The Beauty of Creation

To me, there isn’t a much more beautiful time than when it’s night, the moon and stars are shining bright and it’s winter. If the night is still and the moon is bright enough, the snow shimmers exquisitely and I am in awe. Even though it’s cold, I could stay out all night just so I could capture the image in my memories forever. 

It’s nights like that that Psalm 19:1-4 truly come alive to me. 

 “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours our speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through the ends of the worth and their words to the end of the world.”

In verse 3, (There is no speech, nor are there words whose voice is not heard) the KJV is actually a better translation- There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Everyone can see God’s glory, because He has revealed it to us through His creation. It doesn’t matter what tribe tongue or nation you come from; He has shown Himself to us through what He made. 

“For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

I love this verse. Creation does truly reveal the power and nature of its Creator. How much power must He have to make everything that lives and exists in this universe? Try to wrap your head around that one for a second. I know I can’t quite figure that one out. 

And His nature. Wow. First of all, it shows how creative God is. Look at a rainbow. So many colors blended into a curve across the color. Look at the stars. There are millions of stars and He created every one and put it into its own specific place. Look at the natural phenomena that happen. The wonder of an eclipse, or the Aurora Borealis’ beauty. The God that made all of this is infinitely creative. 

It shows His love as well. Look at everything He has provided for us. He gives us food to eat in the form of both infinite numbers of plants and animals. He has given us nature to enjoy in all its forms and the four seasons, each one holding a different joy for us. He has given us water to drink and plants that can be made into medicines for the sick. He has given us to each other to build relationships with, to have families and friends to care for us and to take care of each other. He has such love for us that He provided literally everything we need to live, and given us gifts for our enjoyment. 

Every human being can see all of this. We can all see the beauty of the worlds that God created to point to Him and Him alone. There are such clear designs in the world and the universe. How could they have come about by chance alone? The blindness of the world befuddles me as I see everything that God has made.

And out of all this creation God chose to put the human race as His chosen vessels to proclaim His glory. I just can’t get my mind around that. Out of all the beauty He made, God chose to love the broken most of all. We are a broken race, and not just that, we are the race that cursed the rest of His creation. 

Adam and Eve were commanded not to do just one thing. They could do anything they wanted except eat from a single tree. 

“She took some of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate.” Genesis 3:6b

They disobeyed the one command and thrust the whole creation into the shadow of it that it has turned into. You would think after that, God would have turned His favor to something else. But He created us, knowing this would happen. He magnified His glory in the world by giving us a Savior to rescue us from our sin if we would accept and follow Him. 

It’s so amazing that the almighty, infinite, all-knowing Creator of the world would choose to make us in His image, even though He knew we would fall. He gave us the free will to turn away if we chose to, and the freedom to come to Him and love Him. It’s because of His love that He did this and continues to hold us in the palm of His hand.

I don’t know about you all, but I know that meditating on this makes me more and more grateful for everything God has done for me and for all of His creation. 

Our Spiritual Family. It's Not Just in the States

You step through the door into a small, but crowded room. Eyes look on you, fear clouding them. But there’s something else too. Anticipation… Excitement… Zeal for a belief that the world around them rejects, condemns and is trying to destroy.

A man, the leader of this secret church, stands.

“Welcome, brother.”

You return his greeting, exhilarated to join your brothers and sisters once again. You sit on the dirt floor and look at the few pages that this group had access to.

 Only a few pages of the Word. But these pages hold life. They hold salvation. They are the most important possessions to everyone there. You all wish you could have more. Have the Scriptures in their entirety, but you don’t. You can only pray earnestly that God will provide you with more.

The leader begins to pray. The earnestness and love in his voice is palpable. He again begs that God would send someone to bring more of the Word to you all and to teach you. He rejoices for God’s salvation and love for His children.

Others in the group join in. Many fall to their knees, glorifying God and exalting Him. A few cry. The one thing that all the people in that room have in common is their love for their God. You all love Him more than your own lives.

