Thankful It's Not Up to Me
As
a wife, mom, daughter, writer, church member, and friend, I have a lot of
responsibilities. Many things are up to
me, either to do or see that they are done.
But
there are also many things that are not up to me.
It’s
not up to me to convince anyone of God’s existence. It’s not up to me to make the Word of God
sound hip or cool. It’s not up to me to
convict of sin or the need to repent. It’s
not up to me to judge the world or those of it.
It’s not up to me to hurry His plans along.
It
is up to me to listen, both to Him and to those He places in my path. It is up to me to follow where He leads. It is up to me to do what He wants me to do. It is up to me to love as He loves, to lavish
grace as He does, to forgive others as He has forgiven me.
Knowing
all of this takes a lot of pressure off of me.
God
does not need me, for anything. He
chooses to allow me to work with and serve Him in this Great Romance, where His
Story becomes our history. He is the
Writer, Producer and Director. I am one character. He provides what is needed in
every stage of every circumstance of every story--not me. He controls outcomes--not me.
Yes,
our choices matter. Yes, there are consequences
to our actions. But yes, He can take our
worst mistakes, most tragic failings, and just plain stupid moves and cause
them to turn out for good.
He
can. I can’t. Even if I could, I couldn’t do nearly as good
a job as He does.
Thank
You, God!
Thursday, November 28, 2013
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Give Thanks to the King of Story-changing!
I am grateful that His mercies are new every morning. This means my day begins as full of opportunity as the empty document on which I am
typing. As the sun rises, my story can take off and go anywhere!
Today does not have to be “Chapter 2” to that which began
yesterday or even twenty years ago. Today can always be “Chapter 1”.
Think about the story of the Jesus' arrest, abandonment by his friends, and his ultimate crucifixion. That
was a story full of disappointment, fear and defeat.
The story of Good Friday is vastly different from that of the
wonder, hope, and victory of the incredible Resurrection morning. The stories are so different, in fact, one might wonder how they can both be pieces
of the same narrative.
I am thankful this week to be reminded of how good God is at
surprise endings. He is the King of the transformational turn-around.
No matter what our current story-line is, may we embrace and
take comfort in the fact that the next chapter God is writing for us may be so
different from the narrative we were expecting that we barely even recognize it
as our own.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
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Awakening
Recently God
has been taking me on a journey of awakening.
He has taken my hand, walked me out of my comfort zone and with much
patience and tenderness has opened my eyes to see His heart. I need to be transparent and vulnerable with
you right now. I was not prepared to share this but in order to break my chains
of complacency, I must.
One morning in
my quiet time, I felt an overwhelming flood of Love wash over me. In that
moment, I saw my life and everything around me literally in God’s hands. The
fact I was alive that very morning is God’s gift. The fact I was even born is
God’s gift. The fact that I was born in America is God’s gift.
Can you and
I chew on that last statement?
I am in a
country where there is food on store shelves.
There is clean, drinkable water in the tap. There is a secure door on my
home. We have more than one change of clothes. We have a school my daughter can
attend. I have access to doctors if any of us are ill. There is not one but TWO
vehicles in the driveway. The list goes on and on and on…
I don’t know
why God purposed me to be born here and not in a slum in Africa or India or the
Philippines or any other part of the world where to simply live would not
necessarily be a given. What I do know is
what His Word says to me, “When
someone has been given much, much will be required in return;” (Lk 12:48)
I don’t know about you but
God is lovingly reminding me that I am an earthen vessel full of His blessings.
What good am I to sit still and not pour out?
I become like stagnant water. Instead, I can be life giving by being thankful
for what I already have and learning to live simply so others may simply live. I
am grateful to my Heavenly Father for this awakening. I am ready to celebrate,
share and declare the greatness of God!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
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Indescribable Gratitude
And it's this God who knows me.
This God who pursues me.
This God who saved me - not just from my mistakes towards Him, or from separation from Him, but from my sinful self.
This God who remembers me, champions me, comforts me, sustains me.
I have had seasons in my life of journaling to God - time spent writing down my conversation with Him, the prayers on my heart, the things I'm learning in His word. My book shelf is lined with a written journey with the King. The other night I remembered a picture God had given me years ago that I had written down in one of my journals - I just had no clue which one. I wanted to revisit those pages, so I sat on my bed asking the God of the universe to remind me where I wrote that down. I had an impression of one of my journals in particular, so I took it off my shelf and began searching.
Sure enough, there it was. And all I could think of was how my God who holds the world in hand remembers me and cares about the little things in my life. He knew exactly where I wrote that down - because He was right beside me when I did.
He loves me with an indescribable love - and my heart responds with an indescribable thanksgiving!
What an honor and gift to know our God - and be known by Him.
"Who is this King of glory, the Lord strong and mighty
Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty;
the Lord, invincible in battle.
9 Open up, ancient gates!
Open up, ancient doors,
and let the King of glory enter.
10 Who is the King of glory?
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies—
he is the King of glory. " Psalm 24:8-10
Monday, November 25, 2013
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