Category: Wisdom

Gratitude, Stewardship, Wisdom

Don’t Waste the Blessing

The Kedge Anchor

Proverbs 12:27

“Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find.” (NLT)

As some you know I am chronologically reading through the Bible and creating a junk journal of sorts; collecting and treasuring scripture as I go. I am taking my time, I am not on a time table trying to get through it in a year. It may be a few years and I am ok with that. 

When I read this verse, it hurt, OUCH! And of course I had to dig a little deeper into this verse and this is where it really hurt.

Proverbs contrasts laziness with diligence by showing that failing to finish what we begin wastes the blessings God has already provided. Like game left uncooked, neglected opportunities, gifts, and responsibilities can be lost through inaction or laziness. A diligent person, however, recognizes God’s provisions as valuable and practices careful stewardship of time, skills, relationships, and resources. Diligence is an expression of gratitude, honoring God by faithfully completing the work He has entrusted to us.

This verse reminds me to follow through on what I begin, faithfully manage what God has entrusted to me, and recognize every blessing as something worth cultivating, putting in the effort needed to transform potential into purpose, fruitfulness, and lasting joy.

I am so guilty of this. It’s easy for food to go bad in our house because it’s hard to eat anything when your eyes see food and your stomach says; “Nope.” Dust piles up, the house gets a little messier and dirtier until one of us can clean it. However, with a chronic illness like migraines and many times with those migraines comes nausea and thus food goes to waste because there have beens many days where I eat very little. I’m not being lazy. If you’re like me there are days lifting my head off the pillow takes so much energy to take care of anything else, it’s just not a priority. That’s not an excuse, that’s just an explanation. I want to be sensitive to those of us with chronic illness and find it hard to be consistent when some days you’re in survival mode. I can honestly say that the migraines are becoming fewer and I am able to be more attentive and consistent with things. It does bother me that food gets wasted. I am working on that. God understands I am not lazy. Sometimes I am a little lazy I’ll admit, but many days I’m in survival mode. 

When it comes to my art supplies; I have lots. Many I don’t use sometimes because I forget I have them because they are stashed somewhere in a draw. Kinda outta sight outta mind. I try to use what I have before I go out and spend money on something I am likely not to use or end up not liking. If whatever hasn’t been used in a while, I’ll donate it and bless someone else with it. 

Then there’s the actual pieces of art that go left unfinished. I get to a point where I either lose interest or deem it not worth finishing because of a mistake or I just don’t like how it turned out. I have lots of those pieces. So I am trying to recycle them and reused them somehow, maybe try and fix them or finish them. There have been times I am just playing and experimenting and I come up with something really I really like and then sometimes it’s just a mess. But I don’t have to toss the whole thing out, there may be parts that can be used.

The image at the top are attempts of me just playing and experimenting . Some are messy, and some just ok. I can cut out the things I like and use them as ephemera in my junk journal. I can also reuse the back and paint on it. And the scraps I can use to make a color palette and test colors and even those can be used for something.  I am human I do make mistakes but I can still be a good steward of the resources God has provided.

As I continued reflecting on Proverbs 12:27, another verse came to mind — Philippians 1:6.

I think there is another layer to this verse that God is revealing to me, one that goes beyond what we do with the things He has placed in our hands.

If this encouraged you today, consider subscribing so you don’t miss Part Two. Also look for me on substack, Facebook and Instagram, Until then Anchor in Hope.

encouragement, social media, Uncategorized, Wisdom

Don’t Stop Scrolling — Slow It Down

The Kedge Anchor

Choosing intention over distraction in your daily scroll

We’ve all seen the posts:

“Stop scrolling.”
“Put down your phone.”

And then they go on to tell us how damaging it can be emotionally, physically, to our relationships, and even to our spirituality.

We fall down rabbit holes.
We lose hours doomscrolling.
We get angry.
We fall for lies.

Our necks are bent down, our shoulders are tight, never looking up to see what’s going on around us, and by the time we realize it, we’re slumped over, discouraged, and wondering where the time went. We’ve wasted hours, strained our posture, and started to believe—God knows what.

Now, those are all well meaning posts. The creators want to help. They want to share how choosing to put down their phones has helped them learn a new skill, reconnect with friends and family, feel less anxious, or even get into better shape because they swapped scrolling for strolling outside.

But… how would we know any of this if we weren’t scrolling?

Kind of ironic.

If I told you to put down your phone and stop scrolling, you would most likely never see any of my posts. That kind of defeats my purpose of digital marketing and connecting with others online.

