Tag: testimony

Patiently Persevering is Worth the Wait

Confession time: I can get frustrated when things don’t happen when and as though I think they should. I abhor waiting. I thrive on instant gratification. If there’s anything I like less than waiting something out its giving up or giving in. I’m sure you can see that herein lies a great source of tension: I often refuse to fold, but waiting for a full hand to be played makes me want cry out in frustration as I not-so-patiently bide my time.

Can you relate at all to any of this? Maybe you don’t know what the next season of life holds for you? Maybe you are desperate to see a change in your child’s behavior? Maybe you long to have your spouse to go to church with you? Maybe there’s a habit you want to change in yourself, but you made the same poor decision yet again this week. Maybe you are getting tired of waiting it out and you want to see results now. Not tomorrow, not this month…but now.

I get it.

Allow me to speak some encouragement into your situation today. It’s never too late for a breakthrough. Cultivating the patience necessary to wait it out is well worth it. As I’ve already shared, this is not something which comes naturally to me, nor am I as patient as I ought to be for much of the time….but now I have a visual to remind me to practice patience: an old potted plant on my back deck. Let me explain incase it can help you, too…

As you’ll learn as you spend more time with me, I absolutely adore making spaces feel like home. My old office cubicle? Homemade bunting draped across the carpeted walls. My makeshift basement gym? An accent chair and a plant take up space like they have every right to be in that cinder-blocked room. I cherish moments spent getting our church spruced up for each changing season.

You get the idea.

Pinterest would have been a small miracle if it was around when I planned my wedding and decorated my first nurseries.

I share this just to set the stage for what’s to come in this little story. Also, I’m about to get dark for a few moments, but I promise I won’t stay there for too very long! After all, this is meant to be encouraging!

Just about 3 years ago my sister and I lost our mom to a VERY short bout of cancer. I’ll revisit this season in our lives throughout other posts, but for now let’s just focus on the activities known as “the arrangements.” My sister is just as in love with interior design as I am, and we really wanted mom’s services to feel like “us”….the three of us…and how we have our own homes decorated.

Unfortunately, that is really hard to accomplish when florists only offer tremendous sprays and displays filled with flowers that we would never have on our own tables. Needless to say, through a remarkable series of events, also known as God’s hand (wink wink), we had an idea to skip the florist all together! There! I said it! We skipped the obligatory florist hired for funerals! Gasp!

Do you know what we did instead? We scoured the lengths of Long Island for ball-based Dogwood trees and Japanese Willows. It was the first week of June, and they were in full bloom! We added in some white hydrangea, a flower mom always had in her kitchen, and baby’s breath. I hit the springtime décor jackpot when I found dozens of white tulips in Trader Joes (the florist said they would be impossible to find).

With a few potted plants, wooden crates, and Hobby Lobby signage thrown into the mix, one could have easily mistaken the viewing room for an event space holding a bridal shower of the modern farmhouse variety.

Now, back to the trees. Not only were they a beautiful addition to such a bittersweet time in our lives, but my sister and I were able to take one of each kind home with us. We planted them in our yards. Or rather, we each planted the dogwoods, and only my sister planted the Japanese Willow…while I foolishly left mine in the pot.

I don’t have a green thumb. In full disclosure, I should also mention that the plant I mentioned “living” in my basement is actually totally fake and totally from IKEA.

Needless to say, my perpetually potted willow eventually turned into nothing more than dried up sticks in the overly dry dirt. I put the pot outside for “fresh air”, but the Pocono winter did absolutely nothing for my revival efforts. In fact, as I’m sure you could imagine, the winter made matters worse. So, there it was…this plant, long gone and covered in snow…and just within view of my kitchen window on the back patio.

Even though it completely died in the pot, every time I looked out the window I kept on wondering if it would ever bloom the next spring. I wish I could say it did, but it didn’t…not in that Spring, at least.

I almost finally tossed the batch of brittle twigs where Christmas wreaths and Autumn mums meet their final resting place out back when I noticed the FOLLOWING summer that new shoots were growing!  Take a look at this pic I grabbed from my social media account after I first noticed the new growth.

