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WORD FOR THE YEAR? EMBRACED…

by | Jan 1, 2020 | AGING, CHANGE, HOPE | 4 comments

Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash

Embrace: 1. to hold (someone) closely in one’s arms, especially as a sign of affection.
                  2. accept or support (a belief, theory, or change) willingly and enthusiastically.
For the purposes of this series, we’re using the first definition most often. But it is good to be aware of the second one as well. It may sometimes apply.

 

Do you feel invisible?

 

There has been a process that led me to this word. I was thinking of what it is like to be an older woman. Often, we are seen as invisible, even by people in our families who love us. They often get tired of hearing the same ideas coming from us. Frequently, they only half listen because they are busy and rushing around. How do I know? Because I have been on both sides of this issue. I have been the child who was rushing and had too many things to do. I was too busy to listen. Sometimes, I thought I knew better. Sometimes I was right. At other times, I was very wrong.
And therein lies the problem. Just because we are older, doesn’t mean we always know best. We are not onmiscient (all-knowing) like GOD is. Everything that comes out of our mouths is not a pearl. But there are more pearls than we may get credit for! Often, we are invisible to our families because they are used to us and our opinions. Even after they move out of our homes and start their own homes, they think they know what we think. They aren’t always right. They often forget that we continue growing, just as they do, after they leave home. Sometimes, we grow in similar directions, but not always.
I also realize older people are not the only ones who experience this phenomenon. Others are also invisible. If you are one of those people, you understand how it feels. Not good! Ignored, diminished, foolish…at times when it can often be undeserved. I won’t go down the list of those who experience this in the course of their lives. They are many. They can be members of a minority race or language group at any given time. They may have a visual limitation or handicap. They may have a unique way of doing things or of thinking that is not appreciated by the group they are in at the moment. The list goes on. It doesn’t mean they are worthless or untalented. It just means that the group they are in at the moment doesn’t appreciate their talents or abilities.

 

The great humbler is old age. If we haven’t spent time developing our inner beauty in concert with the Holy Spirit, we have a big problem!

 
The great humbler is old age. Our external beauty is fading. If the inner spirit has not developed over the years with humility, kindness,  generosity, joy (in the face of hard times), and genuine love for others (to name a few), we will have a very hard time surviving old age. This is not something we can do by ourselves. It is a work of GOD’s Spirit in us.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh,
for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,
fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:16-26 ESV

 

It’s like a dance, isn’t it?

 

Living by the Spirit is also compared to keeping in step with the Spirit. It’s like a dance isn’t it? If you get ahead of your dance partner or behind them, the dance doesn’t work. You will get tripped up. The dance won’t work when you are out of step with the person you dance with. It is the same way when you are “dancing” with the Spirit. You are in HIs embrace. He has a plan for developing these attributes in your life. You need to keep in step with Him. He leads. You follow.

So as you are embraced by your Heavenly Father in this dance of the Christian Life, remember that to Him, you are not invisible. You are valuable. Your value is higher than the animals and a little lower than the angels. You have been made in GOD’s image and as male and female, we show that image to the world as seen in one of the memory passages for the month. (Genesis 1:26-28 ESV)

 

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock
and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

    So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.

And God blessed them.
And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,
and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens
and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 1:26-28 ESV

 

 

Related posts:

  1. YOU ARE EMBRACED WITH GOD’S STEADFAST LOVE…
  2. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A BETTER YEAR?…
  3. FROM INVISIBLE TO EMBRACED…
  4. REFLECTIONS ON THIS YEAR REMIND ME OF GOD’S CARE…

4 Comments

  1. Carolyn Turbett
    Carolyn Turbett on 01/04/2020 at 10:50 PM

    Martha, it’s easy to identify with you especially since we are the same age but it is also convicting and very helpful to apply to my own life. Thank tutu you for writing this, dear friend.

    • Martha Brady
      Martha Brady on 01/04/2020 at 10:54 PM

      thanks for coming by to visit carolyn. your comment means a lot. as you well know, i’m very normal and easy for people to identify with. I wish I floated on a cloud more easily, but i don’t. some life changes are just downright hard aren’t they? you know that even better than I do!

      • Carolyn turbett
        Carolyn turbett on 01/04/2020 at 11:12 PM

        Yes life changes are very hard. One thing that really helped was a small group I attended at church on a book called ‘Suffering’ by paul Tripp. It has helped me more than anything to see God’s hand in everything. It helps so much to talk to others who are going thru the same things!

        • Martha Brady
          Martha Brady on 01/06/2020 at 11:21 AM

          sounds like a great study carolyn. i’m guessing it was written since Paul has been sick with his kidney disorder. i’ll have to check it out!