Scars

Several years ago, when my daughter was still practically a baby, she began to have problems with her ears; she had infection after infection. This led to the inevitable need for ear tubes, which seemed to help. But then, after quite a bit of time had passed, she began to have problems with her right ear again and we had to take her back to the doctor to see what the next step would be. They found that when the tube on the right side came out, it had left a hole that would not heal. The doctor checked and rechecked over many months, and finally told us that the hole was not going to heal on its

The Heart of the Matter

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” ~1 Samuel 16:7

It’s such a nice feeling to pass by someone in a store, at work, at church, on the street, etc., and they look at you with a smile on their face – maybe even say “How are you today?” It’s a courtesy that is often overlooked in this world full of people with 2,000 Facebook friends that don’t even know their next door neighbors. We are often detached and like to keep it that way, thinking that if we look up and smile at someone, we might actually end up having to stop and talk to someone. We might even have to invest some time in that person, rather than just click “like” on their status. We might, rather than just see the smile on their face, actually find out what’s going on in that person’s life; their concerns, their joys, their fears, their excitement, or their pain. And sometimes we just don’t want to get involved in all that, so we don’t look at them, just keep moving and staying busy, don’t get involved, basically…don’t care. Oh, we would never say we didn’t care, or maybe even admit that to ourselves. When it comes right down to it though, while we’re thinking we don’t have time to hear someone else’s heart, we are often avoiding having to look at our own.

You see, a smile on someone’s face is pleasant and makes us feel that a person is friendly, makes us feel comfortable. But, a smile can mask deep hurt, rejection, feelings of inadequacy, and so many other things. We often put on a good face for friends so that they will think everything is okay. We put on a good face at work and laugh with coworkers as we go about our daily duties. We put on a good face for our family when we may have health concerns or financial concerns, or when they’ve hurt us and we just can’t admit it to them. There are so many reasons that we put on our smiley mask to show the world that all is well. We put on that smile and “It’s so good to see you,” at church with people that love us like family so that they won’t see the turmoil, the doubts, the sin, the ugliness going on inside. But there is one that sees through all of that façade, who can see the true self behind the mask, and the true heart that lies within.

When we come before Him in worship, He sees what’s really going on in our heart. He sees whether the things we do are for show, or whether we do them out of a true desire to serve and love Him. When we lift our hands up to Him and sing His praises, He knows whether we do it out of a sense of obligation or out of a genuine longing for His Presence. Regardless of how “holy” we think we may look as we lift Him up, He is the only one that can see the true nature of our worship…whether it is about us or about Him.

None of us are perfect, none of us has it all together (regardless of how we may try to appear that we do), and all of us are in desperate need of a Savior. We cannot fool Him into thinking He has our heart. He either does or He doesn’t, and He knows which it is for sure. What it comes down to is this; our heart is what matters to God, not our words. We can say all the right things all day long, but if we aren’t walking it out and showing our faith through the life that we live, we are simply showing that our faith is dead and that our heart is far from Him. It’s time that we put aside the mask and stop worrying about the appearance of perfection – we aren’t perfect, not one of us! We need to set our heart on the things of God and love Him above all else. His love for us is like no other, unfailing, unconditional, full of compassion, and never-ending. It’s time to realize that the heart of the matter is this: our heart IS what matters to Him more than anything else, and He is just waiting to lavish His love upon us.

Walking Through the Process

And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. ² Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, ³ and said unto him, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” ⁴ Jesus answered and said unto them, “Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: ⁵ The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” Matthew 11:1-6

This past Sunday morning, I heard such an amazing message from this text at our church. You know how you can read the same section of scripture several times, and then one time it really speaks to you in a new and different way? Well, that’s what happened Sunday morning. This is what was spoken about:  John had devoted his life to his ministry, forerunner of the Messiah, telling the world to “repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” In going back and reading Matthew 3, we find more about John the Baptist’s lifestyle and ministry, and we see his complete commitment to what he was called to do.

