How refreshing to be in the word, to be challenged, to be encouraged. How relieving to know that we CANT handle it all on our own! I have been challenged lately to give up a bit of my independence and allow people to help me out. I have been on my own for the most part since 2000 and completely "cut off" and independent for the last 5 years. In that time, I have lived life to the full, traveling in the states and even to Germany, bought a home, and even saved a bit. I have held a job (which I love) I have started a business (although I have not given my 100% to marketing the service) and I have maintained a social life to a small degree, due to the above mentioned. :) However in the past month and a half I have had to learn to let others help me again. I have needed rides and encouragement. I have needed support and advice. And my independence has faltered the ease of this new found need.
In relearning my limits and humbly accepting aid, I realize our faith is much the same. We stand on our own two feet and expect our faith to be strong and enduring, however we constantly face moments in which our faith depletes and our hearts fear the outcome of the treaded ground that fails those feet. It is faith itself that dispels fear. It is God and the genuine encouragement of others that build that faith. Our fears are viable regardless of the insanity of them. We cannot turn on or turn off that which brings fear to mind, no more than we can possess the faith to conquer our fears without tapping into a knowledge that builds it.
People fear all sorts of things. From monsters under the bed, deep ocean waters, or miscarriages, to being a suitable husband mother or friend we all have fears. But faith is what allows children to trust their parents when they say they are safe. Faith is what causes a childless couple to try just one more time. Faith gives a parent the courage to wake up and attempt to be the best mom or dad for their child. Faith gives us the breath to keep going and the vision of hope for a desired outcome. Faith doesnt leave you with notion, it leaves you with vision.
I have seen my sister and brother in law face both infertility and miscarriage head on with more faith than I ever gave them credit for. I have seen their faith grow through their relationship, through the miracle of having Ava, and I have seen their hope endure through every tear. Their faith resounds as their new bundle of joy grows and with every new moment with my little niece. Even with new challenges, their faith is what I see, never their fear! I know they fear. I know those fears are inevitable, but I also know that God has given them a vision through their growing faith that allows them to see the potential of the that fear, rather than a worse case scenario. :)
I have seen a man who as faced with a divorce has a daughter he is left to provide stability and hope for. A man who wonders if he is able, who fears he cant do enough. A man who longs to shield her from the repercussions. But whose faith enables him to do all such things. A faith that allows him to exceed his own limitation. And I see that every time his daughter smiles. I see it every time he reaches the end of another day and his little girl knows she is loved.
I have friends who have lossed loved ones, family members who have faced disease, I have seen faith in so many lives, and those people ... when they reach out with even a ounce of encouragement or aid, my faith grows, my faith gives way to vision. My mind can comprehend more than my flesh can visualize. Those men and women of faith stand for more than just their own accomplishments, they stand to encourage others to do the same, to know that every difficult circumstance offers another opportunity to live beyond the limitation and expect more. Expect blessings and provisions.
In church today, we were reminded of the little boy with his small meal and the 5000 hungry people. He had limitations far exceeding ours and yet the faith of the disciples allowed a beautiful display of provision. We should expect nothing less!
Expect blessings. And know that your faith can strengthen others as well as yourself!
So when hard times face you, ask yourself, do you wear your fear on your sleeve or do you allow your faith to resound?
Fighting our Fears with Faith
A glimpse ... if that will suffice.
This morning’s sermon was entitled: Expect the Unexpected. Which flooded my heart with thoughts. So much so, that I faded in and out of the topic at hand. ☺ Lets face it, It happens. Its better than sleeping through it!
First, Carter began by discussing John the Baptist and how confused he was when he heard Christ has come. All because in his mind, he had developed a “picture” of whom The Christ would be.
As I listened I began to think how his confusion teaches us how dangerous it is to box in the fullness of God! We miss so much of who God is, what He wants to show us, how He wants to bless up and who He wants to be to us when we define His limitations to a “box” in which we draw lines on. Lines that do not fathom how big He is. When we are so busy looking inside our own expectations, we miss who He is outside our understanding. It is when we expect the unexpected, that we see who He is. Although the fullness of God is beyond our inadequate comprehension, we get a glimpse that He exceeds our expectations in full!
When an object is focused on, the outside realm is often blurred if seen at all, but when it comes to God, if we simply take our focus off the expectation or human understanding of who He is, and fix our eyes on the “gray, blurred vision,” that is where we will see the God that will bring us to our knees with humble tears of adoration and awe!
In the past few weeks I have been learning about the Law and Grace. I have learned that God created the Law (ten commandments) with the inability to perfect us while demanding perfection. However, in doing so, we are faced with the reality that we need Grace! That need draws us to a God that gives unending amounts of Grace to forgive, to grow and to transform us. ‘Law reveals our deficiency, Grace offers us the remedy!’ And in living under Gods grace, we are free to trust in His work, in our progress. Letting go of the strain and determination to be better, and in doing so we are made better. Healed of our imperfections and shame to exist with a measure of grace that allows our head to be held high and our shoulders back with pride in the Lord, humility in ourselves, and expectations of “anything” to come. When we accept an increased measure of grace, it returns an increase of stability, which increases the demonstration of the transformation taking place in us. We will change before our own eyes to become the potential GOD saw in us the day He spoke us into motion.