Whatever your struggle is now, don’t lose faith. If I had tossed the willow out seasons, months, weeks or even days earlier, I never would have known that flowers would eventually come, all those seasons later. There’s life after death, and God can make all things new! We don’t know all the plans laid out for us or our loved ones, but God does, and we will discover them in His perfect timing!

This is a concrete example of life after death, rebirth, and deliverance. Scriptures are full of examples as well. What if Joshua’s army quit circling Jericho after 5 days? What about if Noah felt too defeated to go on after 39 days of nonstop flooding? The entire story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead only happened because Lazarus was allowed to die first.

Sound familiar? Easter Sunday only occurred because God allowed His son to die first. It was all part of His perfect plan for the redemption of humankind, and in His timing there was new life and deliverance.

Again, do not lose faith. Be patient. Even if it seems as though all redemptive chances have come and gone…and come and gone again…He who redeems can bring any situation through to fruitful completion. If you are waiting for the next mile marker to reveal itself, trust in His timing. God is neither late nor early. He is always right on time.

Allow Him to cultivate patience in you as you wait on His timing. You truly never know when what you are seeking, or something far better, will come to fruition!

Did you catch all of the Be Still Series? Here it is!

  1. Discipleship 101
  2. Simply Still Series: Top 6 Stillness Verses
  3. Simply Still Series: How to Forego What is Better for What is Best
  4. Simply Still Series: Tired of Being Tired?
  5. Day 21
  6. Prodigal Series Day 20: Good Father, Wrapping Up
  7. The Prodigal Series Day 19: Good Father, Our Father
  8. The Prodigal Series Day 18: Good Father, An Open Invite

Be Still Series: What can we Learn from Children about Rest?

As we wrap up this series, I want to accomplish 3 things: briefly summarize previous posts in the series; leave you with a gentle word of caution; and, finally, impart final words of encouragement.

Now, here’s the simplest part.  Lets review the topics covered in each of the 6 parts published so far (all are hyperlinked for easy reference):

Part 1

An Introduction to Being Still explored how being still is an imperative from God. In this way, being still isn’t a form of weakness; there is boldness in the obedience and stillness.

Part 2

Emptying Our Plates provided some advice on how to go about emptying already full plates. How can we be still if we are too busy to be still? Remember, we will be able to accomplish infinitely more for those entrusted to our care and for the kingdom if we surrender to God’s will for our lives. Sometimes less is more!

Part 3

Living it Out attempted to put my own advice and the Word of God into practice. Instead of spending more time on writing than I reasonably had to give during the busy holiday season and while my family quarantined; I opted to share some of the best content ever created: Scripture. Verses focusing on the need to rest were highlighted as I took a step back for a few days.

Part 4

Saying No offered additional examples of life application as related to being still, specifically on how to say, “No.” The latter skill is key if we want to keep our schedules balanced once we get them to where God would like them to be.

Part 5

Is Keeping the Sabbath Still for Real? established the Sabbath rest as part of God’s design for creation. God set the standard and the example for us, his creation, when he, the Creator, rested on the 7th day. Creation was incomplete until it encompassed the act of resting.

Part 6

Finally, Resting Better suggested an antidote to our restlessness: trusting in the Lord more during the times when we are asked to slow down. A biblical example from Exodus set the backdrop for this important and sometimes sensitive discussion.

Now, speaking of sensitive discussions, here is that promised word of caution I mentioned earlier: be wary of keeping “sabbath” rest for purely legalistic reasons.  While I understand we all have seasons where we need to “fake it until we make it,” Sabbath rest should be more of a mindset than something we feel obligated to squeeze into our schedules.  Once rest becomes something else to check off we are missing the point. Yes, we are to be obedient and be still, but its a heart change as much as it is either a scheduling or cerebral change.

The essence of the Sabbath (and being still) is to cease, stop striving and trust in Him.  As long as you are doing this intentionally out of a pure heart, you are doing just fine! Do not get hung up on the exact day you are keeping your Sabbath.  Doing so can push up against some dangerously legalistic territory!

