As time has been going by I have been questioning whether or not I was really called to Estonia. Did I hear God correctly? It's funny how time can really affect someone. Fortunately, I have been hearing some sermons that reflect the doubts that I have been having and it isn't till I write this post that I realize now how much those words have impacted me.
We have been following the story of David before he became King. It is an amazing story filled with laughter, joy, pain, sorrow, treachery, and much more. It's a story I knew before, but like many stories we hear, we consolidate them and because of that, we miss the emotions and trials of the character sometimes. In David's case it is particularly important to know the emotions he faced on his journey to become king.
Like many stories it has a beginning middle and an end. The beginning of David's story as we know, starts with someone prophesying that he will be King of Israel. If you continue to read, David does eventually become King, but the process was a long one (over 15 years) for him and thats the section I want to focus.
Even though I wasn't there, I know David, at times, felt doubt in prophecy to become King of Israel. I mean, when you look at scripture, it's pretty evident that to go from being praised for killing Goliath, to a warrior among the troops of Saul, to being hunted by Saul, to having a chance to kill Saul, to..... you get the point. Being hunted by Saul, the current King of Israel, would put doubt into what someone prophesied to me many years previous. This is where faith plays a roll. We often need to take a leap of faith in order to fulfill the goals ahead.
David had a long a complicated journey and if he would have known how difficult this journey would have been prior to starting, I am not sure if David would have accepted the challenge. I don't think I would have. There were times in my life if I knew the difficulties of what I would face ahead I would not have choose to go down some of those paths because of the pain it brought. And I think that's why God never gave David the 'journey' section of the story, only the goal of being King. I am glad David kept taking that leap of faith, if not the world would have been a much different place.
Even though I have doubts sometimes, I need to take those leaps of faith like David did even when times are tough. When is comes down to it, I only know one force out there that thinks going to Estonia to preach the Gospel is a bad idea.
Does God Change His Mind?
I was recently asked an amazing question the other week. Does God change his mind? This is a loaded question and one I have been struggling with for awhile. As for a lot of things in life, it's always good to dive into scripture to see. Now this question has been raised many times throughout the years and is part of the debate of Calvinism vs Arminianism. Now those two words opens up a huge can of worms that sadly I believe it's not healthy. Because of this, I will only briefly describe the two schools of thoughts and then help shed light on the main question.
Calvinism centers on the supreme sovereignty of God, predestination, the total depravity of man, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints.while
Arminianism emphasizes conditional election based on God's foreknowledge, man's free will through prevenient grace to cooperate with God in salvation, Christ’s universal atonement, resistible grace, and salvation that can potentially be lost.
These descriptions were not of my own but I think they summarize them up fairly well, I do, however want to add that Calvinism believes that God elected people and those elected by God will go to heaven while Arminianism believes that it is up to the individual to accept Christ and be saved. In other words, God has chosen who he wants in heaven beforehand (Calvinism) while the other side argues only the person can choose to go to heaven (Arminianism).
Can you see why this would be such debate in Christianity? The weird thing is if you look, you will find both cases you in the Bible. Some may ask or be skeptical and say perhaps "see the Bible is contradictory." I'd respond with a no. See there are times where God needed a certain individual to rise above the expectations of themselves and follow God's path to show His almighty power. Or God needed someone to pave a way for someone else, I.E. John the Baptist. It was decided before John was born that he would help the Messiah, and he did. Now not everyone was chosen like this, for example, the women who was healed from her internal bleeding because of her faith (Mark 5:21-34) it was her faith in Christ that saved her. Not God choosing. Some could say that God wanted her to touch Jesus at this specific time from the time she was born, but listen to what Jesus says in verse 34 'He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."' That seems like a clear statement to me.