And you know you might be risking those.

The study starts. You pour over those pages for hours, writing down, copying and memorizing whatever you can. You drink in the Word now, because you don’t know when your next chance will be. Your thirst for it cannot be quenched.

Then a knock resounds through the room.

You all freeze. You know gathering together like this to study and pray is forbidden. It’s even illegal to just be a Christian. Doing this could cost you your home, family, even your life. But you know it’s worth it.

The owner of the small house, no bigger than the room you’re assembled in, stands to get the door. You all hold your breath hoping… no… praying for a miracle.

The door is opened and the man at the door visibly relaxes.

“Welcome brother.”

The room lets out the breath it’s been collectively holding. You all turn back to the study, relieved that you are safe for a little while longer.

We don’t often think about it, but this is the condition that many of our brothers and sisters around the world are forced to conduct their study. Thy gather with baited breath, never knowing I the next knock at the door may cost them their lives. And they are ok with that because they are ready and willing to give up everything for their faith.

They don’t get to gather often, but when they are able to be together, it’s not just a couple of hours at church on a Sunday morning. It’s hours and hours of honest fellowship and learning as much as they can in their short time. They want to know everything they can in the scriptures and will search for it fervently.

We get so bored of learning and easily get distracted. Imagine sitting for hours and learning about one thing only- God’s Word. I’ve done this twice for about 6 hours each, through David Platt’s simulcast, The Secret Church. It’s designed to give American’s a small taste of the study that our brothers and sisters take on. It’s not easy to sit through and can be very difficult teaching, but I highly recommend it. (If you want some more information, here’s the link- Secret Church )

It’s nothing like the fear for their lives and the danger, but it gives us a small understanding of the heart attitude of these people. For some around the world, these six hours would be a short study.

I’m just trying to ask right now for everyone to have awareness for our family in Christ around the world. They are in danger every day and need our prayers.

For more information on the persecuted church, here is a link that can provide more information- Open Doors

It Is Not Good for Man to Be Alone (And I'm Talking About Friends Here)

We are built for relationships. There is no way around that. We are built to have family and friends. Even from the very beginning in Genesis 2:18, God says “it is not good that the man should be alone”. He made a companions for Adam because God knew that He had not made Adam to live on His own. Neither has He made us to.

I used to think I was the exception to the rule. I was a complete loner and I didn’t open up to anyone, not even to my own family. I didn’t trust anyone and tried to avoid contact with people whenever possible. In short, if my parents didn’t force me to go to go to events where I would have to socialize, I didn’t go. I thought I was happy, but eventually it lead to my severe depression. I ceased to function for the longest time until I finally forced myself to open up to my mom and then to some of the girls in my youth group.

That changed my life. I found strength and encouragement from these people and was slowly able to come out of my shell. It made me happier and I felt like I actually had a place to belong. I wouldn’t have gotten it through my mom’s death without them. I can’t even imagine trying.

Even this past weekend, I was reminded of what fantastic companionship God has given me in my church family. I was having a rough weekend and was struggling, and it was pretty obvious. They all surrounded me and loved me, even though I really didn’t want to talk about it. One of my friends was getting ready to leave and when he noticed I was upset, he took the time to find out what was wrong (and after I stepped on his foot too). In all my friends, God has blessed me.

God has given me strength through my friends after I finally opened up to them. And I have come to realize that I can’t live my life on my own, like I used to try to do.

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

If we surround ourselves with the right people, we are better for it. It can strengthen and encourage us in the bad times and celebrate with us in the good. We are equipped to do more work and it is more enjoyable.

Think about something as simple as a workout. You start on your own, and it can get boring, monotonous and exhausting very quickly (unless you enjoy that sort of thing of course. Great for you if you do). But add a good friend to the mix, and suddenly it can become much more enjoyable. It can turn into a competition, a game, or just a time to talk while you are running on the treadmill. It doesn’t seem like as awful of a task.