Now that we have recapped the series as a whole and have received our loving dose of caution, let me share some final words of encouragement.

But first…

Do me a favor, and scroll up for a quick second.  See that picture?  That’s my 8-year old daughter, Kaleigh, laying on my lap during church two weeks ago.  Do you know what else she is resting on?  There’s something between her head and my lap…My Bible! The Word! She is literally and figuratively at rest on and in the Word during a worship service! 

Next time I need to be grounded and be still, I’m going to think of the simultaneously simple yet profound truths portrayed in that picture. The Word is around her; she’s soaking it in as she peacefully listens to the message. The Word is in Her. She loves Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is alive in her! The Word is touching her. She is literally touching it, but it is also moving her heart! This 8-year old had not a care in the world that Sunday: she just needed to be still while existing and absorbing His Word.

After looking at the picture some more I started to wonder what light a childlike faith could shed on the idea of resting on God. It is that simplicity and pureness of heart I’d like to leave you with today, which is why I asked each of my three children what resting on God meant to them. Here’s what they said:

Following what He says.

Kaleigh, age 8

Believing in God and putting faith in God.

Keira, age 10

Relying on His Word. Relying that He is there when you need Him the most. Relying that he is just there.

William, age 14

Right out of the mouths of babes, am I right?! Do you have a child in your life you could ask the same question to? See what they say! Perhaps their answers, lacking any pretense whatsoever, will provide you with a refreshing perspective: a perspective that can’t easily come from many well-read or even well-intentioned adults.

Friends, although I’ve now spent several weeks recounting scriptural truths and practical how-to-style advice, please know that resting on the Word of God doesn’t have to be difficult; but it does take our willingness.

As our pastor pointed out this morning during service, “we need to step back and step toward God.” Go to Him…be still…and find rest. It will change you.

Please be sure to check out the blog’s fb page for this 40-day posting eggtravaganza!

Also this week we reached 400 followers on fb! I’m doing a giveaway to celebrate! Leave a comment on the giveaway post on fb by 7pm to enter!

Be Still Series: Living it Out

Yesterday was Christmas, as I am writing this, and we had a relaxing day, just the five us us at home. Yet, so much goes into the day ahead of time, I can’t help but feel that a good, soulful rest is in order.

In this brief season between Christmas and New Year’s I’m going to follow my own advice. How hypocritical would it be if I wrote about being still if I did not also live it out?! Thank you for extending some grace while I, myself, rest and re-focus this week!

Although I am leaving you with very little content today, in many ways it’s all that you need: God’s own Words. Here are some verses to pray over which reinforce the biblical imperative to be still:

Be still, and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Exodus 14:14

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Psalm 37:7

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.

Psalm 23:1-2

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.

Hebrews 4:9-10

Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes!

1 Samuel 12:16

The Lord continues to do remarkable things, just as He did in the time of Samuel. Awe-inspiring works in those around us and in you. Follow me this week in being still and let’s see what divine works we can notice! What may He change or soften in us?!

As as a closing devotional, here is a Jesus Calling reading from this week which seems to be especially relevant to the Be Still Series:

I AM PREPARING YOU for what is on the road ahead…Take time to be still in My Presence so that I can strengthen you. The busier you become, the more you need this time apart with Me. So many people… live and work in their own strength–until that becomes depleted. Then they either cry out to Me for help or turn away in bitterness.

How Much better it is to walk close to Me, depending on My strength and trusting Me in every situation. If you live in this way… Your unhurried pace of living will stand out… Some people may deem you lazy, but many more will be blessed by your peacefulness. Walk in the Light with Me, and you will reflect Me to the watching world.

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, December 27

Be Still Series: Emptying our Plates

In a short video for my first post, I mentioned how I didn’t want to start this blog unless I knew that God willed me to write it.  Over the years I learned that one of the biggest contributors to burnout is piling responsibilities on top of responsibilities, without ever consulting if said commitments were actually willed by God to be a part of my life at that time.  Of course, we will experience burnout if we fill up our time with things that were never meant to be there to begin with!

