another post on trust

One of the biggest lessons I have learned over the last year was to trust in God’s goodness even when my external circumstances seem bleak.  I have been learning how to be able to trust that God is good and that he loves me despite how I might feel.  I might not understand why things might be happening at any given point in my life—but I do fully believe that God is good and is always working things out for the good in my life.  Part of maturing in our relationship with God is learning to understand who God is, how he feels about us and who we are created to be.  The next step in the process of maturing is learning to aggressively hold on to those truths.  My relationship with God was supercharged during those times when I encountered hardships and heart break, but instead of getting bitter decided to turn to God amidst my pain.  It was in those times I have seen God both build character in me while simultaneously teaching me to trust and depend even more deeply in him.  Learning to depend on God in hardship is critical.  Without trauma and hardship to refine our hearts it would almost be like the person who studies about military tactics, watches Army movies on TV, gets an Army tattoo and even purchases an old Army uniform on Amazon.  although they might look the part--until they actually enlist in the military, and go through the hardship of training (or engage in battle) —they  won’t really be a soldier.   I have also just started to learn that when we trust God’s goodness rather than our own abilities, provision, etc—it invites him to intervene in our life and work things out for our ultimate best.  I think living a lifestyle of dependence on God is the ideal way of submitting to his lordship in our lives.  True faith in God is being able to say, “Lord, I don’t understand why this is all happening—but I still choose to trust you knowing that you love me.”        

Walking by faith

So many times when things get intense we have a tendency of blaming God. We blame him for our bad decision, we blame him when others are cruel to us, we even blame him for the simplest pains of life. Our fear of rejection and past wounded ness cause us to cry out in judgment and attempt to indict God's character based on our circumstances. But our heavenly father loves us. Regardless of how you "feel", he loves you dearly. Even if you don't believe he exists, he still loves you and earnestly desires for you to know him. Instead of blaming God in the future --when things appear to be falling apart, turn to him with your pain and your sorrow. Cast your cares on him because he cares for you.  Trust that God is good and trust in his character regardless of your external circumstances.  And remember our loving heavenly father has unique ability to take the hardest of life's circumstances and bring healing, hope and restoration.

Learning to trust.

There are a whole bunch of steps leading towards spiritual maturity. One of the first is learning to fully trust God with your life. Learning to trust him when things seem bleak and it seems like there's no hope on the horizon. Learning to trust in God's goodness and his love for us-- even though we don't see immediate evidence of that playing out in our lives. One of the next steps toward spiritual maturity,which is much harder, is learning to trust God with our children. Although it's hard when we go through personal trauma, it's exponentially harder when we see our children wounded and hurting.  God is still sovereign and he is still loving however.  He loves our children more than we ever could. He loves them dearly and holds them firmly in the palm of his hand.  Being able to dwell in the peace that comes with that realization is another sign of a maturing relationship with God

Another school tragedy.

22 kids were attacked and stabbed at a high school by a 16 year old student today. The problem behind this was not the knife--nor could it have been resolved by instituting a ban on knives. The problem is with the heart of our society. We've taken all mention of God out of our school systems and out of much of our culture. Many kids have to suffer through divorce in the family and are often abandoned emotionally by one or both of their parents. Alcohol and drugs saturate our nation offering an easy way for kids to medicate to avoid dealing with the pain of life. We now live in a culture where there are no moral absolutes and where kids have no boundaries to keep them safe. And despite these things we ignorantly wonder why these school attacks keep happening and what is wrong with the younger generation. Kids are desperately looking for meaning in life. We were created for a relationship with our loving Heavenly Father. Jesus taught that the  true meaning of life is to "love The Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength and to also love our neighbor as ourself." When kids start learning this truth the anger and hopelessness that many of them feel will be replaced with the peace that comes with knowing their identity as beloved children of a loving Heavenly Father.  I'm in no way advocating teaching Christianity in the public school systems. The fact that even the acknowledgement of God has been slowly removed from our country is troubling though. So many people seek fulfillment and identity through wealth, fame, accomplishment, sex, relationships, etc. We were created for intimacy with God however.  Trying to find true fulfillment apart from that is a very frustrating, futile and empty endeavor.

 

"With the comfort we ourselves received from God."

