Part 2: God's Word (familiarity series)

What’s my second battle of familiar belittlement I wish to fight? The crazy opportunity that we take for granted every day, and that is God’s word. When was the last time you read your bible? No judging from me, it’s been a couple days for me. Not only that, but when you read your bible is it out of obligation or desire? Do you want to read your bible, is it a deep thirst to hear, or read more specifically, the words of God? We take this honor and privilege for granted, every. Single. Day. Wycliffe Bible Translators estimate that 180million people do not have the Bible in their language, 180 million people. These people are left without knowledge of God’s love or his promises you have the opportunity to know. Does that really sink in? For me, it didn’t really sink in; it still hasn’t really sunk in. All I know is this, we all have the opportunity that 180million people are denied every single day. So next time you choose to do something else instead of reading God’s word, contemplate your familiar denying of an everyday grace given to you by God. May you thirst for this opportunity on a daily basis.

Long Days

Have you ever had a day you never thought would end? Maybe you woke up too early and couldn't get back to sleep so you spent your day exhausted, all the while the day dragged on, second-by-crawling-second. Maybe your work or way of life has left you attempting to deal with people who are less than desirably who you want to deal with. You spend agonizing minute after minute trying to please, take care of, and deal with these people.

It's time for a refresh.

"Today is just not my day!" you may say! (Oh dang, check out my rhyming skills!) Indeed, it is not your day.
Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!"
Yes, indeed today is not your day, it is the Lords. Let him work through you today.

God is Crazy

God is crazy. Yes, reread that sentence. No, I didn't typo, I didn't stick my foot in my mouth, I meant that exactly how I said it. God is hopelessly, endlessly, reliably -CRAZY! I suppose I should explain the context in which I mean that, but truly, God is crazy... I'm so glad he is, I am so endowed in thankfulness for his absolute insanity...

                                      6 months ago...

I sat on the balcony overlooking the ocean, with no land in sight. The sun set and I sat there for the continuing hours. I stood up and leaned on the railing, tears violently pouring down my face. As my sobbing became more violent, I pounded on the railing screaming "I'M HERE, I'M HERE..... I'm here.... oh God please use me... Why, oh God, do you have me here?! You must be CRAZY!" and indeed, I was just scratching the surface. I put my headphones on as music poured through the speakers. "...Lead me where my trust is without boarders, let me walk upon the waters... wherever you would call me" I raised my hands in prayer and submission to Christ, praying these words to him. Never would I have imagined, he would take me up on the offer, to where my trust is without borders, walking upon the waters, following his will.

                                        6 months later...

Here I am, faced with the biggest, most terrifying, choices of my life. I am caught in a bitter clash of past choices who have made me who I am, and present choices I am making, molding me into the person I will be. I am terrified by my individualism, and yet my choices to follow God's will. I pray fervently as to follow Gods will, and I am terrified. I have told myself that I don't care if people hate me, if I am kicked to the curb, if I am rejected by those closest to me, as long as I follow God's will... but I have lied to myself. Though I am following God's will, I am terrified that I will have to walk away from everything I love, everything that is familiar to me. As I confess this, my cheeks grow pink in shame. Praying for strength in the coming days, weeks, months and years. Oh God, Lead me where my trust is without borders. Indeed, the insanity of God is leading me exactly to where my trust is borderless.

When God's Plans are not as Important as Our Own

"Please turn off all cell phones during the test, if your cell phone rings you will be asked to leave the testing facility." I reached down into my backpack and turned off my cell phone then settled back into my chair to begin the test. I completed the first round of testing, and then the second, I was halfway through the third round of testing when, in a moment that sinks my stomach simply thinking about it, my cell phone rang. Looking back at it, I should have seen it coming. After all, my phone had been malfunctioning and doing funky stuff all week, I just never imagined that it would decide to do it in this moment. I felt my heart drop, my shaking hands turned off the alarm as I looked up with wide eyes at the supervisor. "Please leave." he said simply, I fought back tears as I gathered my belongings and walked out of the room. When I got into the car the tears I fought to contain burst and wouldn't stop. I went home and immediately called my friend who comforted me as I sobbed uncontrollably.
It is not even a week later, the wound is still fresh in some ways, however, the lesson is still in my head as well. The Lord has a way of showing us that his plan is greater than our own. I sat in church that evening and the pastor was speaking about when "God interrupts your life" and I sat in the chair and I laughed to myself. I laughed that I had been foolish enough to attempt to make God do as I asked, I laughed that I had tried to make God fit into my life, instead of making my life fit into God's plan.
I opened my hands and said "Take it, God, take my plans, I trust you." and now, I find peace. As my pastor concluded his message, he left me with a thought, "When your plans are more important than God's plans, you are not in the center of God's will."

Are you in the center of God's will?

Familiarity

Familiarity is such a problem that modern day Christians are encountering more and more. I am going to begin a series on familiarity posts that I hope are encouraging for you. I hope in the midst of the familiarity you find in your faith, my posts can open your eyes the wonder of Christianity, but most importantly, the wonder of God.

I’ve had the opportunity to grow up in a Christian home my whole life; however, it has had its share of disadvantages through it all. This privilege that was given to me by my parents, but more specifically, God above, however, I have taken this privilege for granted.