Therefore, today’s post in the Be Still Series will focus on shifting away from being overcommitted. If you didn’t check out the first post in the series from last week, please be sure to do that!

Here’s a gentle warning: even commitments which are “for God” or which are “good” and “healthy” are generally not worth the trouble if they are not aligned with God’s will for our lives at that point.  That means praying through some hard choices.  It also means possibly foregoing what is good for what is best. 

If you struggle with being overcommitted and a general lack of stillness, there could be a number of contributing factors.  Maybe there is a value system which does not prioritize time and resources they way God would prefer? Maybe there is apprehension around saying, “No.”. The possibilities are endless, none are mutually exclusive, and I have been guilty of most!  Regardless of why you are overextended, today, I’m going to offer two pieces of advice on how to reduce your current commitments:

1st Piece of Advice

Make a list of everything on your plate right now.  What can you outsource (i.e., shoppers at the grocery store or pick up options)?  What can a spouse or significant other do or be taught to do?  An older child?  What can you do away with all together? What needs to be put on hold for a period of time? Sometimes seeing things on paper can help make sense of what stays and what goes.  Of course, pray on it!

2nd Piece of Advice

If you are really struggling (or even if you are not), consider clearing as much as possible from your schedule. This may sound like a silly or extreme idea, but I LOVE doing this each winter.  We live in the Poconos and although I love looking at the snow, I don’t necessarily love being in it.  It also gets dark very early in the winter…very, very early. 

Needless to say, winter in the Poconos really lends itself very well to a homebody seeking to lessen their load.  Also, with all the hustle and bustle of beginning a new school year finally far enough behind us, it really is an opportune time to deliberately press pause on activities. 

Maybe those expensive gymnastic lessons lose some appeal after taking a break from them?  Maybe that ministry you are serving in will be able to open the door for someone else to come in and serve in your absence? Only move toward reintroducing or introducing a commitment once you are certain it is meant to be there. More on this in a future post!

Now, as I’ve mentioned in other posts, I will never offer advice that I don’t follow myself or that is not a product of my own experience.  Here is one example of how God worked through my commitments, or lack thereof, a few months ago. 

As some of you may know from reading other blog entries, I am in school for my doctorate.  This Fall I was originally signed up to take 3 courses.  The more I prayed about it, the more I realized that committing to three courses in one semester was more of me imposing a vigorous workload on myself as opposed to God leading me there. 

Ultimately, just before the semester started, I dropped all but one course which was especially compelling.  I told God I didn’t know why I was led to do less, but my time was His with the “new-found” time that I was able to create margin for.  Within a few days I had an informal discussion with my pastor about possibly serving through writing.  This was his idea, but the more I prayed on it, the most convicted I was that he was right.  Within a few more days I began planning for Living Simply With God.  None of that would have ever happened with the pressure of 9 credits weighing on me! 

Our stories will look different, but there will be a common dominator between you and I:  we will both be able to accomplish infinitely more for those entrusted to our care and for the kingdom if we surrender to God’s will for our lives.  Sometimes less is more!

Don’t get me wrong, I can still overcommit, but I am getting better about consulting with God while I decide what to take on. 

Now that we have reviewed some ways to think about and actually create more time in our busy schedules, we will spend the next posts delving into some ideas around how to keep our schedules manageable.  Without that, we will be back to square one in no time.

Pray:

Father God, in your infinite wisdom, help me to discern which responsibilities are really mine and mine alone.  I feel comfortable when I am in control so I don’t delegate as often as I should, but I know this is not your desire for me.  It can’t be!  Trusting you is more than enough. When I feel led to transition out of participating in an activity in some capacity, I will trust that you know what is best for me and the others around me.  I will humbly follow where you lead.

In Jesus’ Holy & Precious Name,

Amen

Be Still Series: An Introduction

 “Come rest your eyes on the King…Jesus our Heavenly King.”  These lyrics are filling my church’s sanctuary right now. Lights are dimmed, but the glow of Christmas Trees fills the front of this sacred space. The Chosen’s Christmas Special, The Messengers, is livestreaming for those who are yearning to focus on the true meaning of the season, and I’m sitting back by the sound board, putting the finishing touches on this week’s post. 

