This past few days I've been hearing a word from God about Priorities... I want to let you in on how I process a word from God...When I am conversing about a certain topic and I find myself talking about that topic a lot... Like it comes up in several conversations in a short period of time, and then I read about it in a book or in the scriptures, I always find that my spirit is pricked and it's something that I need to stop and listen to real hard...Hence the word "Priority" this past week...
I find that I am a very well balanced person... I have a pretty good handle on Home, Work, Church, and family... I recognize when I need to stop and take a break and I also recognize when it's time to take action and get things done...
Well, this Christmas I didn't go home to Mom's house... I honestly didn't think it was a big deal, because I had to work the day before and the day after, so all I had was Christmas Day off and I could just stay home and have dinner in Lake Charles, right? Dana bought all the food and we cooked and had a few friends over and had a nice day... At the expense of hurting my mothers feelings... Now I'll tell you how God shared with me his heart...
Here's my Priorities in a nutshell...
God
Dana
Kids
NEXT FEW CHANGE ACCORDING TO SITUATIONS
CHURCH
EXTENDED FAMILY
WORK
These priorities have become a "LAW" in my life so that I can keep balance and do what I thought was what God wanted me to do to keep sane and live in abundant joy... However, after reading the book "The Shack" I was hit right over the head with another perspective of God's "LAW"... First let me say that we are not under any LAW since Christ came to set us free from rules and regulations... We are now under GRACE... which I seemed to have forgotten...
Well in the book, the main character asks the question..."Does this mean we shouldn't have priorities in life?"... WOW, I was in the tub reading this and I sat straight up in the tub and reread the sentence... "Does this mean that we shouldn't have priorities in life?" This word, Priorities... the word that I have been muttering for days now, Priorities... the word that has lent balance to my life for all these years... Priorities... Priorities... we can't mess with my priorities... Was just thrown under the bus... God took it and said...
NO!!! The problem with having priorities is that we miss an opportunity to show grace... We miss an opportunity to LOVE OTHERS... I MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE WITH EXTENDED FAMILY... Do I still love them, absolutely, I just missed the opportunity to SHOW THEM I LOVED THEM!!
Does this make sense? The book went on to say that God doesn't want our priorities to be like a pyramid with him on top and then everything else listed in order of importance... That way of thinking can not be beneficial because we never know how much time to devote to the top one before the next one gets our attention... INSTEAD, he wants to be like a MOBILE... He in the center and everything else circling around him so that he is in everything in our lives and he shares in every part of our relationships within the different areas of our lives... He is equal, but the center....
I hope I am stating this clearly because when I get a fresh word from God, it's all I meditate on for a few days and I'm a little jumbled as I process it and then speak it, so this is the first time I've tried to write down what I'm feeling, so I may not have it all together yet.. Sorry if it's sounds like mumbo-jumbo... I just feel so relieved that I don't have to live under the "LAW" my own self-imposed law of priorities... I know that Grace is alive and well in my life and I want to share that more than anything else...
So forgive me, MOM, especially, for not coming on Christmas day and know that I've learned a dear lesson from our time apart... I love you all and wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Lea Anne
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