THIS WEEK I am starting my second year of college, getting ready to dive into the four new classes that start in a couple days. I just came home from an awesome Christian dance party with the best friends I have ever had, and my feet hurt. I feel blessed.
This past week I was at a Spirit-filled retreat with other students from all over Florida. We were there to be trained and taught about evangelism, discipleship, and just loving people. We became such close friends so fast. It's beautiful how people can be unified when we are parts of the body of Christ. And it's exactly the same with us at school. We are all celebrating the same God together.
So far this year, God has repeatedly replaced my plans and given me opportunities to grow closer to Him and to the people He has put in my life. Time after time, there was something I wanted to do with Him that He would switch out for something else I hadn't considered. The result is that I have grown and seen more this year so far than I ever have before.
It reminds me of Jeremiah 33:3, one of my life verses: "Call to Me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."
For example, I planned to go to the huge Campus Harvest convention in North Carolina that I went to last year. I love the passionate worship and the prayer and fellowship. Speakers come and give glorious testimonies to God's power to save, and we all leave wanting to give God our all. But it was too expensive for me this year, and it conflicted with other things. So God opened up the opportunity to go to the CRU Women's Retreat instead. He is so infinitely wise. He knew that it would be exactly what I needed to see an area where I was falling short. I didn't understand the depth of his love, and so I was feeling lonely. Now when I think about Him, I think of the ocean and how He wraps us up in more love than we know what to do with. He softened my heart in a way that made me rely on Him more completely than I think Campus Harvest could have.
Then summer came, and I didn't get to go back to Peru on a mission trip like last year, to see the people I met there and go witness to students. I was very disappointed. It just wasn't feasible for me at the same time as the school year was ending. Instead I found myself on a different team, leading a team of children in a Vacation Bible School first at my home church and then in Miami. The testimonies from Peru blew me away. A blind boy received sight, and God saved a lot of souls. But I got to meet Adam, a six year old who could understand that he and Jesus were separated, and who was so overjoyed to learn how that separation could be fixed. I got to talk to little souls and see how precious they are, and understand how God sees us, and my faith became more like a child's - persistent and dependent. He takes care of us.
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
It kept happening. I wanted to get a job or an internship for the summer, but I couldn't get a hold of one. So I went to volunteer in my neighborhood one day and ran into one of the women in charge, who asked about my major. When I said that I study architecture, she connected me to a volunteer position with the neighborhood preservation group, which effectively became like an intership for me. I got to see old files on buildings in my own area, most close to a century old. It's something I can put on a resume, not to mention a terrific learning experience.
Now, instead of being able to make it to CRU's Leadership training days this week, which I would have loved to be a part of, I got trained in discipleship at a different retreat, got prephesied over, and by God's grace leapt over the walls that have kept me from carrying this message to people more actively. I finally see that God is not waiting for me to be "able" but "available," as one of the pastors explained. And again, instead of living where I planned with three friends from my life group, which would have been awesome if there had been room for us, I have "accidentally" ended up directly across the hall from my new friend who just became a Christian during the Spring! Time after time, my ideas are good, but God's are better. And I end up being blessed much more by things not working out my way.
Now I'm back at school with a great sense of expectation. But of what exactly, I'm not sure. You see, I know God is going to keep doing these things - setting up divine appointments, changing my plans, straining beauty out of frustrating circumstances. I know He is going to save people and keep training us in how to reach our friends with the Gospel. But I know that the way He is going to do it is much better than any picture I have in my head of what it looks like for salvation to sweep over the campus. Our job is to deepen our relationships with people to the point that we are not completely comfortable, make sure they know they are loved, tell them the story of the way the Savior saved us. He asks us to jump on board, because He is already at work on something new and surprising.
Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The Finish
THIS WEEK was the second week of the Olympics, which I think is a great accomplishment on the part of the world. There's a lot of evil and conflict in the world, and it's beautiful to me that every few years we can put wars and racism aside and be united in healthy competition. It's something the whole earth can enjoy together. I often found myself rooting for other countries' heroes because they were doing great things and breaking records not only for their nations, but for humanity. Things no human has ever done quite so well. Things we can all celebrate.