Today’s post will be the first in the Be Still series, a series which will take us into the New Year.  Fitting that as I begin to wrap up the first installment of the series I should be listening to “Come rest your eyes on the King…Jesus our Heavenly King.”  Don’t you think?  I love how God works like that. 

Over recent weeks I have had different versions of the same conversation with various friends.  These conversations are what prompted me to address the topics we are covering over the next few weeks together. “I just don’t know how to say, ‘No’,” said one.  “I am completely depleted,” said another.  As recently as this morning, I was rushing to not one but two gas stations before church because the first station was just like my car: practically out of gas and waiting to get more. 

Why do we let ourselves run so ragged? It’s clearly not God’s intention for us.  He could never want this lifestyle of perpetual exhaustion and restlessness for us, His children whom He delights so much in.  In fact, we know from David that our Almighty Father desires the complete opposite for us:

Be Still and Know I am God. 

Psalm 46:10a

Be Still. This is not just a mere suggestion. It’s an imperative straight from the Lord, calling upon us to take up stillness as a part of our very being. This is more than acting still or desiring to be still, or thinking about being still.  It’s actually a state of being.  A state of being still. But how to we get there?

I don’t pretend to know all the answers, or even a fraction of the answers.  However, I do know what it is like to experience burnout and have nothing left for the people I should have the most for. I know what it’s like just going through the motions, too worn and defeated to even know I was worn and defeated.    

I know what it’s like to try and remedy this imbalance on my own.

Once I got clued in that my body was keeping the score, I knew some changes were in order.  I read the books.  I did the things (think yoga, breathwork, and other practices).  None of these are bad things! In many ways, they are quite helpful, especially when they promote self-healing. However, they won’t sustain us, and they shouldn’t be done apart from a larger framework defined and ordained by God.

I also do not pretend to live the most balanced life at all times. Nonetheless, by the grace of God, I also know what it’s like to surrender a worn-out body and mind to Him. This allowed Him, not I, to re-prioritize how I spend my time and who I spend it with. 

The Lord had a great deal of heart work to do within me (and he still does). That is not something anyone but God can do for you, and will only come from abiding in Him. That said, I also learned a lot along the path toward balanced living where the Lord is prioritized above all else. When doing so, believe it or not, I still had more than enough time and energy for anything which followed Him.

Over the next few weeks, as we turn our hearts and minds to the miraculous yet simple coming of our King incarnate, let us also seek out simplicity.  We will explore priorities, commitments and boundaries so that we may be obedient in Being Still.    In doing so we will be set free from what we were never intended to take on to begin with. Is there a bolder way to enter the new year than declaring that our time and priorities are His?  Don’t be fooled!  There’s boldness in the obedience and stillness. 

Pray:

Father God, Help me to slow down.  I am tired of doing things my own way.  Literally tired. Mentally tired.  Spiritually tired. At times, I have nothing left for my family, myself or you.  I know there must be another way. I know you desire me to be still.  Can you help me with that, please?  You are far wiser than I, and I seek to do your will! 

In Jesus’ Holy and Precious Name,

Amen.

              

7 Truths for Enduring Unrelenting Trials

Have you ever felt so hopeless in a situation that you wondered when or if relief would ever come?

I’d like to share about a time when I fell to my knees in despair and wept out for the redeeming power of God’s hand.  God gave me the very words to cry out to Him with, tenderly received my anguished plea, and responded with more grace than I could have ever fathomed. 

My prayer was prompted by a biblical narrative found in Daniel: 3.  The general gist of the story goes like this:  Three men refused to bow down and worship a king.  The king was none too happy about this public display of defiance.  As such, the three men were to be thrown into a fiery furnace as punishment.  They declared that their God was powerful enough to save them from the fire, but even if He didn’t, they still would not worship the king since their God alone was good and worthy of their praise. 

