Attention To Detail

"The devil is in the details." This phrase is often used when we've planned but have overlooked a minute factor that can cause our plans to fail. Because our plans fail, hence the phrase.
Human nature tends to be big picture – we don't want to think of the minutiae, as it's too mind-boggling.

So it is always amazing to me that God cares about everything in our lives - from the trivial to the grand. When God told Moses how to build the Tabernacle and its accouterments He provided minuscule detail. God was the first architect and he provided a clear blueprint as to how the Tabernacle should be built.

In Exodus 24:18, Moses went up to Mount Sinai and communed with God for forty days and nights. At this time, God provided Moses with instructions for the building of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was a place where God's people would worship him. Every physical detail listed in the book of Exodus has some spiritual correlation, but I am in awe when I observe how God spells out the physical aspect.

In stark detail, God conveyed to Moses the following:

The Tabernacle and its building materials. The Lord specified that gold, silver, bronze, blue and purple linen, oil and precious stones be used to build the Tabernacle. These would come as an offering from the Israelites (Exodus 25:3-7).
Accouterments for the Tabernacle - The Ark of the Covenant – The Ark was to contain the tables of the law and was to be kept in the holiest place: The Holy of Holies. God provided the measurements, the materials and the design (Exodus 25:10-22).
The Table of Showbread – a table to constantly display bread. This table symbolizes how God nourishes us all the time. Again, God provided Moses with measurements, materials and design (Exodus 25:23-30).
The Golden Lamp stand – provided constant light for the Tabernacle and was resplendent. The Lamp stand is a type of Christ. It was to have 6 branches, 3 on each side and one stand in the middle. God specified that it be made with a talent of pure gold, and provided Moses with the specifications for the shape of the lamp stand (Exodus 25:31-40).
Curtains of Linen – The curtains were to be hung throughout the Tabernacle in three colors – blue, purple and scarlet. The linen curtains symbolize Christ's righteousness. God told Moses the length, how they should be folded, where the selvedge should be located (did you know God was a seamstress?), the loops, and the clasps for the curtains (Exodus 26:1-9).
Other items are also specified for the Tabernacle and are laid out in astonishing detail. There are: the Curtain of Goats Hair, the Covering of Rams Skin, the Boards & Sockets, the Inner Veil, the Outer Veil, the Gate of the Court and Oil for the Lamp (Exodus 26).
Since God leaves nothing to chance, He then delineated the priestly garments: (breastplate, robe, ephod, embroidered coat, miter and a girdle), how the priests should be consecrated, the types of sacrifices, food for the priests and finally who may worship (Exodus 28,29).

Once God provided Moses with the layout of the Tabernacle, God recognized that he would need knowledgeable people to build the Tabernacle. Moses didn't have to scratch his head for too long because God then provided spirit filled craftsmen, contractors who were good at their work. They had a talent for working with their hands that God used and blessed. He provided Bezalel and Oholiab who had knowledge in all manner of workmanship (Exodus 31:1-6). According to all that the Lord commanded, they did (Exodus 31:11).

Ultimately, the Tabernacle was a place of worship and adoration to God Himself. It was also a place for mercy and atonement.

In the same way, God provided an exact blueprint for the Tabernacle, He has a blueprint for each of our lives, right down to what we would consider inconsequential.

The next time you have a quandary in your life, commune with God. Set aside a time to talk and listen to what He has to say. God is detail oriented as evidenced throughout His Word, but in particular in providing the specifications for the Tabernacle. God leaves nothing to chance; He is aware of every situation. He cares about every aspect of your life. Listen, and He will provide all the necessary details for your life. He will even send the right people along to assist you, individuals who have exactly what you need, when you need it, blessed by God.

Your plans won't fail if God is in the details.

Do you invite God into every aspect of your life?

P.S. I wrote this many years ago, but only decided to share it again today.

You Are Not Your Mistakes

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Have you ever kicked yourself for doing something so dumb? "How could you?" you say over and over again. You deal with it, you talk it out, and you do your best to learn from it and you move on. I've done some dumb things in my life - haven't we all? But that's no excuse because when I should have known better, I didn't do better and as a result I was humiliated. I'd venture to say that if I wasn't humiliated I might have continued not doing better.

I remember that humiliation.  Isn't it funny that no matter the passage of time, sometimes that mistake just rears its ugly head and all of a sudden it's hitting you square between the eyes.

What do you do?

At this point, I've learned to remember that I am not my mistake. The feelings may come to make me doubt where I am now, but I'm not that mistake - I'm not the person I was when I made that mistake. All of these thoughts take root in our minds and if we ruminate on them they can grow and produce undesirable fruit that is rotten.

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Is this how you feel?

Instead, take every thought captive. When you capture something, you surround it and muffle it so that it is stifled and has no room to grow. Do that with your thoughts. Then replace the mistake with your growth from that point on. Don't marinate in the mistake, marinate on the growth.