It’s the same thing with any activity. On you own it can be difficult or annoying, but having good friends doing it with you can change your whole perspective.

“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to his who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? Although a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him- a three cord fold is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 2:12

Solomon makes some very practical arguments for having close friends. They help you if you fall, they can keep you warm, and together you can stop a man from hurting you. Basically, if you have friends, you have help. There are things you can do because of your friends that you could never do alone.

We should be happy to help out our friends whether we get a return for it or not, and we should choose friends that we know will be loyal and loving, though we shouldn’t expect them to be perfect, because we certainly aren’t.

We are cautioned, however, to be cautious about our choice in friends. In Proverbs 12:26, it says “A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”

These are the people who we will invest our lives in and spend the most time with. We will influence them and they will influence us. It’s no wonder that we should be careful who we develop our closest friendships with.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t be friends with people who aren’t Christian. Jesus Himself spent most of His time with sinners. And how could we spread the gospel if we didn’t ever interact with these people? What I am saying that you should save your closest and most intimate friendships for those who believe as well.

You should choose your closest friends to be people who will point you in the right direction, people who can give you Godly, biblical advice and who your conversations with are pure.

God gave us other people to be light in our lives and to have companionship, but we should remember that these friends will never replace the greatest light and friend we could ever have; God Himself. He is everything, our greatest help and our best friend. He knows everything that we have done, thought or been, and He loves us anyways. He gave us other people to be a reflection of that, even though He is the only perfect friend we could have. 

Something I felt lead to share about myself...

I want to share a part of myself that I haven’t really shared with too many people. It’s about my guilt for something that wasn’t my fault and my hatred of myself because of it.

It has to do with my mother.

As many of you know, my mother died from cancer about a year and a half ago. It hurt me more than I can put into words, but that wasn’t the only thing that hurt me then.

For most of the two years she was sick, I was my mother’s main caretaker. And I had to do a lot for her, but I enjoyed every moment because it brought us closer than we had ever been before. Every moment I was serving her or helping her, we were talking or praying or singing or just acting goofy. We worked together on a Relay for Life team and every meeting we would go out together beforehand and get dinner and talk for hours. I loved those moments.

Then, when I was coming home from Guatemala, my dad called me. He told me that my mother had died. I was only an hour away from home. And I cried. Herder than I ever have. I wasn’t mad at God, though. Not at all. I was mad at myself. I felt like it was my fault, because it had been my job to take care of her.

You failed her.

You just weren’t good enough to take care of her.

Those were some of the thoughts that plagued me when I found out. I blamed myself, even though there was literally nothing I could do.

And then the realization that I never got to say goodbye came. I didn’t even get to see her before she died, because I was off doing what I wanted to do. I hadn’t seen my job as caretaker through until the end.

I know these thoughts are foolish. She had told, practically ordered, me to go. She knew it was where I was supposed to be.

She told me to go, and didn’t tell me how bad things actually were going. She knew she might never see me again, and yet she told me to go. Because she knew that was where God wanted me.

I remember the day I left, she had been in the hospital and one of her best friends was there to see her daughter and me off. She started crying when she came and give me a hug. I didn’t know that she knew as well.

Every day I regret not being there when my mother died, even though I know I was where I had needed to be.

In my head, I keep telling myself these things.

It wasn’t your fault.

There wasn’t anything you could have done.

You were where you needed to be.

And in my head, I know these are true, but in my heart, I still have this deep loathing for myself. I know it’s not how I should feel, but I just can’t convince myself

Out of all my sinful thoughts, this one is probably the hardest to get rid of. It doesn’t matter if I push it away or ignore it, it’s still there, lurking in the back of my head, ready to strike whenever my emotions are on edge.

I know that I should not blame myself for this or hate myself, but I don’t know how to move past. I don’t even know why I felt lead to share this with everyone.