In other words both sides, have some truth to God's personality but they only seem to be half truths. Before you ponder too much, please consider this question. Was it God's intention for his people to be separated by these two train of thoughts? I feel like this debate is similar to that of listening to a hockey game or football on the radio. We can hear what is going on so we make assumptions of how the players would look running with the football or shooting the puck, but the only people who can really tells us what happened at the game are the people at the game. In the same sense, we can talk about the God of the bible (listening to the radio) but if we do not spend time with Him and his Word (at the game), then we miss who God really is.
Now back to the original question, does God change his mind? I can really only speak about me and other peoples experiences. I would probably say No, but I think God changes His Will for us based off our ignorance of Him. What I mean is, I think God has a plan, it has been laid out for many many years (read Revelations) but since he wants to use us humans who are full of sin, we often don't follow God's plan. Good thing God has Grace for us, because even though we may not always follow God's Will, he is always trying to bring us back on the path. A great example of this, is young people who basically do shotgun weddings. Now I know I am still young, but please understand that, I have met people who make a drastic decision that not only affects them but, friends, family, and more importantly God. To go out and marry someone that may have not been God's Will for you, is basically forcing God to change his Will because of that selfish act.
Something God has taught me this past year, is regardless of how I see my future, if I follow God's path he will show me a future much brighter than I could ever imagine. Don't settle for your dreams which are mediocre compared to what God has in store.... if you allow him. Just think of what would have happened in John the Baptist didn't pave the way for Jesus, or if Jesus would have said "yes" to Satan when Satan offered him all the kingdoms on earth.
Humility Hurts
Humility is something I wish I had more of. I think it's safe to say that many people also wish they were more humble but I believe humility comes at a cost. To be humble, according to webster's dictionary, requires someone to not be proud or haughty. Another way of saying it is to not be arrogant or assertive. Most of us can relate to at least one of these definitions. For me, I can relate to both. I can be proud at times and I can be assertive. This past week however has both broke of my pride and has left me wondering about God's plans which in turn, has made me less assertive in conversations.
Before this week, I always thought of myself as an outstanding guy who to be honest, thought that whoever I would have a relationship with was lucky to be with a guy like me. Do you see the pride in that? It's pretty ugly stuff.
Well after hearing some pretty shocking news about one of my past relationships, that outstanding guy I thought I was, got ripped apart... I broke and I didn't understand. I felt like I was on the ground and Satan was kicking me. Have you ever felt that way? It isn't a good feeling.
It took me couple days of being emotionally down and out to get back on my feet and if I didn't have awesome friends I don't know how long it would have taken me otherwise. One verse that I read in 1st Peter 5:7 really helped with this whole process. It says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." What a refreshing verse and if you have some extra time you should read the verses before to see the irony in it. At this point in the week I was doing ok, but it wasn't until today where one simple demonstration helped me realize some stuff about how God views us as opposed to how we view ourselves.
The pastor pulled out a dollar bill and asked us what it was worth. The answer isn't tricky. It's only worth a dollar. Then he proceeded to beat up the dollar bill, crumpling it, rubbing it, rolling it up, etc. Well even though this dollar bill looked in worse shape after the beating the worth of the dollar bill is still the same. This translated to even though in life we get beat up, torn down and defiled God still views our worth as the same as when he first created us. And incase you don't know, we are worth a lot. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son..." John 3:16
This whole week hasn't been easy and I hope I don't have another week like this for a long time, but the thing is, even though it was hard and hurt tremendously, humility did blossom out of this and that is good.
"'God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble (Proverbs 3:34' Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may life you up in due time."
With all this in mind, I want to make sure that you understand that, Satan will kick you when you are down because he is is out to destroy God's people. But please do not focus on that like I did. Please just focus on God and his promises when and if you get torn down by your pride.
Before this week, I always thought of myself as an outstanding guy who to be honest, thought that whoever I would have a relationship with was lucky to be with a guy like me. Do you see the pride in that? It's pretty ugly stuff.
Well after hearing some pretty shocking news about one of my past relationships, that outstanding guy I thought I was, got ripped apart... I broke and I didn't understand. I felt like I was on the ground and Satan was kicking me. Have you ever felt that way? It isn't a good feeling.
