I had the opportunity this weekend to go with a bunch of guys from church on a trip to the metroplex area, to Cabela’s.  Is there a better guy trip?  I submit that there is not!  We all piled in a van and headed out early in the morning.  The purpose behind this trip was for people to get some things they needed for the annual fly fishing trip that men from my church take.

Now, I have never been fly fishing so I don’t have the slightest clue what most of the words these people are saying mean.  One of the things I thought I understood was what a fly was.  I was wrong.  Upon entering the fly fishing section of Cabela’s I encountered hundreds of these:

Don’t be thrown off by the size of the picture.  These guys are small.  Apparently there are many people out there who tie them by hand.  They put all of these tiny elements together to make an imitation of a food item that a fish would just love to eat.  On top of that, when you are fly fishing, you have to know exactly what the fish are looking for at that moment.  It was absolutely amazing to me to see all of the different ways created to tempt a fish to bite. As I was looking at all of these flies, something hit me.  No, it wasn’t a truck.

Jesus draws parallels many times in scripture between fishing and evangelizing.  We are supposed to be “fishers of men”.  The thought that occurred to me is that as much as we are fishers of men, our enemy is as well, just a different kind.

Looking at all of these different flies made me realize that however many tools were here to catch fish, Satan must have an equal or greater number of tools to catch us.  Just like fish, we are prone to different sins at different times and the enemy has just the tool to catch us with.

In 1 Peter 5:8 we see that we should “be of sober-minded and watchful” because “[our] adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  We might also think of him as a fisherman with just the right lure to catch us off guard. Sometimes they can even look like truth.  Being watchful is paramount when our enemy has so many ways to catch us.  Be on the alert!  What looks like what you want just might be that lure that will trap you.

Brian

Proverbs 10:11

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

I went to lunch with a couple of my best friends for some conversation and, of course, some food.  I love it when I get to talk with guys who love the Lord.  It is amazing the things that come out of our mouths when we get going.

I also love leaving times like this feeling our oneness in Christ.  We are bonded spiritually through Him.  This definitely comes out in our speech.  The longer we are together the more our conversation revolves around spiritual things.  I know this might sound funny, but it was very encouraging to my walk with the Lord to hear myself talking with these guys.  The things I said just poured forth.

Sometimes I feel that I am playing a game called Christianity and that part of this game is talking the talk.  It is times like these that I know that is not the case.  I wasn’t just saying what someone wanted or expected to hear, I was saying what was in my heart!  The Holy Spirit resides in me.  This is who I really am.

It made me wonder why I, so many times, play at being someone else depending on who I am with.  I don’t mean that I am faking who I am.  My Christian walk is evident to those around me.  Why do I reserve talking like this until I am around certain people?  If this is who I am it should come out no matter where I am or who I am with.

Matthew 12:34

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

If the mouth is truly the window to what is in your heart then let what is in your heart come from your mouth.  Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, my God.

Brian

I started reading through Luke yesterday.  Have you ever come across a verse or passage in the Bible that has made you stop your ever-so-quick reading of scripture and meditate on its magnitude?  I love it when this happens.  In Luke 1 we find Zechariah serving in the temple of the Lord where he meet Gabriel, an angel of the Lord.  Gabriel informs Zechariah that he and his wife will have a Holy Spirit filled baby named John.  Zechariah, only recognizing the physical, wonders how this could happen since both he and his wife are old.  The angel doesn’t go on to explain how it is physically possible for this to happen.  Instead he says,

“I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.”

Wow!  What would it be like to stand in the presence of God?  To be surrounded by pure truth?  This was Gabriel’s response to Zechariah’s doubting, that what he says is true based only on having been in the presence of God.  What an awesome statement!  And to think we will stand there someday.  I can’t wait.