Today I saw a couple broken down on the side of the road. I have been trying to be more in-tune to opportunities that God wishes to use me. And in praying for this, I felt I needed to stop. Two exits, one “legal” U-turn and a few darted vehicles later I pulled in behind the stranded family. As I got out and asked if I could help in any way, they returned w a hurried “no.” I walked back to my car foolish, wondering if they were humored and laughing at this girl in a skirt and heels asking to help, but I knew if I hadn’t stopped I would have been burdened by not knowing if I could have been of some help. As I reached my vehicle, I paused. Standing still on the side of the interstate. As the cars rushed past me at what seemed like a million miles an hour, it calmed my spirit and gave an incredible peace! I always imagined that being stranded on the side of the road would offer panic and anxiety, however, as I pulled off today and was out of my car…it was the most amazing moment…all 3 sec of it! As I got back in my car, confused why I had such a burden in my heart to offer help when it wasn’t needed, I realized at that moment IT WAS FOR ME, not them! We all move at a million miles an hour with work, family, friends, even church and service. We, like the cars, fly through life missing moments of stillness. The moment before I stepped back into the car, I connected with God! It was humbling! He stands and waits for us to pause in this hectic life and breath Him in! To sit with Him a while, even if for just a moment and soak in His grace and love! I need to choose more often to stop, to breathe and to allow Him to fill me with grace! Trust me, connecting with God where He is…is so much more fulfilling than letting Him meet us where we are. The difference is in the voluntary and involuntary action of the moment! When we encounter God where we are it is often because HE has chosen to grab our attention. When we meet our God where HE is…we experience His fullness by choice! We are still, calm and reverent. We grasp his infinite existence and understand how BIG and Good He truly is!
Two songs have been heavy on my heart this week…and by heavy, I mean in a ministering way…they have “fed my spirit and encouraged my heart!” I hope they do the same for you!
Beautiful by Kari Jobe
What do I know of Holy by Addison Road
All in the Timing...
Smiles form in the slightest occurrences to remind us how blessed we are. They can at times creep in and find themselves planted ever so lightly on our faces and at other times the smiles stretch across our face forcing us to feel as though we are about to burst! And however big or small, incidental or inconceivable, smiles are grounded in JOY!
I have walked and talked for many years about the ways of the world in relationships and spoken from both my personal experience and my broken self. I spoke knowing that I was not where I would end up and neither where I once was. I wrote from my heart however hurt or misused because at the end of the day, my heart was what carried me through to see what tomorrow would hold!
Today I am still evolving, still learning, and yet for the first time I am seeing the results of upheld standards and determined self security! I am seeing the promises I clung to brought forth and I am enjoying the fresh new beginnings that I hoped for but never saw coming. And these things are responsible for the smile, the one that seems to bust at the seams.
Life is good, enjoy the moments and rest in the peaceful silence, find the love for self so you dont drain others, and find satisfaction so you need nothing and in turn see everything as blessings. Life is too short to lower standards or settle for any less than we are promised. When we cling to our desire we find those desires at our fingertips at the perfect time!
HOPE believes in things, FAITH expects those things to show up! The difference will mold us into uplifting individuals who simply live claiming that which we have been promised!
I hope you all have a wonderful day and are blessed beyond the expectation of what you felt today had in store!
Moved and Challenged
What a beautiful day! What an amazing morning! I have struggled over the past few years with finding a church to attend, but more than just attend, to invest myself in that church. Two weeks ago my niece, Ava, was dedicated and I was reminded why I went to WECC this past year. It is a phenomenal church with such moving sermons and passionate worship! I quit attending only because when I moved it put my Sunday morning commute at about 30-45 minutes. And a drive like that tends to limit your involvement. However, this morning I made the drive and was blessed to hear the new pastor for the church they are planting right down the street from my new home! How exciting!
So this morning after having a full two weeks to really take on some tough thoughts, situations, and decisions, I found encouragement. If you asked me what the subject of this mornings sermon was on, I would falter for words. If you asked me what I learned from this mornings sermon, that would be another story! So many things left me pondering my life, and how I need to be challenged to improve myself.
When Carter spoke two weeks ago, he left my heart pondering one statement. He was discussion the crazy oat ride in which He had to calm the sea. He made a point that Jesus didn’t allow the weather to overtake the men, He didn’t give them a “few dunks” before calming the storm. He offered immediate relief as soon as they LOOKED TO HIM! How many things I fear would I escape if I just look to HIM. Ask HIM to “calm the seas.”
Then this morning Sean left me with two thoughts. First, the simplest acknowledgement is that God allows our “worlds” to get so out of control that HE is the ONLY one who can offer relief.
And the second is more a challenge: to work at facing my faith in a child like nature. To really depend fully on him and trust Him 110% to the point that I will follow, listen and act in the way HE teaches me. Just as children are distracted, we are surrounded by distractions, but HIS voice should gain our immediate attention. And this statement will be a challenge for me this week: to have the trust that allows me to follow, arms flailing, in reckless abandonment not knowing where I am being lead or where I will end up, but still trusting when I get there.
I hope you all have been blessed today, by the weather, by the Lord, by your family or your friends, but blessed beyond your imagination!