It took me couple days of being emotionally down and out to get back on my feet and if I didn't have awesome friends I don't know how long it would have taken me otherwise. One verse that I read in 1st Peter 5:7 really helped with this whole process. It says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." What a refreshing verse and if you have some extra time you should read the verses before to see the irony in it. At this point in the week I was doing ok, but it wasn't until today where one simple demonstration helped me realize some stuff about how God views us as opposed to how we view ourselves.
The pastor pulled out a dollar bill and asked us what it was worth. The answer isn't tricky. It's only worth a dollar. Then he proceeded to beat up the dollar bill, crumpling it, rubbing it, rolling it up, etc. Well even though this dollar bill looked in worse shape after the beating the worth of the dollar bill is still the same. This translated to even though in life we get beat up, torn down and defiled God still views our worth as the same as when he first created us. And incase you don't know, we are worth a lot. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son..." John 3:16
This whole week hasn't been easy and I hope I don't have another week like this for a long time, but the thing is, even though it was hard and hurt tremendously, humility did blossom out of this and that is good.
"'God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble (Proverbs 3:34' Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may life you up in due time."
With all this in mind, I want to make sure that you understand that, Satan will kick you when you are down because he is is out to destroy God's people. But please do not focus on that like I did. Please just focus on God and his promises when and if you get torn down by your pride.
Calling
"What is a calling? How do I know I have one?" As I speak with Christians sometimes, I often wonder what their definition of a calling is. It seems that this term is a puzzle for many Christians. Due to it's mystery, some do not even figure out if they even have a calling.
Why don't some Christians want to think about their calling? I want to go through a few examples and questions that I had as a new believer/non-believer.
1. What is it?
2. It seems to have so many definitions out there, so how would you know if you even have a calling?
3. The idea of having a calling is terrifying to someone who craves "freedom."
The term "Calling", refers to someone who has a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence. (Websters Dictionary) Well that is a whole lot of words that can be dangerous when misunderstood. Well I would like to add to that definition. A calling has two parts, a primary calling and a secondary calling. Both important, but often the secondary calling takes precedent over the primary calling which is something to be cautious about. Well how does one know if they even have a primary calling? Well best place to start is to turn to the bible. Here are a few verses to look up. Ephesians 4:1, 1st Thessalonians 1:4 and 2nd Timothy 1:9. Notice that all of these instances Paul writes to the whole church (congregations), telling them that because they have received the word with power/grace, they have a calling. This can happen many ways. Angels came to Mary and Joseph to tell them their son will be the Messiah, imaging as a child hearing that from your parents for the first time. Saul (who later became the Apostle Paul) was blinded and lead to a man where scales then fell off his eyes. Jesus healed a man who was paralyzed. These are but a few cases where God allowed people to follow his calling.
What's his calling? It's the same for all Christians, the Great Commission. Matthew 28:18-20. We are to go and make disciples of all nations. In other words we are not to withhold the Gospel from people. Some will only go down the street, others will go to India and help with prostitution. It all depends on where God calls you but the important thing in these verses to know, it to "go." Wherever that might be is between you and God. Now the question is, where do I go and what do I do once I go? This is the question that is asked when you want to find out your secondary calling.
Our God is a God of mystery and he loves doing things in a unique way for each of us. He has also gifted us in a unique way as well, which goes to show that we cannot all be called to serve in India helping prostitutes escape from their lifestyle. I couldn't do that, God hasn't given me that desire to do that. Just like he hasn't given me that desire to serve at a church where they require janitorial work, both are pleasing to God's eyes, but both are not what I have been called to. Paul talks a little about this in 1st Corinthians 12.