However, in Matthew 11:1-6, John the Baptist is in prison, and “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” wasn’t exactly the way that he had pictured it. This is why he asked if Jesus was the Messiah, or whether we should look for another. Jesus wanted John to know that miracles were being performed and that the gospel was being preached, and that John shouldn’t be offended because things had not turned out the way he expected. I was so convicted as I listened to this point because there have been MANY times that I have felt that way. Oh, I didn’t come out and say that I was offended at God because my life, or career, or ministry, or whatever, just didn’t go the way I had planned, it was more of an internal struggle. Thankfully, I wasn’t sitting in a prison, as John was, but maybe in a prison in my mind…a cage constructed by my flesh detailing the way my life should go.

     I may not have been as vocal about my lack of contentment or voiced anger and disappointment the way that others might, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel it. There have been times that I firmly believed that things were supposed to turn out differently than they did, and sometimes it was my own fault, my sin, my pride, my weakness, or just the fact that I wasn’t ready, that meant that MY plans didn’t work out. And then sometimes, it really just came down to that fact…that they were MY plans, not God’s.

     God knows the perfect timing for all things in our lives. He knows the trials that we will have to face, and He knows the mountains we will have to climb, as well as the storms we will have to weather. I think that I could say this in nearly every blog post…He does all things perfectly…this is just a fact. If we don’t get the job we were hoping for, if we don’t get that promotion, if we’re passed over for a raise, if the medical tests don’t return the hoped for results, it doesn’t mean that NO is the final answer. Many times it just means not yet. In all of the stages and seasons of our lives, we have much to learn and the opportunity to grow. This all comes through a process, it isn’t instantaneous. In looking back, I understand so many things now that I couldn’t begin to understand in the past. There were lessons I had to learn, there were strengths that I had to acquire through testing and trial, there was a time of refinement that I had to go through, and that I still am going through. I continue to go through the process in order to become all that God has made me to be. For instance, if I had gone down a different road nearly twenty years ago, the one I believed was right at that time, I know for a fact that I would have been a completely different person and would have had to face some very hard lessons in order to get me back where I needed to be. At the time it didn’t make sense, but looking back I am able to see God’s wisdom in moving me towards a different path.

                I’m so thankful for the Word that the preacher brought to us on Sunday because it showed me that in these past times when I felt like the biggest failure or a huge disappointment, that wasn’t the case; I just wasn’t seeing the bigger picture. God has a perfect plan and design for my life, and it may not fit the pattern I always had for myself, but it fits the pattern He has for me – and He always has the very best in store for us…always.

Still

Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. ⁶ Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸ A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰ The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”


Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:4-10

                It seems these days in this extremely fast-paced world that we live in, it is very difficult (and rare) to find a quiet moment. Sometimes I feel that if I have any hope of getting any writing done, I will have to go away and find a cabin in the woods or a bungalow by the ocean just to find a little peace.  There is always a tight schedule to be followed that barely allows room to breathe, as well as a list of “to do’s” that would probably take me six months to finish if I did  nothing else but work on it solid! But on this rainy morning here at home, although I am not surrounded by the sound of silence and not alone, I have found that quiet place of stillness in Him. It’s a place that is hard to describe, a place of peace and contentment, of hope and inspiration, of perfect love and trust. I am overwhelmed…

                When we take the time to get still before God and place Him in His rightful place as first priority in our lives, He will begin to speak to our heart. When we don’t have the answers and don’t know what to do, then we need to get still before the Lord, quiet all of the distractions that occupy so much of our time, and listen to His voice. It’s easy to come before God with prayers that He will meet needs for those we love, as well as for ourselves, but it is harder to just stop and hear what He has to say to us instead of bombarding Him with everything we want and need.

                So often we treat our heavenly Father as if He is there to fulfill a supernatural “to do” list for us, while the whole time He is longing for fellowship with us. He wants our time and His desire is to have our full devotion and all of our heart. God walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and He still wants to have those talks with us as we walk with Him daily if we will only take the time to be still in His Presence. And in the same way that God called out to Samuel in the night in 1 Samuel 3:10, He is calling out to us and waiting for us to say, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”