Bus at the same time, I know I can’t keep it inside forever.

Thanks for reading, and to all those who have stayed close to me the last couple years, I am so grateful for your support.

What a Hot-tempered Irish Girl Has Been Learning

“Refrain from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.” Psalm 37:8

Definitely talking to myself here. I am a bad tempered Irish chick and it shows. I get angry easily, and I do not let it go for a long time. If you get me mad, you will know it.

And half the time I’ll misdirect it too. If I can’t take it out on who I want to, it overflows onto my friends and family. (God bless them for putting up with me.)

I’m not going to make any excuses. This is wrong. I know it, and I am trying to learn.

It’s not so much the emotion of anger that is wrong. I can’t control when that enters my mind. However what I can control is how I react. And that is where I go wrong. When I’m angry, I don’t control it or take care of it. I let it build out until it spills out, normally onto someone who doesn’t deserve it.

Verses throughout the bible show how we should be in regards to our anger:

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Ephesians 4:26

It doesn’t say we can’t be angered, but it does tell us not to sin in that anger. This verse also tells us not to hold a grudge. We shouldn’t even let it last to the end of the day. We should handle it as it comes and not let it build.

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20

We shouldn’t snap the moment someone says something that may offend us or does anything we don’t like. It tells us that our anger will not make us the people God desires us to be. We will not produce the fruit of righteousness if we dwell in anger.

“”Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” Proverbs 19:11

Again- we should be slow to anger. That is what is sensible.

It is considered a wise man’s glory to overlook an offense. It doesn’t mean it is easy to overlook or that you won’t want to respond, but it is good to just let it go.

“Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the hearts of fools.” Ecclesiastes 7:9

I’m going to point out that Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon, who was considered to be the wisest man the world has ever known. He knows much, and he says that anger is in the heart of fools. It is not for those who seek after God.

“A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.” Proverbs 15:18

“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” Proverbs 16:32

In both of these verses, I have seen other translations that translate “slow to anger” as “patient”. Part of being level headed and slow to anger is being patient and calm (Another issue of mine).

The patient man can calm quarrels between people, and it says he is better than one who takes a city- better than that mighty man who many respect.

“Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” Proverbs 14:29

The parallels are once again drawn between a patient man having wisdom (understanding) and an angry man being a fool (folly). It becomes pretty clear throughout the scriptures that God wants us to be patient and slow to anger.

There are many other verses that tie into this, but I will leave it at those. I think God’s point about our anger is pretty obvious.

It’s a struggle, certainly. I strive every day to overcome my temper and to be patient. I am definitely still working on it. It doesn’t happen instantly with a quick prayer to make it go away.

I’ve seen in my prayer life that when I pray for patience, God doesn’t instantly give it to me, He gives me opportunities to be patient and I learn through those how to be patient. When I pray for my temper to be controlled, He gives me things that ordinarily would make me mad so that I can learn to control it.

He has already given us the tool we need to learn these things- the Holy Spirit. If we are in Him, the Spirit can teach us to be patient and controlled as long as we listen, and don’t quench it (Therein lies my problem).

Learning to be controlled as God instructs us to be is a process. That’s for sure. However it is possible with His assistance. So don’t give up.

And just listen to Him. He’ll help you if you let Him.

I Refuse

“I refuse to sit around and wait for someone else to do what God has called me to do myself, oh I could choose not to move, but I refuse.” –I Refuse, Josh Wilson

Recently, this has become one of my favorite songs. If you haven’t heard it, go listen to it (Right now. It’s awesome). It hits a lot of points that can be hard to hear, but we need to think about them.

We oftentimes when we hear of a problem do nothing about it. Sure, we may send a prayer their way, but we don’t do anything about it ourselves. We always want someone else to do something. We would like something to happen, but if helping messes with our comfort or schedule, it doesn’t happen.

We pray God would send someone. Did you ever think that that someone could be you?

