"Yet, He is God"

“Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights.”

-Habakkuk 3:17-19

YET.  You can put anything before that word and it will still do the same thing – override whatever was put before.  “I have nothing, yet…” – “I have cancer, yet…” – “I got fired, yet…” and on and on the examples go.  It doesn’t make the first half small or insignificant, but it means there is something bigger then all of that. Yet, I will rejoice in MY GOD, in my SAVIOR. The verses leading up to this are talking about the great power of our God.  How God is in control. Habakkuk is asking God to rescue them from their trouble… then he describes their hardships, they have nothing and have lost everything… but then he says “yet.”

Do I say yet? Do I have my eyes focused on Him, my Savior? Or am I focused on this world that will soon pass. “Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” He is the one that enables me to live! Who gives me breath, freedom from sin and condemnation! It is HIM. Am I focused on Him?

Do I have the attitude of Habakkuk, do I see how great of a God I serve.  Not for what we want Him to do, but for what He has already done. Sometimes we can feel as if we are walking through a dessert, and that God has put a Jericho in front of us. It looks massively daunting, because our minds our racing in all the logical reasons why we can’t overcome this Jericho.  But God is just sitting there, waiting for that word, YET. 

Yet, I am a child of the most High King, and He says nothing is impossible for me, because HE is my strength.  He makes my feet like those of a deer. He enables me. I will rejoice in Him.

“Oh Lord, help me. Help me to always keep my eyes on You. Help me to rejoice in You always. You saved me! From eternal hell and You are my Father. What else do I need? I rejoice in You, because the rest is meaningless. You are my God! Thank you for being such and good and patient Father. Forgive me for not keeping my eyes on You always. For doubting and not resting. Lord help me to rejoice in You, my God and Savior. Help me to trust in You and Your plan. Because Your way is higher. Though, in the eyes of the world, some might look at me and say I have nothing… I say “Yet, I have everything, because I have You.” And that is not just enough, it is more than enough, and it is more than I deserve. It is a gift that nothing on this earth can even begin to compare with.  Lord, grown my faith, bring on the Jerichos, so that I might see your power, and so that the world might see that You are God. So that You might be glorified through our lives. We rest in You and Your unfailing love. Amen.”   

Christ + Nothing = Everything

“For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn – conflicts on the outside, fears within.  But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us.” 

– 2 Corinthians 7:5-6b

A couple of days ago I was having a really rough day.   It seemed like everything was just falling apart and whatever I did, just made it worse. Got to love when days like that come rolling around, but more importantly you’ve got to love how God is always faithful to give us the strength and encouragement to get through them.  I woke up the next morning with the song “Give Me Faith” by Elevation Worship in my head and opened my Bible to 2 Corinthians 7:5-6. 

I read that verse and instantly felt the Lord speaking to me.  No rest, harassment, conflict and fear… Yep, sounds about right. I don’t know about you, but there tends to always be a season in my life where these four things show up.  Times where I feel like I am stuck on a treadmill, running, but not going anywhere and not able to jump off.  Times where every turn or movement I make returns with a strong backlash.  Times when it seems like there is no peace, instead there is only tension.  Times when you hate yourself because you are scared, scared of the unknown or even better when you don’t even know where the fear is coming from.  It can all seem a little overwhelming at times.   Yet, then we look at the second part of these verses, and those two magic words “But God.”

All of this can be happening, but God.  No matter what it is, those two words cancel it all out, which makes the math easy.  All we have to do is turn our eyes on Him and He is faithful to bring us through and give us peace.  It makes me think of Paul at the end of acts.  Throughout chapters 27 and 28 Paul is in a huge storm and then shipwrecked.  During the storm, the men are terrified, and when Paul speaks to them he says, “Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul’ (Acts 27:23-24b).  The angel then continues to remind Paul that God has a plan for him in Rome and that his time is not yet over, so to take courage because God is faithful to His word, but that the ship would be shipwrecked.  You would think that would be enough excitement for Paul, but there was still more to come.

