What is in a name? A name is a valuable asset, it's quite possibly one of the first labels a person is given! I thought of this as I was writing for my church's blog (this would have been posted there first, however their website wouldn't let me enter it...) and noticed that my name was misspelled! My name is not a unique name, however it is unique enough for it to be mispronounced by nearly every person I've ever met and don't get me started about spelling! My name is Alicia (A-lee-sha), not hard at all, but I have been called A-lee-c-a, Al-ica, Allison (don't know why on that one!) and even A-lish-a (probably more than that); and it's been misspelled so many different ways that I can't even remember them all...for me to find my name on the bicycle nameplates they make for kids was a miracle when I was a kid!
What struck me though was just how much my identity rested in the correct spelling of my name...spelled wrong and they mean a different person, not me. It was a huge issue for me...bigger than I had realized at the moment.
Names are big for God too. He renamed Abram to Abraham to increase Abraham's faith. I know many who have changed their names because God had told them too, they are no longer the old person and a name change proves that fact. For me, I am quite happy with my name...it comes from a form of Alice, my grandmother of whom I resemble very much (from what I've been told). It means "honest" (I've always thought it meant "truth", yet honest is wonderful as well ;-) ). For me, to have it misspelled means that the meaning of it could change as well.
This is so not true. I am who God created me to be, whether or not my name is spelled right! If anything the misspelling caused me to evaluate, ponder, and enjoy my comfort in Him!
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Idleness
I was at work yesterday talking with my supervisor about kids when the subject moved to keeping kids busy. "Kids need to be kept busy, it's true what they say about 'idle hands' when it comes to kids," he said. I wholeheartedly agreed with him, because when kids aren't kept active, they get bored and find things to do. But that statement got me thinking...idle hands...idle minds. It was like lightning had struck my brain!! Having an idle mind is just as dangerous, if not more, than having idle hands!!
Webster's dictionary describes idle this way: 1. lacking worth or basis: vain <idle chatter> <idle pleasure> 2. not occupied or employed: a. having no employment: inactive <idle workers> b. not turned to normal or appropriate use <idle farmland> c. not scheduled to competeidle
tomorrow> 3. a. shiftless, lazy b. having no evident lawful means of support. I could have left it at one or two of the definitions, yet I wanted the whole idea to get stuck into my own brain and felt it necessary to share it so the whole idea is available.
When I searched 'idle' in a concordance I came up with a grave definition. Webster's at least gives an idea that 'idle' can be OK sometimes...the Bible has a very different view.
Deuteronomy claims that the law is not idle for the Israelites (Deut. 32:47); Proverbs states that an idle man will starve (Proverbs 19:15); Ecclesiastes encourages work throughout the day (Ecc. 11:6) and continues with something to the effect of workers ceasing because they are not being supervised (12:3, very loose summation there, haha!); and Isaiah and Jeremiah both have their say in idleness, mostly referring to ones empty (idle) boasts. The list continues into the New Testament, yet stays along the same thread of the harm of being idle.
This was all brought about due to my own bouts with insecurity...a nasty habit that I am earnestly trying to quit. The lightning that hit me today was that when I allow my mind to be idle I am opening the door to insecurity. I'm not talking just a little bit, I am talking blowing the door wide open and yelling, "COME ON IN!!" Insecurity needs no invitation; it willingly comes right in at any opportunity. But that opportunity comes in droves when I allow my mind to wander aimlessly.
According to 2 Corinthians 10:5, we are to "take every thought captive to obey Christ". Some might say this is easier said than done...hey I might even be the loudest one to say that! But it is TRUTH. If I find myself thinking idly, thoughts that may be an invitation to insecurity or some other destruction, it really is easy to say, "No, I am to take every thought captive to obey Christ, and this is NOT what He has to say about me". If you're like me you may be thinking, "Like what thoughts?" Things as simple as, "I wonder what so and so are doing today" if you're given to feeling left out; or "I wonder why my spouse didn't answer their phone" if you're given to not trusting; or even "I wonder why God hasn't answered this prayer, I've done everything right"...see the common thread here? They are all "I wonder" statements, for me that might as well say, "I wander" because that is what my mind is doing, wandering away from the truth of God's Word.
I may never understand half of the things that I have gone through in my life, but the truth is that I am never alone (Hebrews 13:5), He is my Provider (Genesis 22:14), and my Protector (Isaiah 31:5). The joy is that all we have to do is rest in the knowledge of Hi Word, the truth.
I did not think that a conversation with my supervisor would provide such insight, but it did for me and I pray that it does the same for those who are reading this...blessings!
Webster's dictionary describes idle this way: 1. lacking worth or basis: vain <idle chatter> <idle pleasure> 2. not occupied or employed: a. having no employment: inactive <idle workers> b. not turned to normal or appropriate use <idle farmland> c. not scheduled to compete
tomorrow> 3. a. shiftless, lazy b. having no evident lawful means of support. I could have left it at one or two of the definitions, yet I wanted the whole idea to get stuck into my own brain and felt it necessary to share it so the whole idea is available.
When I searched 'idle' in a concordance I came up with a grave definition. Webster's at least gives an idea that 'idle' can be OK sometimes...the Bible has a very different view.
Deuteronomy claims that the law is not idle for the Israelites (Deut. 32:47); Proverbs states that an idle man will starve (Proverbs 19:15); Ecclesiastes encourages work throughout the day (Ecc. 11:6) and continues with something to the effect of workers ceasing because they are not being supervised (12:3, very loose summation there, haha!); and Isaiah and Jeremiah both have their say in idleness, mostly referring to ones empty (idle) boasts. The list continues into the New Testament, yet stays along the same thread of the harm of being idle.
This was all brought about due to my own bouts with insecurity...a nasty habit that I am earnestly trying to quit. The lightning that hit me today was that when I allow my mind to be idle I am opening the door to insecurity. I'm not talking just a little bit, I am talking blowing the door wide open and yelling, "COME ON IN!!" Insecurity needs no invitation; it willingly comes right in at any opportunity. But that opportunity comes in droves when I allow my mind to wander aimlessly.
According to 2 Corinthians 10:5, we are to "take every thought captive to obey Christ". Some might say this is easier said than done...hey I might even be the loudest one to say that! But it is TRUTH. If I find myself thinking idly, thoughts that may be an invitation to insecurity or some other destruction, it really is easy to say, "No, I am to take every thought captive to obey Christ, and this is NOT what He has to say about me". If you're like me you may be thinking, "Like what thoughts?" Things as simple as, "I wonder what so and so are doing today" if you're given to feeling left out; or "I wonder why my spouse didn't answer their phone" if you're given to not trusting; or even "I wonder why God hasn't answered this prayer, I've done everything right"...see the common thread here? They are all "I wonder" statements, for me that might as well say, "I wander" because that is what my mind is doing, wandering away from the truth of God's Word.
I may never understand half of the things that I have gone through in my life, but the truth is that I am never alone (Hebrews 13:5), He is my Provider (Genesis 22:14), and my Protector (Isaiah 31:5). The joy is that all we have to do is rest in the knowledge of Hi Word, the truth.
I did not think that a conversation with my supervisor would provide such insight, but it did for me and I pray that it does the same for those who are reading this...blessings!
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