I’m not just talking about missions. I’m talking about something as simple as sharing Christ with your best friend, or sponsoring a child in need or doing a simple service project.

We may take our friend to church and hope that the pastor’s words will reach their heart. But a man speaking from a pulpit will never have the same place in the heart of your friend that you do. He won’t command the same level of respect that you will. And besides, it’s not just the pastor’s job to share the gospel. It’s all of ours. I know it’s not easy and, speaking from personal experience, I know you will not always succeed. You will fail and you will feel like you bumbled through it and there was no fruit in what you did. But you never know when your words will come back to that person and effect them later in life. So do it.

If you feel lead to go help out people through volunteer work, then don’t wait for someone else to go. Do it. You never know how much good you can do helping those people, and you could use that as an opportunity to share Christ with them.

Always be attentive to the Spirit’s urging. Yes it can disrupt your plans, even multiple times in a row. Look at Paul in Acts 16:6-10. First they wanted to go to Asia, but it says they were forbidden by the Spirit from going there. Then they tried to go into Bithynia, but as it says in verse 7 “The Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.”

Keep in mind, they aren’t driving of flying to these places. They are either walking or sailing. So they go hundreds of miles, just to be told no once again.

Finally Paul receives a vision to go to Macedonia. And he goes immediately.

Immediately.

He begins the long trek to Macedonia as soon as he can. He doesn’t grumble or complaining because the Spirit disrupted his plans twice in a row. He sets out straightaway.

What if we had that kind of attentiveness and obedience to the Spirit’s calling? To be willing to do whatever He has called us to do, be it something large or small, as soon as He calls us to it. I think it would certainly bring about a revival in our lives and in our churches.

What if we stopped praying for God to send people to provide the needs of others and instead prayed, asking God what He would have us do to address those needs?

I think we should stop just praying for the needs of others. I’m not saying we should stop praying for them, but that we should also be willing to do something for it.

God uses people to help other people, and if no one is willing to go because they believe someone else will, then who will be left to go?

There are needs all around us that we can address, even right in our own home towns. And we can use those opportunities not only to help, but to bring Jesus to these people.

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:40

As a bit of encouragement- in Matthew, serving others is likened to serving Christ. If we are listening to the Holy Spirit and doing what it tells us, we will be serving Christ.

So in choosing to wait for someone else to follow the spirit, we in turn aren’t serving Christ the way we are commanded to.

And that’s something that I refuse to do. I refuse to wait for someone else to do what God has asked me to. 

Wake Up!

“Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.” Acts 5:41

Wow… I don’t have any words to describe the wonder I have at the believers at this time. They had just been beaten and ordered not to teach the name of Jesus. And they were rejoicing.

And it didn’t stop there-

“And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.” Acts 5:42

So… they were beaten and ordered not to reach Jesus... and what did they do? They kept at it every day. And not just kept at it, but did it right in front of the people who had had them beaten. They were in the temple, exactly where their opposition would be.

They didn’t shy away from conflict. They held their ground, no matter what. They were not treated fairly by those around them. They were beaten and imprisoned, some even killed, on false accusations, and they were only accused because they believed in Christ. They just wanted others to know Him.

Their only crime was being Christians.

And they were beaten and imprisoned for it, or like Stephen, they were killed.

In America, this is unheard of. We expect fair treatment and equality. We are so used to being able to worship without any problem that we have become complacent. We never even entertain the thought that persecution could come our way. It could, and it will. We don’t know when or in what form, but it will come to us.

The other thing our complacency has made us do is forget. We forget about our brothers and sisters in other nations that are being persecuted for their faith. Those people that are being imprisoned or killed or beaten and kidnapped simply because they believe in the name of Christ.

Yet many of these people, like those found in Acts, are rejoicing. They are thanking God for bringing the Word to them and for giving them the opportunity to share Christ, even at the risk of their lives. They know they are not safe, nor are their families. They risk literally everything to know Christ.

