What Does Safe Look Like?

It's a funny thing to me how the safest place can really be the most dangerous place for Christians to be.  Were we really created to live in a "safe" place?  Sometimes I fall into the trap of being more concerned for my safety than I am for my Father's Kingdom.  Yet I think God is revealing to me more and more that the most dangerous place is actually the safest place when we are close to Him.  Riddle me this...Which is safer?  The "safest" most predictable place out of the will of our God or the most "dangerous" place right by God's side in step with His plans?  I want to be with Him!  When we follow Him life is never predictable.  Sarah Young puts it this ways, "No matter how steep or treacherous the path before you, the safest place to be is by His side."

I must trust that if my God leads me to the most treacherous peak that He will not abandon me.  His hand will guide me!  I must also remember that in death I gain VICTORY!

My prayer to my Perfect Father,
Lead me forth onto solid ground, rocky ground, steep ground, or sinking sand.  I trust that no matter where you lead me that there your hand will hold me up and keep my feet from slipping.  Grant me an eternal perspective to see so much more than what this world sees.  May you be my safe!

He Knows!

Often times I think I know exactly what I need.  Often times I think I know exactly how things should happen!  Often times I like to be in control. Often times I like to think that I know what is best.  But often times I am wrong!

A mother of a couple of my teens is going through a really hard time right now.  She just lost somebody really close to her.  As I was talking with her this week I told her to let me know if there was anything that I could do for her or her kids.  She asked me to be praying for her to have strength.

I definitely wanted to honor that request and pray for God to provide her with strength!  She texted me right before I went running, so as I was running she was heavy on my heart and in my prayers.  While I run my mind wanders.  I have music playing but I rarely listen to the songs.  A couple of weeks ago it took me two miles before I realized that I had been listening to the same song on repeat the whole time.  So as my mind was wandering and as I was praying for my friend God reminded me of something that I often forget!

He Knows!  As I prayed for God to fill her with strength He reminded me that He knows what she truly needs.  She may need strength or she may need peace or she may need support.  He knows!  Whatever it is that she truly needs He knows!  And He gives us what He Knows we need.

This whole conversation came up again only about an hour after that with my sister-in-law Erin.  My brother and sister-in-law have been planning on leaving for El Salvador in less than a month to serve with the Peace Corps for 27 months.  Last Friday was Erin's last day as a 6th grade science teacher.  She said goodbye to her students and gave up her job that she loved knowing that she was going to be moving to El Salvador in just a few weeks.  That same day Braden and Erin found out that the Peace Corps had cancelled their assignment in El Salvador because of safety concerns.  All the plans that Braden and Erin had been making for the past few months just got chunked out the window.  I can only imagine how overwhelming of a day that had to be.

As I talked with Erin on the phone yesterday because it was her birthday she said, "God is teaching me patience.  Your brother has plenty of it, but God is teaching me to be patient."  I told her that I completely understand!  There have been times in my life when I thought I knew exactly how things ought to go and what I needed and my frustration with God grew as He wasn't giving me exactly what I thought was best.  I didn't understand why He wasn't doing something.  Little did I know He was doing a whole lot of something!

The funny thing about that is at the end God always gives me something better than what I thought I really needed.  He knows better than I do exactly what I need.  I trust that He knows better than Braden and Erin exactly what they need as well.  It's not that He doesn't have the power to give us exactly what we want,  it's that He loves us so much that He doesn't want to give us anything less than the best!  I trust that my God knows what we need better than we do.

My prayers often focus on things that I think I need.  But I find so much comfort in knowing that I serve a God whose power is limitless and knows me so much better than I could ever know myself.  He knows my past, my present, and my future.  There is no one more qualified in knowing my needs than my Creator Himself!  May we remember that He knows our needs and that He is the God who provides!  May we remember that His desire is for us to desire Him!  He is God!  He is Good!  He Knows!!!

That's how Rumors get Started!

"For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt...For the Lord YOUR God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below."-Rahab

Joshua 2:10-11

Rahab had heard what God had done!  Everyone had heard what God had done!  People couldn't stop talking about all that God had done for His people.  The news of what THEIR God the supreme God had done was spreading!  

Iv'e never seen my God part the Red Sea for me to walk across on a dry path, but I have seen Him do so many other amazing things.  I have seen Him answer prayers.  I have seen Him provide.  I have seen Him deliver!  I have experienced His faithfulness.  People need to know that my God He is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below and that He is their God as well!

What have people heard from you about our God?  Have they heard what He has done for you?  Have they heard how He has rescued you?  Do you know what He has done for you?  Can people look at your life and know that the Lord YOUR God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below?