Brian

Yes, that’s right, I said the unthinkable.  But what is wrong with having a good Monday?  There seems to be a (very spoken) rule that the closer you get to Friday the better the day is.  I am of the mind that any day can be a great day especially when you know the God who created that day.  Because of this I can have confidence that whatever comes my way today will be from Him and for His glory.  That makes this Monday (and every other day) a day to find joy in.  No matter my work load or trials or great things that happen, knowing that God is working in my life to draw me closer to Him is a great source of joy.  The closer I am to Him the better off I am.  What a different view than the one we see in the world.  Starting out a day with the goal of ending it closer to Jesus can totally change the way we look at our days.

Until next time, remember that this is the day the Lord has made so rejoicing is in order!

Brian

I discoverd this website a little while back and I have enjoyed it ever since.  ZenHabits.net offers great advice on a variety of different subjects ranging from acheiving your goals to eating healthy.  I would highly recommend that you check out the site.  The author also gives his readers the ability to repost his content so I will take him up on it today.  The most recent post is about going with the flow, something that everyone needs to learn if they want to enjoy life to the fullest.  Read on.

12 Practical Steps for Learning to Go With the Flow

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” - Lao-Tzu

No matter how much structure we create in our lives, no matter how many good habits we build, there will always be things that we cannot control - and if we let them, these things can be a huge source of anger, frustration and stress.

The simple solution: learn to go with the flow.

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

For example, let’s say you’ve created the perfect peaceful morning routine. You’ve structured your mornings so that you do things that bring you calm and happiness. And then a water pipe bursts in your bathroom and you spend a stressful morning trying to clean up the mess and get the pipe fixed.

You get angry. You are disappointed, because you didn’t get to do your morning routine. You are stressed from all these changes to what you’re used to. It ruins your day because you are frustrated for the rest of the day.

Not the best way to handle things, is it? And yet if we are honest, most of us have problems like this, with things that disrupt how we like things, with people who change what we are used to, with life when it doesn’t go the way we want it to go.

Go with the flow.

What is going with the flow? It’s rolling with the punches. It’s accepting change without getting angry or frustrated. It’s taking what life gives you, rather than trying to mold life to be exactly as you want it to be.

“Flow with whatever is happening and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.” - Chuang Tzu

A reader recently asked me to write more about going with the flow, so this is my attempt to share some of the things that work for me. As always, I don’t have any claims to perfection, and I’m learning as I improve, but the tips below should help anyone.