After being shipwrecked and swimming for his life, Paul gets bit by a viper while collecting fire wood.  It says in chapter 28, verse 3, “a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.”   This extremely poisonous viper doesn’t just bite Paul and then let go, no he latches on, never intending to let go.  How much is that like Satan?  Satan doesn’t just throw an attack at us for a couple seconds and then ease up and go away.  No, he does everything he can to try and get as much venom into our blood stream as possible and holds on with strength.  But, what does Paul do?  In verse 5 it says, “But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.” Paul doesn’t let it move him, he shakes it off, kills it in the fire (he kills it, it is no more) and then he suffers no ill effect.  No ill effect from a vipers bite?  That is impossible… But God.

There are storms, storms that cause us to fear for our lives, but we see that in that storm Paul was not alone.  Paul was comforted and encouraged by the words of an angel of the Lord, this angel was standing by him through the storm.  Yes, they lost their cargo, their supplies, and their ship, but not one life on the ship was lost.  We can lose all that we have here on earth, but we know that we cannot lose our life in Christ.  Finally we can get bit by the viper of life, and that bite can come in many different forms (bitterness, fear, anger, depression, etc.), but what matters is that we shake it off, kill it in the fire and let God be the restorer of life, for then we will suffer no harm.  All we have to do is look to Him and He “who comforts the downcast, [will] comfort us.”

Do We Think We Are Above Falling

“For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.” – Proverbs 24:16

                The feeling of being trapped, not able to escape and slowly beginning to believe that you are a failure – have you ever felt that?  I think that this can be a very common feeling and a common feeling in the church.  I know that I have felt this way many times, but I was too ashamed to talk about it.  When we become saved the Bible says we die to our flesh and our alive in Him. We are a new creation, called to be holy, we are called to obey God.  Does that make us Holy as soon as we rise up from the water we are being baptized in?  No, of course not, because it is a growing process that takes endurance for the rest of our lives.

                While here in Costa Rica we have six books assigned to us as reading material.  The book that I am reading now is called “The Pursuit of Holiness,” and I really like it. It talks about the importance to be holy, the fact that it is our responsibility (through God’s strength) to run towards holiness, but also the fact that we will fall.  When he talked about this verse in Proverbs, I was amazed that I never had noticed it before.  So often we think that as Christian we won’t or can’t fall, because people are watching us and we are called to a higher standard.  Yet, at the very same time we know that we are not perfect and that it is only through the work of the Holy Spirit that we can overcome our flesh.  But as my teammate’s mom once said, “Who do we think we are, that we could be above sinning?” 

                This hit me hard, right in the face.  I had always felt this pressure, this pressure to make sure everything was right, to live up to the standard and not fall below status quo.  People so often would put me up on this standard, and “pick on me” for never messing up.  I hated it.  The hardest thing about it, was that I knew that I messed up and that I messed up very often.  Like Paul says, “I do what I don’t want to do and don’t do what I want to do.”  Reading this book has been so confirming and comforting in a way.  The righteous fall, but they get back up.  Yes, we all make mistakes and multiple times, but what do we do about it?  Do we get back up and run our race?  Do we lay it at the feet of Jesus, asking for His strength to endure?  “The righteous fall seven times, [but] they rise again.”   We all fall short, that is why we need a savior.  If we magically stopped sinning, then we would no longer need Jesus Christ our Savior.  He calls us to live a Holy life and that is why we run our race, so that He might mold us into a new creation.  He is going to chip away all the dirt and failure in our lives, we just have to lean on Him and let Him.

