What is rising in you?{1 Corinthians 5}
8:00 AM
The
day I was sent home to work I began journaling what I do each day. I knew that being sent home to work meant
changes would occur at a rapid pace and in the past when I’ve been in a crisis,
I journaled to help me keep track of who said what and when. When this post is published, the United
States will be 25 days into President Trump’s “stay at home” recommendations,
and the 15th day of the state of Michigan’s Executive Order of
Shelter in Place to stop the spread of the coronavirus. According to the models I have seen, we are
approximately one week away from the peak of this virus in our country and the
state I live in.
I
share this information because the changes in the crisis occur gradually, just
like how yeast changes the condition of ingredients to make bread. I love making bread and if you are anxious
and try to bake it too soon, it doesn’t rise enough. And if you let it sit too long, you have a
big puffy loaf of bread.
If
you are on social media, you are probably seeing posts asking what you’ve
already learned about yourself, or what you will take away from this
situation. Several years ago, I made
some decisions to slow down. I grow my
own fruit and vegetables and process them and store them in a root cellar. I had become anxious because all round me
everyone seemed to be in a hurry. Just look down any street and you’ll see a fast
food restaurant or several of them. We
can have products shipped to our homes in a day or two. We even want immediate answers to this
illness.
I
have discovered something about being at home this past week, I have slowed
down even more. I take more time to cook
and clean. I’m taking more time to go
for a walk, some days even going for 2 walks.
I have lengthened the amount of time between opening an electronic
device or the television. I have
discovered that God is still at work.
The birds are singing and enjoying the spring air. The trees are budding, and flowers and plants
are sprouting. All of this is by God’s
design. None of this is done by man’s
hand. It is all God’s! Yesterday the sun was out all day long – it
was exceptional!
Most
often, yeast is used to describe the negative effects of sin in scripture. But I want to use it in a positive manner,
much like how delicious bread that has been given the proper time to rise
tastes.
As
Christians, we believe God is in control.
He is baking bread and He knows what He is making. He is using all that He has to create an
everlasting kingdom. But, how do we
detect the good yeast from the bad yeast?
Erroneous
teachings and hypocrisy are not always obvious, and they can be hard to
detect. This often happens when one part
of scripture is expounded to justify certain things, while blatantly ignoring other
parts of scripture that add context and clarify the whole message. A good example is when the Pharisees
attempted to challenge Jesus on marriage and divorce (Matthew 19:1-10). Another way to detect yeast is when, for
example, someone corrects you about something and your emotions start rising
inside, causing you to display bad fruit by responding in a negative
manner. When you find yourself being
overly defensive or aggressive and not speaking truth in love (Ephesians 4:15),
perhaps there is a lie and false belief at work.
In
order to be delivered from yeast, we must be humble and acknowledge our
blindness (Psalm 51:17, Isaiah 66:2, John 9:41). When we humbly and sincerely acknowledge
before the Lord that we could be wrong about our ways and beliefs, even
though they may seem right in our eyes and in the eyes of the world, we
allow Him to open our eyes and deliver us from error and yeast. As the Lord says in His word, ‘if My people
who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face,
and turn from their sin and heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7:14).
The
time we invest daily in God’s word and prayer gives room to the Lord Jesus
Christ and the Holy Spirit to teach us.
He graciously shows us even the 1% yeast and replaces it with the Truth
which truly sets us free (John 8:32).
The next time you become frightened or anxious because of the
circumstances you are in, pray. Simply
tell Jesus how you are feeling at the moment.
He knows what’s happening right now.
Take a break from the constant flood of information being sent to us and
go for a walk with the Lord. Open your
bible and look at all the promises we have before us.
Last
night I decided to watch “Paul the Apostle” and that movie depicts the horrific
conditions the early Christians lived in, yet they were reminded each and every
day to live in love. Allow the love of
Christ to rise in you today.
Blessings,
Lisa
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