Still Learning

Why does it seem like almost every lesson God brings into my life involves trusting Him?   I have been thinking about that question and here are a few conclusions I have came to (not necessarily in the order of importance and not necessarily with chapter and verse to back them up) regarding why God continues to place "Learn to Trust" on my daily list of spiritual homework. 

1.  Learning to trust the Lord demands a continual dependence on Him.  If I were to master trusting in the Lord, where would that place humility and dependence on the all-sufficiency of the Lord in the life of the believer?

2.  The continual need to trust in the Lord results in a constant reminder of who I am in comparison to Who God is:  God is the One who remains the same.  He is the One Who is faithful to His never-changing Word.  He is the One Who has promised and will fulfill His promises.  In contrast, however, I am the one who constantly doubts.  I am the one who is fickle in my relationship with Him.  I am the one who may say one things one minute, and then do something totally contrary to what I just said the next minute.  God is the One Who is never-changing.  I can trust Him. 

3.  Learning to trust the Lord is not something unique to my life:  Trusting is a part of my spiritual walk with the Lord.  All throughout the Bible, we find account after account of individuals who struggled with understanding and following God's plan...and God had to remind them of Who He is-- that they could trust Him.  Way back in Genesis, Abraham and Sarah, both mentioned in the famous chapter of faith, had to learn to trust the Lord.  The wandering Israelites, and then the conquering Israelites, produced countless incidences in areas where they trusted (or failed to trust) the Lord. The Apostle Paul gives testimony of when he really did not understand why God would allow the "thorn in his flesh", but even in not fully understanding, Paul  had the deep-seated trust and confidence in God's grace and strength: He could continue to trust the Lord. 

No, I don't think I will ever hand in my final exam for the course "Trusting God 101." But...as each test comes and goes, it is wonderful to be able to testify of God's incredible faithfulness and then to grow in a confidence that not only could I trust Him in the past, but I can continue to trust Him in the future! 

No…but YES!

Do I always understand why?  No.
Do things always end up the way they’re expected to end? No.
Does it always make reasonable sense?  No.
Is life always easy?  No.

Is God in control?  Yes! 

Is God good?  Yes! 

Is He faithful to His Word?  Yes!

Because God is in control…
Because  He is good…
Because He is faithful…

Can I trust Him, even when I may not understand?  Yes! 

Can I be confident that He will accomplish His best through the events of life?  Yes!

Can I have the expectation that He will keep His promises?  Yes!

Can I be at peace that He will lead each step of the way and make His perfect will clear as I obey Him?  Yes! 

---

Don’t we serve an awesome God? 

It’s about people!

“What defines ministry?”  This question has been rolling around in my head off and on over the last year or so, but particularly  so during the last few weeks while I was on choir tour. Is ministry always about being in some kind of position of leadership? Is it just about having an organized program that takes place on a regular basis? Is it just for those who go into “full-time ministry”?    I don’t think so.

As I already mentioned, choir tour brought this question to the forefront of my mind.  Travelling to almost twenty churches scattered throughout four different states with twenty-three other people to sing and share the Word is ultimately about ministry, is it not?  But while we were on tour, was the ministry of the team only through song and preaching? What about the time spent visiting with host families after the service? What about those times of simply being polite and making conversation with person standing all alone in the back of the church? Is it really just about being polite? 

I struggled with wanting to be sincere and genuinely interested when asking a complete stranger about her grandchildren or career, yet at the same time, knowing that I probably wouldn’t ever see her again after I left a few hours later. “What is the point in it all if it is so ‘short-term’?” “Is it really worth it?” ”I’m here to minister, not just to have fun.” These statements bounced around in my head like a tennis ball on a tennis court.  

I’m thankful, however, that I to see a little glimpse of the reality of the potential for ministry beyond the “planned program.”  I never would have imagined that simply introducing myself to a retirement-aged couple sitting in the sanctuary, and then talking with them for less than ten minutes, would result in that same couple then expressing several times how much they appreciated my coming to talk with them! I was taken aback and inwardly astounded. Here I thought I was just being polite. 

Little by little, I am beginning to see and perhaps, slowly understand, that life is about people, and people equal ministry.  The possibilities of how that specifically plays out are endless. Yes, “ministry” does include the formal aspect that is often thought of when the very word is mentioned, but it also consists of what we might call the “mundane” things as well. God can use the simplest actions to be a blessing and encouragement to others in ways that we’ll probably never know until we all get to  heaven.

Don’t pass up opportunities to be a blessing to someone in your life.  God may use even though you yourself don’t realize it!  

=)

This picture makes me laugh...

  The guy in this picture makes me smile...his name is Isaac and I like him a lot!
And yes, in case you were wondering, he's my boyfriend!

I like quotes :)

“In no way does man reveal his littleness more effectively than when he exhibits surprise over the fact that there are realities in the universe which he cannot understand.”

Lewis S. Chafer

I was recently reminded that I am to "give thanks always for all things."

What does that mean? "All things" means everything. No exceptions. No "if's" or "buts" about it. It is a command, and it is in the Word. It is directed to me!

My conclusion? I am to give thanks for all things. This means it is to happen during times when everything is going along smoothly. It also applies to when life couldn't seem to get more stressful, and then I discover that it is possible! :)

God is good.

On my mind right now...

It is so easy to become apathetic and complacent in the Christian life. We're afraid to be the extreme one in the group so we ignore the symptoms of something being wrong. But God demands a life of holiness, a life separated from the world. He desires His children to be lights in a world of darkness.

Galatians 2:20 says that "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Romans 12:1-2 challenges the believer concerning his everyday walk before the Lord: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

Galatians 5:16 declares the key to having victory over living a life in the flesh: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."

I am thankful for my teachers here at school who desire to see us students living the Christian walk the way God intended it to be lived.