A Tetris moment

So this week I had a Tetris moment. "So what is a Tetris moment?" you might ask and I'll explain it as follows. In a game of Tetris you have blocks of various shapes falling at a certain speed and you have to align all the blocks to fit perfectly. This becomes difficult as you do not know which block will fall next thus making it difficult to plan ahead. Also if you place blocks in awkward positions then you start running out of space until eventually you lose control, your screen overflows with blocks and it is game over.

So I had a Tetris moment in my mind, all these thoughts and ideas started falling at different speeds and I wondered how on earth I'm going to fit them all in in the most effective manner. I felt a bit claustrophobic as the thoughts crept in on me and I realised, I need a time out!

Sometimes we just need a time out to say: "hold on a moment, these thoughts shouldn't control me, I should control them" and then take some time to sit, identify the different thoughts and piece them together. We can so easily get overwhelmed by our multitude of thoughts and emotions just because we do not take a moment to sit and just organise them. It is so worthwhile to take some time out, sit with God and decide how these things all work together. Otherwise the confusion will always lead to anxiety.

Even when you are in a situation where you cannot merely draw up a plan of action, because the variables are unknown, you can still take time out and rest in the truth that God knows which block will be falling next and that He knows how to place them all perfectly and efficiently. He is the ultimate Tetris player, He never makes mistakes and can save any seemly lost game.
 
In Luke 12 Jesus says: "do not be anxious about your life" and "which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" Let's put our trust in God's hands and know by faith that He is looking out for us and that all things will work together for our good. He is in control and always looks out for His children. He has a plan for our lives and even though we don't know what the future holds, He knows and our future is secure in Him.

"And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you." Luke 12:22-31

Listen to this awesome song! - Hillsong United - Oceans


Photo credit: Loyal K.N.G

Be yourself!

Photo credit: favim

You are unique. God made you with all your personality traits and talents. When He made you, He considered everything about you and perfectly put you together for the plans that He has for you. So often we think that we need to be more intellectual, spiritual, theologically correct etc. before God will use us. WRONG!

Once again we are at the place where we think that it is something that WE do or a place that we reach that now qualifies us to be used by God and this kind of thinking is wrong. As I mentioned in my recent post, “God, what do you want me to do”, God is more interested in the heart than in anything else. God can do more with a person who has a willing heart than with a person who has had years of theological training. I hope we can just get this on a deeper and deeper level. It is so not about us and what we can do, but about what He can do through us. And the only way in which He can do something through us is when we realise that it is not our doing, but His and we allow Him to move.

I just have it on my heart to teach that we must just be free and secure to be ourselves and not strive to be like other people. God has put all the necessary things in you to enable you to reach, comfort and encourage the people He has placed in your life. If God can use a donkey to speak in Numbers 22:28 then He can use you and me in any space that we find ourselves in. You can meet God today and be used by God the same day. At every “stage” in our journey with Him, He has placed people in our lives that we can impact, support and encourage. We do not need to reach a certain level before we can be used by Him.

“Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”” Numbers 22:28

Do not stress about doing everything right, you are already right by just being who you are in Christ and being who He made you to be. Live with freedom and joy, love freely and engage with the people around you with confidence, knowing that God will use you just as you are. Your life is a window for other people to see Jesus through.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.” Matt 5:14-15

An amazing friend of mine once had this conversation with God:

God:  “What does a light do?”

My friend:  “Nothing, it just sits there and shines.”

God:  “Exactly, then why are you hopping around flickering and screaming: “I’m a light, I’m a light”? A light just needs to BE and by being what it is, it lights the way for the rest to follow, but hopping, flickering and screaming are just distracting people off the road and drawing attention to itself.”

Absolutely WOW, need I say more? Find out what God has put in you and be who He has made you to be. That is the place where you will shine, experience the most joy and be the most effective for Him.