Reaching For The Olive Branch

 I've been surfing on some waves, so to speak.  Tumultuous ups and downs of emotion, or as Ron Burgandy would have said,  I was in "a glass case of emotion."  I looked around me and realized that I was not the only one.   Tis the season I guess.
The broad spectrum of my worries ranged from small material items to "What the heck have I been doing for the past five years?"  And don't get me started on this "having a house" thing i was caught up in.  My self-made list of everything I was "poo-pooing" on was increasing by the minute.........  I felt as though I was reaching my breaking point.
After wrestling with myself for a bit, and by a bit I mean a few weeks or maybe a few months, I finally had this "aha" moment where I heard the Lord speak.  It was like He gave me a fatherly spanking and then extended me the olive branch.
I was reminded of all of the big decisions I've had to make in life, and how so far they've been the right ones.  I had, for a brief moment, forgotten what keeps me.  One thing I've always tried to do was include the Lord in all of my decisions, even the smallest ones.  Even things that i think may be a little, well, vain.  Like even when i sometimes think "hey, it would be nice to have this rug" or "hmmm....I could use a new pair of sunglasses,"  and then one day the heavens open up and here is this amazing item that i've been dreaming about for only $9.95 instead of $995.00.  All I had to do was be patient and know that my Dad's got this one (like in Matthew 6).  And then I take these little gems and use them for the big mountains in my life.
For example, two days ago when i was crying about having a house and what we would be doing with our lives next, i heard the still, small voice say, "I only asked you to be obedient in one area of your life.  You succeeded on half of it, but the other half has yet to be done.  After you finish what you started, I'll finish what I started.  Just see what I can do."  Then it hit me like a big old brick.  Last year God told my husband and I one thing.  To pay off our debt.  This meant school loans and everything.  We really only had school and car loans anyway, but when He told us this, we were looking at a mountain of 30 G's (no, the G does not stand for Giblets).  Last April God provided the funds to pay off half of that (two school loans and our only car loan).  We were feeling pretty good, so we left it on the back burner.


 And then something occurred to me as I was receiving the much needed "spanking" from God.  As of this past month, God provided the money to pay in full the other half of our debt with plenty left over.   It's only January here people!  Instead of us using the money towards a down payment and taking out a mortgage, we might as well bank on the simple act of obedience to a King.  Move over Matterhorn!


And all of a sudden, it was as if peace had flowed all around me like a river.  I had reached for the olive branch and grabbed a hold of it.  I may not have initially wanted to hear that particular answer.  Maybe more of an answer, printed on an old scroll with a feather pen, posted to my door with a sword saying:


  Dear Cassy,
     Thanks for your petition. I will now throw your debt into the belly of a whale and I will magically make you a house out of gingerbread and candy corns that will eventually turn into a real house on the ocean.  Poof.  No work, obedience, discipline, or faith needed.....and oh yeah, I have created a decadent ice cream with absolutely no calories or fat. 
    You're welcome,
                     God




I've come to realize over the years that when I include the Lord in every decision I make, there is a peace that accompanies it.


"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."  Philippians 4:6-8


And if I still haven't heard an answer yet, I wait until I do.   Because i know eventually, one way or another, I will get an answer. It doesn't mean that I'll like the answer or how it's packaged, but i know that whatever it is will be for my benefit.  And then peace will follow.  This is how I try to reach for the olive branch.  Everyday.  In everything.


"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking  But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.  Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.  Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."  James 1:5-8