In Our Weakness, He Is Strong

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7

                “To make or become quiet; to be silent; to stop.  When the thunder would not peace at my bidding” (Webster’s Dictionary).  The absence of a storm, is that peace?   Many people, I think, would say yes.   They would say that there is peace when the sky is clear and the water is calm.  But, I find it interesting that even in Webster’s Dictionary the quote says, “When the thunder would not peace at my bidding.”   The thunder did not silence, instead the person silenced.  They stopped, became still, and sat in quiet silence as the storm raged on around them.   Is that not what we are supposed to do as Christians?

                The last couple weeks I have been thinking a lot about Paul and his writings.  Then this Sunday we were in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 12, where Paul talks about the thorn in his side.  He writes, “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me” (2 Corinthians 12:7-8). But, God says no.  How often can we relate to this?  We are in a storm, a hardship, or facing a challenge and we beg God to just take it away.  We ask that He would give us peace, that He would clear our vision, and that He would calm the storm in our lives and our hearts.  We beg, and yet so often we are met with the two letter word “no.”  Why?  Because in Jeremiah 29:11 God says, “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 a hope and a future.” 

                 God never puts challenges and storms in our lives to trip us on purpose, He doesn’t want to harm or hurt us.  No, He puts challenges in our lives to make us run to Him, to grow us, to make us stronger in His power and to keep us humbled at His feet.  God’s answer to Paul was this, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” It is when we turn our eyes upon Him, and lean on His strength and not our own, that we have peace.  We might be facing something that is impossible to handle in our own strength, but with God everything is possible.  As Paul says, “for Christ’s sake I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardship, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  We must first accept our weakness, then “Let Go and Let God,” and that is when we find His peace. For when I am weak, God is strong.

VBS!

So, last week we had a VBS here in Costa Rica, It went so well and we saw God's hands moving. God sent down a team to make it all possible, but not only did they bless these kids and this town, they blessed Haley and me. The kids here can actually be really shy with new people, but we just watched as this team poured the love of Christ over them, and the kids opened up. We also became part of their team while they were here, it wasn't them and us, it was everyone working together to further God's kingdom. We got to spend the night with these amazing people, spend time in fellowship, prayer and devotionals. An answer to prayer. I don't know if they will ever know how much they blessed all of us here. God has perfect timing and He knows exactly what He is doing. We watched so many kids give their hearts to Jesus, and there were Bibles placed in their hands. Please keep the kids in your prayers and thank you for all of your prayers, the VBS was awesome.

Peace In Our Confusion

“You saw me before I was born.  Every day of my life was recorded in your book.  Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.  How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.  They cannot be numbered!  I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!  And when I wake up, you are still with me!”  - Psalm 139:16-18

“In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus.  When I am alone, give me Jesus.  When I come to die, give me Jesus.   You can have all this world, just give me Jesus.”  I love this song, it reminds me of the verse that says, what good is it to gain the whole world but lose your soul?

In this life we have so many plans, so many desires, but the only desire we need is Jesus Christ.  It can be so easy to become the Martha, instead of the Mary, and get so caught up in the work we are doing for Jesus; consequently, forgetting to just sit at His feet, to desire Him and Him alone. While in Guatemala I remember Pastor D saying, “We need to be distracted by Jesus, so that nothing else can distract us away from Him.”  If we are so caught up in Jesus, that nothing else can grab our attention, then we are definitely in His sweet spot.  This though, of course, is easier said than done.

Reading this verse I focused on the first half.  God has a plan and He has known the end since the beginning.  How nice it would be to know God’s plan.  Being in IGNITE has definitely confused the plan (aka. “My Plan”) a little bit.  Which, to be honest, can be hard.  My life has always had an order in my mind, there was a plan.  Everything else could fall apart, but I had control over one thing, where I was going. Well, at least that is what I thought.  Ehhh, wrong. God’s plan is bigger than my plan, it has more turns and bridges, it requires faith and trust in the One who is guiding me.  To follow His plan requires me to constantly be running to Him for guidance, to constantly be seeking His face, and to constantly be distracted by Him.  

