25 Year Celebration = God is Faithful

 

25 years together.  25 years of living the reality of both/and.  Both joy and hard.  Both laughter and tears.  Both understanding and misunderstanding.

Through it all - God.  God, who works all things together for good.  God, who weaves the hard and the joys together in a tapestry that blends together and creates a beauty that is deeper than what I could ever truly grasp.

In the weaving of all things, I realize that God will not withhold any good thing and so what I call bad is not really not bad, but a good that is a hard good.  I realize that I need to reframe the truth of bad and if a hard will destroy me, God will not allow it.  But if a "bad" circumstance (according to my terms) works faith in God, a courage to rise above, or patience, etc; then it is a good that God will allow. 

Choosing God in any and every circumstance and relationship will keep it and He will see us to the end.

In the mistakes, the hard, and the devastations that life bring; when we choose Jesus and invite Him into our fears, doubts, questions, and anxieties; He redeems.

I am grateful for the presence and truth of God that has kept, redeemed, and saved us in ways that bring life.  God is faithful and I rest and anchor myself and us in that greatest truth that keeps and saves us in each and every situation.

The Tension in Waiting and the Strength of It

 

Wait is not something that comes naturally to many of us.  

We may have moments of patience, of waiting but when it touches a spot that really matters to us; we usually want it now or to at least know of its timeline.  

We order a pair of shoes and we check its status. 

The deck furniture that's taking longer than you expected; so you make you  call to check its status. 

A child who is expecting a grandparent to come, waits and peers out the window; looking expectantly. 

We wait and think it's a trial.

But what if the wait is the place of strength?

What if this place is the place where one's soul finds a peace and strength that exceeds our understanding?

Wait in the Hebrew means to bind together, to collect, to expect, gather, look.

When Jesus tells us to be still, to yoke with Him and receive His rest; we join Him. 

In Isaiah 40:31 when it tells us to wait upon the Lord and our strength renews, is a place that intrigues me.

I'm sensing an upside-down way. I'm curious about this way and wonder at its possibilities...

When I bind myself to Jesus and look with expecting wonder, I discover hope.

When I look for Him, bind myself to Him; I have access to His strength.  

As the water and tea leaves join, the water begins infused with the strength of the tea leaves. In the same way as I stay with Jesus, His strength infuses my heart and mind and I can rise. I can soar. Because of He who never tires or sleeps.

The wait is not to be feared, but it's an invitation to something greater than ourselves. It's an invitation to know Jesus, deeply and personally.

The wait is the space for curiosity and wonder what God is up to.

The wait is the 'peering ou the window', to look for the ways of God.

To wait is to receive God and to know His unbounded strength and love. 

Today, in the midst of your prayer is an opportunity to trust the One you have given your heart's desire to. It's the space where you wait with expecting and wonder because of the One you joined forces with. And when it goes differently than your human mind thought would be good, that's when you gather evidence of His goodness and believe His heart is still good towards you.  Because sometimes it's more about knowing God than it is about receiving exactly what you asked for. 

I Believe in the Sun Even When It's Not Shining

 

There are those days, those moments when the sun shines, the warmth is felt, all seems right in the world and faith and God seem near.  

There are also those days when the clouds hide the visibility of the sun and the day seems quite cloudy and uncertain.

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As I sat outside one morning as this day was dawning, it was raining, foggy, and the birds were chirping.  Life was happening and the day dawning just like yesterday, but that day started with the colour in the sky and the sun appearing.

I reflected.  This morning is no different in the day dawning, except that is was raining and foggy.  The fog hid the sun but that did not mean the sun wasn't still shining.

So it is with our storms and rain and Jesus.  

When I was in my darkest stormy nights, Jesus felt far away.  I felt forgotten and often wondered if He cared or even still loves me.  (Yes, it is my weakness as I associate care, presence with being valued and loved.)  Prayers seemed to go unheeded or answered.