Several years ago, within a very short timeframe, I kept on hearing this story again and again. Sometimes it popped up in my morning devotions.  Other times it was mentioned in a podcast or sermon.  There was even a graphic tee with the words “Even If” printed across the front that kept on popping up in my facebook newsfeed.

Concurrently, during this same season, I was feeling utterly defeated. I was playing a hand I had never asked to be dealt, and I just wanted to fold. I felt even less than hopeless. Days were like dark nights, and both felt too long.  Nonetheless, I clung to my Bible like never before. 

What was God trying to tell me? Clearly, the Holy Spirit was trying to get my attention by emphasizing the same message so repeatedly.  There was a link between my struggle and these few verses, but what was it? 

In sheer despondency, long after the kids went to bed one night, I collapsed to my knees next to our fireplace. The fire set the dark living room aglow with its dancing flames. Yet again, I was reminded of the fiery furnace. I implored God to reveal whatever was in this story that I needed to understand.

Immediately, the clarity I sought after came. The words I needed to pray also came all at once, and I fervently meant every one of them.  I professed three intermingling ideas that miraculous night:

  • I trusted Him with my situation and how it would unfold, even though it was likely going to get even worse before it got better, and I had no idea what any of that meant for my family.
  • If it was God’s will to change my circumstances, I would need His strength to endure the trial that would be my testimony.
  • God alone had the power to change the circumstances AND He would still be worthy of my praise, even if the redeeming work I was so anxious for didn’t actually happen on this side of heaven.

Even if.  Three syllables.  Two words written two thousand years ago, and just as relevant today as they were back then. 

I now know that on that very night he was already putting events into motion which would ultimately lead to that prayer being  answered less than a month later. It did get worse before it got better, and I did receive the strength I prayed for to get through it.   

Although that was one of my last prayers in that season of life, it was not my by any means first. I prayed to be delivered from the turmoil I was in HUNDREDS of times and over several years leading up to that point.     

Here are 7 Lessons from during this time of suffering, waiting and redemption:

1

The prayers up until my “Even If” prayer were not wasted.  Each whispered request cultivated an ongoing relationship with God, turning to Him every single time the thorn in my side was too much to withstand.

2

I would have been unable to grasp the severity of His awesome power and my ultimate dependence on Him if the first feeble attempts at praying my reality away were immediately answered.

3

He alone has the sovereign power to save. Even if He does not do so, we must recognize that our understanding of any given situation is affected by a bounded rationality of what we perceive to be possible.

4

He is working all things together in ways we can’t even begin to grasp. His character is consistently good through all of it. He alone is worthy of praise, even if petitions may seem to go unanswered.  

5

We never know when the offered prayer will be the last one needed of its kind.  Until then, we are being refined and investing in a relationship with our God. Such time is never wasted!

6

Any trial is only temporary.  The battle has already been won on the cross.  God doesn’t have to win again.  The evils of this world have been defeated.  We can know that whether on this side of heaven or not, one day we will have neither pain nor suffering. 

7

We are not alone.  Not on nights we pray on our knees and not the hundreds of times we prayed before that.  There is another in the fire, right there with us the entire time.

Pray:

Father God, There is nowhere else I’d rather be than in your protective care, in the middle of your will.  Thank you for knowing what’s on my heart when I’m too exhausted to even speak the words. Even if you do not remove the burdens of the day, I still love you and praise you because of who you are.  Let me have patience as I wait for deliverance in your perfect timing.

In Jesus’ Holy and Precious Name,

Amen.

How to Overcome Negative Emotions

Despite currently communicating my thoughts in writing and for anyone to see, I used to be much more guarded.  I would only share if among my closest friends. Also, any number of other criteria needed to be checked off my self-created mental list of what would deem a situation safe enough to discuss what was on my heart. You may be thinking this girl has some trust issues.  You wouldn’t be wrong. God’s working on that, too, dear reader, but as I was saying…

I attended a women’s retreat and was placed in a small group with only two other individuals: one of my best friends and the retreat’s guest speaker, a woman who had gone to seminary with our pastor. In other words, all boxes in aforementioned mental checklist were checked to the Nth degree, and my brain told my heart it was safe enough to share (or did my heart tell my brain?). Leave it to God to create such a space at such a time when those listening could not only be trusted but offer life-changing counsel as well.  

