Tracking The Storm(s) In Your Life-What Is Your Priority?
With all eyes focused on Hurricane Dorian’s path, rightly so; this is also a great time to simultaneously track the path of incoming storms of our personal lives that has left many of us Homeless, Addicted, and Mentally Unhealthy (HAM). Similar to the technology that can predict the intensity and location of Hurricane Dorian, we also have the upgraded inbuilt technology to not only track the storms in our lives, but we can also control them. Since we are the ‘eye’ of our storms we have the capacity to send out positive outerbands to those in our reach.
As I was tracking Hurricane Dorian reports, I asked myself, “If the culprit for Hurricane Dorian is high pressure in the Atlantic Ocean, why can’t they change the pressure in the Atlantic Ocean?” Then I immediately answered the question. This was a case of man’s limited understanding and capabilities versus God’s unlimited wisdom and capabilities. What a huge contrast!
In all of my daily spiritual/faith based lectures, I remind each client about the storm or storms of life labeled with our names. Yep…even mine. I even take it further by alluding to the fact that is it WHEN it hits and not IF it hits. We are the authors of all the storms in our lives based on our priorities. Think about it! Our relationships storms, our health storms? our financial storms? our sin storms?…our addiction storms?…..fill in the blank. Now I can hear the victim mentality screaming, "But all I said to him was….” Who said again? “All I did was go to her house and ask her for MY dog that she took, and now I am suspended because she called the police! Who went again? “I looked at the number when the phone rang , and saw it was Poopo, my old drinking buddy. I thought I would be able to say no.” Who answered the phone again? You get the point?
Well let’s take a biblical view of self-created life storms. In the story of David and Bathsheba in Second Samuel 11:1-3 it says “1 In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his servants and the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. 2One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing— a very beautiful woman. 3So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” As we dissect this beginning of King David’s storm the question is asked, “Where should David have been again?” The answer. Out in the battlefields as all the other kings, but he neglected his duty and found idle time. “What happened during his idle time again?” He strolled around the roof and saw a woman bathing. “Who sent and inquired again?” There it is…the beginning of the storm. “Was David a victim of his circumstances to the point of him committing murder?” The answers are obvious. You think about it.
Got the picture? All of our life storms are self created. Lack of finance to pay the bills? Poor stewardship maybe? James 4:3 states, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Your health? You eat everything and anything under the sun despite your awareness of high blood pressure. Did you check the sodium content? Most likely not.
Where are our priorities? Oftentimes our priorities are not aligned, and we make choices that contribute directly to the storm in our lives. Unlike Hurricane Dorian who we cannot manipulate and control, we have the capacity to change the temperature in the storm(s) in our personal lives.
It starts by examining our priorities which will dictate what they are, and where do we place them in our daily lives. Next, we follow the wisest instructions in Phillipians 4:2 which states, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” In another version it states, ”Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Finally, employ the practice of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) which I will explain in a future blog.
It is time to take control of these life storms an adopt the victor mentality. Philippians 4:13 states,“For I can do EVERYTHING through Christ, who gives me strength.” Not some things, but EVERYTHING. Isn’t this good news? Which by the way is the meaning of the Gospel. You think about that!
Remember ‘nothing changes if nothing changes, and ‘the same person will always use’.
Good morning!
Have a Blessed day in the Lord. You deserve it!
From the desk of Andy Ansola