People can tell you many things about what a calling is suppose to look like. Some will say, you must hear God's voice or else it does not mean anything. Others will tell you that "it is sudden and you will know." Well, I know those are some ways which when you look in the bible you will find, but that doesn't mean that is the only way. Paul mentions in 1st Corinthians 12:4 That there are many gifts but the Spirit distributes them. In other words, when we seek the Spirit and ask for His gifts, we will find our calling through that. In order to seek the Spirit we need to stay in the Word to better hear Him. We need to be patient and listen and he will give us what is needed for your calling. For me, it took 6 months of waiting on his word. three of those months were making sure I was hearing correctly. Now as I mentioned before our secondary calling isn't to proceed our primary calling. For me, my secondary calling is to pay off my debt and go to Estonia and plant churches there, however during that time, I am here and still need to follow my primary calling of sharing the Gospel. God has put young men on my heart to help and show them what it means to be a Man of God, I know that calling is the same here as it will be over there in Estonia.
The idea of leaving to go to a foreign land that I didn't even know where it was on the map six months ago, is terrifying, but one thing I have learned a lot of this year is that allowing God to make the plans for me, means although I have to hand over my "freedom" but, I am allowing a God full of greater imagination to control my life which means, my life will be exhilarating.
Why don't some Christians want to think about their calling? I want to go through a few examples and questions that I had as a new believer/non-believer.
1. What is it?
2. It seems to have so many definitions out there, so how would you know if you even have a calling?
3. The idea of having a calling is terrifying to someone who craves "freedom."
The term "Calling", refers to someone who has a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence. (Websters Dictionary) Well that is a whole lot of words that can be dangerous when misunderstood. Well I would like to add to that definition. A calling has two parts, a primary calling and a secondary calling. Both important, but often the secondary calling takes precedent over the primary calling which is something to be cautious about. Well how does one know if they even have a primary calling? Well best place to start is to turn to the bible. Here are a few verses to look up. Ephesians 4:1, 1st Thessalonians 1:4 and 2nd Timothy 1:9. Notice that all of these instances Paul writes to the whole church (congregations), telling them that because they have received the word with power/grace, they have a calling. This can happen many ways. Angels came to Mary and Joseph to tell them their son will be the Messiah, imaging as a child hearing that from your parents for the first time. Saul (who later became the Apostle Paul) was blinded and lead to a man where scales then fell off his eyes. Jesus healed a man who was paralyzed. These are but a few cases where God allowed people to follow his calling.
What's his calling? It's the same for all Christians, the Great Commission. Matthew 28:18-20. We are to go and make disciples of all nations. In other words we are not to withhold the Gospel from people. Some will only go down the street, others will go to India and help with prostitution. It all depends on where God calls you but the important thing in these verses to know, it to "go." Wherever that might be is between you and God. Now the question is, where do I go and what do I do once I go? This is the question that is asked when you want to find out your secondary calling.
Our God is a God of mystery and he loves doing things in a unique way for each of us. He has also gifted us in a unique way as well, which goes to show that we cannot all be called to serve in India helping prostitutes escape from their lifestyle. I couldn't do that, God hasn't given me that desire to do that. Just like he hasn't given me that desire to serve at a church where they require janitorial work, both are pleasing to God's eyes, but both are not what I have been called to. Paul talks a little about this in 1st Corinthians 12.
People can tell you many things about what a calling is suppose to look like. Some will say, you must hear God's voice or else it does not mean anything. Others will tell you that "it is sudden and you will know." Well, I know those are some ways which when you look in the bible you will find, but that doesn't mean that is the only way. Paul mentions in 1st Corinthians 12:4 That there are many gifts but the Spirit distributes them. In other words, when we seek the Spirit and ask for His gifts, we will find our calling through that. In order to seek the Spirit we need to stay in the Word to better hear Him. We need to be patient and listen and he will give us what is needed for your calling. For me, it took 6 months of waiting on his word. three of those months were making sure I was hearing correctly. Now as I mentioned before our secondary calling isn't to proceed our primary calling. For me, my secondary calling is to pay off my debt and go to Estonia and plant churches there, however during that time, I am here and still need to follow my primary calling of sharing the Gospel. God has put young men on my heart to help and show them what it means to be a Man of God, I know that calling is the same here as it will be over there in Estonia.