Tell somebody this Christmas what your God the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below has done for you!

What are you Looking At?

What are you looking at?  Right now I'm sitting in Starbucks looking at my large over priced coffee and reading through the book of Hebrews.  It's only natural to look at what is in front of you.  It's hard for me to look at or even imagine something that hasn't happened yet.

Spiritually what are you looking at today?  Are you caught up in what you don't have or are you praising Jesus for what you do have?  Are you seeking comfort here on earth or are you storing up far greater treasures in heaven?

As I read through Hebrews 11 verse 26 stood out to me.  The author is writing about Moses and he says,

"He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was LOOKING AHEAD to his great reward.  It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the King's anger.  He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible."

 Hebrews 11:26-27

Moses knew that he had a great earthly reward if he stayed in Egypt, but obviously Moses knew that that earthly reward could never compare to the reward God had in store for him.  Moses gave up a reward from the richest kingdom on earth because he knew God had something greater in store for him.  Are we willing to give up our earthly rewards in order to pursue Him at ALL cost?  Do we even realize that our reward in heaven is greater than all the riches of Egypt?

I LOVE the last part of verse 27...He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.  That almost seems impossible.  How do you keep your eyes on something that is invisible?  As you seek Him you see Him.  Although our God may be physically invisible His works are not.  As Moses kept his eyes on our invisible God he saw His very visible works!  The 10 plagues, the parting of the red sea, the cloud by day and the fire by night, the manna from heaven, somehow our invisible God has a very visible presence!  His works are very visible to those who are seeking the invisible!

I believe the same is true today!  As we seek the invisible God we see His visible works!  We see Him answer prayers, we see Him heal, we see Him provide!  May we learn to be like Moses and look ahead to our great reward and may we keep on going even when times are scary and hard because our eyes are fixed on the one who is invisible!

I Just Want a Clean Kitchen

As a child I was probably one of the most unorganized people who has ever walked this planet!  I never made my bed.  I never put up my laundry.  I just stuffed everything into my backpack and hoped that it would all work out when I got to school.  As a teenager most arguments between my mom and myself stemmed from the fact that you couldn’t even see the floor of my bedroom.  For some reason she thought that was unacceptable?!?  But then something weird happened!

I went off to college and I became a gazillion times more organized.  I think it all changed when I realized that I didn’t like it when my roommate’s stuff was all over the place so I better make sure that mine was all picked up!  Once I moved out of the dorms and into the apartments and had a kitchen that became a huge deal as well.  If there is one thing that I really don’t like it’s a dirty kitchen!!!  I began to make my bed every single day and make sure all of my clothes got hung up and that they were all hanging in color order and organized by season.  Organization became key!

I am still like that today for the most part!  Each morning I roll out of bed and the first thing I do is make the bed!  There is just something about a room with a bed that is made that makes it look so much more put together!  I try to keep the closet organized and never let the dishes pile up in the sink.  I like having a clean place!  I like having everything all put together!  I like organization! But…

Sometimes life gets a little crazy.  I told some of my kids the other day, “You can always tell how crazy my life is by how color coordinated my closet is.”  Well right now my clean clothes are sprawled out all over the floor.  They haven’t even made it to the closet! I have returned to my high school days.  If my mother were here she would have a fit because you can barely see the floor of my room!  Life is crazy right now!

I don’t mean crazy in a bad way!  I mean crazy in a way where I am watching God involve me in so many incredible things and I am spinning around like crazy!  He’s constantly filling my cup and pouring me out!  These next few weeks are non-stop crazy!  I look at my calendar and I see a breakfast with a different teen everyday of the week!  I look at my calendar and I see a different teen to be picked up from school each day!  I look at my calendar and I see endless opportunities to grow with my sisters in Christ.  I look at my calendar and from the outside it would look packed.  And it is!  But it works!

It works because I make sure that there is time in each and every day to sit and be still with my God.  To be honest there have been plenty of times where I have been in my apartment and could have hung all of those clean clothes up on hangers, but that would have come at the expense of losing that time alone focused on my Savior and His Word.  He is so much more valuable to me than a neatly organized closet!

So as the craziness of the Christmas season keeps us all spinning, may we never forget to focus on our Savior!  May we realize that time with Him is so much better than having a clean kitchen, a made bed, and an organized closet!  He has so much in store for us!  He is so real and powerful!  We must focus on Him!  May your time with Him be more valuable than a clean kitchen or an organized closet!  He is perfect and so good!