faith

endurance: a gift that develops in us as we persevere #thedailyhaiku 27

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

 

Do you have dreams and desires in your heart that are yet to see the light of day? Me, too, my friend. And it’s hard to wait, while we ache with longing, isn’t it? Yet God isn’t as absent or silent as we sometimes think He is. Rather, He is actively developing spiritual fruit in us, such as endurance, which comes from patient perseverance.

There is a Holy purpose at work to prepare us for what lies ahead. Although we may not be able to fully see or sense it yet, when we surrender to God, and acknowledge that He is Lord over all, we can trust He is working hard in the background of our lives.

Holy Spirit quietly refines our mind, hones our desires, readies the ground, encourages us to sow our seeds of faith and prepares us to receive at just the right time, in line with God’s eternal plans for our lives. We may want to see fruit straight away but it grows slowly as we root ourselves deeper into Christ.

“So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” 

~ Colossians 1:10-11 NIV

endurance

trust in the longing
have faith while it’s being stretched
endure for Christ’s sake
©joylenton

The tilling and unearthing that may be necessary to build a good foundation can feel uncomfortable to our souls, addicted to ease and comfort as they are. But if we are willing to yield, open to receive and able to cooperate with God, we will find our Holy Spirit-enabled endurance has paid off, helping to produce Godly character in us.

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” 

~ Romans 5:3-5 NIV

equilibrium: where our best soul peace comes from #thedailyhaiku 25

/ Joy Lenton / 12 Comments

 

It doesn’t take much to rock our world or spoil our day, does it? With 24 hour news reports, lives that are increasingly fractured and eminently distracted by pinging phones and tablets, we can quickly sway from delight to despair, from joy to sadness, from feeling carefree to being consumed with fear.

And that doesn’t include our own internal make up and body chemistry, plus our propensity for self-preoccupation and concern, which can play havoc with our feelings on the best of days.

So how do we find and maintain a state of measured calm in all of this? How do we avoid being at the mercy of our feelings and subject to change because of shifts in the world around? Where is the equilibrium we all seek?

What works may vary from person to person, but the major stabilising thing in my life is my faith in Christ. Not that my faith doesn’t shake or falter at times. The vital part is what and who we place our faith in, not how great our faith might be in and of itself.

Trusting in Christ is how I achieve a measure of balance, composure and calm, despite what might be happening in my life. It’s not a state of switched off bliss, ignoring the things that disturb my soul while I meditate or something. It starts with a conscious awareness of my need.

It’s a willing surrender to God as loving Father. He cares deeply about what hurts us, and has the ability to keep us stable instead of falling apart, to give us wisdom, equilibrium and strength whenever we need it, and remind us that He is in charge of everything.

Though I may come to God in a state of turmoil to begin with, once I have stilled and rested myself in His presence, prayed and handed over my worries and concerns, He fills me with His supernatural peace, calm and contentment.

It’s a gift. Pure grace, in fact. Freely available to us all. And the best thing? We have access to it as often as we need. There are no limits to God’s willingness to meet with us and calm our fretful hearts.

equilibrium

equilibrium

we become happy and calm

focusing on God

©joylenton

let: when wishes become a way of life #thedaikyhaiku 24

/ Joy Lenton / 14 Comments

 

As I reach the tail end of this October writing marathon, I must confess that my reserves are very depleted. No surprises there. 😏 But I don’t want to allow discouragement in or let myself become derailed by fatigue. Those things can so easily define my days.

Here’s the thing. I want to go out on a cloud of grace. Same way as I came in, in fact. God carries me each day, holds me close to His chest and whispers words of reassurance whenever I feel defeated by life.

If I am wanting to let anything affect me during these oh so weary days, then let it be joy. Let it be love. Let it be peace. Because I’m done with yielding to my SAD feelings and allowing my body’s state to dictate how my days are shaped. I want to surrender to God most of all, hard as it can be sometimes.

Will you join me? if your health or life is less than tickety-boo, then give it over to God instead of giving yourself a hard time, or wallowing in hurts and slights. Yes, they are a pain, quite literally. Yet what God is willing to give to His children far exceeds those things.