The idea of leaving to go to a foreign land that I didn't even know where it was on the map six months ago, is terrifying, but one thing I have learned a lot of this year is that allowing God to make the plans for me, means although I have to hand over my "freedom" but, I am allowing a God full of greater imagination to control my life which means, my life will be exhilarating.
Corny Christian
Something that has bothered me for quite awhile and probably always will is meeting "Perfect Christians" otherwise known as "Corny Christians". Let me explain before you start to make a bunch of assumptions. First off, a Christian is someone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. To be under ones Lordship is to allow that person to rule over your life and for someone to be a savior means someone who saves someone from something they could not save themselves from. I.E. Lois Lane falling off a building only for Superman to save her from an impending quick death.
In other words, to be a Christian is to follow Jesus' teachings not only by studying scripture, but also by living out that faith (this is a really short explanation). Simply believing Jesus died for the sins of man and actually walked this earth isn't enough. Even the demons believe those things. (Acts 19:15) It's similar to when someone calls themselves "Christian," the act of saying doesn't mean you are. Other terms someone might use instead of Christian is to be Christ-like or a follower of Christ.
Now to be a "Corny Christian" is contrary to what Jesus taught and did. Corny Christians are people who probably reads their bible everyday, someone who is always polite no matter the circumstances (pushover), and someone who never seems to have any problems/troubles in life (clean hands).
Well how is that different than what Jesus did? Yes, Jesus knew scripture by heart (it was common practice for the Jewish culture). Yes, Jesus was kind to many people, and yes, Jesus never sinned.
First off lets look at scripture Matthew 4.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
I do want to make it clear that Jesus was always appropriate with his audience. To those who needed help, he helped, to those who were "perfect by law" (I.E. Pharisee's) he spoke truth to, to those who needed comfort, he comforted.
The third thing is, "Perfect Christians" always seem to be problem free. Nothing ever seems to be wrong. Honestly, what kind of lie is that? I have met countless "Christians" who never seem to have anything wrong in life. Marriage is great, kids are awesome, job is doing well and on and on. Struggles seem to be non-existent and these Corny Christians always seem to have the answer of "God's is in control." News flash, God's only in control if you let Him be, he has given us that choice.
In order for God to have control of our lives, we need to have a trusting relationship with him. A lot of God's story deals with His constant pursuit of man. Truly, I would much rather have the God of this universe plan out my life than myself (he has awesome imagination). God wants to have a relationship with everyone, but in order to have a relationship there needs to be communication on both ends. God does speak to us, but that means we need to listen and we also need to speak to God so he can hear our cries. I promise you God is a much better listener than you or any of your friends. When we claim to have no struggles or pains, we only fool ourselves. So how does a perfect man, Jesus, fit into the scenario of struggles? Well before Jesus put all the sins of man on his shoulders, he had a lot of time to process and pray. Jesus, who did not sin, still had struggles and he brought it to God. (Luke 22:39-44) Just to let you know that sweating blood is an actual medical condition of someone who is put under a large amount of stress (I'm sorry but Finals in college don't match up to this).
These are only brief descriptions of why being a "Corny Christian" is unbiblical. Sure the Pharisees were "Justified Jews" at that time but Jesus put them straight so there wouldn't be any confusion. So when we don't study the scripture, stand up for what is truth, and don't share our problems with the appropriate audience. The devil laughs at another soul wasting away.
There is hope, God wants to meet us where each of us are individually. Weather it's someone who has followed Christ all his life, or a someone who is selling their body for drugs or other pleasures. We all fall short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23).
