A HOPEFUL PERSPECTIVE

     Looking at His past faithfulness will remind us of the goodness of our Lord. Looking at our blessings from Him will allow us to say, “You have been faithful in the past and I trust You.”

     God gave Abraham a son. God led His people out from under Pharaoh. He sent His only son. He fed 5,000 people. He died on a cross. He rose from the dead. He has been faithful in history.

     The Lord gave me an amazing family. He gave me amazing friends. He led me to Colorado State. He has forgiven me. He has been kind to me. He has given me abundantly more than I can imagine. He has been faithful to me.

     Because of his faithfulness I get to have a hopeful perspective. When I remember his past faithfulness I am reminded of who my God is. Israel got in trouble when they forgot God’s power. Every day I forget God’s power. Every. Day. And He is still faithful. I complain against my Creator every day. Every. Day. And yet, He is good to me.

     What the heck!? How crazy and powerfully awesome. When I get this kind of hopeful perspective I can try to clearly see why the Lord has led me into the wilderness. I can try to clearly see how he is forging my character. I can remember that I trust Him because He is faithful. I can freely be courageous in everyday life because I know that my Father in heaven is in control. He is what I hope in and He alone is enough.

THOUGH YOU SLAY ME:

I come, God I come    
I return to the Lord
The one who's broken
The one who's torn me apart
You struck down to bind me up
You say You do it all in love
That I might know You in Your suffering

Though You slay me
Yet I will praise You
Though You take from me
I will bless Your name
Though You ruin me
Still I will worship
Sing a song to the one who's all I need

My heart and flesh may fail
The earth below give way
But with my eyes, with my eyes I'll see the Lord
Lifted high on that day
Behold, the Lamb that was slain
And I'll know every tear was worth it all

Though tonight I'm crying out
Let this cup pass from me now
You're still all that I need
You're enough for me
You're enough for me

(though you slay me by Shane & Shane)

  

Songs are so powerful to me. I am moved by how much a song can fit into my life and point me to Christ. Today was full of pain. My heart hurts. All I want is for Jesus to calm the storm. In Mark 4 when Jesus and His disciples are in a boat and the storm is raging His disciples ask him “Do you not care if we drown?” This is how I feel. It is like I am surfing and I cant get past the break of the waves, I am paddling as hard as I can and yet I keep getting hit by the waves and I feel like I am going to drown, so I cry out to The Lord and I know that He will rescue me but it does not feel this way. I feel like I can’t take one more wave to the face. All I want is for Him to calm the storm. I want peace, I want hope, and I want to be able to see goodness around me. I don’t want to focus on the waves; I want to focus on Him. He is for me He loves me. This is truth. In this song John Piper talks about pain. He says that affliction is momentary-hope. It is all totally meaningful; every millisecond of this pain and misery in the path of obedience is producing glory. It is not meaningless it is doing something. It is working for me. I will not lose heart. I will take truths and day-by-day focus on them, and one day I will be able to sing again with confidence that I am new and cared for. I will praise Him, and I will know that every tear was worth it. He is all that I need, He will calm the storm and I will wait.  

EXAMPLE:

I am an example of what The Lord does in this world.

My testimony or life story does not contain an epiphany moment in which I finally realized that Jesus was real and I wanted Him in my life. I simply believed since I was a kid. I have had moments of realization in my walk with God and some really radical shifts in my thinking but I could not give you a defining moment in my life where I accepted that Jesus is my savior. For a long time I wished that I did have a moment, I felt like my story needed a magical turning point, or some kind of crazy turnaround. But as I have matured more in my faith I realize that I am also blessed to not have a defining moment, I just accepted my faith as a child. I have known The Lord for a long time and have had a great walk with Him for many years. I am an example of what The Lord does in this world. One woman that goes to my church said this after sharing her story and it hit me that we are all examples of His work. Every story, every moment points to the work that God has done in our lives.

I started thinking about how I am truly an example of the transformation of death to life, even without a defining moment. Every day The Lord makes an example out of me, He brings darkness into light and leads me along His path. In Him I am an example of finding joy in pain. His grace for me is an example of His great love. His unfailing faithfulness that has beautifully broken me is an example to the world that He is good. 

Because of the life that The Lord has given me I no longer have to strive to ‘set a good example’, my life is an example. My world is transformed because I now let my savior live my life and that is the best example I could ever set for my friends. When I look at my life through this lens I can’t help but be filled with gratitude that I have been chosen to be an example of light that shines in the darkness.

SWEET TO THE SOUL...

A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul.

Sweet to the soul, does anything sound better? Reading that sentence gives me a sense of relief, like a heavy weight has been lifted off of my shoulder, like I just finished a long race.

Tetelesti- the exact word that Jesus said right before he died on the cross- “it is finished” When I think about these words the same feelings rush over me, relief, peace, and unbounded joy. My longing to be with my creator has been fulfilled and nothing is sweeter to my soul. Everyday I get to wake up and be fulfilled because of his faithfulness. He satisfies every part of me. The fact is, it really is finished. But what is “it”? The answer: everything. I spend most of my day running around doing stuff-usually Young Life, I do contact work, I meet with other leaders, I lead a small group, I work really hard at making everything work for the kingdom. I get so busy and rushed that I often forget that it is all finished, the work has been done. My God is sovereign over all things. He is sovereign in my past, when I thought that I was too far-gone. He is sovereign over my life in the present, He knows how I am feeling and is working in me. He is sovereign over my future; He knows what job I will have, the man I will marry, and what I am going to do next summer. All of my worries are broken down by the truth- it is finished. The sweetest song to my soul is the fact that my Father is in control, He holds me, and I will forever be satisfied in Jesus.

SHARPER:

As I sit still, it feels like there is literally a sword in my chest, a result of stress. My life has been a whirlwind of busyness since I have arrived at college. Year after year I pile on more “stuff” that I believe is not on option to give up, therefore my days are packed with good things. It is truly wonderful- when everything is going well. But throw in a broken heart and a stressful living situation and everything seems to fall apart. I feel empty, I feel that my emotional capacity is at zero, and so I turn to The Lord. He restores me. It does not feel this way at this point, but I trust in His unfailing faithfulness. All throughout my life I went to Christian camp, and every year there was a theme and a verse that we all memorized. One year, when I was in late elementary school we memorized Hebrews 4:12.

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

At that point in my life it was just another verse, I didn’t understand what it meant. I had a visual of what a sword would look like going through my body, and a ghost of my body (my knowledge of a spirit). But as I sit and feel the sword in my side I have a deeper understanding of this verse. The Lord is constantly reminding me that it is not about me, that I can’t do it on my own, that I need Him, only Him. Therefore, I need to die to myself so that He can live in me. Sacrifice is not without suffering and pain. I am emotionally and physically suffering, His sword is penetrating me and cutting away all of the things that I hold on to, that are worldly desires of my heart, not of His. It is painful, but I trust Him. I trust that His plan, His love, His life for me is greater than I can imagine. So I am still, or am trying to be still. I want to let The Lord work in me. I am staying in the pain because of the hope of a better life in Christ. But being still is not really in my skill set and right now it is not only uncomfortable, but also literally painful. So I ask my Father to enter in, to still and quiet my soul that I may be painfully tuned to joyfully sing His praise.