That is what made me focus on the second half of this verse, “And when I wake, you are still with me!”  Life, sometimes can feel like a path with no light.  You know that you are walking on the path, you know it is guiding you to where you need to go, but you have a blindfold covering your eyes.  One has to trust the one guiding them on the dimly lit path.  It is when one lets go of the guide that one gets lost.  Just like when we become distracted by other voices, many times our own, instead of following the Holy Spirit that we too get lost.   We need to know our shepherd’s voice, He needs to be our all in all, the one who consumes our thoughts.

Only then will the path slowly shed light.

But even then,

We must trust. 

We Don't always know what is next, or what we are called for in any certain instance.  God never promised us complete clarity, but He did promise us His peace.

How Often Do We Ask Why?

“But the jar the He was forming did not turn out as He has hoped, so He crushed it into a lump of clay and started again.” – Jeremiah  18:4

I remember so clearly the first time God really used this verse to speak to my heart.  I was around 17 and I was doing a Singles Life talk at a Christian girls retreat.  When I read the second half of this verse I remember the chill, my heart started racing and the verse just came alive in that moment. How awesome is the power of God’s word and how crazy is the fact that it doesn’t only happen once?  Here in Costa Rica God has again laid this verse on my heart, just not for the same reasons.

Let me try to explain what I mean (by how it is different).  If you have ever watched Pastor Mike’s pottery presentation in church you might remember a certain part that no one really expects.  You watch Pastor Mike make a vase, a beautiful vase, and then all of a sudden it seems as if he is intentionally destroying it.  But, that is not what he is doing.  The entire time he was planning on making a bowl, and so he had to cause parts of the clay to collapse and then rework on other parts.  The first time I saw this presentation the first thought that popped into my mind was, “why?”  Why, it doesn’t make sense, I don’t understand.  How often is that my first thought when God does something in my life?  Why.

I guess what I am trying to say is this, how often do we feel like we too are being crushed and all we can do is ask why.  We can have peace and hope that the Lord is in control, this gives us rest and strength, but we often still ask why.  Right before I left for IGNITE my dad got literally crushed by a truck, just a couple of days before my brother’s wedding.  I remember being at work when I heard the news and all I could do was walk back and forth in the copy room, praying.  All I could say was, “Lord why?  I know that you are in control, I know that you can do wonders through this.  You are a great God and You give me Your peace.  But, right now I am so confused.  Please Lord, please, show me what you are doing in this and please let me selfishly keep my father here on earth.” 

God still hasn’t show my family and me what He was and is doing through that accident.  As soon as we were starting to be able to stand on our feet financially God took that blessing from us.  I don’t know why and that is okay.  When I found out I was being sent to Costa Rica, the first thing I said in my mind was “why?” It was the last place I wanted to be sent, and yet I had complete peace because I knew that was where God wanted me.  Now I wouldn’t have wanted to be sent anywhere else, in all truthfulness.  I still don’t know why God sent me here, but He is slowly revealing to me why He placed me here.  But, we are in the beginning of month three and He begins to answer my question of why.  Go to love His timing and the lessons we learn through it. J 

It reminds me of a song, How He Loves.  The first verse goes, “He is jealous for me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree, bending beneath the weight of His wings and mercy.”  It was actually when I was thinking of this song that God put this verse on my heart.  God’s love is described as a hurricane, an extremely strong and destructive storm.  Hurricanes can take away everything a person has in an instant and I am sure those people always wonder “why them.”  But the song says that we bend, not that we break.  Just like a hurricane brings rain, clay needs water in order for it to be flexible, in order for it to be moldable.  How much easier is it to trust ourselves, to become “hard and dry” to God’s molding when we think that we have it.  Yet, when we are in the middle of a storm, we tend to lean on Him more, we tend to be more flexible to His voice.  We don’t ask why, we ask how we can learn to dance in the rain.  We let go and Let God.  

Trust.

Hope that made sense! God bless :)