And we’ve forgotten about them. We don’t even take the time to pray for our persecuted family across the world. And there are a lot of them.

Many places are not like America, where we have nothing to fear from our faith. Many people can’t gather openly in churches to worship.

And yet they still follow Christ and try to share Him, despite their peril.

I think the faith of these people is incredible, and I think that if they saw the American church… honestly I believe that they’d be disgusted. We have the gospel and are open to believe what we want, yet we won’t share it with those around us… And why won’t we?

From what I’ve seen, there are two main reasons. Number one is that we’re scared of what people might think about us. Seriously? We have brothers and sisters dying around the world to share Christ and we’re afraid of people making fun of us? In America, we have no danger to our lives and we won’t share anyways.

The other reason I’ve heard is; “I’m just too busy.” Again- really? We spend so much time on things that have no eternal value. And we can’t take some time out of our “busy” schedule to make an eternal impact?

There are two things I find in common within these two reasons. One is that they’re both about us. I’m afraid of what they’ll say about me. I’m too busy and it’ll mess with my schedule. This life isn’t supposed to be about us. It’s about Christ. The other thing they have in common is that they are not really reasons. They’re just excuses.

I know that when I die, I don’t want to stand in front of God and try to explain why I didn’t share His Son with the world with these excuses. Imagine that for a second, (really, try that in your head) and you’ll realize how weak those excuses are in the scheme of things.

So maybe it’s time to wake up a little. Realize that we aren’t the most important one in the world. See that He is.

I pray that He will give us the strength to turn this world upside down in His name. I pray that He’ll start a revival in the American church and give us a feverish love for Him. I pray that he would protect His children all over the world, no matter where they are.

And more than anything, I thank Him for the gift of His Son. 

Don't Worry, God's Got This

“Do not be afraid”

These words show up in various forms 300+ times throughout the bible. (I believe the number is 365 actually, cool huh?) We are told this so many times, but yet as humans we still fear. I know I struggle with this on a daily basis. Even though I’ve been told not to be afraid literally hundreds of times.

My biggest fear is probably the fear of man. I am terrified of the people around me. I am terrified of what they may think of me at any given time. I am afraid of what they may say or do to me.

I believe this fear is common to the whole of mankind. No one likes people talking behind their back and everyone worries about what others might be capable of. I think that’s one of the reasons Jesus addresses this fear specifically in Matthew:

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.” Matthew 10:28

In the sense of eternity, what can man really do to us? They can’t do anything to our souls, and those are what lasts. So we might as well live for the One who holds our eternity.

Later in the same passage, Jesus gives us another reason not to fear:

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs on your head are numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31

He who know what happens to every bird has counted the very hairs on our heads. He knows everything about us and cares more about us than the birds He made. He promises to take care of us and knows everything that our future holds.

As a small disclaimer however, He does not ever say that nothing bad will happen and that we’ll have a fantastic life and get rich and all of that. The so called “prosperity gospel” that is so often taught is completely contrary to Jesus’ teachings. He teaches almost the exact opposite of that. He says the world will persecute and hate us. However He includes a promise with this.

“And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:22

Many other times He tells us that we will be persecuted because He was persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12; John 15:20) But we know that he will give us strength to endure. Nothing can happen to us without His permission and, as it says in romans 8:28, God does work all things together for the good of those who love Him, and towards His ultimate purpose.

Another common fear that I used to struggle with was the fear of death and dying. Then I started to wonder why I fear that so much. If I am confident in Christ, shouldn’t I look forward to my death for the life afterwards with Christ?

Think about what Paul said to the church in Philippi-

“For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

We should live our lives reflecting Christ, and when we die we get to go to an eternity with Him. So, instead of fearing death, I really think we should look forward to the life afterwards.

Then there is the lesser for of fear; worry. We worry about our clothes and hair and our food and our houses and friends. We obsess over the future and get agitated over the past. But this is not condoned in the bible. As a matter of fact, we are told not to worry.

