Reeling It In
James 1:2-3, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”
Greetings! Hoping this is the morning that only good things will happen all through the day! As we head into the grind of routines, unplanned events, may we remember that God gave us this day to just say thanks and give Him praise for all things! The title today is not about fishing; but it could be just not for fish, but as Jesus said, “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”, Matthew 4:19. There will be times that we will find ourselves forgetting “from whence cometh my help”! In other words, we will lose sight of where we are and that we have faltered in our journey; we forgot to rely on the help of God! As humans, we can get high strung in believing that we succeed only because of ourselves. Be very careful in letting your egos succumb to being prideful! When we slowly drift away from God, we will start seeing the negative effects start building up; bad things will start appearing. We must not allow the devil to sneak in and work to remove our relationship with God. This is when God is casting His line, pricking at your heart, sending signs, to warn you that you have lost focus. You may start trudging water, getting deeper and deeper into the current; thrashing to and fro! God will see you, He will be reeling in hard; casting His presence toward you. This will be your time to reel yourself in and let Him work to bring you to shore! This will be the time to get back to maintaining trust, surrendering back control to Him. Getting back to reading and studying His word to find ways to keep negative, selfish, self- absorbent actions back to humble, kind and loving; casting your needs back to the one who is constant. God works to bring us back when we wander, when we start suffering because of negative behavior. When we work to reeling back from anxiety, burdens, worldly desires; we will start feeling positive, enlightened, refreshed, realigned with Him. We will come back to the understanding that we cannot control every outcome; thus, we are encouraged through our faith and God’s presence that we can surrender those needs to Him. Ultimately, we will be reeled in; placed into His guidance once again; allowing Him to work through us and within us! So, today, check yourself, your lines you have in the water; then make sure you can ask God to help you reel yourself back to what God has planned for you!
Scriptures:
Read: Matthew 6:19-21, 33, Philippians 4:6-7, Psalms 55:22, I Peter 5:7, Romans 12:2,19, Hebrews 13:8, Proverbs 16:9, Luke 10:27, John 14:15,26, Proverbs 5-7, Psalms 111:10, James 1:2-8, II Timothy 3:16-17
Prayer:
Precious Father, we come to you now asking forgiveness for when we let the current of the world take hold and pull us downstream away from you. Father, we thank you for your mercy and grace, your continued strength you provide. Thank you, Father, for your unfailing and unconditional love. Father, today and always we ask for your reeling in of our lives when we slip towards the negative. Amen.