Tag Archives: faith

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God is love


God is love.

God is good.

Your experience might currently be contrary to these statements. I can’t know what is happening in your life, but I know that these two statements are true even when I don’t understand. They aren’t just true because they are in the bible. They aren’t just true because I, and perhaps you, have experienced the truth of them.

I have and yet I didn’t think I did.

There have been times when I experienced His provision or protection, or healing and I was so sure that He is love and that He is good.

But then there were other times that I didn’t. And I felt alone and forgotten and forsaken. I’m not going to lie. Those times were very hard and very confusing. I wish I could say that I never lost my faith and hope but I very much did. Maybe not lost but it seemed very small and shriveled like it would never recover. I drew very far from Him because I was angry and hurt that my prayers weren’t answered the way I thought that they should be and the way that I thought that He would. It took me several years to recover from the time that I felt thrown away.

4 years ago, I was at a bible school that very much believed in healing and operating in the gifts of the Spirit. They frequently taught on and had guest speakers that operated in the gift of healing. I saw people healed.  I had previously been healed of cervical pre-cancer, so I fervently believed in Gods power to heal. I guess I forgot about His omniscience, immutability, and sovereignty.  I forgot that sometimes the answer to prayer is not now, or even no. God knows the end from the beginning. He knows the plans He has for me and how He needs to help me achieve the level of maturity to be able to consistently and unwaveringly walk in all that He has for me.

I can look back over the last 4 years and see His hand moving in many areas of my life. While during that time He and I didn’t have the same level of intimacy and communication that I previously had, I can now see that He was calling me into another level of trust in Him and a deeper level of intimacy. Offering me the opportunity to overcome my disappointment and use it as the floor to my next level with Him. To “level up” as it were.  

Isn’t that what a good Father does? He loves us into new levels of maturity. So that we can walk in the confident assurance that He is good and that His love never falters or fails.

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In a snit


snit noun\ˈsnit\: a state of agitation, in a snit (as defined by Mirriam Webster dictionary)

I woke up in a snit today. I woke up early and, rather than ponder life or look at Facebook, I decided to get straight up. I walked out to the back deck and sat down on the steps with a thud. Still snitting, if that’s even a word.
You see my life is, and has been, for the last 8 months, in a season of flux. No job, no place of my own to live, not many possessions, no plan…none of the things that society considers “stability” exist in my life. Some days I can put all this aside, fix my eyes on Jesus and carry on. Some days, not so much carrying on and very much questioning. This morning started out as one of those questioning days until, as I sat on the back deck, God reminded me that I am fine. Although things are not as I thought they would be, just after my 55th birthday, I am fine. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, I have a roof over my head, food for the day is provided, I am healthy, I have transportation, I am safe and all I have to do is live today. I don’t have to know what tomorrow will bring. I do have to be available to whatever He brings my way. To walk through the doors He opens and to not struggle against the doors He closes. I’m fine. My mood began to brighten and fill with hope and expectation of good.
I went in and got my coffee and bible and began asking what I should read. I hear Matthew 16. So I open up and begin to read. These verses are highlighted to me — Matthew 16:23-24 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. I feel convicted that I have been more mindful of things of this world than things of God.
There are several unfulfilled promises or calls on my life and sometimes I wonder if I missed out on them. If I made a wrong turn, procrastinated, or fearfully decided my abilities don’t line up with His call on my life. Presuming to know myself and my abilities better than the One Who created me. I hear preachers say that if a person doesn’t fulfill the calling on their life, within a certain unnamed amount of time, that God will move on to the next person to get the job done. It worries me. But then I remember my ABBA is a good Daddy and that I am sure I would have to willfully disregard opportunities set before me more than once before He would move on to the next person. He puts this scripture on my mind — Romans 11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. So I wonder if there is any instance in which God will take away the call on my life? I say a resounding NO!! My God, my ABBA, my daddy will never give up on me. And I will continually be watching expectantly for the opportunities to partner with Him to prepare for the things He has planned for me.
While I am in this season of flux I will continue to increase in intimacy with Him so that I hear every time He speaks and every word He says.

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Authority


John 19:10-11 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

Election day…albeit a small election. Just two candidates for the seat in congress that was vacated by Jo Bonner. It is our responsibility, as Christians, to pray about who God would have us elect into office. To get out and vote even if it seems to be between the bad and the worse candidate (not to say that is the case in this election). We are blessed to live in a democratic society and we should not take that for granted.

We may not like the authority we are under but we can be sure they would not be there if it wasn’t Gods will for them to be there. (Romans 13:1-2 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.) This scripture is why I try to stay out of conversations about the current government. If I don’t like what they are doing I try to remember that I serve the God that put them in office and that I need to pray for wisdom and discernment for them. I also pray that their hearts will be softened to accomplish that which my God put them in office to achieve. Sometimes it is really hard but I believe that His plan and purpose will come to fruition.

Sometimes when we are going through a situation we can see what God is doing. Sometimes when we are going through a situation we wonder where God is, but after we get through it we can look back and see what He was accomplishing thought it. And sometimes we never understand why we had to go through a situation. I think this last circumstance is the hardest to accept. I heard a sermon once that helped me accept the times when I can’t understand why I had to go through hard times. The pastor was using a motorcycle game at the arcade to illustrate. He explained that there were 4 perspectives that you could choose to view the course as you “rode” the motorcycle. The first was just the road as if you were actually driving a motorcycle. The second was pulled back so you could see the rider and a little more of the road. The last perspective was the entire course, the terrain, the other participants, upcoming twists and turns etc. I liken the 4th perspective as Gods perspective. He can see everything, everybody, and how each action is going to affect His plan. This makes it easier for me to live by faith. To trust in my God, Who has a plan.

It’s a choice.