The foot races were among my favorite events, and I learned a lot from what I saw. They represent the one of most ancient Olympic events, the ones the Greeks competed in thousands of years ago.
Paul used this kind of race as a symbol for how to live the Christian life. If we are honest with ourselves and with Jesus, it isn't an easy and worry-free thing to be a Christian. It is a constant effort whose success lies in each step we take, relying completely on our Lord. Jesus didn't come to make life easy, but so that we would have life and have it to the full. Persecution is involved. We are challenged to face the neediness that we are so deeply disinclined to accept.
One of the most amazing things I saw in this Olympics was a 4 x 400 relay in which a Manteo Mitchell actually snapped a bone at the beginning of his leg of the race, yet continued running despite the pain as if nothing were wrong. He ran and passed his baton to the next runner, and the American team finished very well. He did have to be replaced for the races afterward, but he did not let his team down. He did what he was sent to do.
2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
As family in Christ, we rely on each other to each do what we have been called. God's will is done whether we cooperate or not, but He has given us a job to do. It is a blessing to get to run in this race and strive to live the life He has called us to. Because absolutely anything is possible in Him, but if we aren't obedient, we will not see the great consequences of the great things that would be possible through Him.
I am very impressed with this runner for finishing, even when his whole body told him he had to stop, even when the pain was almost too much. For Christians it's like when doubt arises, or pain comes and we don't know why God didn't prevent it, or when persecution or pressure from others becomes overwhelming. Maybe we want to stop following Christ because it would be easier not to be so different. We just can't be like everybody else once his grace has redeemed us. More often, and perhaps more dangerously, we just don't want to go after him as hard, and we look away from the supreme value of the prize of knowing Him in favor of the comfort of being loved. A lot of the time I'm guilty of that.
I know some people who were trained to be Christians when we were younger, and when I hear from them now I find that they have been persuaded that Jesus really isn't that important. They say there are many ways to God, or that there really isn't a God, and I wish I could show them every wonderful thing God shows me to let me know He is who He says He is. Many of us don't finish the race, and when I see them falling around me I pray I will be as faithful as I like to think I am.
I remember Peter, who promised that he would never deny Jesus, who said he would be arrested and die with Him if he had to. But he didn't. Instead he did exactly what Jesus predicted, and he denied him three times before morning while He was being interrogated. Jesus took Him back. But I never want to be guilty of denying Him in the first place.
Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."
In another race, a racer came who had tripped and fallen in her last Olympics. This time, she did it again. She hit the ground, got on her knees, and you could practically hear her spirit break. A broken spirit is harder to run with than a broken leg. She was still in a good position to stand and catch up. Then she would have at least finished. But it was over before she was down.
I wish she would have got up and finished. And I hope a Christian who screws up and fails will accept God's mercy and grace and come back stronger. That's the way grace is designed. Our failures could break us and cast us out entirely, or they could reveal our neediness and bring us closer to our loving God.
To have a big "DNF" above your head is worse than last place. We are all going to fall at some point. Every great name in the Bible - except Jesus - comes with some great mistake. But the heroes of faith, those whose lives really show the glory of God, are the ones who run and finish.
The foot races were among my favorite events, and I learned a lot from what I saw. They represent the one of most ancient Olympic events, the ones the Greeks competed in thousands of years ago.
Paul used this kind of race as a symbol for how to live the Christian life. If we are honest with ourselves and with Jesus, it isn't an easy and worry-free thing to be a Christian. It is a constant effort whose success lies in each step we take, relying completely on our Lord. Jesus didn't come to make life easy, but so that we would have life and have it to the full. Persecution is involved. We are challenged to face the neediness that we are so deeply disinclined to accept.
One of the most amazing things I saw in this Olympics was a 4 x 400 relay in which a Manteo Mitchell actually snapped a bone at the beginning of his leg of the race, yet continued running despite the pain as if nothing were wrong. He ran and passed his baton to the next runner, and the American team finished very well. He did have to be replaced for the races afterward, but he did not let his team down. He did what he was sent to do.
