Fruit of the Spirit:Peace (devotion)

In college, a lab tech accused me of being a vampire. I have terrible veins. It’s tough to find one for a blood draw. When a tech does locate a vein it usually stops bleeding on them. I once had a nurse who had tried both arms when administering an IV look at me with embarrassment and say, “I’ve been nursing for twenty-five years and I’ve never had this happen.” She ended up getting the anesthesiologist to do it. I only have one vein that works at all. With my kidney issues, it gets hit a lot.

Needless to say, getting blood work stresses me out. At least, it used to stress me out. Part of the reason is I’ve learned to say, “This vein please, and use a butterfly needle.” The other part, the main part, is that I’ve prayed about it for years. Whenever I walk into a lab, I’m praying for things to go smoothly. Thankfully, God has answered and I’ve had much better experiences than I did when I was younger. I don’t fear the lab anymore.

When I was pregnant, they needed to do regular pregnancy blood work and some kidney blood work. The tech was amazed at how much blood he needed to draw. “They’re not leaving you much, are they?” he asked.

I smiled and told him it was no big deal; I was used to it. When he was finished, he asked if I was lightheaded and wanted me to be careful when I stood up. I assured him I was fine.
Unfortunately, I failed my one-hour blood glucose test and had to go back for the three hour. For those of you that don’t know, that test requires four blood draws over the course of the test. It was a couple of days later, but the tech remembered me.

Once again, he was concerned about my comfort and health. Once again, I assured him I was fine. And I was fine. I wasn’t putting up a front; I was truly at peace. I read my magazines and chatted with him while he stuck my arm. It was clear to me that people weren’t usually this laid back for him. At one point during the test he said, “Nothing gets to you.”

I was in the middle of reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan. I knew the source of my peace—the Holy Spirit. I wasn’t about to take credit for something He was doing. So I built up my courage and said, “That wouldn’t be me. That would be the Holy Spirit.”

I don’t know what I expected. I don’t remember his exact words, but he chuckled and gave full agreement. It turned out he was a Christian as well. He had twin girls and joked about how he couldn’t handle all that chaos without the peace the Holy Spirit provides. We talked quite a bit about general things. Finally, he shared with me that he was thinking about switching companies. He felt the environment at his current job was affecting his spiritual walk. I told him I would pray for him, and I did.

Once again, the fruit of the Spirit functioned for ministry. In my last blog on “Joy,” it facilitated salvation for the jail keeper and his family. Here the fruit lead to ministry for a fellow believer. When I used to pray to increase in the various fruits, I was thinking about how that would impact my life. The more I delve into these verses and meditate on them, I realize that I should be praying because of the impact it will have on others.

Ask yourself this today: why do I pray for patience? for kindness? for joy? Do I seek the benefits of the Spirit for myself or for others? If you answered ‘for yourself,’ pray for God to change your mind frame and pursue ministry.

Joy in Adversity (Psalm 16 Devotion)

I've been having a little trouble with my pregnancy. I've been to labor and delivery twice to regulate my blood pressure, and I've been going to the doctor weekly for over a month now. There they monitor not only me, but also Garner. The last three appointments, he's failed the initial non-stress test necessitating a special ultrasound called a biophysical profile (BPP). Thankfully, he's passed the BPP each time. At the moment all is well with both of us, but I'm worrying. When I check my blood pressure, I worry, "Is this the time it skyrockets and won't come down?" When I go in for appointments, I worry that this is the time Garner won't pass the BPP. For the last few days, I've been stressed, waiting for the other shoe to drop. As I was praying in the car this morning, God reminded me that peace is found in His word. It's a shame He had to remind me of that! I didn't go to any special scripture. I just picked up where I'd been reading. It happened to be Psalm 16.

In verse 9, David says "No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts His praises!" David was a man overcome with all kinds of troubles. Before he took the throne, he was hunted and forced into hiding. After becoming king, he dealt with wars, and a myriad of family issues among other things. So I pondered how he could be filled with joy and shout praises. Verse 9 begins with two important words, "No wonder." These words imply that something in the passage prior to verse 9 explains David's state of being.

I'm type A, and I love it when things are clearly defined. Psalm 16 could be an instruction manual for having joy and peace in adversity.

Step 1: Know the Lord. "I said to the Lord, 'You are my Master!'" (verse 2) You can't have true peace until you are submitted to the One who brings it.

Step 2: Hang out with the right people. "The godly people in the land are my true heroes! I take pleasure in them!" (verse 3) It's no secret that the company you keep affects your mood and behavior. Your momma taught you that when you were young! Seek out fellow believers for fellowship.

Step 3: Stop doing bad things. "I will not take part in their sacrifices or even speak the names of their gods." (verse 4) What activites fill the majority of your time? Do they turn your mind to godly thoughts or away?

Step 4: Be thankful. "The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance!" (verse 6) Thank the Lord for all you have before asking for all the stuff you think you need.

Step 5: Spend time in prayer and in the Word. "I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me." (verse 7) This is the one that slammed me. Between the holidays and stressing out, I hadn't been in the Word, and most of my prayers had been about my problems. David says, "even at night." He wasn't saying, "I put in my fifteen minutes this morning, I'm good." Meditating on God's scripture was an all day event for him.

After all these things, he concludes in verse 9, "NO WONDER my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts His praises." I'm not surprised David was shouting either. Hopefully, I will doing the same thing over the next month while I wait for Garner to arrive.

Text is from New Living Translation.