Technology, in and of itself, isn’t the enemy. We have a wealth of information in the palm of our hands. I used to spend hours at the library collecting information for school reports, lugging around books and flipping through pages. Now I can sit in the comfort of my own home and quickly look up how something works or find a definition.

I can learn new things to improve my art.
I can be inspired.
I can stay connected with loved ones.

For me, one of the best parts is having access to Biblical references, devotionals, and even meditation apps like Abide. I can also volunteer online and encourage others who are going through difficult seasons of life.

Social media has its pros and cons. It’s up to us how we engage with it responsibly.

So instead of stopping our scroll, maybe we just need to slow it.

Here are a few ways to be more intentional online:

Time yourself.
Set a timer on your phone—or better yet, somewhere else in the house—so you actually have to get up to shut it off.

Check your screen time.
Most phones provide a weekly report that shows how much time you’ve spent scrolling. It can be eye-opening.

Have an accountability partner.
Find someone who will encourage you to be intentional with your time online.

Curate your feed.
Be intentional about what shows up in your social media. My feeds consist of art tutorials, devotionals, beach and ocean groups, animals, food, migraines, and of course, my family and friends. I block anything that stirs up unnecessary anger, sadness, or negativity.

There are plenty of content creators whose goal is simply to stir things up. You don’t have to give them your time or attention.

If you know me, you know I love to volunteer. There are actually ways to do that from the comfort of your own home thanks to technology.

I volunteer as a Digital Outreach Volunteer for Focus on the Family. Each week I respond to posts on social media platforms from people who are looking for answers to some of life’s harder situations. It’s a simple way to spread God’s love, share His Gospel, and plant seeds of hope.

The internet can be a dark place that needs God’s light. That’s why it’s important for me to be mindful of what I’m doing online. It’s so easy to say, “Let me just check one thing on Facebook,” and before I know it, three hours have passed and I’ve accomplished… nothing.

To help you slow your scroll, I’ve created a free phone wallpaper as a reminder to be intentional about how you spend your time online. Feel free to download and share it.

There are some really great things we can learn from social media. I’m not saying stick your head in the sand. If you needed to lose weight, I wouldn’t tell you to stop eating—I would advise you on how to do it in a healthy way.

The same goes for scrolling.

Scroll responsibly.

What do you do to help yourself be more intentional online? Leave it in the comments and share what works for you.

Until then,
Anchor in Hope.

Wisdom

Is It Possible to Seek God Diligently and Not Find Him?

The Kedge Anchor
Photo by Jean van der Meulen on Pexels.com

Happy Friday!! We made it to the end of the week. It’s almost the weekend!!! First, I just want to say this blog post today is inspired by the Bible Cafe on Instagram hosted by Pastor Dave Therrien @therrien6034, New Hope Christian Church. He has been taking us through Proverbs 1 this week talking about wisdom. Whilst Pastor Dave has been talking about wisdom in verses 32 and 33 (I encourage you to listen to the past week, they are five short videos). Pastor Dave goes on to say we need to be intentional about doing what God says to “be at ease from the dread of evil.” It’s a promise if we are intentional about doing what God says? (which made me think, “am I setting out each day to intentionally do what God says?”, that’s a discussion for another day)

After reading verses 32 and 33, verse 28 caught my eye;

28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30 They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.” (NKJV).

(seriously, listen today’s video and what Pastor Dave says the Bible says about complacency)

So this reminded me of last week’s post and the one before that about seeking God wholeheartedly, diligently. The Bible says we will find Him when we seek Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:13). But, verse 28 – “… They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. That just smacked me between the eyes. Proverbs 9:10 came to mind – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” We need to have fear, a reverent fear of God, THAT is the beginning of wisdom. We must CHOOSE to fear God. My fear of God isn’t one that makes me run from Him. It’s not a fear if I mess up He’s gonna be mad me and punish me. He’ll correct me and get me back on track with love, grace and mercy. My fear is fear one that is in awe of Him. He is in control, He died for me, for us, God rose Jesus from the dead for me, for us, so that we could have eternity with Him. God is sovereign, there is no other like Him, He has NO equal! Choosing to fear the Lord, the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 2:4-6

4 “If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;”

We can be diligent and intentional in our search but with out fear of the Lord, we ain’t gonna find Him. We ain’t gonna find wisdom and understanding without a reverent fear of the Lord. It comes down to choosing. Choosing to fear the Lord. Choosing to be intentional about seeking Him and doing what He says. There are only good things that come from choosing to fear the Lord. Diligent, intentional, wholeheartedly, seek, choose, we will gain wisdom and understanding.