2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
As family in Christ, we rely on each other to each do what we have been called. God's will is done whether we cooperate or not, but He has given us a job to do. It is a blessing to get to run in this race and strive to live the life He has called us to. Because absolutely anything is possible in Him, but if we aren't obedient, we will not see the great consequences of the great things that would be possible through Him.
I am very impressed with this runner for finishing, even when his whole body told him he had to stop, even when the pain was almost too much. For Christians it's like when doubt arises, or pain comes and we don't know why God didn't prevent it, or when persecution or pressure from others becomes overwhelming. Maybe we want to stop following Christ because it would be easier not to be so different. We just can't be like everybody else once his grace has redeemed us. More often, and perhaps more dangerously, we just don't want to go after him as hard, and we look away from the supreme value of the prize of knowing Him in favor of the comfort of being loved. A lot of the time I'm guilty of that.
I know some people who were trained to be Christians when we were younger, and when I hear from them now I find that they have been persuaded that Jesus really isn't that important. They say there are many ways to God, or that there really isn't a God, and I wish I could show them every wonderful thing God shows me to let me know He is who He says He is. Many of us don't finish the race, and when I see them falling around me I pray I will be as faithful as I like to think I am.
I remember Peter, who promised that he would never deny Jesus, who said he would be arrested and die with Him if he had to. But he didn't. Instead he did exactly what Jesus predicted, and he denied him three times before morning while He was being interrogated. Jesus took Him back. But I never want to be guilty of denying Him in the first place.
Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."
In another race, a racer came who had tripped and fallen in her last Olympics. This time, she did it again. She hit the ground, got on her knees, and you could practically hear her spirit break. A broken spirit is harder to run with than a broken leg. She was still in a good position to stand and catch up. Then she would have at least finished. But it was over before she was down.
I wish she would have got up and finished. And I hope a Christian who screws up and fails will accept God's mercy and grace and come back stronger. That's the way grace is designed. Our failures could break us and cast us out entirely, or they could reveal our neediness and bring us closer to our loving God.
To have a big "DNF" above your head is worse than last place. We are all going to fall at some point. Every great name in the Bible - except Jesus - comes with some great mistake. But the heroes of faith, those whose lives really show the glory of God, are the ones who run and finish.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Known by Name
THIS WEEK my family went on a short vacation to the beautiful city of Charleston, SC. I love it because it's very old and historic, like walking through the past and the present at once. They're still giving horse and buggy rides, and on every street there are plaques describing the important histories of repurposed building that used to be homes or banks. So much of it is very well preserved and still used, and it's such a safe and peaceful place to walk through.
I got to visit the glorious old churches where the colored light casts itself down from the stained glass windows, and rows of pews wait to greet worshipers. I got to wander around old churchyards where the famous and the common were within feet of each other, and those resting since the 1700s lie close to a few who have been there for only ten years.
One of my favorite things we did, besides eating the South Carolinian food, was taking a Ghost Tour with my family. It was actually after dark, in the rain, so the atmosphere was perfect. Our tour was less theatrical and more historical than the other Ghost Tours available. We walked around old Charleston to several old buildings, many of them churches, and heard legends about ghosts wandering in churchyards or appearing in homes, a couple of them having appeared as oddly human phenomena in rare photographs, or completely unexpected to people who don't believe in ghosts. Most of them seemed to have unfinished business and unanswered questions, and they hung around the places they died or were buried. I know none of it holds much water, but I had a lot of fun and it was a really interesting tour.
Well I still don't believe in ghosts, although I don't know how to explain some of the stories and pictures from the tour. I do believe in angels, and that God sends them to earth sometimes for good reasons. But more than anything, this tour reminded me that God is sovereign. Just like He doesn't let souls wander around the earth aimlessly, He doesn't let one person or one member of His Creation out of His sight. It's good to know that we are important to Him, and that He is the pursuer of our souls.