1. Realize that you can’t control everything. I think we all know this at some level, but the way we think and act and feel many times contradicts this basic truth. We don’t control the universe, and yet we seem to wish we could. All the wishful thinking won’t make it so. You can’t even control everything within your own little sphere of influence - you can influence things, but many things are simply out of your control. In the example above, you can control your morning routine, but there will be things that happen from time to time (someone’s sick, accident happens, phone call comes at 5 a.m. that disrupts things, etc.) that will make you break your routine. First step is realizing that these things will happen. Not might happen, but will. There are things that we cannot control that will affect every aspect of our lives, and we must must must accept that, or we will constantly be frustrated. Meditate on this for awhile.
2. Become aware. I’ve mentioned this step in previous articles on other topics, but that’s because it’s extremely important. You can’t change things in your head if you’re not aware of them. You have to become an observer of your thoughts, a self-examiner. Be aware that you’re becoming upset, so that you can do something about it. It helps to keep tally marks in a little notebook for a week - every time you get upset, put a little tally. That’s all - just keep tally. And soon, because of that little act, you will become more aware of your anger and frustration.
3. Breathe. When you feel yourself getting angry or frustrated, take a deep breath. Take a few. This is an important step that allows you to calm down and do the rest of the things on this list. Practice this by itself and you’ll have come a long way already.
4. Get perspective. This always helps me. I get angry over something happening - my car breaks down, my kids ruin my microwave - and then I take a deep breath, and take a step back. You know how you’re watching a movie and the camera zooms away and you can see much more of the world on the screen than you could before? How it goes from closeup to a larger, panoramic view of things? That’s what happens in my mind’s eye. I start to zoom away, until I’m pretty far away from things. Then whatever happened doesn’t seem so important. A week from now, a year from now, this little incident won’t matter a single whit. No one will care, not even you. So why get upset about it? Just let it go, and soon it won’t be a big deal.
5. Practice. It’s important to realize that, just like when you learn any skill, you probably won’t be good at this at first. Who is good when they are first learning to write, or read, or drive? No one I know. Skills come with practice. So when you first learn to go with the flow, you will mess up. You will stumble and fall. That’s OK - it’s part of the process. Just keep practicing, and you’ll get the hang of it. Someday, you may even become a Zen Master and write a guest post on what you’ve learned for Zen Habits.
6. Baby steps. Along the same lines, take things in small steps. Don’t try to become that Zen Master mentioned above overnight. Don’t try to bite off huge chunks - just bite off something small at first. So make your first attempts to go with the flow small ones: focus on the tally marks (mentioned above) first. Then focus on breathing. Then try to get perspective after you breathe. And you might try the easier situations first - if your work problems are easier to accept than your frustrations with your kids, for example, start with work.
7. Laugh. It helps me to see things as funny, rather than frustrating. Car broke down in the middle of traffic and I have no cell phone or spare tire? Laugh at my own incompetence. Laugh at the absurdity of the situation. That requires a certain amount of detachment - you can laugh at the situation if you’re above it, but not within it. And that detachment is a good thing. If you can learn to laugh at things, you’ve come a long way. Try laughing even if you don’t think it’s funny - it will most likely become funny.
8. Keep a journal. This is one of the best uses of a journal actually. Once a day, try to recall what all your tally marks were for - and then write about those situations. Why did you get upset? What did you try to do? Did it work, and if not, why not? What can you do next time? This kind of recollection and examination, after the fact, will help you learn from the process.
9. Meditate. If you aren’t good at keeping a journal, at least do a daily review in your head. Do some meditation, or have a bath, or a cup of hot tea, and as you’re de-stressing, go over your day and examine it. Don’t get frustrated - you’re learning. Do some deep breathing, and then go over each situation, trying to see it as a detached observer. This kind of review will help you improve in the learning process.
10. Realize that you can’t control others. Ah, one of the biggest challenges. We get frustrated with other people, because they don’t act the way we want them to act. Maybe it’s our kids, maybe it’s our spouse or significant other, maybe it’s our coworker or boss, maybe it’s our mom or best friend. But we have to realize that they are acting according to their personality, according to what they feel is right, and they are not going to do what we want all of the time. And we have to accept that. Accept that we can’t control them, accept them for who they are, accept the things they do. It’s not easy, but again, it takes practice.
11. Accept change and imperfection. When we get things the way we like them, we usually don’t want them to change. But they will change. It’s a fact of life. We cannot keep things the way we want them to be … instead, it’s better to learn to accept things as they are. Accept that the world is constantly changing, and we are a part of that change. Also, instead of wanting things to be “perfect” (and what is perfect anyway?), we should accept that they will never be perfect, and we must accept good instead.
12. Enjoy life as a flow of change, chaos and beauty. Remember when I asked what “perfect” is, in the paragraph above? It’s actually a very interesting question. Does perfect mean the ideal life and world that we have in our heads? Do we have an ideal that we try to make the world conform to? Because that will likely never happen. Instead, try seeing the world as perfect the way it is. It’s messy, chaotic, painful, sad, dirty … and completely perfect. The world is beautiful, just as it is. Life is not something static, but a flow of change, never staying the same, always getting messier and more chaotic, always beautiful. There is beauty in everything around us, if we look at it as perfect.

“I accept chaos. I am not sure whether it accepts me.” - Bob Dylan

Another item to keep in mind as followers of Christ is that if we truly trust our God and believe He is who we say He is in our songs and prayers then we should have an easy time with this.  The fact is that our actions many times do not match what we claim to believe.  We have to embrace the promises that God gives us in His word.  Promises like: “Fear not, for I am with you”, or “If God is for us who can be against us”.  Read Mat. 6:25-27.  If we believe these promises what do we have to be worried about.  Do our actions line up with what we say we believe?

Brian