Unchained

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36

     Imagine, just for a moment, a dungeon; foul smelling, dank, rat infested…a place of pure misery for a prisoner. Look at the walls and see the chains hanging down with shackles locked tightly at the end to clamp securely around a criminal’s wrists. Look down and see the chain on the floor with shackles at each end, fitted to give someone barely enough leeway to take a single step. Look around at the heavy door with only a small bar-covered opening that allows a guard to look in on the prisoner. Notice the darkness of the cell and think about the utter despair someone would feel to be locked up in that cold, unforgiving place of isolation. We all have been (or still are) in that dungeon. We were bound by the chains of sin, the shackles of death, and were completely lost. Thankfully, Jesus came to set us free from all of that. Through His death on the cross and His resurrection, He purchased our salvation, completely setting us free from everything that had bound us up. He walked right up to the door of our cell and unlocked it, then loosed us from the shackles and chains. We didn’t do anything to deserve that freedom, there was nothing that we could do to earn it, and yet He set us free because He loved us too much to leave us imprisoned in the dark.


     In Luke 4:18, Jesus is quoting the scripture from Isaiah 61:1, which says this:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

He has set us free through His perfect work at the cross. And yet, so many times we find ourselves sitting unshackled, unchained, on the floor of the cell staring at the open door, but not moving. Why is that? When viewed this way, it doesn’t make any sense! But God HAS set us free, and yet we still sit there playing with our old chains and wallowing in the dirt of that nasty cell. Again, WHY? Habits, addictions, vices, “pet” sins, whatever you want to call it, it’s still the same…bondage. Jesus came so that we would have life and have it more abundantly, not so that we would be stuck in the muck and mire of the past. Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.” Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price so that we would be free and He did that so that we would walk in that freedom. Read that last part again: “…do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.” Do not LET yourselves…this tells us that it is our choice! We must choose to not wear those old chains. We must choose to lay down anything that comes between us and the Lord. He won’t force us to lay those things down. He won’t force us to leave that cell. However, He has opened the door wide to allow us to walk out into the light of a new life in Him and into complete freedom.

     That isn’t just freedom from sin. We have freedom from addiction, gluttony, lust, pride, envy, and jealousy, but also from oppression, depression, anxiety, defeat, and so many other things that the enemy and our flesh would like to keep us bound up with. When we repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness, and Jesus becomes our Savior, His Spirit then dwells inside of us. That means He is always with us, good times and bad, no matter what, always. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. When His Spirit is in us we have freedom in our lives every day. It’s up to us, whether we will just sit there with our chains and stare at that open door, or whether we will choose to get up, walk out of that prison and live in freedom through Christ. He has paid the ultimate price, the question we face is whether or not we will step out into the fullness of His grace and love to live the abundant life of freedom that awaits us. Selah.

The Seasons of Life...

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace." Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

     Yesterday as I ran errands after work, I had some quiet time to enjoy the beauty of fall that seemed to be everywhere I looked. It may not be considered extravagant beauty to some people, but to me it was like being surrounded by the most elegant masterpiece. There were wide fields of cotton all around, just waiting to be harvested, and trees with sections of branches that looked as though they had been gently dipped in gold, auburn and red. Fall is definitely my favorite season of the year! I love the gorgeous colors, the pumpkin pie, football games and the marching band, leaves crunching under my feet, and evenings snuggled with my children as we drink hot chocolate. Fall is beautiful and full of comforts, it amazes me!

     Well, have you ever wondered what the world would be like if there were no changing of the seasons… Have you ever considered how very different life would be if we lived in a never-ending season of spring? How would it be to always have to skate around on the ice rink of winter? We live in a world that God created to shift perfectly from winter to spring to summer to fall. The changing of the seasons helps to make a perfect environment for us to live in. We have a time of sowing in the spring and reaping the harvest in the fall. Many animals have a time of stocking up before their long winter’s nap. All of these seasons work together to create a beautiful balance for our world.

     In the same way, our lives are made up different seasons. The seasons of our lives are not always predictable. You may believe you are in the deepest, coldest, most barren part of winter, when actually you are about to step out into the bright, thawing sunshine of spring. And in exactly the opposite way, we may feel that we are in the most beautiful season of our lives when everything seems to be going just right, and then suddenly the rug gets pulled out from under us and we find ourselves in a wilderness of desolation.

