Blessings in Disguise

The other night, after I had read my Bible, I was talking to the Lord and sharing that I would like to have more patience.  I told Him that I knew He would probably "give" it to me by giving me some situations in which I would have to practice patience, and that the situations would probably not be my ideal way to learn to have more patience. 

Two days later, I was at work dealing with a few difficult people and difficult circumstances.  I hadn't thought much about my prayer for patience since I had talked to the Lord about it, but the day after He was putting me in a place where I had  to practice patience, I heard this little song. 

Blessings

Laura Story

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things


Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights 
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

Mere Mortals?

"All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other [eternal] destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities. . .that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no 'ordinary' people.  You have never talked to a mere mortal.  Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals  whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously -- no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner -- no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment."

--C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

(emphasis mine)

At my church, we have a chance on Sunday nights to go different 10-week classes which focus on one subject.  The class I’ve been going to is called The Truth Project.  It is a series of videos that explain the foundation of the Bible.  It’s been amazing, and I’ve learned so much!

Last night, the lesson discussed the Biblical sphere of community.  I wasn’t expecting much, but wow, was I caught off guard!  One of our jobs as Christians is to help the needy and the poor.  If you’re anything like me, initially you say to yourself, “Yep, got this one done,” and then just turn off your brain.  Thankfully, this time the speaker, Del Tackett, caught me before I turned off my brain.  He began to explain that the poor and needy are not only  people who are low on cash or unhealthy… they are also the left-out, the unpopular, the ignored, the shunned, and the outcasts.

As the speaker went on explaining who is included in the "outcast" group, I was hit hard.  I immediately thought of three girls in my school that I know I could have befriended, but I chose not to because--in my mind-- they were not worth it.

Growing Pains

Over the last couple weeks a lot of things have happened that I was either not expecting, things I was not  expecting to come that soon, or things I just never realized before. For me it seemed like it all hit me at once. It was hard for me to come to grips with the fact that a lot of my close friends are graduating.  Also within the last week my youth pastor (PM) announced his retirement, which I was expecting, but I didn’t expect to come this fast. It would be nice to find a job and start saving for college, so I’m filling out applications almost every day. Then, to top it all off, I just realized that I’m starting college classes the week after school for a whole month, which means that my last true summer was last year and didn’t even know it!

So by the time this had all hit me I was feeling quite overwhelmed I didn’t know what to think or how to react. So I decided to read my Bible and the Lord gave me the perfect verse. It was in Psalm 61 verse 2. It said, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

I had a long talk with God in my closet, I argued with him about "why now?!", and wondered if I could really make that much of a difference now that I’m going to be a senior in high school (the pressure's on). But in the end God reassured me that everything was going to be okay, and that all I had to do was trust him and he would get me through everything.

That verse was perfect for that moment. I know the things that were very heavy on my heart are actually not at all big in the grand scheme of life, but they were to me. A lot of my issues are just part of growing up. It amazes me that the God of the universe is sovereign but yet so personal all at the same time. He cares about everything that I’m dealing with no matter how small. The facts that our God is both sovereign and personal leaves me in awe and helps me understand a little better, that there really is nothing better than serving God.

written by Amanda T (High School Junior)

Here am I, Lord -- Use Me.

All I Ever Want to Be

All I ever want to be is what you want of me, 

Lord; I give my life to you.

And all my hopes and dream and plans I place within Your hands, Lord,

And give my life to You.

Here am I , Lord, use me; take my life and mold me.

All I ever want to be is what You want of me, Lord; 

I give my life to You.

And all my hopes and dreams and plans I place within Your hands, Lord,

And give my life to You.

(We're Singing -- The Wilds)

GE (High School Senior)

Start Here -- Right Now

Countless times I have heard people ask, "How do I know God's will for my life? How do I know I am doing God's will?"  The answer, which I have also heard many times, is to do what God wants you to do right now.   Yes, organizing and planning out your week or year is wise time management and important.  But as another week comes to an end, I am reminded that we must truly take each day as it comes, focusing on doing the next  right thing.  It is when we begin to focus on doing what God wants us to do moment by moment that we learn to appreciate the journey, and not just the destination.  

Doing the next right thing also requires that we are equipped with the proper tools.  

We must be saturated with God's Word, ready to apply a biblical truth to any question that is shot our direction and able to combat any temptation with the Sword of Truth.

When God Calls...

The book of Jonah is full of irony. Sometimes we are so caught up with the story of the great fish that we miss a great God who is teaching great lessons on obedience. 
In this book, Jonah was called to minister to Ninevites, but he decided to do the exact opposite. He thought he could resign from God's commission by simply walking away; but God used nature, animals, and even heathen people to stop Jonah and teach him a lesson.  
The irony in this book is that everyone in the story listens to God, except for Jonah. Here are some other ironical elements...

• Jonah was called to Nineveh (God's plan) - Jonah was running away from Nineveh (His agenda)
• Jonah does not obey God - The creation (sea, wind, etc.) obeys God
• The sailors were praying earnestly (to their gods) - Jonah was sleeping comfortably
• Jonah admitted that he was fleeing from Yahweh - The sailors rebuked him saying, how could you do this? (even the sailors had better understanding of Yahweh when Jonah described Yahweh to them!)

Doubt Not His Grace

Over the past few months, I have been waiting on some very important news that would affect the direction of my life.  As I waited, every day I hoped that the news would come. It was extremely difficult at times to tell the Lord that I knew His timing was perfect and that I was content waiting for it.  During times of discomfort or suffering, it is often easy to overlook the fact that God is grace. He knows exactly what we need and He also knows exactly the right time to give it to us.  For some reason, even though we have all heard this a million times, trusting God when it's not comfortable is definitely easier said than done.


Long story short, the news came this week!  It came when I was least expecting it, honestly, and the outcome was also what I had least expected after waiting for so long.  I had had a rough day, and receiving an answer from the Lord to all of my many prayers over this topic was exactly what I needed in that exact moment.  No sooner, no later--that was clear.

Rain and Sunshine

On my way to church last night, I saw a full-length rainbow.  It had rained just a few hours earlier, and a beautiful spectrum of colors remained against the dark grey sky.  God gave us the rainbow as a sign of His promise to Noah that He would never again destroy the entire earth by a flood.  Usually when I look at rainbows, that's as far as my observation goes.  This time, however, my contemplations went beyond Noah.

I love reading good, challenging Christian books.  Right now, I am spending a lot oftime on Elisabeth Elliot's Passion and Purity. It's Jim and Elisabeth's love story, which has an abundance of insight into God's Word, serving Him, and (naturally) love.

In one chapter of the book,  Jim professed his love to Elisabeth but did not feel God wanted him to marry at the time.  He left for Ecuador, and she stayed at school in Oklahoma, continuing to serve God and wait on Him. Elisabeth describes one evening she spent alone with God at the top of a stadium in Oklahoma.  As she was sitting there alone, pouring her heart out to God, she noticed "just the scrap of a rainbow" in the sky.  It was a great encouragement to her on that lonely evening.

Just like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is never found, sometimes we can never even get a glimpse of the end of our trials. But, we can trust God that there is an end, and that He won't push us past what we can handle.  There is also a purpose to our suffering: to make us more like Christ and to demonstrate His beauty to others.  All rainbows are made of rain and sunshine.  Through the rain, allow yourself to radiate God's love, joy, and peace, bringing beauty into the lives of others.

Maybe now when you see a rainbow, you'll not only remember God's promise, but also how He created the rainbow--with rain and sunshine.

LC (High School Senior)

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