“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.” Matthew 6:31-34

This is the ESV translation, so many of you are probably accustomed to the NIV’s translation of anxious being worry instead, but with either version, it boils down to the fact that we are not supposed to worry.

God knows exactly what we need and will add them to us when He thinks is right. Our only concern should be seeking God in His righteousness. Nothing else should be as important to us as that. And if we are so fully fixated on God like that, will we really have room to worry about anything?

It’s the last part of this section that really strikes me. As someone who has just chosen a college and will be going next fall, I find myself constantly worrying about my future. I don’t know what’s coming and I don’t know what to expect. But Christ tells me not to be anxious about tomorrow. It doesn’t matter what tomorrow might hold, God will take care of me and I have to trust that.

So remember one thing next time you are afraid or worried. God’s got this. He is the creator of everything and He will take care of you. It won’t always be easy or fun, but if you believe in Him, He will lead you to where you need to be.

Seeking Wisdom

“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth comes knowledge and understand.” Proverbs 2:1-6

If I have to choose one topic that Proverbs focus on, it is wisdom. Time and time again, Proverbs talk about the need for wisdom, learning, and applying that in all its forms. In my current reading of Proverbs the importance of this has become much clearer than any other time that I have read it.

It talks of listening to you parents’ instruction and discipline. If there is one thing we should remember and learn from in our childhood and teenage years it should be that discipline, especially if your parents were believers that raised you up in the way of God.

I think that our parents deserve more respect than we give them. They spend 18 years trying to raise us the best we can and oftentimes we as their children spurn their discipline and ignore their teaching. We should take some time to think about everything they tried to teach us and see if we could learn from those lessons now that we are older.

Something that strikes me in the passage I chose to start with is the fact that we have to seek His wisdom. It says He’ll give it to us, but it does not say He will do it without our wanting it and looking for it. We have to strive to learn from Him. We have to seek for it as for silver and hidden treasure.

Imagine if we actually looked for His wisdom as we would look if we knew a great treasure was hidden near. We would spend hours reading His Word, looking at commentaries, praying and working to do just one thing: gain His wisdom.

Think about it this way, since it may be hard to relate to the treasure analogy. Think about how much time we spend on trying to get money. In America especially, it’s all about the money. We spend half our lives just trying to attain money. Now imagine putting that time and effort into learning about God. WE would fervently be following Him.

And if we seek Him with this fervent attitude, we will find Him. He promises to give knowledge of Him. In verse 6, it says that knowledge and understanding comes from God’s mouth. He is the source of all wisdom, so He the only one we can go to for it.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” Proverbs 3:6-7

In short, it’s not about us. We should not rely on ourselves. We should not consider ourselves wise because we are not the source of wisdom. Alone, we are foolish and have no wisdom. We gain wisdom only from God when we seek after Him. So often we think of ourselves as intelligent of “wise” because of everything we have done.

Because that’s what the world teaches us.

We don’t need anyone.

We can do anything on our own as long as we work hard enough.

It’s all about us.

That’s the world we live in.

And it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

We were made to have relationships with others, to work together towards our goals. Most importantly we were created for relationship with God. To rely and lean on Him.

“My son, do not lose sight of these- keep sound wisdom and discretion.” Proverbs 3:21

If we seek His wisdom and he gives it to us, we must never lose sight of it. We should meditate on what He has revealed and use it to the fullest that we can.

We shouldn’t fall back into our complacent lifestyles. We should take what God has revealed and ask Him what He desires for us to do with it. And we should do whatever He tells us to do, even if it’s not what we necessarily what we thought it would be.

And we should never stop seeking. Because no matter how many times you read the bible, you can get something new out of it. Every time. As long as you are seeking. 

The Heart of the Matter

I’ve been questioned by quite a few people as to why I would have any desire to be a missionary; why would I want to risk everything like that.

“You have a great life, why give it up?”

“You’re so smart and could do so much. You should use that here.”

