encouragement

Turn Your Eyes to See: The Value of a Small Perspective

bible, Christian lifestyle, encouragement

“Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.” – Proverbs 4:1

Proverbs is undeniably focused a lot around wisdom, but I must say, as I reflected on this verse and the thoughts God has been pressing on my heart lately, I find this portion of Scripture to be convicting regarding the practice of gratitude as well.

Reading so much into wisdom recently has made me recognize the countless vessels God is actually capable of using to pour into us. The devotional I have been reading discussed the value of being “teachable”. I found this fascinating as it emphasized the importance of good counsel and community. But what captivated me was how it revealed the beauty in so many perspectives.

The world will often promote a singular point of view; one that idolizes yourself and encourages relative truth. Meanwhile, one of the most common pieces of advice from Christian’s is to “step back and try to see God’s broad perspective”. The idea of a garden is typically the metaphor people refer to as a way to encourage those who lack hope in tough situations.

Though I agree that stepping back and seeking to view things the way God does is valuable…unfortunately, at the end of the day, we are still not God and we are still limited by what we do not know. This, my friend, is what grabbed my attention when reading through Proverbs and seeing phrases like “pay attention”, “commit yourself”, “listen”, “turn your ear”, repetitively encouraged by the writer.

The Lord is indeed aware of our shortcomings. He knows we cannot see the end of every circumstance that stirs up anxiety in us, but here is the beautiful truth: He gently reminds us that we do not need to know the specifics of how our trials will end in order to be confident in His faithfulness to get us through it. In fact, throughout scripture, and especially in Proverbs, we are directed to consider the beauty, love, faithfulness, and grace of the Lord in what He has done in the past and what He is doing all around us everyday in the present.

With the endless supply of distractions this world offers, we are so susceptible to missing the small things. But how many blessings must we ignore before we realize there is so much value in the limited perspective we sometimes have. When we are stuck in the weeds of this supposed garden of beauty God is making with our lives, I would argue there is still a way to worship Him and there are still things to thank Him for.

The weeds may be tall. They may be rooted deep. And they may seem to cover every good thing around us. But beloved child of God, that does not mean the only hope in reach is when you manage to get out of the rubble and look back. Perhaps the “little” blessings under our noses wouldn’t seem to be so small at all if we valued them as much as God does, knowing it’s those very things that have the power to shape us into who God designed us to be.

My dear friend, maybe it’s not a broader perspective you need. Maybe if you turned your eyes to see – and I mean truly seek out with expectancy – you may just recognize the endless beauty in the “little” things all throughout your life.

Thoughts to consider:

What circumstances in your life have you just been waiting on a big breakthrough to solve it rather than challenging yourself to see the hidden blessings?

Are there any things in your life that you may be taking for granted? (family, school, friends, a job, finances)

What are three ways you can challenge yourself to look at the circumstances in your life more deeply so that you can actually create space and time to identify the little blessings amidst your trials?

Consider the effect that stewarding every area of your life intentionally, with gratitude towards God, can have on you and those you interact with.

“Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.” – Proverbs 4:1

February Musings: Reflection Of Luke’s Gospel

bible, Christian lifestyle, encouragement

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?” – Luke 24:5

I finished reading the Gospel of Luke two days ago. Though there were so many rich parts, this stopped me in my tracks for quite a while.

Over the last two years, I have prayed more than ever for a change. Not so much in the circumstances of life, but in my heart. Yet month after month, I felt despair gain it’s grip on my spirit. I thought, surely, this cannot be what God desires. I was told He fights for me. He loves me. He faced death for me. Yet what I endured, honestly tempted me to doubt all of that. It began seeming as though His grace did in fact have a boundary, and justifiably so, I stood just inches outside of it.

The reason I read Luke was because I knew a LOT about the Bible. I know a lot about the old testament, the history, context, and timeline of it all, but my relationship with God felt no deeper than that between a history teacher and I. I learned through what His Word said. I grew excitement over the stories that were told. But as a teacher holds a higher, distant relationship with their students, the more I learned, the more I felt the firmness of those walls between us.

Reading Luke without any commentary or elders walking me through it, I saw God in a new light.

[ I want to be honest in the reality of my struggle though. As I type this out, praying I word this correctly, in a way that points to the glory of the Lord like I want it to, I fight with myself. I fight still with the thoughts I had before reading Luke and I fight with the fear that what I say now may not highlight something that lasts. Though perhaps that is just what life is; a constant battle to choose Jesus over all else, even if our new knowledge does not erase our old feelings. ]

The new light I saw God in was not a feeling, though it is often classified as one. My dear friend, what I saw was God as Love.

I saw Jesus fight for our spirit (4:35), be patient in our frustration (5: 10), comfort us in sorrow (7:13), defend us in our brokenness (7:47), call us towards Him (10:42), rejoice over our return (15:5), relentlessly pursue us (19:10), delight in eternity with us (23:43), and my personal favorite…I saw Jesus willingly reach for us despite all we are (5:13).

Yet even after all I saw, my heart stumbles in confidence as I try to believe I am included in those He fights for.