     We can’t know when these seasons are going to change. We don’t have a calendar that applies to life. However, when we are seeking the Lord and listening to His voice, He is able to prepare us for the seasons that lie ahead. It's His wisdom that will lead us through the darkest valleys and the loneliest paths. And even when we seem to be in the most perfect seasons of life, we will only find true joy and peace in our Savior’s love.

     There have been times in my life when I was happy, fully content, and did not want to be moved. But suddenly I found myself in the midst of a changing season. I found myself moving from the fullness of summer into the coldness of winter, where all of the leaves have fallen off the trees and left what seemed like only bareness and emptiness behind in my soul.  I have been in that place where the things that had made me comfortable and that I had held onto so dearly were completely stripped away. It was a place of unease, of questioning, and doubt. These are the times that we have to learn to trust. This is where we find out what our faith is actually made of, when we have to put action to the words that have been coming out of our mouth.

     The amazing thing about the changing of a season, no matter how uncomfortable it may be, is that this is also the time that we learn to fly. When we are holding on tightly to the One who holds the universe in His hands, then no matter how our surroundings change, how people change, how things change, we won’t lose our way because He won’t let us go. In the times that I have felt like I was backtracking, or that I had lost all that I had worked for, or was unhappy with the direction God was leading me, I learned to trust the Lord because He ALWAYS knows what is best for us! In every one of those situations, God was using that season in my life to help me grow spiritually. Just as a mother eagle has to make the nest uncomfortable in order to get her young to leave the nest, God has to make us uncomfortable in order to move us! It may not always be easy, but the changing seasons in our life are meant to draw us closer to Him and to bring about maturity in us. Those seasons are meant to mold us into who God is calling us to be. Daniel 2:21 says, “He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.” God changes the times and seasons. He knows what we need and exactly when we need it. He knows when we’re ready and we’re not ready. His timing is always perfect.

     As we take in the beauty of the winter, spring, summer and fall, we must remember that the seasons in our lives are filled with beauty, artfully crafted by the God who loves us infinitely, and essential for us to grow in Him and in the callings and gifts He has placed in each of us. We may not always understand what He is doing in our lives, and we may not be able to see the big picture, but we can rest in the knowledge that He knows the right time for everything in the seasons of life. We only have to trust Him.

No Longer Aimless...

Today as I sat in the bleachers watching my daughter play basketball, I was just amazed at her tenacity and her drive to play hard and do her best. I beamed and cheered her on as she and her teammates scored, so proud of them all. My daughter tried out for the team with no prior experience playing, and she made the team. She is the smallest one on her team, and has had to work very hard to learn the game and to keep up. But after months of practice, I can truly see the results of her labor. If she stays the course and continues to play, I know that she will be a fantastic asset to the team as she gets better over time. There is more than one component that will determine her success though. Hard work is a key factor, and makes all the difference in the world, but a good teacher is vitally important. My daughter has a coach that puts God first and sets a wonderful example for the girls, not only in the game, but life in general. She teaches them not only how to play the game, but is one of the best role models for the girls that anyone could ever ask for.

After we got home from the game, I saw a video someone had posted online that showed a herd of elk crossing the highway. It was a massive herd, and they had to jump a fence before they could get across the road. The elk flowed like a river over the fence, jumping in turn as if they were all connected to one another. The line of elk stretched almost as far as the eye could see, all following the leader as they crossed. But one of the elk was unable to jump the fence, whether it didn’t have enough of a running start or was afraid or hesitant, it just couldn’t do it. All of the herd had crossed the road and were out of the camera’s line of sight, while the one lone elk ran up and down the fence trying to find a way out. It tried a few times to find a way over the fence, but got tangled up. Suddenly, it turned away from the fence and began to run. I wondered for a moment if it was giving up, but then it did an about face and headed back toward the fence and with a long running start. It was finally able to jump the fence and ran until it reached the rest of the herd.

