Play that funky music!

I apologize for the long break since my last post.  It has been a rough week with the weather fluctuations.  My migraines and headaches have ruled.  However I will attempt to get back on track with a normal course.

I don't know if it is the beginning of a new year or the dull thump of winter hitting, but I feel like I'm in a funk.

What's a funk?  The dictionary says a foul odour; an R&B song; or a depressed mood?

Have you ever felt like that?  Where you are whirling around in your own head without any signs of getting out.  I suppose some funks can be depressive, some can be contemplative and some could even be voids of nothingness - whatever they are they can be hard to shed.

This morning I found a key to the door of my funk.  It is a simple key that anyone can use, so today I am sharing it with you.  I suppose the idea was prompted by a book I am reading in order to review.  It is an odd mix between fiction and non, as the author takes you on a mental picture journey and then explains it.  (Did I lose you?)  She uses story to get her point across - much like a parable I suppose.

The chapter I read last night was about The Dark Place.
You know the place where you don't know how you got there and you can't find a way out so you curl up in a little ball and cry.  The Dark Place.  I am sure we have all been in this place at one time or another.  Some have visited after the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, the dissolution of a marriage and family. But I believe we end up there sometimes when we just lose our vision too.

In the past on my blog I have written lots about the Chazown study I participated in.  It is all about finding what God created you to do and be and then ... doing and being that.  Simple, huh?  After spending the time in prayer and focus on this I found I was afraid to move forward with my Chazown.

Not surprisingly so, writing came up as one of the areas that God wants me to focus on.  For my husband it was a no-brainer.  For me it became a brick wall.  I couldn't think straight - all I wanted to know is if I had done the program exactly two and a half years earlier would I have come up with writing as a gift and a focus?  If not, then I must have "fixed" the results a little.  So, being the twisted-type of perfectionist I am I went back and tried to redo the exercises leaving out any hint that I like to write.  Let me warn you - this does not work.  Hence ... the funk!

Are you feeling buried?  Overwhelmed?  Confused?  Uncertain? Funky?

Maybe this will help?  The author of the book I'm reading said the only way out of The Dark Place is to call on the name of Jesus. When we do that He, who has been in the dark the whole time, can come to us and minister to us.  But, being the gentleman that He is, He will wait for us to call to Him first.  So this morning I found the my key in the warming touch of scripture.  However, before I dive into the Word I would like to sum it all up with a phrase I know.  It was silk-screened in glittery colours all across a t-shirt I owned as a pre-teen.

 

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we DO NOT see."  Then Hebrews goes on to list men and women from the bible who lived by faith, not by sight (2Cor 5:6-8).  All those people had an eternal perspective.  They lived in preparation for tomorrow, next week, next year and even in preparation for a life to come.  They were aliens in the moment.  

Did they get it right away?

NO.

Did they do without fail?

NO.

Did they receive the prize?

NO.

So, what can we learn from these everyday Joes and Joannas of the Bible?  

1. That we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
2. That trusting God and walking in that trust is a process - not an end result.  (Sanctification)
3. In all processes we fall and we fail and we mess up ... but we get back up and keep on moving.
4. That God loves you so much.  He created you, has a planned path for you and will keep you on it if you call out to Him.
5. Because ... God is NOT finished with you yet.

So, funk be gone!  I have Jesus Christ and He is working on me.