Whatever is troubling your soul, let it be, my friend, and let God be who He wants to be in your life: a rock-steady Hope, a force for Good, an Anchor to hold you firm, a sea of Grace, a river of Peace, a Saviour and your closest Friend, and so much more than we can ever imagine.

let it be

let joy permeate
let love be my calling card
peace be my heart’s state
©joylenton

https://youtu.be/cKolD582AVI

If my words are insufficient, then why not let the Beatles song above persuade you to let go of your cares? PS: John Lennon was my favourite!  🙂

candle: love burns in our hearts with faith and hope #thedailyhaiku 18

/ Joy Lenton / 6 Comments

 

It’s all too easy to take each other for granted in relationships, isn’t it? Become like comfortable furniture to one another. Dependable and reliable, or so we hope. Desire, mingled with love, flickers like a faltering candle, setting chilly hearts aflame once more.

Our task is to nurture each tiny spark, watch to see that the candle doesn’t die out, remain vigilant in not taking one another for granted, whether we’re a long married couple, just setting out together, bringing up a family or going solo for a while.

Love and relationships need to be given priority, so that the candle flame of love doesn’t blow out with every breeze that blows, get snuffed out by an open window to the world (whereby extraneous people get invited in) caught in the crossfire of communication failure, lashed by harsh winds of confrontation, stubbed out in anger or left to die a slow death of neglect instead.

How is that achieved? Not with our fickle hearts or in our own limited strength alone. It takes heavenly resources to stoke the fires of love in our wayward hearts and maintain its heat through years of trouble and toil. It takes grace and guts, grit and sheer determination to rise above the emotional pain we are in and that which we unwittingly inflict on one another.

It takes faith and patience, perseverance, endurance and an ability to forgive again and again and again. It takes a willingness to admit we are wrong and an ability to talk things through, rather than pretend everything is fine. Honesty is a top priority. Only God can grant us these graces to love one another well, plant His pure, unconditional Love in our hearts and keep it alive to the end of time.

heat-sealed

it’s scabby with wax
this candle burning brightly
heat-sealed in our hearts
©joylenton

**Hi, if you’re new around here, welcome to my #write31days series of the daily haiku. To catch up you can access the rest of the posts here. A big grateful hug to all who have been following so far. This weary woman applauds you. We’re on the home straight, friends!** 🙂 

rooted: building a strong foundation with God #thedaikyhaiku 16

/ Joy Lenton / 6 Comments

 

What we are rooted in has a hold on us, especially if our roots go deep. It pays to choose good soil to become our heart’s home. And to take care of it. Or we might be led astray by garden envy, thinking things look greener over the other side of the fence.

Though our neighbour’s seemingly lush vegetation could be concealing a venomous snake, deadly insects or poisonous plants for all we know. Thankfully, God only calls us to tend to our own plot, plough the furrow before us and stay true to His desires for our life.

Recently, on reading Matthew 13:1-9, I was made aware that if my roots don’t go deep in Christ then I am subject to being scorched and withered from the heat and fire of adversity in life.

Without a healthy and sufficient root system in our lives, we can wither and perish. We may bloom freely and easily for a while but our budding faith is not sustainable when challenges come, or enough to keep us strong and flourishing for more than one short season at the most.

“Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered.” – Matthew 13:5-6

To live the life Jesus promises us will require tending well to the garden of our hearts. It might look something like this:

  • discover where weeds appear to be strangling emerging plants and uproot them straight away
  • sow seeds that will produce the right kind of fruit and harvest we want to grow there
  • water and feed it with the best nutrients we can access, namely God’s Word, our hope and faith and His love, mercy and grace.

rooted

faith, hope, charity

a life can be built on these

rooted strong as trees

©joylenton

aspects: seeing God’s hand at work best in community #thedailyhaiku 17

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

 

As the Body of Christ, we each have aspects of God’s work in us to testify to, an offering to bring to the table, a unique perspective to share, an individual voice which carries more weight than we know.

You or I might discount ourselves as unworthy, insignificant, with nothing much to contribute. But that’s just not true. We need YOU, my friend, and you need us. Because together we are so much stronger than when attempting to walk alone.

