Change Of Pace

I took a vacation day yesterday, and spent it with my wife working in the back yard.
For over 20 years my mother in law has had a garden plot at the back of our lot, but this year she decided that she was going to do a "container" garden.
We spent the day removing all the landscaping timbers and cutting down the weeds and such. In other words, the garden has returned to being a part of the yard.
It was a beautiful day to be outside and I found great peace and contentment in the work.
Small talk between Vicki and I....joking and laughing.
A lunch outside of ham sandwiches and potato chips only tasted better because of the exertion given to hauling off the debris from the garden.
It doesn't take much for me to find happiness anymore. I find it in simple things. Simple pleasures.
It isn't so much that I have to work at it or even expend any mental energy, it just seems to always be there.
I think it is a by product of my chasing God all these years.

I found a list of things that God has given to us that would enable us to experience His peace and contentment.

Psalms 37
Verse 3 -  Trust in the Lord and do good: To trust means to rely on, to cling to, to believe in. It isn't (here again) a mental exercise, it is a way of life. I have turned to Him so much in times of need and distress that it is just what I do. I also trust in him when times are good. Those are the times that I lean into him even more. Why? Because with human nature, we tend to tell ourselves to coast a little. To take over from God and run our lives because we don't have any problems or situations that we deem important enough to give to Him.

Verse 4 - Take delight in the Lord: The source of all my joy should flow from God and not the things of this world. I delight in who God is. I delight myself in His Word as I study it daily. I delight myself in being able to talk with Him, and what's more....I delight myself in the fact that He loves me enough to talk to me.

Verse 5 - Commit everything you do to the Lord: What falls under everything? Everything! I live my life to bring pleasure to God. I have on the desk where our computer is, a plaster of paris head of an Indian. My son, Chad, made it when he was 8 years old. To anyone else, it would be a piece of junk, but to me....It is the most priceless thing in the world. Why? Because my son did it, created it, painted it for me. When we commit everything we do to God, He takes incredible pleasure in our gifts.

Verse 6 - Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act: Be still! Not the battle cry of our society today is it? Be still....don't move.....wait.....Sometimes I'm in a hurry, even during church. I wonder how much I miss of God  and of what He desires to because I'm in a hurry. I have got to learn to wait, even when everything in me is screaming..."GO! GO! GO!"


Psalm 37 is a really good place to stop and study if you looking for something read today. As you read, ask yourself, "Is this the pattern of my life or do I need to let God make changes in me?"
I hope you have a great Saturday....and hopefully I'll see you tomorrow here at the Greene Street Letters.

God on you......
mb

God on you....
mb