Both the basketball game and the elk herd really struck home with me today on a spiritual level. As I watched the girls play this morning, working together as a unit to attempt to score, each doing their job and helping one another out, I was reminded of how we as Christians are all part of the body of Christ, different callings and different gifts, but all working together to lead the lost to Jesus. No one person is more important than another, but every member of the body of Christ is equally important. Just as the girls have a great coach for their team, Jesus is the head of the body Christ. If the girls didn’t listen to their coach and didn’t put into practice all that they had learned and worked so hard on, then they would just be running aimlessly up and down the court. In the same way, if we don’t listen to the voice of God, we will find ourselves wandering aimlessly through our lives with no definitive sense of purpose or direction, flailing in deep waters that we are unable to navigate. But if we will listen to Him and follow our leader, who was willing to lay down His life for us, then we will find the ultimate purpose for our lives as we pursue Him. Jesus was willing to give it all so that we would be able to live life to the very fullest in Him. He was willing to suffer for our redemption and deliverance, for our complete forgiveness and restoration, and so that we would be healed and never have to endure complete separation from Him in hell.

And I was reminded by the video of the elk herd how important it is that we endure. The elk must have felt completely helpless as it watched its entire herd getting farther and farther away, without knowing how it would be able to clear the fence. But, just when it could have given up, it began to run once again and finally got past the obstacle in its path. Many times in our own lives we become frustrated by the mountain in front of us, allowing doubt to consume us as we stare at the height and width of it, when the Lord is telling us that HE will take us up on the heights, that HE is able to move the mountain or move us over it! We simply cannot give up or give in, no matter how hopeless the situation may seem. We must run with everything that we have toward the prize, toward what the Lord has called us to do, toward HIM.

And of course, God had tied it all together for me with his Word as I read this morning in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27… “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” I love it when God speaks so clearly! I do not want to be as a man running aimlessly, but I will run full on, pressing forward toward the prize…in spite of what I see or feel, what I hear or think, I will press on in Him. I am running towards my Savior, running to Jesus.

Time of Renewing...

The quiet, cracked and gray road stretches out before me, its yellow and white lines merely mesmerizing blurs as I move ahead. The trees extend their long arms over me as I pass below, strewing leaves gently dipped in the gold, red and bronze hues of fall. Fields full of crops waiting to be harvested are all around me, as well as houses decorated with pumpkins, hay bales and Indian corn. For years, in fact for most of my life, driving this particular road has been a refuge for me. As a child, I spent countless hours riding down it, playing with dolls and daydreaming as I stared out at the stars. I would ride in the back of my dad’s old truck at the end of the day and admire the beautiful sunset painted across the sky. I’ve driven this road on the way to the very best times, such as Christmas with family, and Sunday afternoon catfish dinners with never-ending glasses of sweet tea. But I’ve also had to make mundane trips to pay bills and get groceries, and had to make the hard trek to say goodbye to a precious loved one for the last time. My mind goes many places as I drive this road. It’s a place of fond memories and of heartbreak. It’s a place for me to find peace, and more often than not, inspiration. I am nearly always motivated to write when I’ve been down that road, and it is a precious place to find some alone time with the Lord.

However, as I drove down the road a few days ago, instead of inspiration I began to rehash past mistakes I’ve made. And in that moment, the Lord reminded me how important it is for me to renew my mind. It is vital for ALL of us to renew our minds, not once a year, or every six months…but daily. I immediately got my thought process straight and began to set my heart on things above, on who the Lord has called me to be, as well as all the things He has done in my life and wants to do! What an inspiring and renewing moment it is when you realize that in spite of where you have been, the God who created the universe will restore you! I am so thankful that He has redeemed me. I am able to live an abundant life in Him because He has restored me. I cling to this word from Philippians 3:12-14:

                “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

We have to make a choice to leave the past in the past. We have to choose to move forward in Christ. We have to choose to renew our mind daily. WE HAVE TO CHOOSE. Each day we have so many choices to make. It is up to us whether we will choose to beat ourselves up over our mistakes, whether we will live discouraged because things may not always turn out the way we had planned, or whether we will accept the joy unspeakable and full of glory that only comes from trusting in and walking with our Savior. When we renew our mind He reminds us who we are in Him, and He reminds us of Jeremiah 29:11…”’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

God has given all of us places of peace and inspiration, places where we find His truth and hear His voice. We must not let the enemy steal that from us by allowing him to have control of our mind. We have been redeemed, bought with such a precious price, and the cost was much too high for us to not renew our mind and allow Him to light up all of our dark places. The time of renewing is now. What will you choose?

