The Reason For It All… I am not a morning person. Not at all. So when God woke me up this morning (well, technically my baby woke me up this morning, but he went right back to sleep and typically I would have too), I figured He had something to tell me. And I was right. This past week has been incredible. I spent the week at the beach with my mom, sisters, and young nephew. We were in a 2 bedroom camper, and miracle of all miracles, everyone got along and slept well and there were no casualties. It was such a week of rest. Truly resting in Christ. It wasn’t an elaborate, luxurious vacation, but it was abundant in every way. And then I was given the incredible honor to share at church yesterday with my small group (sunday school class, connection class, whatever it’s called) on Mark Batterson’s The Circle Maker. (Sidenote: I cant for the life of me figure out why Facebook doesnt have underlining or italics. Maybe thats something I just havent found? Please comment if you can help this grammar freak. Thank you dearly.) The message that I shared is exactly what I blog about. Overcoming unbelief. Praying big prayers. Expecting miracles. Experiencing the abundant life. These are things that I deeply believe in. These are the concepts that I believe God is begging us to open our eyes to. We are His children, and I believe that it breaks His heart, as a loving Father, when we think we can do this life without Him. All the while He knows that He has so much more for us. We are rejecting the best life possible without even realizing it. And I started thinking last night about all of the people who hear this message and are in a place of hopelessness and despair. I started thinking of how flighty and ridiculous I must sound to them. How I’m rubbing salt in the wound of the pain of their lives with my message of hope. And then God told Satan to stop whispering his lies in my ears. The last thing I would want to do is sound insensitive. But the message remains the same. God is the God of all comfort in a world of people who are dying to be comforted. 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. 2 Corinthians 2:3-4 I resolve this morning at an hour when I am usually still floating around in dreamworld to stand strong in my faith. I will not be distracted by the lies of the world. I will press on, not caring if I look foolish. Of course I will look foolish. Perhaps there is a problem if we look completely sane and normal by the world’s standards. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18 And the message of the cross is the greatest message of hope. There is no room for hopelessness in a world where Christ reigns. Will there be troubles and trials? Sure. We know that. But we also know that Christ came into this world so that we can not only spend eternity with Him, but also so that we can experience abundant life while on earth. He lived on earth, and still lives today, healing, providing, helping, holding, restoring, comforting, giving hope to the hopeless. That is the message. That’s what our broken world, our broken neighbors, our broken church members need to hear. That the Word of God is a book of hope. A book of promises. A book of healing. A book of life. It is just up to us to open it. And while I’m breathing on this earth, that’s the job I’ve been given. I’m pointing everyone I possibly can toward the One who is all that matters in this broken world. The only One who can pick up the pieces of shattered fragments and place them back together to form what He intended all along. But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 2 Corinthians 2:14 If you are broken, let Him restore you. If you are hopeless, let His Word be your source of hope. Quit trying the world’s way. It will fail you every time. But God never will. Never. He will give you beauty for your ashes. You just have to be willing to hand over your ashes. He’s waiting. 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. Isaiah 61:1-3
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 11:44:03 +0000
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