A Walk in the Park

by Joanne Ellison

11.01.21

I have a word for all of you who are following my blog. Life is not a walk in the park. It is filled with ups and downs and turnarounds and of course there is the good, the bad, and the ugly. Life in short is not the Garden of Eden. But wait…. the Garden of Eden was disrupted by “Did God say?” The Garden of Eden’s beautiful harmony was interrupted by Satan’s voice and he has not stopped harassing God’s people. Admittedly some times we harass ourselves all by ourselves, but often the enemy who seeks to rob, steal and destroy is interested in disrupting your life — a life as a Christian that is called to Peace. The enemy sows lies into our thoughts, he wreaks havoc on our God-confidence, and he weasels his way into our plans.

BUT GOD….

Gets the last word, as we commit our ways to Him and intentionally say no to the devil’s lies and yes to God’s promises. Friends, life on this side of heaven is a training ground to say yes to God and no to red legs.

Back to a walk in the park. Recently, my spinning plates with an overcrowded “to do” list crashed and then as I tried to glue them back together, I found myself frustrated. So I decided to take a walk– not in the park but on Sullivan’s Island which is near my home. I took the morning off and walked along the seashore. I found myself little by little tossing every spinning plate into the sea. We all need time every so often to regroup; to remember that our mission in life is not to be superwoman or superman (for those men who are reading this). Our mission is to make Jesus known to a world that needs Him. Sometimes our jobs, our kids, even ministry can crowd out the main thing: Jesus. So today I am keeping this short. I want each of you to go to your calendars and block out a time to go for a walk. Spend time alone and reconnect with the beauty of God’s creation. Throw your spinning plates down. I am going to give you Scriptures to meditate on and a playlist of worship songs to take along with you as you reconnect with God.