King Triton: A Portrait of God?

My six year old was happily surprised when, after watching The Little Mermaid tonight, I told her that for our devotion tonight we would be talking about Ariel. My heart was happy that she could quickly identify King Triton as representation of God. He ruled over the sea, he loved his daughter and had her best in mind. My daughter also could see how Ursula, the sea witch, represented Satan. She wanted the King's position, to rule over the sea and its creatures. 

Ariel, I explained, also represents someone in God's story: you and me. The young mermaid chased after and was enamored by what she desired. She wandered from her father's safe boundary and found herself drawn to the charming Prince Eric. She became so enamored with Eric that she willing to sell her voice to the Sea Witch and thus become her "slave" for the temporary and conditional "gift" of human legs. Of course, Ursula was playing Ariel all along, and through trickery and deceit, she would not allow Ariel to succeed. Try as she may, Ariel was unable to meet Ursula's conditions and win Eric's heart, represented by true love's first kiss. According to the agreement, Ursula could then turn Ariel into a miserable, wailing weed stuck to the ocean floor. 

Satan draws us, too, with things that appear to be irresistible. The father of lies does not deceive us with his true identity of death and destruction. Instead, we are drawn to our "too good to be true" Prince Eric. The apparent promise of happiness allows Satan to draw us in, away from God's best, and ultimately it leads to misery and death. 

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ro. 6:23).

My daughter recently quoted this verse for her AWANA Sparks class. I was able to explain that Ariel's choices were not King Triton's best for her, just like sometimes we choose something that is not God's best for us--sin. The result of our sin, like the result of Ariel's choices, leads us to big time trouble. "But the gift of God is eternal life.." Ariel received a free gift, too. Her father took her place; he took her punishment and became a miserable sea weed in her place. We receive God's free gift of eternal life because we have no way to get out of the trouble our sin has caused for us. He took the punishment we deserve, but that's not the end!

Satan, death and sin could not defeat our Holy God. He rose again and brings us life. King Triton, similarly, did not remain a miserable sea weed. He turned back into the King and gave to Ariel a life better than she could have hoped for!

Each and every story that has the essential elements of a plot can be aligned with God's One Perfect Story. The main character, the villian, the crisis, the Savior. God is Truth, and His great story of salvation is reflected in so many aspects of life. 

In much simpler terms I attempted to explain how God's story of salvation is reflected in a story she loves, and I think she understood. My hope is that she will come to see God's truth in everything around her! "We should do more devotions like that, mom!" my baby girl whispered as I tucked her into bed.

May we also daily seek and find His Truth in every situation! 

Running in Circles

As a mother of young kids, I often find completing one simple task can take hours. For example, adding that sock to the laundry I remembered seeing under Jake's bed can take half a day. That is, by the time I get a drink for Kayla, clean up the PBJ sandwich Jake thought he could make by himself, re-make PBJ sandwiches for hungry kids, peel carrots, slice an apple, pour milk, prepare some parts of dinner because I'm in the kitchen anyway, make a list of needed ingredients I thought I already had for dinner tomorrow, pick up the Connect Four game I trip over walking to the stairs, move all the living room furniture to find the lost yellow Connect Four piece, not actually find it, but instead discover a list of new supplies Kayla needs for her art project at school, scramble to gather the supplies, go back and try to find my list of needed ingredients to add red beads and glitter glue for Kayla's project, finally go to Jake's room and remember that I still need to wash his sheets because he uncharacteristically wet his bed last night, bring the sheets to the washer, then remember that I need to go get that sock I saw under Jake's bed. So begins round two.

This example is not too far from the truth many days. By the end of the day, I am exhausted from running in circles. I get so distracted by other pressing "needs" that I seem to get nothing accomplished. Or maybe I accomplish everything besides what I actually intend to do. The distraction affects not only accomplishing tasks, but extends to living life as a godly wife, mother, friend and child of God.

I had a particularly rough day recently. I was torn emotionally. By the evening I was pulled in so many directions, and as a result I felt I was not fulfilling my role of wife, mother, business partner or any other roles in any suitable way. 

The "demon" on my shoulder was whispering, "You're a failure. Why do you even try? You can't do anything well. You are doing more harm than good. You, You, You..." The devil always draws focus on me, myself, my inadequacy.

The evil one wants to distract my focus and skew my true identity in Christ. If I focus on what I can (or cannot) do rather than what my Great God wants to accomplish by His own power through me, I will always feel overwhelmed, defeated and discouraged.

In tears, I wrote in my prayer journal expressing my thoughts to God. He gently reminded me, "Cast your cares on me, because I care for you." I later looked up the word translated cares in the original Greek.

Read below the definition of the word the Greek word, merimna, translated care or anxiety in 1 Peter 5:7. What a blessed discovery this was for me!

Care (Noun and Verb), Careful, Carefully, Carefulness

[ A-1,Noun,G3308, merimna ] 

probably connected with merizo, to draw in different directions, distract," hence signifies "that which causes this, a care, especially an anxious care,"Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:19; Luke 8:14; Luke 21:34; 2 Corinthians 11:28 (RV, "anxiety for"); 1 Peter 5:7 (RV, "anxiety"). See ANXIETY.  (Vine's: Care)

Distract. Draw in different directions. 

The definition of care, the very Greek word in 1 Peter 5:7, exactly matched the anxiety I was facing. I literally felt pulled in so many opposing directions. This tension left me feeling inadequate and unproductive. 

I love God's word! I love how God speaks to me in such precise ways through the Scripture. I love how I can read and study one single phrase many, many times, yet still discover a hidden treasure therein at just the needed moment!

So I got my head on straight, submitted my anxieties to God, and told the demon on my shoulder, "God in me is the Ruler and Creator of the Universe. Through Him I have been given 'everything I need for life and godliness.' I have purpose and have been called to 'participate in His divine nature;' I have been given direction and purpose through His overflowing glory and goodness!" (see 2 Pe 2:1-4).

The demon fled quickly, and I think he was limping! Or he might have just tripped on that lost Connect Four token!

"It's Not Wrong, It's Just Different"

On Saturday evening, after a long day of traveling, we had arrived in Playa del Carmen, Mexico to begin a fun, relaxing week of family vacation on the beach. Of course there were the momentary stressors; the "I didn't plan it this way" reactions. The kids had a day full of too much screen time and too little food with any nutritional value! I couldn't find things which I knew I had packed, and my spouse wasn't living up to my (unrealistic) expectations.

So goes vacation: "Day 1/2" (that's the first evening after traveling, before I get my mind around all things new and different.)

As I opened my Bible the next morning to continue reading though Matthew, I asked God to speak to me in light of my negative attitude. "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law" (Ps. 119:18).

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”...⁹ Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹¹ He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. (Matthew 12:1,2,9,10-13).

Well, God certainly reminded me that my expectations of how things "should" be might be quite different in the face of reality! It is the people I am serving, in this case, my family, who are much more important than my agenda. My flexibility and mindset fixed on the bigger picture was more needful than healthy meals and structured activities from the get-go. In the same way, Jesus didn't bend to the Pharisees' expectations at the expense of those who relied on and needed him, even though the Pharisees' were attempting to enforce what they saw as God's Holy Laws.

From my first experience with foreign travel many years ago, I learned the lesson, "It's not wrong, it's just different." I guess I need to remember this truth: not only with application to others, but also toward myself! I need to be mindful of something I tell my kids all the time, "get a better attitude and we will all be happier!" I needed to relax, adjust my expectations, and allow non-vital matters to work themselves out.

As I'm writing this, we are completing Day three of vacation, and today was blissfully relaxing, joyfully sunny, and definitely a treasured memory!