The struggle in life is always to find a happy medium to live in. Many of us live for the highs and dread the lows, but if we are to be healthy, we must learn to stand on level ground. Then we can handle the rest life sends our way with much more strength.
They used to say about Braves Hall of Famer Tom Glavine that he never changed expressions, you couldn't tell whether he was winning or losing. He was the same cool under fire guy no matter what the situation. David, the man of God who had some great ups and downs, wrote this in Psalm 143:10, "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good spirit lead me on level ground". Maybe he learned from his mistakes that living for the great days only gets us in much trouble. We can get caught up in how right everything we think is going and lose sight of the erosion in our soul because we are living by the wrong spirit. He follows that verse with an admission, "For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble". In other words, not a question of whether we are in or experiencing trouble, but when. And when the when hits, who can keep us on level ground? Enough said, may The Lord lead your way in all circumstances! Glenn
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Looking down at my odometer it dawned on me that's how many miles I had driven in the last week. That's roughly also how many different things I thought about while driving that far. Such as why situations overcome our faith? Or, why the climate this year is so whacky? Or, like why so many folks have recently relapsed?
Not just alcohol and drug relapse, but also a relapse of dysfunctional thinking. Why do we fall back into those behaviors instead of changing the way we think? Is it a spiritual condition or the reflex reaction to panic about our situations? While we talk about the 12 Steps, do we emphasize enough having a personal relationship with the Lord? And, do you have one with him, and if so does that prevent you from any of what I just spoke about? Bottom line, we make choices that are sometimes influenced by our situations and others, but are always our choices. Instead of pointing a finger at this or that, it needs to be pointing squarely at us. While in a motel room during that journey, I also saw a video of Jesus being tempted by Satan in the desert, and it was a great enactment of what might have been. What struck me was how they portrayed Jesus being weak and hungry and definitely exhausted. This is where our rubber meets the road, where we are most vulnerable. What did he do? Quoted the words of his Father and used those words to overcome his weakness. Before we ever fail, do we ever quote those words at our situation, "Get behind thee Satan because my God is greater than your temptation.” Alcohol, drugs, bad relationships, money...all just symptoms of a relapse, not the cause. The cause is within us and usually stems from unresolved issues that make us want to bail out. In that video, Jesus looked ready to bail because of what he had to face from a human perspective, how truly needy he was at that moment, but at the last minute he called upon his Father's strength, not his own. Not sure how many miles Jesus walked during those 40 days, but he spent 15,640 minutes in a physically weakened condition. My 2000 miles pale in comparison, but it gives me a glimpse of how difficult it is to keep our lives between the lines when the lines become blurry. The only thing separating us from another bad decision is the strength of our Father to clear up the picture, to correct our vision. This all came together for me when I read a devotional I also picked up during those 200 miles..."Challenge yourself to see what comes your way as your way to become"...in other words, after overcoming temptations of the devil that came his way, Jesus became a redeemer. What can we become if we do the same? Glenn After traveling from one tip of Florida to the other, I spent a little time on the computer trying to map out this coming week's business plan. Afterwards, thought I would catch the end of the NASCAR race (big Dale Earnhart, Jr .fan), when my grandson Logan asked me to play with him. As a younger, much less wiser man, I may have said wait until the race is over, I was too worn out. But now, in an enlightened state about what children need (the new baby gets most of the attention now), I said let's do it. And, after getting beat 2 of 3 games, I still felt very warm and fuzzy for doing something that made us both happy.
Shortly after, the right hand man of my boss, who shares a collector car collection with him, called to see if I could stop in at a dealership and look at one they have been working on for 5 months before they paid for the car... in Palm Beach. Well, life does have its rewards! Sometimes right after we do the right thing. Guess I know where I am going now. What makes you happy? Are you doing it, or just existing day by day? I remember not too long ago wondering how I would pay the bills, whether I was even in the right profession? I remember the struggle of operating day to day. But even then, there was Across The Bridge, that made me happy being a part of it. It made me happy knowing I was doing something God was pleased with. All of us need to laugh, to recreate and to take some time to explore our passion or we are like that tree Jesus saw that withered away from lack of attention. What I have found at the top of the happiness ladder is spending time with people who walk away after an experience with us feeling much better than before our time together. God wants us to treat other folks like we would treat Him, and leave them wanting more. Jesus never solved all the problems, just enough that they kept following Him to find out more. We are certainly not Him, but we are his ambassadors who can spread goodwill, and leave others feeling warm and fuzzy that we care. Then they will usually ask what makes us so different, and come back to hear more. So this week, let's make a difference to someone else, let's step out of the self box and into the arena of joyful living. Let us be Christ in the flesh to someone who needs attention who may not be getting enough. Saying all that just makes me warm and fuzzy inside. So does going to Palm Beach! This has to be one of the toughest emotions to deal with. You get knocked down by someone or something, and the next thing you know your mind plays head games with you. That's usually the devil, or the itty-bitty committee, as we call it, that is trying to dominate your reaction to the situation.
Tuesday I had one of those days, wrote down 75 vehicles to buy and ended up with 1. It was as if I had walked into the middle of a frenzy, nothing was going right. I left there a beaten man, all that effort and no results. I'm sure you can relate. But, I must admit, The Lord has shown me where to find the strength to rebound, to wipe off the aroma of defeat and put on the hope of a better day. I read this in Proverbs: "If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength." Made me think of John the Baptist, Paul in jail, the disciples as they watched their Messiah die....they were down, but not out. Momentarily they suffered but the hope of faith and enduring a temporary setback help build character. That is something I totally lacked in younger using days. So after reading the Proverb, I rebounded quite nicely the last two days, The Lord sustained me. Now I think, why would I ever let that committee meet in my head when all I had to do was cancel the meeting and go read a good wise book? Down, but never out...He made us to love redemption! |
Glenn YankowskiGlenn is an ex-Marine Viet Nam vet who is also a recovering alcoholic, clean and sober for 30 years. He has been involved in start up and ongoing recovery ministry at North Atlanta Church and Campus for the last two decades. He has a passion for outreach and to spread the message that the answer to lasting and fulfilling recovery from addiction is in a relationship with Jesus Christ. He and the ATB team are available to assist in your questions or needs on an individual basis and will do so maintaining complete confidentiality. You may e-mail him at sgtski@bellsouth.net. Archives
April 2024
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