A little over two years ago I went up for prayer after a New Years Eve service at my church (Indy Vineyard).  At the time I felt like my life was spiraling out of control.  My marriage was failing and not only was I dealing with a pending divorce that I desperately didn’t want—but I was also dealing with the financial trauma of a failing business (Havilah's Boutique).  It was hard for me to be hopeful in the midst of all of the pain. loss and rejection that I was feeling.   That evening--the pain was so overwhelming that I almost sprung out of my seat at the end of the service when my Pastor, Randy Gooder, asked anyone needing prayer to come forward.  When I went forward and told the 2 prayer team members about my pending divorce and why I wanted prayer, they were so comforting.  The prayer team members, a married couple, let me know that they had almost gotten divorced themselves a few years prior before God healed their marriage.  I wept as they prayed that God would give me peace and show me his presence.  Walking away from church that evening, I felt God’s hand on my life.  However, I also felt like I was heard, cared for and encouraged by the prayer team members.  It wasn’t long until I volunteered to be on my churches prayer ministry team myself.  Less than a year after I began volunteering as a prayer team member, I had a young woman come up front and ask for prayer about her own pending divorce.  Her husband had left her for another woman and she was feeling both scared and abandoned.  It was awesome to be able to share with her about God faithfully meeting me in that same place.  I and another prayer team member prayed that God would make himself known to her in the midst of her pain.  That God would give her the peace of knowing that He was holding her and her children safely in the palm of His hand.  I also reminded her that regardless of how she felt at present, her heavenly father loved her profoundly.  As we were praying for the young woman --I could tell that God was really touching her heart that day.  It was so reassuring to know that God can still use us in our own brokenness to touch others with his love and mercy.  Like it says in 2 Cor. 1:3-5, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”

Valentine's Day post 2014

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my Facebook friends. I must admit that this is my most un-favorite holiday. This was one celebration that I always used to hate as a kid. I remember the anxiety as an elementary school kid worrying about whether I would receive any valentines from classmates. It was almost like the stress of being one of the last kids picked for the dodge ball team during gym class. In Junior High that feeling of dread was even worse as the school I attended sold carnations that you could have delivered to your "special valentine". I remember more than a few times being one of the guys in class that was "carnation-less" while other classmates walked around the school carrying large bouquets sent by their many ardent admirers. I always hated that feeling of being forgotten on Valentine’s Day. I hadn't felt that feeling for many years up until last Valentine’s Day. That was the first holiday after the finalization of my divorce and I again felt that pang of "alone-ness" that day. When I initially received my final divorce decree I was feeling pretty alone and rejected. After 25 years of marriage I never expected or desired to be single again. At that point, out of necessity, I had moved in with my mother, and that Valentine’s Day I was feeling every bit of a failure. My plans that evening were to simply hang out at my mom's house and watch TV. That afternoon however, I got an invitation from a family friend to join her for a dinner party at her house. She had invited a few of her friends from church over for a Valentines dinner and asked me to join them. It's amazing how much it impacted me that day just knowing that I wasn't forgotten about and somebody actually remembered me. One of the things that hit me as I was writing this post was the fact that not only does our heavenly father never forget us--but also the thought that he sent us all the ultimate valentine when Jesus was born. God sent his son so that we can have a heartfelt relationship with him. God knows you and your circumstances and it's his biggest heart’s desire for you to really understand his tremendous love for you. Whether you have experienced the death of a spouse or loved one, the death of a marriage (divorce) or are simply feeling alone--God wants to meet you in that wounded place and bring you comfort. When I was at the lowest point in my life--I called out for God's comfort and he met me in that place. He overwhelmed me with his love and affection. He showed me in so many ways that he was with me and that he cared. If you’re going through hard times right now and have stumbled across this post--it was not by accident. God wants you to know that he loves you deeply and desires to hear from you. He sees you when you are disheartened and his heart is heavy when you cry. God is aware of your circumstances and will work everything out for your best when you turn to him. Although things might seem dark and hopeless at present--your heavenly father desires to bring joy back into your life. When we turn to him he can "bring beauty from ashes" and redeem even the most painful trauma in our lives. Just remember that our heavenly father is someone who never forgets us on Valentine’s Day.

  1 John 3:16 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."

 1 Peter 5:7 "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you."

 John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

 Isaiah 61 "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

Trusting in God's Faithfulness.

Even hardship and grief can be turned into joy by our heavenly father who loves us profoundly. I'm so glad that my provision and my destiny does not solely rest in my own hands --because I am being safely held in Gods loving arms.