I need a minute

As a blanket statement I feel like I should apologize for anyone who spoke to me yesterday. I apologize for spontaneous tears, rudeness or inappropriate harshness towards others. Especially Courtney Dobson who had to ride in the car with me to pick up the pizza after I burned my chicken. Some may be surprised that I would act like this, others not so much. My only defense is that sometimes I just need a minute. Granted my minute lasted most of the day, but it was my minute non-the less.

(this is not my chicken, but you can imagine what it would be like if it was)

I hope that I am not the only one who goes through days like this. Days where you just want to feel angry and upset. Days where I don’t feel like talking myself into a better mood, days where I don’t want to think about God having everything under control. Yesterday was one of those days.

This was one of Lilah's minutes 

This morning I woke up late so right off the bat today had the potential to be another one of those days, but something felt different today. Nothing actually is different from yesterday, but something inside me felt a little different. Today as I was frantically trying to get ready and swiftly driving to work I felt a calm come over me. You may know the one, the peace that passes all understanding? Are you familiar with that peace? Today I realize my hope is in Christ, still in the midst of my situation I know Jesus is still with me.

It is comforting to know that today I still have my salvation. I can still call on the name of Jesus for anything I may need. Today I am completely aware that God is in control and today I want to rest in that knowledge. My minute has passed and I feel better on the inside. The interesting thing is that God let me have my minute, I don’t feel guilty about being upset, it is o.k. to be upset. It is o.k. to be angry or frustrated or sad. It doesn’t mean that we trust God any less.

We look funny when we are angry

Where trouble comes in is when we stay there, when our minute begins to last for a week or a month or a year. I know so many people who have been sitting in their minute, relishing in their hurt and anger, living in it. I have been one of those people. It didn’t take me to long to figure out how ever that my situation wasn’t improving while I was wallowing. On the contrary it started to affect other areas of my life until pretty soon it wasn’t just me having a minute, it was my husband and my kids and the basically anyone that was around me.

When I stopped focusing on my bad attitude long enough to think of Jesus I found this gem of a scripture,
Ephesians 1:11-12 (MSG)
“It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone”

Jesus Christ has His eyes on me. He is working out His purpose in everything and in everyone. Wow. Sit and think on that for a minute. Our lives are colored with the purposes of Christ. He sees me. He is working in my behalf. I love that, I am in love with the thought of Jesus looking at me and at my life and loving me no matter what foolish things I do or say. He is so awesome.

When I think on those things for a while it doesn’t take to long to talk myself right out of my minute. If you are stuck in a minute let the peace of Jesus cover you, let the love of Christ fill you with a hope for the future. His eyes are on each of us today.