Once in that safe little bubble, I shared that I had been feeling guilty about the life I used to lead and was trying to grow away from. I had been feeling guilty over all the time I wasted away. I even felt guilty for feeling guilty.  I knew better! Needless to say, I­­ was guilt-ridden about all the things, and I had dared not tell another soul about all this pent up guilt until then. 

How could I genuinely lead the life I was being called to live if I had such a negative thought pattern holding me captive to my past?

In typical pastor fashion, the guest speaker in my very small group tried to coax a solution out of me as opposed to just telling me what my issue was. I totally fell for it.  She asked where my guilt came from.  Not quite picking up what she was putting down, I guessed the source of my guilt was a nun who had taught me in Catholic school. Spoiler alert: that wasn’t it. 

She gently pushed a little more. “God doesn’t want you to feel this guilt. If it doesn’t come from God, where does it come from?”  Just like that, literal dots were being literally connected by literal lines all over the place…figuratively speaking…and I responded by blurting out, “It comes from Satan?!?!”

She knowingly smiled and explained how if something comes from the enemy it cannot come from God. She prompted me to call the guilt out by name and declare that it would not have a place in my life any longer. That was easy! If it wasn’t from God, and I knew it wasn’t (knowing is the hard part, sometimes), then I surely didn’t want any part of it!

I declared, “Guilt, you no longer have a hold on me.”  And guess what?  It didn’t.  From that moment on, I have been liberated to peacefully and simultaneously co-exist with the knowledge of who I once was and who God continually calls me to be. 

Bonus: You can apply the latter practice to anything at all which is not from Him: call it by name and declare its hold on you defeated. Once the emotion or fallacy from the enemy is recognized, called out and conquered, replace it with this truth:

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Pray: 

Father God, thank you for orchestrating moments in my life which can only be composed by your loving hands.  Thank you for the people you put in my path, whether for a lifetime, a season, or just a few hours.  Thank you for the ability to get to know you better through your Word and through fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  It is in knowing you better that I can better know your voice and discern it from the enemy’s.  If something is not aligned with your will for my life, please awaken me to what that could be and remove whatever may be getting in my way. 

In Jesus’ Holy and Precious Name,

Amen.

How to be Intentional About Seeking Blessings Out

Can you imagine how refreshing it could be to pick up your phone and use it for something other than responding to text alerts, email notifications, and the pings of an app? To allow that device in your hand to contribute to your actual, overall well being as opposed to distracting you from the life unfolding all around it? It can be done!

A few years ago, especially in times of distress, I started writing down any blessings I noticed around me.  Sometimes, I would plot out these new-found treasures within the fresh, crisp pages of a newly purchased journal. However, more recently, for about the last 3 years or so, I’ve opted for the convenience of an app (just like what you might keep your grocery list or to-do list in).

Our device of choice can actually be our blessing if we use it in the right ways. The beauty of using an app as a “Blessing Tracker” is two-fold in its tremendous simplicity and accessibility. It just so happens to be perfect for jotting down the activities of a God who can literally make His move in any place, at any time, and through any person or situation.

Originally, these lists served as a tangible proof of an intangible faith. The documented eyewitness accounts reinforced the notion that if God provided once before He could and would again.  Over time, these singular, bulleted testimonies could also be reviewed as a more concerted assemblage pointing to a larger tale being told. Isolated instances transformed into a cohesive, exquisite validation of an interwoven thread, revealing His sovereign hand at work throughout my life.

Eventually, the proclivity to remember blessings was enhanced by belief: a belief that beyond a shadow of a doubt our God is absolutely good, loyal to His promises, protective and restorative.  He was and is a deliverer who can use any circumstance for His glory.  I no longer need to remember the lists living in my phone as frequently as I did several years ago. Instead, there is a present and profound trust living inside of me.