One thing in particular that a lot of Christian children who are raised in Christian homes miss the extraordinary realization of the acceptance and dependence we find in Christ. We have lived a life of entitlement, at least, I have. I have lived feeling as though I can do whatever I want and come back to Christ for forgiveness and it’ll all be okay again. I am ashamed to admit this, however, it’s something that I’m working on and it’s detrimental that I come to terms with my feelings. Sometimes, our life with lack of ever being “without Christ” makes us less empathetic but in my heart, I am broken, for I find myself so very often unable to feel love and compassion. I know I’m not the only kid out there that feels this way! I know it! For all of you kids out there that have trouble like I do, that have trouble feeling the greatness and capturing the crazy love we have received in Christ, this is for you. Maybe you’re not even a kid, maybe you’re an adult and you feel this way as well! I don’t promise answers, I’m still trying to figure this out myself, but I want you to know that you’re not alone, and maybe, just maybe, by enlightening this topic more, we can take the first steps to figuring out the solution to this problem as well!

Contemplate your life; review your week, what have you done this week that brought you closer to God? What about further away from God? I don’t know about you, but this week, for me, was tough. I feel like this week had more “drawing away” in it then “drawing near.” I recently found myself contemplating my lack of sympathy for an individual caught between a rock and a hard place, in the shadows of sin, in the darkness of individual pain. I justified my numb feelings by saying “they did this to themselves” or “its best for them to figure out this for themselves” or even, I shamefully admit, I give up on them, I lose compassion and tell myself that I can do nothing about it. Maybe you’re reading this and you say “That’s true, though.” And while, yes, maybe this is true, I think we forget that in the midst of crisis, there is never a moment where we cannot do anything. Can we change the situation? No. Can we end the pain? No we cannot end the pain or change the situation, at least, not on our own. 

Part 1: prayer
Part 2: God's Word
Part 3: God's Acceptance
Part 4: A Forgotten Need
Part 5: Evangelism
Part 6: Christ's Light
Part 7: Sincerity
Part 8: Where Do We Go From Here? (closing remarks)

Familiarity: Prayer

 I wish to combat the belittlement, the forgotten, and the underestimated and underused power of prayer.

Prayer is quite possibly the one single greatest gift God has given us. Maybe you disagree, maybe you say eternal life is a greater gift, but no, I am sticking strongly to the principle that prayer is the greatest gift we have received from our father in heaven. We forget the wonder, the crazy idea that we have 24/7 access to the creator, the lover, the savior of our souls. We forget that God is the single most important individual in our lives. We forget how incredibly crazy it is that we have a chance, an opportunity, a gift, to not only wonder about our future, to contemplate our decisions, but we have chance to consult one who has the power to see the future, who loves us with an undeniably crazy love, who works all things out for good for those who love him. We forget that not only do we have the chance to talk to him on occasion, but our access and conversations with him can be never ending. Truly, this is a gift beyond all other. The one who has the power to do anything and everything, we have access to in an unfathomable way. What did you do last time you were in a situation that you had no clue how to deal with? You probably contacted an individual you trusted and knew they had good advice, no? So, fathom this, you have access to wisest, most trustworthy and understanding individual who ever existed. His “foolishness” is wiser than the wisest human who ever existed, do you understand? You have unfiltered access to the single wisest individual who will ever exist. He’s even wiser than Google! So how does that make you feel? I really hope that blows you away, because it sure blows me away! Prayer is a gift we take for granted. Prayer: It changes things.

Thrive

What makes the laugh on your face glow? What makes your heart beat fast? What makes your eyes glaze over in passion? What makes you thrive?

I think its such a sad situation when people find themselves to be in situations where they wither, not thrive. God did not place you where you are to survive, he placed you there to thrive. Whether it be the single mom of 4 children barely making ends meet, the elderly gentlemen confined to a wheelchair in a nursing home, or the child feeling trapped inside the place he's called home for so long. God did not place us here to just "get by!"

So meditate, for a second, on the idea that in all situations, there is always something that is thriving. What do you allow to thrive? Your dreams? Bitterness? Resentment? Or maybe, just maybe, in this season of life, your relationship and love for Christ is thriving.

God has us here, in this place, to thrive, but it's up to us on what we allow to thrive. We can choose to allow stress to control us and pain to dominate us or we can choose to raise our hands to our mighty God and say, "take it, take it all, take all the stresses and weight that has weighed me down for so long, God." In which case we find, when we sincerely surrender our hurt to Christ, that stress and pain no longer dominate us. It is then, and only then that God's peace thrives in our hearts. Where are you in life? Are you in a hard time? I know I am! But it's in this time that I find myself to be insufficient to thrive on my own, I need to remind myself to rest in his graces.

With that said, what are you passionate about? Find something you are passionate about and make the concious choice to always stay extremely interested in it. When we give our stress to Christ we find, not only his peace and grace in our hearts, we also find the time to use the talents and passions that are instilled in our hearts. When I remember to not obsess over my stress, to remember to feed my passions, I find the greatest fufilment. God gave me the heart that I have, the skills I have longed for and enjoy, not so I could spend my time "too busy" to enjoy these things. God gave us this awesome world to explore, enjoy, and dive into. In these everyday graces I find, not only my love for doing things I enjoy, but I find myself thriving off of Christ, for truly, he should be my greatest passion.