Climbing Higher

I stood at the bottom, harness tightened, nerves taut, completely focused. With a slow, deep breath, I reached out and found two good solid holds with each hand and one for my foot, then carefully lifted myself off of the ground. I had never climbed a rock wall before and certainly did not plan to when I got up that morning. But here I was…a camp counselor for a group of precious girls that wanted to climb the rock wall, and after standing at the bottom for a few minutes watching the others climb, I was ready to go up.  It was not easy, and at the halfway point I almost quit, but amazingly, I didn’t. I pulled up past the split in the wall, got well positioned again, and kept climbing. As I looked up to the top and saw how close I was getting, it was as if I found new strength to keep pulling up higher. Then faster than I could have ever believed, I was there...I had reached the top! I was elated! The hardest part for me was getting down from the top of the wall. From the top, I had to rappel down while anchored to a person standing at the bottom. Looking down, it seemed like a really long way to drop, and I had such a gripping fear that the person at the bottom would let me go and I would fall (maybe not to my death, but to some serious pain!). In the end, I had to do what was required and rappel to the bottom. I was not dropped, although I screamed on the way down as if I were in complete and total free-fall; and not only did I survive, but God used the rock wall to teach me a few things.

First of all, when the time came for me to rappel, I had to completely put my trust in the person at the bottom that I was anchored to. I had to believe that they would not drop me. The Lord showed me that even when I’m unsure, even when my heart is filled with doubt or fear, He is holding me firm! He will never let me go. He holds me safely in His arms and I know that I am securely anchored in Him. I know that He won’t let me fall. And even in times when we are not firmly anchored in Him, and we do fall, He is swift to pick us up.

In those moments when I’m worshiping at His feet and distractions start to slip in, I hear Him saying to me, “Keep climbing…” He wants us to push past the circumstances we may be faced with and to push past what we are concerned about in order to worship Him with our whole heart. We don’t have to be anxious for anything, we don’t have to worry; we just prayerfully entrust everything to the Lord and know that He is big enough to take care of every minute detail.

There are times when my past mistakes and sins seem to stand before me, screaming out mocking and cruel words such as, “failure…hypocrite…unloved…lost cause…not good enough…sinner.” In those times, I remember the struggle of climbing the wall, and I hear my Father, who loves me beyond measure, softly saying, “Keep climbing…come up higher,” and I find the strength to press on.

And when the things I face in life feel unbearable and it seems like I will drown in discouragement, he says again, “I have made you an overcomer through the blood of my Son…now come up higher; it’s time to rise above…”

I’m so thankful that I was able to experience the rock wall. No matter what happens or what I may face, no matter how many times I have messed up in the past or have fallen and He has had to pick me up again, I am determined to keep climbing. I am resolved to press in and go higher in Him. My heart and my eyes are focused on my Savior, the One who gave His life for me, and I will not look down and allow my heart to be filled with fear, nor will I stop moving forward because of what is behind me. I will not give up or give in, but day by day, and moment by moment, I will climb higher.

Learning to Lean

Day in and day out, it seems that every hour is filled up with things to do. This week at work I was so excited about a three day weekend, and then on Friday I realized that my entire three days are packed full! I began to feel exhausted before the weekend had even begun! Do you ever feel this way? Do you ever feel overwhelmed with obligations and “to do” lists and hectic schedules? I hear people talk about this all the time…so much to do and never enough time…not enough hours in the day…where did the time go?

Life is going to be FULL of things to do, but I don’t believe that God made us to be busy to the point that we are overwhelmed, stressed, and completely frazzled! We have to find balance in the midst of everything that we have going on, and that balance can only be found by learning to lean on the Lord. It’s a balance that can’t be found just from going to church on Sunday morning. It can only be found through time spent at the feet of Jesus, time in His presence, time spent talking to Him and listening to Him. We need to spend time with the Lord daily, and He will help us to stay focused and on track. He will help us to choose the most important things, as well as to trim the excesses. He will give us the strength to do what needs to be done, and time in His presence will also give us the peace that we need in order to find rest.