The lists grow exponentially when I’m intentional about seeking His blessings out, especially when I’m still enough to notice. How else could I end up with a list of “Quarantine Blessings” showcasing 54 examples of His presence revealed in perfect timings and more-than-sufficient provisions during the beginning of 2020?…or another list of 76 blessings during the time immediately preceding, during, and after my mom’s unexpected passing in 2019? 

The blessings will yield blessings! They bless at the time of bestowing and yet again upon remembrance. If you share those testimonies, they have the potential to bless even still. Try keeping a list of your own! What can you notice today? Tomorrow? How will you choose track them? An App? A voice-recorded text? Do you have another idea? Drop it in the comments. I’d LOVE to hear about it, and I’m sure others will as well!

As I close this week’s post, let’s keep this key verse in mind:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

Pray:

Father God, thank you for all the ways you have provided for me in the past.  I know you are still at work today, even if I am too busy to notice.  I apologize for not noticing enough and for not praising you enough.   Open my eyes so that I may better see my circumstances as reflections of your handiwork. Help me to better notice the blessings that are all around me. Please help me to remember that anything good in my life is a gift from you.

In Jesus’ Holy and Precious Name,

Amen

Greetings!

Believe it or not, my 8-year-old came up with the blog’s title, “Living Simply with God”. While I was trying to make sense of themes, content specifications and everything else that comes with launching a new site, she plopped right down next to me and asked what I was doing.

As I write today it’s Monday, which mean’s yesterday’s sermon is still fresh in my mind. James 3:3-13 tells us that our words can be used to uplift or to discourage. The pastor practically applied to how we interact with the people in our homes, and how our words can have long-lasting effects on those we care about the most, for better or for worse. Remembering this, instead of impatiently asking her to leave mommy alone, we simply talked. So many probing questions came from her ever-expanding and inquisitive mind; I could hardly process them quickly enough.

“What was the blog about? Why are you doing it? Do you have time for this? Are you scared to do something new? Are you going to make make your own YouTube Channel?! What about vlogging?!”

We went back and forth, and I shared that I am doing this because I love Jesus, writing, processing what I learn (usually from reading, asking questions, or making mistakes) and encouraging others. “I can keep all the journals I want, but what good is that if I am the only one who knows the miracles it contains? Wouldn’t it be better to share how we experience small miracles in the every day, possibly giving hope to others so that they can persevere as well? Maybe someone can recognize that they are not alone. I want others to experience Him in the tangible ways that we have experienced Him.”

“Mama, what’s tangible?”

“It’s something that you can feel or touch. It’s something that you know is there. I want other people to know he is there, too. Our world can be scary right now, and it can be hard to know what to believe. I’d like to help with that and perhaps offer some new ways of looking at things, but I also feel led to do it simply. Understanding how He is at work doesn’t have to be complicated.”

“Mama, what are you calling it?”

“It still needs a title.” Nothing I had scribbled up was quite right.

At first, she strung along almost every Sunday school word you could think of. I said we needed something a tad bit shorter. I needed to capture how we can simplify our lives, how we can know Jesus, how He is enough.

Mama, how about, “Living Simply with Jesus”?

“Yes, you did it. That’s the name, and I’m so thankful that you had a part in this!”

And just like that, not only did I get a title and a fabulously challenging discourse with my youngest, but we also experienced the fruit of obeying His Word. The very fruit I’m longing to tell you about downright blossomed (does fruit blossom?) and fell right down into our laps as I chose patience and conversation over dismissal and solitude, all the while considering how to explain how God works. The irony is not lost on me.

For every tale of loss, addiction and uncertainty, I can counter with testimonies of provision, deliverance, and guidance.

Together, we are going to explore ways we can simplify our lives, create margin to notice blessings (even in the midst of extreme heartache), and focus on what really matters. Take what you can, and leave the rest. You do you, and I welcome you alongside me as I share what God has done and unfailingly continues to do in my life, my family’s life, and in the lives of others.

Let’s do some life together and find some blessings along the way. Shall we?

I’d love to share some more about how this blog came about. Take a look!