Those are some of the nicer comments I’ve received. There are also the people who don’t say anything and just raise an eyebrow to question my judgment.

I’d like to answer these queries with a question of my own- Why not?

Why shouldn’t I go out to help people? Why shouldn’t I share the good news of Christ with others who don’t know Him?

Yes, I do have a good life here, and I am relatively intelligent. So why not use these gifts to help others?

Let me back up for a second to explain exactly what it is that I want to do.

Ultimately, I want to translate the Word into languages where it was previously unknown. I want to go into these unreached cultures and learn the language; spread the Gospel in those areas as I get to know the culture and the people and help them however I can.

I want to use my life to extend the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

A lot of people tell me that this sounds extreme, and yes, it is, but then again so is my faith. If you really think about it, isn’t what Christ did for us extreme? He didn’t just die for us. He died in the most torturous way possible after having been beaten, flogged, mocked, and forced to carry the instrument of His own death to the place where He would die. Not only that, but the only perfect Man; the Son of God, took all of our sins onto Himself until His Father turned His face away. I honestly believe that that was the probably far more painful for Him than anything He endured physically.

And He did this while we were still sinners.

“But God shows love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

While we were still spurning Him, hating Him, spitting in His face, He was willing to die for us and take our sins onto Himself.

This is extreme.

And I think everyone should know it.

I don’t see a problem with living a life to tell people of what my Savior did for me, and what He did for them. I think that such an act of love and mercy deserves a response, and this this is the response I have chosen.

In addition, I think it’s unfair for someone to live and die without ever knowing Christ, just because they never had the opportunity to hear His Word. Christ’s sacrifice shouldn’t go unknown by an entire people-group because no one brought the Gospel to them.

To put the reason I am doing this into one sentence, and to get to the heart of the matter- I want people to know Christ, because of Who He is.

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.” Romans 10:15

More Than You Can Handle

We’ve all heard the phrase, “God will never give you more than you can handle” when we’re going through a hard time. I don’t know about you guys, but I know that when I heard this after my mom died, I was mad. I couldn’t handle what I was going through.

I’ve come to the conclusion that, standing on its own, this saying is not true.

God does give us more than we can handle. At least, more than we can handle on our own. On our own we are weak; in the hard times we find ourselves breaking down and blaming God. “Where are you, God?!” we may scream in anger.

The answer is that, He is right next to us.

I think that the saying should be changed to read; “God will never give us more than we can handle as long as we put our faith in Him.”

Because with God, we can handle anything. As long as we continue to walk on our own path and turn our back on God, we will face countless circumstances that we cannot handle. However, with our trust placed in Christ, and our minds on Him, we can have His peace.

The truth is, it’s ok to feel like we can’t handle a situation. Though the world may say that we have to be strong and that we should be able to handle anything, we don’t have to be.

We can tell God that we are feeling like we are at the end of our ropes. We can ask Him why He’s doing this to us. It’s ok for us to find ourselves on our knees pouring our hearts out to God and crying.

As a matter of fact, that is the best place you can find yourself in when you are suffering.

God often uses these times to bring us close to Him. These are times when God can draw close to you and carry you if you’ll allow Him to.

Lyrics from Mandisa’s Overcomer oftentimes remind me of this.

Whatever it is you may be going through
I know He's not gonna let it get the best of you

The part I pick out from this lyrics is the fact that, it isn’t about us. I think she hit the nail on the head when she said that He’s not going to let it get the best of us. We can’t make it on our own. We need to put our faith in God and He will help us through.

Don’t fall for the lie that we have to be able to handle everything on our own. Because we can’t. You will find yourself in a situation where you feel like you’re drowning. But god will reach you and lift you out of the water if you will allow Him to.

So next time you hear that God will never give us more than we can handle, just remember that that isn’t true.

Remember that instead God will never give you more than you can handle if you put your trust in Him and lean on Him instead of on your own strength.