Through that and looking back, I see ways God was navigating and very present even when I could not see it or the darkness hid Him, just like the foggy morning hid the rising sun.

Faith.  Faith is believing in the presence of the Son, Jesus, even when what I am walking through is hiding His presence and I cannot see His workings.

Another day. Another morning. Repeat.

I wonder if you have this same experience?  I suspect you do, for we humans have the same struggles they only have a different face, maybe a different way it is seen or experienced.

You know, sometimes it's real easy to have faith in Jesus, the mountain top feel.  But the reality is, there are times it really is not so easy.

We recently experienced the eclipse of the sun.  For a minute or three, the day got dark and the sun obstructed by the moon.  Light and warmth were obstructed as the moon passed between us and the sun. It was a glorious moment to witness, but when the 'sun' gets eclipsed in my life it's really not such a glorious moment to live out.  

Faith is a choice.  A decision and a learning to know the heart of God and to trust Him, even if.  Faith is a decision to learn to really know God and to believe Him whether the sun is shining or not.

These words are easier to type than to live out.  These words I don't write lightly but I write them because it is true and to keep reminding my own fragile human heart that God is still good in the stormy night as He is in the sunlit, heartfelt moments.

The words to the song, I believe in the sun even when it's not shining, I believe in a God even when I can't see Him were written and inscribed on the walls of a prison concentration camp.  There were inscribed with a choice to stay with God, to believe Him even in the darkest and meanest of times.  

I don't believe they were written lightly.  They were written with a specific, faith-filled choice to believe God for who He is.

And I do the same.

Is it dark for you today?  Have you walked away from the God who loves you and is still good in the hard?  Maybe it is only a shift in your heart to not believe God or to think He doesn't care or you don't matter?

I know I have, it's easy to do when the hard washes over and knocks us down.  But I have also come back to stay.  To find refuge under the wings of our Almighty Father and to choose to believe His words of truth in a moment that screams otherwise.

Faith isn't faith until something doesn't make sense and you still stay with Jesus, trusting Him  and choosing to believe in His love and goodness; even if. 

In a Leap of Faith We Discover Our Wings

 

In the call of faith, that faith pleases God; there are times when this feels oh, so scary.  Because faith in the trenches requires something very different than the faith when the sun is shining.

This is a piece of my wrestling with faith in a really hard season.

Lord, 

I have heard the saying that when one takes the leap of faith,

One may fly.

(You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.)

But, Lord, is that always really so???

What if I fall??

(Underneath are the everlasting arms.  I will catch you.)

What if I crash???

(I am sent to heal the broken hearted.  To bind up the wounds.)

Lord.  You are there.  Here.  In every situation.

I am no where that You are not.

Nothing happens haphazardly.

You want to redeem any situation.

You want me to know You.

To know more of Your compassion and grace.

Because of that, if to know You more…

And to know more compassion and grace and love…

Is learned through pain

Then I lean towards You as You allow pain and suffering and loss to happen.

To bring redemption.  In my heart.

To reveal more of what me is really like,

(my heart is deceitful)

 so that Your Glory may be seen, purging and shining on.

When I learn to trust Your heart and to believe Your love.  Again and again.

When I choose to believe Your Greater Truth.  Again.

Then I fly.

Fly above the rejection, the loss, and the hard.

Soar beyond the pain.

I learn that You are my comforter.

That Your peace passes understanding.

That Your love surrounds me.

I learn that I will be okay.  Because the One who promises to carry us in His arms is faithful.

Thank you, Lord.  I adore You.

I can FLY!!  

Sometimes the only way to truly being alive - is to LEAP...

The One who delights in our faith is faithful.  Maybe, today, you need to take the leap of faith...

go ahead, for His arms are truly there to surround you and eventually, you will fly.

If you can't today, that's ok.  He won't let you alone, but will continue to woo you...  keep choosing to believe.  Keep holding on to His hand when you feel all of life is slipping...

Because of His love we can trust and believe Him!!