Faith walking is a tough journey, requiring grit and determination, persistence and endurance to run the race to the end. When we are weak and wounded, our brothers and sisters come alongside us, lifting us up in prayer, being soul companions and giving practical help where applicable. And we do the same thing for them.

God intended it that way, even if we rarely see true harmony or compassion in action in the world around. Flawed and foolish as we are and usually know ourselves to be, we can still be wisdom, salt and light for one another, revealing aspects of Christ’s loving, servant-heart at work in us.

aspects

in community

each person reflects aspects

of the face of God

©joylenton

despite the odds faith lasts #thedailyhaiku 9

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

 

Faith is intrinsic to our lives. It’s exercised every day. We cannot even drive a car without trusting our skill and the vehicle we are in, or sit down in a chair without having faith it will support our weight.

Some say they have no faith, yet the art of science is faith-based, leaving room for human fallibility, questioning and supposition before any degree of certainties are reached.

So much of our lives are full of conjecture, questioning and making space for mystery. Christian believers sometimes doubt their faith is strong enough to take the weight of their expectations, hopes and dreams.

But what if we saw faith as a gift of grace? We’re meant to have more faith and trust in God than in our own ability to have faith in our somewhat wobbly faith as such. It’s God’s promises that are secure, His love remains unfailing, His mercy is without end and His word revered as our trustworthy authority, guidebook and training manual.

Despite our own worst fears, our tiny mustard seed-sized faith actually grows in adversity, is stretched during challenges and is made manifest when we are called to account. It is more apparent than we believe and it lasts eternally. So let’s keeping trusting and living into the answers to come.

faith lasts

it’s no fairytale
despite the odds we will find
our faith grows and lasts
©joylenton

we require ripening time #thedailyhaiku 8

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

 

It doesn’t take long in the walk of faith before we realise that lasting change isn’t usually swift to come to us and neither is the sanctification process. Rather, we spend our time alternating between resting and resisting, going solo and surrendering to God.

However, we needn’t become discouraged as we journey on with the Lord, because every pausing place is opportunity to receive God’s grace. Each step of faith we take gets us closer in our experience of intimacy with God. Even the faltering ones whereby we stumble and fall can become ways in which our Father gently guides us deeper into His will for us.

I’m slowly learning the benefits of resting in Jesus our Saviour and eternal Vine, allowing His energy to fuel my days and His strength to sustain me in everything. Though it comes at the cost of laying down our self-sufficiency and pride, we never lose out in yielding to the Lord, albeit little by little.

just like a flower

just like a flower

we require ripening time

growing on the vine

©joylenton

available: being wholly and holy available #thedailyhaiku 3

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

 

God is continually pouring out His goodness and grace but we’re not always in the right mindset to receive it. Can we become more wholly and holy available? I think so.

All it takes to become available to God is the slightest turning of our hearts in His direction, a whisper of His Name, a memory stirring deep within, a recollection of how marvellously He has always taken care of us.

As we turn the eyes of our heart and our faces toward God, we are rewarded by a saturation of grace, an outpouring of peace, a rush of joy and a calming in our souls. Shall we do that now? A few moments in prayer can make all the difference to how a day turns out.

holy available

face cupped to sun’s rays

I’m holy available

please pour out your grace

©joylenton

freedom: bright butterfly of hope hovers close #thedailyhaiku 2

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

 

Butterflies always speak of freedom to me. I envy their ability to break out of their earthbound chrysalis confines, emerge sparkling new, beautiful and ready for flight.

If only I think. If only we could be like a butterfly, see an end to our struggles and break out into the clear light of freedom. Such a time may be a long while off, though small victories here help build upon the scent of freedom to come.

But we have that blessed eternal Hope from God awaiting us, even as we wrestle with things in the here and now, while we learn how intrinsic faith is to our eventual flight to freedom.

It’s close,  my friend. Closer than we think. Closer than we know. It shimmers in the air around. Keep believing and hold onto your hope for better times to come.

Butterfly of hope

Freedom beckons us

like bright butterfly of hope

shimmers in the air

©joylenton