Jesus instructed us in this; he said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)  That means that we don’t have to feel overwhelmed by the weight of all we have to do and all that we have to deal with. Jesus told us specifically to come to Him and He would give us rest. In Psalm 55:22 we are told to cast our cares on the Lord and He will sustain us, and again in 1 Peter 5:7 – “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

You see when we lean on Him for our strength, He gives us all the strength – all the grace – we need in order to sustain us. When we’re worn down from our crazy schedules, then it’s time to slow down and step into His presence, time to lean into Him and listen to Him and receive His love, His joy and His peace. Just as the earth orbits the sun and receives its light and its warmth, so our lives must revolve around Him so that He can breathe His life into us, and so that we can receive the fullness of His light and warmth. When our heart is focused on Him and He is our first priority, then we will find that everything else will begin to fall into place. We’ll find order in the chaos and peace in the midst of any storm we face. We’ll find that instead of feeling anxious, tired and overwhelmed, we will have fullness of joy in the Presence of the King of Kings, and it will flow out of us in all that we do.

Today, choose to take time with Him. Take some time for just you and the Lord, maybe with your morning coffee and His word, or maybe on a walk as the sun sets. Choose not to just include Christ in your day, but to put Him first in it. Learn to lean on Him and give Him your whole heart, your entire life – all of your worries and cares, hopes and dreams – and watch how He will work in your life.

Where's the Love?

In this world full of social media where it seems that so many of us have more interaction with a computer screen than with actual living, breathing human beings, we can find ourselves becoming detached and no longer relating to real people. A computer cannot love us back. The twelve people that have “liked” your status may not be people you even talk to face to face. We have become extremely consumed with watching the funniest videos on someone’s thread, or finding the most sarcastic sayings to laugh about with our friends, and commenting on a person’s status that “I’m praying for you,” while never actually doing so because we are so “busy.” Facebook says we have 950 friends and twitter says we have 100 followers, but at the end of the day, how many real and true friends do we actually have? How many people can we say that we have shown the love of Christ to each and every day? How many opportunities to share His love do we pass up in the name of convenience and trying to keep up with our schedules?

Just speaking for myself, I must admit that I have missed MANY opportunities.

When asked what the greatest commandment in the Law was, Jesus said, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22: 36-40 NIV)

We say that we love God, and then in the same breath we announce our lack of love for people. We’re so busy talking about people and judging people’s actions or what we think their motives might be, that we don’t stop to think about what that person is going through or what their life might be like. Perhaps if we took just a moment before we make assumptions about another person to consider our own imperfections, then it might make a difference in how we view them. Maybe if we would stop to remember that Jesus Christ paid the same price for our sin as He did for theirs, and that His love for them is no different than His love for us, then it might make a difference in how we love them.

We all have faced trials and we all have gone through storms in our lives. We all have messed up, and some still face the consequences of those mistakes. We have all fallen at some point in some way, and have had to have help getting back up…help from other people…help from our Savior. If God loves me in spite of all of my shortcomings and all of my failures, who am I to withhold love from other people? Who am I to say that I don’t have time to be there for them when they need me? Who am I to assume that I know their circumstance well enough to say anything about it? The words of the old hymn ring so true, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me….I once was lost, but now I’m found; was blind, but now I see…”

It was God’s grace that saved me, a sinner – not good enough to deserve any of His favor, and yet He saved me. He looked beyond the marred lump of clay that I was, and He saw me as something beautiful that could be molded and shaped into something that would bring Him glory. He saw me, not as I was, but as I would be. What would happen if we looked deeper to see the potential people have and loved them like Jesus? What would happen if we laid down our weapons of gossip and suspicion, of lies and hate, of judgment and cruelty, of cynicism and envy; and if instead we wrapped our arms around a hurting person? I’ll tell you what would happen…the world would be changed, lives would be transformed, and God would be glorified.

It’s time that we love each other like Jesus.

Caution: You Are Now Leaving the Comfort Zone

Forget easy. Forget comfortable. It's time to step out into the unknown.


