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 :) 

Against All Hope, We Have Hope

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.  Yet he did not waver in unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He promised.”

 – Romans 4:18-21

            God will do what He has promised. Against all odds we have two words we can always say, “But God.”  Nothing is impossible with Him, instead all things are possible through Him.

            When I read these verses in my morning devotional time, it was verse eighteen that really stood out to me.  It says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…”  There was no hope, I do not know one person who would say “Yea Abraham! No worries, you can totally have a child!” No.  It goes against everything logical, it is physically “impossible.”  If a couple came to the church and asked for prayer, because they wanted a child, but they were in their nineties, people would probably, very nicely, explain to them how this is never going to happen.

            Yet, even though there was no hope, it says that Abraham did not waver in unbelief, his faith was not shaken.  Instead, his faith was strengthened and he was fully convinced that God would do what He had promised.  There was no doubt in his mind, he put all his hope in God, not in what man said was logical or possible. Wow.  Whenever I read about Abraham I am so encouraged by his amazing faith in the One he followed.  God said go, Abraham went.  God said multiply, Abraham believed.  God said sacrifice, Abraham obeyed. 

            God kept His promise to Abraham and Abraham had one son.  Then God told him to offer his only son as a sacrifice, Abraham took the steps of obedience until God held back his hand.  His only son, the only way that Abraham could become the father of a great nation (as God had promised), and we see Abraham willing to even give that up for God.  All of Abrahams hope was in the Lord.  Even when there was no hope, Abrahams faith was strengthened, he gave all the glory to God, because he knew that it is only through God’s power that anything righteous can be possible.

Abraham knew that he was close to death, he was not naive to the facts of life, but he was also not naive of the awesome power of God.  Abraham knew how big his God is, I pray that I too will grow and have the faith of Abraham.  We cannot focus on our ability, surroundings or knowledge, because we will only become discouraged by what this world has to offer.  Instead we need to be like Abraham, even when there is no hope, we will hope.  Because we know the One who holds all things together, we know the author and finisher of time.  

What Do We Put Our Hope In?

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?" - Matthew 6:26

While we were working at the church this morning, Don Victor noticed that there was a bird laying on the ground.  He picked it up and gentle placed it into my hands, where it simply sat looking around and staring at me.  It didn't seem frightened at all, it was completely content to rest in my hand.  I had no idea if the bird was hurt or if it could fly, so I just brushed it's feathers with the tip of my finger and kept softly talking to it.  Just as I was thinking that I should put the bird down somewhere, it suddenly took off flying. The entire time this bird had the ability to go, to fly and yet it was content to simply rest in my hands.

As I was holding this bird Matthew 6 kept running through my head.  "Are you not much more valuable then they?"  In Matthew 6:33-34 it says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  These are verses that most people in the Church are all very familiar with, but I think they are some of the hardest verses to put 100% of our trust in.  Jesus is telling us to let go of all our worries, to rest completely in His hands.  He is promising to provide for us, we are His children whom He loves. He is telling us to keep our eyes focused on Him, to be distracted by Him and Him alone.

We read these verses and we feel so encouraged and so loved by our Savior who is telling us to rest in Him.  To not think about tomorrow, but to Press On, because He has the whole world in His hands.  It is something that is so easy to read, to teach and to say we totally believe.  But then this funny thing called life hits and it can hit us hard sometimes.  That is when we are stretched, when God tests our faith to see if we are truly standing on Him, our unshakable rock.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to Sarah - she was here for three and a half weeks working with us - and we were talking about Gods plan.  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 a hope and a future." So often God's plans are not exactly what we expected them to be.  There are glitches, storms, falls and confusion. It is so easy to get worried, confused and scared that things will end up staying in darkness and that there will never be any rest or light.  Yet, God tells us to rest in Him.  To lean not on our own understanding, but to rest completely in Him and let Him direct our path.  We both agreed that it is such an amazing comfort to know that everything happens for a reason and that God works everything out for His glory.  Yes, things get hard and we can be so confused, but as long as we nestle in His hands and trust that He knows exactly what we need and exactly what time we need it, then we can have hope.  With that hope, through faith, we can have joy and with God's strength (just like this little bird) we can fly.  God takes care of all of His creation, they are not left wanting, we cannot forget His words "Are you not much more valuable than they?"