While we may always wrestle with things that caused us pain, we don't have to let our minds stay there. We can remember that we have overcome and we are now better for having made that mistake.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 6-7

Guard your heart above all else,

for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23

If this is your struggle, remember you can overcome and you are not your mistakes.

Think on These Things

I recently met a fellow runner via BGR-LA(Los Angeles) and we've been meeting on Saturday mornings, logging 5 miles. We typically run 4 mins and walk 1 min (there's a name for this method, but it escapes me).  Believe it or not this allows us to average a 10 min mile pace or better.  Because of our weekly meetings I've decided to incorporate this method at least 2 mornings a week, while running 3 miles by myself.  I don't understand it, but now 3 miles seems very easy.

Prior to running this morning, I had my quiet time.  It's my favorite part of the day; as I was reading (run 4 mins) and meditating (walk 1 min), these verses came to mind -

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.  Philippians 4:8-9

I appear to be a positive person, the eternal optimist but sometimes what I think about, can weigh me down. Sometimes I think about things that are false, dishonest, unjust, ugly, gossip - things that aren't virtuous or praiseworthy. Do you see how the converse of verse 8 is also true?  When I think like this I become a negative person, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  I become a naysayer, I lose sight of the big picture,  I am not an encourager and I don't project hope. In verse 9, Paul is using himself as an example as he speaks to the Philippians.  Since God was using him to teach, model the behaviors that he taught.  The ultimate end result is that we will have peace, which is sorely missing in many today.

My morning run reminds me to enjoy God's beauty and think on positive things; a by product is that the more  I do this, the easier it becomes, just like running.

Are you a positive person? Do you find that spending quiet time with God allows you to be more positive in your thoughts?  Have you mastered "thinking on these things?"

The Key

I like tea; no I love tea - it's my favorite beverage.  My children chide me for my tea habit - but to my mind it could be worse - I could be drinking alcoholic beverages.  So I'll continue to drink tea, since it soothes and calms my spirit.  I recently downloaded Tea Lovers Devotions To Go by Marilyn Nutter.  This particular devotion really spoke to me, and I hope it does the same for you.

The Key   

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Philippians 4:8 (NIV)  

As one might expect, original storage containers for tea leaves came from China.  These containers were square, round, or bottle shaped jars made of pottery or porcelain.  Each container had a lid for measuring the tea. It wasn’t until the late 1700’s that the term “tea caddy” was used. The word “caddy” came from the Malay-Chinese word kati, referring to a measure of about 1 1/3 pounds. This amount of tea filled a single compartment box. Through the years manufacturers experimented with different materials for making tea caddies, using wood, silver, pewter and lacquer ware.  The preferred material in the 19th century was fine wood and compartments for mixing tea and sugar were also included in the caddies.  As tea became more popular, the design of the tea caddy evolved and became more varied, adding new shapes. Filigree, painting and distinctive decorating added to the offerings. Some were fitted with a lock and key to keep the valuable contents safe.  In the 1800’s, it was customary for the mistress of the house, not the servants, to hold the key to this precious commodity. Tea was considered just as valuable as gold! If one wanted tea, the woman of the house held the key and you had to ask her to unlock the caddy.


Women of the house still hold the key.  We hold the key of influence.  We influence the world around us: our workplace, friends, organizations we belong to and of course, our families.  We also have an uncanny knack to influence ourselves and sometimes we don’t even realize it. Negative self-talk about our value, appearance and worth influences our decisions and behavior.  We look in the mirror and notice our bad hair day or that we don’t like the way we look in our outfit.  We speak the words out loud.  Our brain believes them and we feel gloomy. We hold the key to be positive and choose to unlock negativity.    Last week I was part of a conversation where it was mentioned that a woman dropped out of an organization because she thought no one liked her. There wasn’t one shred of truth to her perception, but she had internalized it and believed it. She held the key to continue attending meetings, taking initiative and allowing friendships to develop but she used her key to leave.

Perhaps growing up you were told you weren’t pretty or didn’t work hard enough, or you didn’t fit into the “right” teen-age cliques. That was then and this is now-- use your key to lock those perceptions and put them away.   Tea caddies began as small boxes to hold a commodity that was considered as precious as gold. They evolved into intricately designed boxes with compartments and keyholes made of mother of pearl! You can hold on to your key to open new doors and toss out those negative words or you can keep opportunities locked.  As intricately designed. I’m sure He even thinks that the keyhole is more lovely than one decorated with mother of pearl.  

Prayer for serene-tea:  Father, I know that I have been guilty of negative thinking and self-talk and that is offensive to You, the one who made me and loves me. Help me to change my thinking to reflect that I am your creation and precious to You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tea caddy - I had no idea what a caddy looked like, so I googled it; all  contained a key hole!

How will you use your key?