In other words, to be a Christian is to follow Jesus' teachings not only by studying scripture, but also by living out that faith (this is a really short explanation). Simply believing Jesus died for the sins of man and actually walked this earth isn't enough. Even the demons believe those things. (Acts 19:15) It's similar to when someone calls themselves "Christian," the act of saying doesn't mean you are. Other terms someone might use instead of Christian is to be Christ-like or a follower of Christ.
Now to be a "Corny Christian" is contrary to what Jesus taught and did. Corny Christians are people who probably reads their bible everyday, someone who is always polite no matter the circumstances (pushover), and someone who never seems to have any problems/troubles in life (clean hands).
Well how is that different than what Jesus did? Yes, Jesus knew scripture by heart (it was common practice for the Jewish culture). Yes, Jesus was kind to many people, and yes, Jesus never sinned.
First off lets look at scripture Matthew 4.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Jesus not only knew scripture, but he studied it even at a really young age, (Luke 2). Something else that is really crucial to notice is that the Devil also knows scripture which he tried to use against Jesus. This is why it is extremely important to not just read the bible only to check it off your to do list for the day. Satan tried to tempt Jesus, who knew scripture by heart, what about a typical American who doesn't study scripture, that's like you are given Satan permission to mess with you head. People need to study scripture to understand God's story. The more you study His story the more you will understand His mission, which isn't about being a "Perfect Christian."
Jesus. What images comes to mind when you think of this name? Is it a picture of a handsome caucasian man with a beard, blue eyes surrounded by children and sheep? Or maybe a man who hangs on a cross till he bleeds out? There are probably many things that people think of when they hear that name. For me, I think of a Jewish carpenter (Mark 6:3). Someone who wasn't beautiful (Isaiah 53:2b). Someone who wasn't afraid to speak truth, and let's be honest, the truth can sometimes stings (John 4) Someone who didn't hide his emotions (John 11). Someone who was physically strong, (I don't know many people who could be beaten and whipped then partially carry a cross beam which they were about to be nailed to.) When you study scripture you start to get the picture of who Jesus really was and it's pathetic how Americanized people now portray Jesus (a beautiful fun loving polite push over). Makes me want to go flip over some tables and speak hard truth to those who have have try to skew his Word. ( Matthew 21:12-13)
Jesus was not a pushover, he was a Warrior, a true definition of what a Man is suppose to be like.I do want to make it clear that Jesus was always appropriate with his audience. To those who needed help, he helped, to those who were "perfect by law" (I.E. Pharisee's) he spoke truth to, to those who needed comfort, he comforted.
The third thing is, "Perfect Christians" always seem to be problem free. Nothing ever seems to be wrong. Honestly, what kind of lie is that? I have met countless "Christians" who never seem to have anything wrong in life. Marriage is great, kids are awesome, job is doing well and on and on. Struggles seem to be non-existent and these Corny Christians always seem to have the answer of "God's is in control." News flash, God's only in control if you let Him be, he has given us that choice.
In order for God to have control of our lives, we need to have a trusting relationship with him. A lot of God's story deals with His constant pursuit of man. Truly, I would much rather have the God of this universe plan out my life than myself (he has awesome imagination). God wants to have a relationship with everyone, but in order to have a relationship there needs to be communication on both ends. God does speak to us, but that means we need to listen and we also need to speak to God so he can hear our cries. I promise you God is a much better listener than you or any of your friends. When we claim to have no struggles or pains, we only fool ourselves. So how does a perfect man, Jesus, fit into the scenario of struggles? Well before Jesus put all the sins of man on his shoulders, he had a lot of time to process and pray. Jesus, who did not sin, still had struggles and he brought it to God. (Luke 22:39-44) Just to let you know that sweating blood is an actual medical condition of someone who is put under a large amount of stress (I'm sorry but Finals in college don't match up to this).
These are only brief descriptions of why being a "Corny Christian" is unbiblical. Sure the Pharisees were "Justified Jews" at that time but Jesus put them straight so there wouldn't be any confusion. So when we don't study the scripture, stand up for what is truth, and don't share our problems with the appropriate audience. The devil laughs at another soul wasting away.