Luke 15:4-5 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninetey-nine in the winderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing."
I read A Wind in the Door, a novel by Madeleine L'Engle, my favorite author, in two days this week. I really swallowed it up. It wasn't a religious book, I mean, it's not exactly about God. It's actually a young adults' fiction novel. But you can see the Holy Spirit all over it. You can read it for yourself, but it's all about the importance of each Created thing, from the super microscopic to stars and galaxies, being known by name and having its integrity as part of a glorious Creation, and the danger that hate and rebellion bring to that integrity.
Psalm 147:3-5 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite."
Whether we live or die, or whatever we do, we live forever to the living God of the living. Every time I look at a bird flying in the sky, I remember that I am precious to God, and that we each are precious to Him. God, who knows the nature of every soul, the makeup of each atom, the frame of the universe, the pace of time, and is above all He has made, sees us and knows us.
Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"
It's really beautiful that our Shepherd doesn't forget about His sheep and let us roam through eternity's wilderness like nobody owns us. I had a great time in Charleston and I loved the tour, but don't think too hard about the ghost stories. When my days run out, I know I won't be wandering the streets of Jacksonville trying to find someone, or roaming my house like I think nothing has changed. And I definitely won't be creeping people out in cemetery photographs. I'll be busy gazing at Jesus forever. How do you go anywhere when you're looking at that smile?
I got to visit the glorious old churches where the colored light casts itself down from the stained glass windows, and rows of pews wait to greet worshipers. I got to wander around old churchyards where the famous and the common were within feet of each other, and those resting since the 1700s lie close to a few who have been there for only ten years.
One of my favorite things we did, besides eating the South Carolinian food, was taking a Ghost Tour with my family. It was actually after dark, in the rain, so the atmosphere was perfect. Our tour was less theatrical and more historical than the other Ghost Tours available. We walked around old Charleston to several old buildings, many of them churches, and heard legends about ghosts wandering in churchyards or appearing in homes, a couple of them having appeared as oddly human phenomena in rare photographs, or completely unexpected to people who don't believe in ghosts. Most of them seemed to have unfinished business and unanswered questions, and they hung around the places they died or were buried. I know none of it holds much water, but I had a lot of fun and it was a really interesting tour.
Well I still don't believe in ghosts, although I don't know how to explain some of the stories and pictures from the tour. I do believe in angels, and that God sends them to earth sometimes for good reasons. But more than anything, this tour reminded me that God is sovereign. Just like He doesn't let souls wander around the earth aimlessly, He doesn't let one person or one member of His Creation out of His sight. It's good to know that we are important to Him, and that He is the pursuer of our souls.
Luke 15:4-5 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninetey-nine in the winderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing."
I read A Wind in the Door, a novel by Madeleine L'Engle, my favorite author, in two days this week. I really swallowed it up. It wasn't a religious book, I mean, it's not exactly about God. It's actually a young adults' fiction novel. But you can see the Holy Spirit all over it. You can read it for yourself, but it's all about the importance of each Created thing, from the super microscopic to stars and galaxies, being known by name and having its integrity as part of a glorious Creation, and the danger that hate and rebellion bring to that integrity.
Psalm 147:3-5 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite."
Whether we live or die, or whatever we do, we live forever to the living God of the living. Every time I look at a bird flying in the sky, I remember that I am precious to God, and that we each are precious to Him. God, who knows the nature of every soul, the makeup of each atom, the frame of the universe, the pace of time, and is above all He has made, sees us and knows us.
Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"
It's really beautiful that our Shepherd doesn't forget about His sheep and let us roam through eternity's wilderness like nobody owns us. I had a great time in Charleston and I loved the tour, but don't think too hard about the ghost stories. When my days run out, I know I won't be wandering the streets of Jacksonville trying to find someone, or roaming my house like I think nothing has changed. And I definitely won't be creeping people out in cemetery photographs. I'll be busy gazing at Jesus forever. How do you go anywhere when you're looking at that smile?
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