I have hardly ever missed a day here, but today I find myself completely stressed out and exhausted. Some of this is the usual “busy-ness” of life, and some of it is circumstantial. The Bible says that God chastens those He loves, and with me, that often takes place through circumstances — things that happen. Unfortunately, I don’t learn the lessons I should be learning, and so the process has to repeat over and over and over.
August 28, 2012
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Thinking Out Loud 
Rest. God may pull you back for a season of refreshing, the internet will still be here.
Comment by rickda — August 28, 2012 @ 11:03 am
I have finally realized that I am connected to one man’s blog. Don’t ask me how this happened. So let me put in my thoughts, since I am receiving yours almost daily it seems.
I don’t call it “Burn out” any more. Now retired, I call it “Wear out”. To think that God, as a “person” throws circumstances your way to test you or chasten you is to be living in a land of fairy tales. The Holy Spirit (of God) lies within you. When you wear out, you forget to reach deep within and LISTEN for God’s answers, or simply spend some time in meditation to connect with your inner divinity.
This connects a simple procedure to both Psychology and Science. It has been proven that meditation indeed works to achieve de-stressing and clarity. So why not connect with your Spirit every morning in this meditative state. The problem with prayer is that too many people believe that if they pray to God (out there in space) that there will be a great intervention and God will change the circumstance. God doesn’t create circumstances. God created our universe, our world, its plants and animals, and its peoples. Synchronicity is not God’s doing. Circumstances are man-made collisions into our lives. Let’s leave God with the positive aspects of life. He is our creator. If we unclutter God from our human characteristics and temperaments, we can indeed worship our Creator, not because “He” needs to be worshiped, but because we feel the JOY to do so.
I suggest to you, Paul and others, that God does not intervene in our lives, WE do. God gives us those “intimations of immortality” (a la Wordsworth) through “His” Spirit within in (aka our Soul). If we listen, things TEND to go well; if we don’t, we lose a grasp on reality. If God is viewed in this way, there is no supernatural occurances and no fair-tale events that drive the agnostic away from our churches screaming. God is love. This is a metaphor for something wonderful and intimate, but difficult to do. Loving is complex as is our relationship to God; but we at least have some practice with our fellow human beings. eh?
Comment by lumbylad — August 28, 2012 @ 1:09 pm
In other words, take a break and stop blaming yourself or God for any short-comings. Basic psychology will tell you that you are likely over-stressed and Science will measure it for you. God (if he could talk with his mouth) might say, Oh, Paul, keep me out of your natural bodily functions!
Comment by lumbylad — August 28, 2012 @ 1:11 pm
We seem to both have entirely different filters through which we process the same language. Most readers here would understand the nuances of the things God “sends” (rare), the things God “permits” or “allows” (more common) and the impact that these circumstances can have on people who are tuned in to how these events and situations can shape us.
Generally speaking, when Christ-followers speak of God sending circumstances, a more detailed discussion will reveal they mean God allowing circumstances; which can also work in the reverse, God can establish a hedge of protection to keep certain people from certain situations.
Either way, most of us believe that God is very definitely still interacting with his creation. The personification of God is necessary for our limited understanding but we are made in his image, therefore the person of God implies personality. The idea of a cosmic watchmaker who simply started the pendulum we call Earth in motion and then greatly distanced Himself from his work may work for some philosophers or scientists, but it’s not the picture of God held to by theologians; who would say that God is positively disposed and favorably inclined toward that which you say he does not do: Intervention. Where we differ is on how often he does this; how much of what we see in our own small corner of the world and how much of what is on the evening news actually flows from his hand. And where people outside the family of faith find great frustration is in the question that if intervention exists as a possibility, why not use that faculty to prevent diseases and disasters.
You write, “Synchronicity is not God’s doing.” Others write, “Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.” Both statements represent the ends of a spectrum, and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
Finally, in reference to your subsequent comment, I am in no way blaming God. When I see certain things unfolding and am able to interpret them — yes, I’ll allow you to say ‘spin’ them — into a life lesson, I can do this with an attitude of thankfulness for what God is trying to teach me through those events. God wouldn’t say, “leave me out of it;” but rather, if the God of the O.T. and the God of the N.T. are one in the same, he would be very pleased that we seek out the symbolism or deeper meaning of life events. While some would despair over a friend who has to “spiritualize” everything, God is actually rather pleased when we “spiritualize” things; he says, “Bring me into it.”
Comment by paulthinkingoutloud — August 28, 2012 @ 7:50 pm
I often have cause to wish the “like” button was named something else. This is one. I don’t ‘like’ the idea you are stressed or exhausted, but I do ‘like’ the thought that you have been given another opportunity to trust the Lord and to ‘grow’. Praying . . .
Comment by meetingintheclouds — August 29, 2012 @ 5:31 pm