can you get untangled?

If you’ve ever tried to comb through a child’s long hair after a shampoo, you know it is tangled, sometimes into seeming knots, in various places. Conditioner and de-tangler is the only way to comb it without pulling the little one’s hair.

Tangles also come when they have decided to “re-do” their own pony tail or braids during the day. Yikes! Those knotted masses can bring tears and gnashing of teeth. We have to have them sit in front of us and then we can see the knots of hair and go ahead and work to untangle them.

Even my own hair gets matted into a nest when I have put it up and then sit in a recliner for a while. Ouch! When that happens, I have to carefully reach back and edge out strands of hair until I feel the lump begin to loosen. Then I continue to budge more and more hair loose as I feel around without being able to see it.

I thought about this as an analogy to our spiritual lives when I read a devotion written by Sarah Young in the book Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. She wrote, “Let the Spirit take control of your mind, combing out tangles of deception.”

Sooooo right, isn’t it? When we try to untangle whatever has caused the knots in our gut, or emotions or head, we find we cannot do it. Our mind quite often is so messed up with what to do, how to do it, when and where, we simply can’t see a way clear.

Jesus told us to be like little children. We only need to sit in front of Him and let his Spirit rid us of the tangles of deception that have stopped us from having a clear view of Him.

God provides the way our feet should go on His path, and He gives us His strength to walk that distance with Him. He will hold our hands and guide our minds. His infinite knowledge has seen the future, and He knows the way we should go–whether we can see it or not. In fact He promises to make the path straight and smooth.

I pray that you will try to focus your mind on God and the fact that He has all things under His power and gives the Spirit the knowledge of how to help you in every situation you might find yourself.

Let Him untangle your life!

by Cindy Best

epiphany

Epiphany is a word that isn’t used much these days. To have an epiphany is to have the proverbial light bulb go off in one’s head. The lights are “switched on” when understanding comes. The English word epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning “manifestation or appearance.” An epiphany thus reorients, reorders, or transforms our view from one way of looking at the world to another.

As we enter the winter season in earnest, our views of daily life change. Upon going outside, we have to think of what clothes we will wear for protection from the elements. In putting on these coverings, we should be aware of not hiding our true selves under these. We should always be open to the teaching of Jesus.

During Epiphany, Christians are asked to pay special attention to the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus for the ways in which he is revealed to be the Messiah. All who seek the truth are asked to reconsider Jesus during this season, to have eyes opened and paradigms shifted. The author Hebrews invites all who would look at Jesus to see in him the very epiphany of God. “[I]n these last days God has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the world” (Hebrews 1:1-3). Everyone who looks at His life has the opportunity to experience epiphany, and to have vision altered as time is spent looking at His life and listening to Jesus through His teachings.

The season of Epiphany presents a challenging occasion for a paradigm modification. The Christian story tells us that it is in the humble acknowledgement of unpreparedness that we see anything with clarity. Ironically Epiphany does not come in assuming that we have all the answers. It comes in acknowledging our weaknesses and leaning on the strength of the One who is all in all. Trying to have all of our “ducks in a row” does not denote maturity or clarity, but leaning on the Perfecter and Author of our faith does.

by Jennifer Dalenburg