We all have gifts and dreams, grand plans for our future and for our life, and brilliant ideas for our career and ministry. Some of us have things that we are naturally gifted to do, things that perhaps we have not had to work for, but just seemed innately a part of us from birth. And then some of us have had to practice much…pouring out our blood, sweat and tears in order to finally be fluent in our gifts. Whichever the case may be, it can become very comfortable to just rest in that job or that area of ministry, simply because we “know” it. Maybe it’s something that never makes us nervous or causes us anxiety, or something that we don’t have to stress over or give much thought to, something that perhaps we know (and probably have been told) that we do well. However, God never called us to be “comfortable.” He has called us to depend completely on Him.

In Luke 12:11-12, Jesus tells His disciples, “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” You see, it didn’t matter whether or not the disciples were great orators, or whether they had ever made a speech in their life, because the Holy Spirit would equip them at the appointed time with exactly what they needed. They had to depend solely on Him, and not on themselves.

Often we have settled so well into the cushy recliner of whatever gift or calling we may be operating in, and we have our feet propped up so high and our chair laid back so far that we cease to fully seek Him or depend on Him for direction in that area. That is a dangerous place to be. When we let go of His hand and just set off on cruise control, leaving Him behind and heading away from His wisdom and authority, we are likely to find ourselves falling flat on our face. What a humbling learning experience that is (speaking strictly from experience).

When we are doing what the Lord has called us to do, it is vitally important that we seek His face and listen to His voice for each and every step that we take. We need to lean into Him so that we can feel His heartbeat, and not go off following the beat of a very different drummer – the flesh.

Something very important to remember about that cushy recliner of gifting that we are so used to, is that it is usually not the ONLY gift He has placed in us. You may believe that you are best used and well fitted for a certain area of ministry or a career that you have operated in for years, and suddenly you feel that tugging on your heart towards a different area that you possibly never thought of, and that certainly is not comfortable.

Over the last eight years of my life, God has taken me in directions I never expected and allowed me to learn and experience things I never thought possible. He taught me not to be satisfied with the “now,” but to stretch out and move forward. And just in the past year and a half, he has stretched me beyond what I ever dreamed! I didn’t feel like I was good enough to do the things that He was leading me to do, but HE worked through me. HE is always faithful to do the work when we allow Him to use us in the way that He wants to.

Remember that the bible says God will equip us for what He has called us to. You may not feel that you are good enough, and you may feel that so many others would be a better choice than you, but God chose YOU. Depend on that. Trust in that. Trust in Him! He will never leave us, nor forsake us, and He that has begun a good work in us will be faithful to see it through. Feeling uncomfortable and inadequate is actually a very blessed place to be because it forces us to trust completely in Him. It’s time to stop running to other people for their opinions on what we need to do, when we need to be running to our Creator, our Savior, and our Lord. He is the only one who knows exactly what He has placed in each of us, and He is the only one that can see it through to fruition. So let’s push our footrest down, raise our chair upright and stand up straight and tall, as we begin to walk out God’s will for our lives. God didn’t call us to be comfortable. He called us to be available…all to His glory!

Learning Not To Fear

     I don't know about you, but lately, I have been glued to the news. So many bad things are happening in our world, seemingly all at once, and it is very easy to become afraid, unsure, even distraught. Tonight, in fact, I read part of an article about children all over our country who have become extremely sick, and it has gotten so bad that the CDC is concerned about what's going on. I had to stop reading right there because if I'm not careful I will find myself allowing fear to creep in...ugly, terrorizing fear.




     The reason I was able to stop reading that article and just turn away was because the Lord reminded me in that moment that I belong to Him, that my husband and children belong to Him, and that He isn't afraid of the virus going around. None of it has caught Him by surprise. None of the things in the news headlines that tie us up in knots have Him shaking on the throne. He is God, He is faithful, He is unchanging and unshakable.


     I was reminded in that moment that "...I know the One in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until the day of His return." (2 Tim. 1:12 NLT). I have entrusted my life to Him, my family, my everything to Him, and no matter what is happening all around us in this world, I know that He will hold us tightly in the palm of His hand.
 

     Today, we all have a choice. We can choose fear, doubt, worry, despair. Or, we can choose to trust. We can choose to have confidence and faith in our Savior and Redeemer, who loves us with an unending and never failing love. We can choose to lean on and look to the one who carries us through the darkest night and the fiercest of storms. We can choose to believe. As for me, I know in whom I trust...I know the One I believe.