There is hope, God wants to meet us where each of us are individually. Weather it's someone who has followed Christ all his life, or a someone who is selling their body for drugs or other pleasures. We all fall short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23).
Trusting the Needle
These past few days a word keeps appearing to me. It is a word that is both scary and peaceful at the same time. Trust. Before I dive too deep into this word, let's give the definition of this word. According to Webster dictionary trust is "assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something." In other words it's something that you have no control over. I am not sure about you, but for myself that is a hard thing to do, to allow someone or something to control things that will affect me. An example of this could be loaning your car to someone, and trusting them to take care of it and not crash it. Other examples could be allowing someone to watch your child or children. Both examples could be make someone very uneasy, but let's take it one step further. How about letting an "invisible God." (Colossians 1:15) control your life.
It use to terrify me but now it's more of a discomfort. What changed? Perspective for one. Meaning knowing God's perspective is much, much larger than ours. In other words we are one thread in a incredibly large quilt that someday we will be able to see, but for now, we need to trust that he is making one crazy awesome masterpiece. Now get this, he is asking (not forcing) each of us to be apart of this masterpiece. Which brings up a question, do you suppose the God of this Universe is trusting us to be his thread? Let me say that again, is the God of this Universe trusting us, us who are weak and miniscule to help him with his work? He knows better than anyone how messy and broken we are. So how is it even logical to use us in His masterpiece? I don't know about you, but when I give my keys to my car to someone I have a mini freak out inside, because I have a hard time trusting people, and to clarify that is a car, which can easily be replaced. But God is trusting us with His Game Plan. This is a God who has entrusted us with so much, like carrying out The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). Now if that isn't trust then please give me a better example.
That being said, what about me trusting God. I feel like I can't even trust Him with finances or finding me a suitable wife. It's rather silly when I sit down and write, I mean I actually had to laugh at myself. This is an issue that I am still working with and will for a long time. Regardless of my issues with trusting God at times, when I do, there comes this incredible sense of peace. Which I don't think I could articulate in words, because trusting God is not something that can't be written out, it needs to be lived out.
It use to terrify me but now it's more of a discomfort. What changed? Perspective for one. Meaning knowing God's perspective is much, much larger than ours. In other words we are one thread in a incredibly large quilt that someday we will be able to see, but for now, we need to trust that he is making one crazy awesome masterpiece. Now get this, he is asking (not forcing) each of us to be apart of this masterpiece. Which brings up a question, do you suppose the God of this Universe is trusting us to be his thread? Let me say that again, is the God of this Universe trusting us, us who are weak and miniscule to help him with his work? He knows better than anyone how messy and broken we are. So how is it even logical to use us in His masterpiece? I don't know about you, but when I give my keys to my car to someone I have a mini freak out inside, because I have a hard time trusting people, and to clarify that is a car, which can easily be replaced. But God is trusting us with His Game Plan. This is a God who has entrusted us with so much, like carrying out The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). Now if that isn't trust then please give me a better example.
That being said, what about me trusting God. I feel like I can't even trust Him with finances or finding me a suitable wife. It's rather silly when I sit down and write, I mean I actually had to laugh at myself. This is an issue that I am still working with and will for a long time. Regardless of my issues with trusting God at times, when I do, there comes this incredible sense of peace. Which I don't think I could articulate in words, because trusting God is not something that can't be written out, it needs to be lived out.
Introduction
Blogging. Why? Not entirely sure yet, but I hope share questions and thoughts regarding my life, more specifically my walk with Christ. I am not here to force my thoughts on you, but I do hope to stir the pot. In other words my goal with this is to simply challenge you and myself with critical thinking. Examples of this would be, suffering, education, social media, following Christ, following the World. Again, I am not here to debate, but just to share what the Holy Spirit is doing, or has done, in my life. I hope that you enjoy reading the upcoming posts as much as I will enjoy writing them.
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