It was time to get away, regroup, and recharge in order to make room in our hearts and our schedules for the next round of welcome guests.

The problem with heading out for a few days was this: we’re too tired to travel anywhere! Add to that the fact that our favorite getaway spots just aren’t available right now, the fact that we have a dog whose kennel is booked up two weeks in advance, and the fact that we have a few trips already planned down the road, and you end up with us following the “staycation” trend.

But I’m not one for fully following trends—I like to flavor them with our own little twist…something that makes it uniquely ours.

What we needed more than a tan, a historical tour, or a shopping spree was for our spirits to be restored. And we both knew it.

I woke up at 5:00 a.m. one day last week and asked God to give us an idea of how we could simply “restore our souls.” As I spoke those words in prayer, Psalm 23 came rushing into my mind:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

The minute Joe woke up, I said, “I have an idea!”

Knowing that we had four days between one set of guests and the next, we decided to take the first four phrases of Psalm 23 and emphasize one each day for four days. Here’s what that looked like for us:

Sunday – “The Lord is my shepherd.” The fact that we started this first phrase on a church day wasn’t planned, but it was perfect. To sit in church and be reminded of all that God is and all that He can do started our four-day plan in the best way possible. Take a praise walk (read more about that here), spend extra time focusing on Who God is, and remind yourself that God is a personal God Who cares about the weariness of your soul.

Monday – “I shall not want.” This literally means that we have no lack. Which, to us, meant that it was time to stop throughout the day and count our blessings. However, we didn’t want our staycation to be only about us. There can be a fine line between enjoying self-renewal and becoming self-centered, and we didn’t want to cross it! So we grabbed a little box of cookies, headed over to the home of friend in hospice care, and had the most delightful ten-minute visit to be a blessing to him and his family. And in the process, we received another blessing to count.

Tuesday – “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” This day had a gazillion outdoor options. However, the rain redirected our initial desire simply to sit in our backyard and read in our “green pasture.” But we rested. A lot. And I do mean a lot! Our bodies needed to lie down and know the peace of relaxation. So that’s exactly what we did. We both had books from the library that we wanted to read, so in between naps, we read…and then we napped and read some more.

Wednesday – “He leads me beside still waters.” I will tell you that our initial plan was to go fishing today. Joe loves to fish, and I love to do what Joe loves. However, we realized that sitting by a nearby lake and reading our library books was going to be more revitalizing for both of us, so that is just what we did. The still waters of Lake Robinson provided the calm for our souls that we both had longed for.

The result of these four days? “He restores my soul.”

Let me encourage you—whatever your reason—to take even a 15-minute Psalm 23 Staycation from your everyday routine. You will find at the end of it a fresh outlook, a renewed focus, and perhaps even a pretty nearby lake to visit again in the future!

The “still waters” of Lake Robinson, in the Upstate of South Carolina

By Petals from the Basket | August 4, 2021 | Uncategorized |

NASB Adventure Bible

As a member of the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid (#bgbg2), I received a free copy of the NASB Adventure Bible in exchange for an honest review. I always think this is a bold move on the part of a publisher or store, because my review will always be honest, and that’s the risk they take!

However, not only did I find it to be a Bible I would highly recommend for junior-aged kids, but I found myself wishing I had owned one of these at that age!

The colorful pages and “bonus” elements make it exciting to read, and I personally think that the little articles and explanatory paragraphs add a great deal to its emphasis on applying what you read. In the photo below, I’ve included a list of several of the features this Bible offers.

Grandparents, aunts and uncles, Sunday school teachers, and church workers in the field of children’s ministries would find this a great tool to aid in teaching Scripture to kids who have outgrown their “picture Bibles” and want to feel challenged to learn new things about God and about the Bible itself.

In case you can’t tell, I highly recommend this Bible (available in multiple versions and translations as well as this NASB version)! To read more about it click here to view/purchase your copy at the FaithGateway Store.

Click photo to enlarge and read more about the special features in The Adventure Bible! #BibleGatewayPartner

By Petals from the Basket | June 11, 2021 | Bible Reading, Books, Friday Favorites, God-and-I-Time, Ideas |

When God Says, “Ahem…!”

“Kati, sit! … Kati, sit! … Come on, Kati, sit!” Our one-year-old puppy/dog has beautiful eyes that will melt your heart with a simple glance. She has learned to sit, stay, lie down, select which hand I’m hiding her treat in, “go get a toy,” and multiple other little tricks. She’s gobs of fun, and well, sometimes we think she may be gifted. (hee-hee)

I mean, come on…look at that face!

And then there are the moments like these, when I break the rules of proper training and say my command repeatedly, each time a little louder, as if her hearing is the problem.

It isn’t.

Cute little puppy-girl has an attitude.

Though I never had children of my own, I’m pretty sure I’m relating to mothers of toddlers a little better these days. Let’s just say that my husband, Joe, says it best when he calls her a little “rascal angel!”

As I stood there this morning repeating the simple command that was for her own good and that was going to end in her receiving a treat if and when she obeyed, it was as if, God, in a loving tone, said, “Ahem, Brenda,” and pointed His heavenly index finger at my dog’s unwillingness to obey.

“Oh my heart, Joe. She’s me. And this must be how God feels!”

How often do I read a command in the Bible and ignore it over and over and over again until I feel good and ready to obey it?

“But I don’t want to love my neighbor as myself.” “I don’t want to be kind.” “I don’t want to seek the Lord with all my heart.” In other words, “I want what I want, and I’m just going to look away, as if I don’t hear.”

“But God…!” God—rich-in-mercy God—patiently, lovingly, and for our good continues to teach us that His commands are not there to be mean to us. God is never mean! No, friend, His Words are there to guide us, to protect us, to correct us when we’re wrong, to show us that He loves us enough to say no…and yes.

And just like we do with Kati, God blesses us for following His commands. Sometimes our reward for Kati’s obedience is merely a “good girl, Kati!” Sometimes it’s her favorite bacon-flavored treat. The ultimate goal is for her simply to obey, whether there is a tangible reward or not. Why? Because Joe and I know what is best for her.

Did you hear that? I think God just said, “Ahem,” again….

For further reading:

Ephesians 2:4-8, ESV — “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

I John 5:2-4, NASB — “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and follow His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.”

By Petals from the Basket | May 28, 2021 | Bible Reading, God-and-I-Time |