Though just as real as my feelings are, the resurrection of Jesus is too. The only difference is that one lasts in truth and one lies in shame that has already been overcome.

By the grace of God, we get to choose how we walk in life.

But one thing you must understand is that your choice in how you walk determines everything…and there is no grey area. You either choose to walk in life or death. In no place will you find them truly co-existing. You may trip in your pursuit of life, but that does not mean you change your direction. The beauty of God’s mercy is that we get to walk in life even as broken people. Actually, what is even more fascinating than that, is that God Himself promises to walk that path WITH us.

Luke 24:5 was the response of the Angels standing outside of Jesus’ tomb when the women went to visit. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” they said.

We may see this and think, “Of course, only a fool would expect life from a casket.” But do we not do that very same thing as we pray God cultivates life-giving fruit while we live with a mindset and walk that feeds death?

If there is anything I desire for you from the journey through Luke, it is that you long to know God over all else.

For when you pursue the One who is Life and Love, you will only find more truth to defend against your death-seeking nature. The things of Heaven bear what lasts. Over feelings. Over hardships. Over sorrow. Over confusion. Over all sin, is the consistent conquering of Love.

The resurrection was enough. It has to be. And as much as you may fight it, as I do quite often, it always will be enough. So why, my dear friend, are you seeking glimpses of life from anything else? For only a fool seeks life while watering what is dead.

Simply Yours, Oh Lord

Christian lifestyle, encouragement, prayer

“My hard heart breaks to confess, that even while you hold me as I cry on the floor, I still don’t know how to be yours…” – Chris Renzema

At one point in my stumble towards Christ, I came to a place where I could not bear to pray. The thought of God not only listening, but deeply caring about my life seemed too good to be true after how bad my doubts began to get. So, I ignored Him.

More than I wanted to be healed, I was afraid of being disappointed. The fear of reality being true to what my worrisome mindset envisioned, made me turn anywhere besides the direction of the One who had a justified reason to give up on me.

The other day I had to honor of attending a concert by Chris Renzema. I heard the song quoted above a million times before. Many times, these words actually filled the silence in my prayers when I could not bring myself to say what I wanted.

Or perhaps that was what I wanted to say all along.

About a year and a half ago, I came across the definition of lamenting. A practice done by many in Old Testament times. As someone who thought God would be upset the more I let myself sit in my feelings, this was transformative to hear.

Lamenting, in the words of Bethany H. Hoang and Kristen Deede Johnson, is prayer “that honors the honesty of pain and anger while also honoring the truth that God is the one who reigns and whose hesed love never fails.”

“Come As You Are” – For the Non & Life-Long Believers
“Come As You Are” goes deeper into the practice of lamenting and touches on Psalm 88.

It wasn’t until I was standing in that massive room with hundreds of people singing the words quoted by Chris Renzema that it hit me…

So many people don’t know how to accept the love God so freely offers. They, or we, don’t know how to be His.

It broke my heart to think about the pain behind each person’s voice singing those lyrics, but then Chris Renzema did something I failed to do every time I heard this song before.

He honored the truth of God and His unconditional love. With songs of praise, words of truth, and the turning of his feelings towards God, I found the missing piece. The flaw in my sulking. The crack in the grip depression held over me…

Addison Bevere once said, “Merely running in the opposite direction of a lie does not necessary lead us to the Father’s house of Truth.”

When we feel the weight of an anxious mind telling us lies about God, we ought not run from feelings as a whole. For we will only ever become a numb being. No, we must instead run, stumble, crawl, whatever it takes, towards God. By the blood of Christ, our identity, purpose, and freedom overcame death and all the lies that once lead you to be nothing more than a dead man walking.

My dear friend, you may not know how to be His. Even I still struggle as I retreat to the heart-style of an orphan. But at some point, we must recognize the life of a child of God calls for the renewing of our mind, body, and soul.

How much longer must we allow our hopelessness to be louder than our God? Our insecurity greater than the blood Jesus spilled? Or our fear stronger than the One who left the empty grave and broken chains?

Prayer, when you feel like a disappointment, is hard. Reading the Bible when you feel unworthy is gut-wrenching. And walking in faith when you have twice as much doubt is dreadful. But all of these turn our feelings, that were designed by God, towards Him so that they may honor Him and He may work His goodness through them.

For when we don’t know how to be…He who is, is faithful indeed.

Daily Death For Eternal Life

bible, Christian lifestyle, encouragement

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” – C. S. Lewis

I think the mind can often draw us towards two extreme ways of thinking. Either we fall into a place where we see ourselves as god, or we see the things, people, and opinions around us as god. Both, despite sounding like polar opposites, are ultimately places of pride.

Whether we feel inferior or superior in the world we live in, we are constantly being pulled away from the one place we belong, and in turn, tempted to rely on anything BUT God.

I think what makes the idea of living in humble confidence under God so difficult to wrap our minds around completely is because we are called to be surrendered, and in result, raised up and set apart.

When I stumbled across this quote by C.S Lewis, I was honestly not sure how to approach it.

Not having the original context, I struggled to understand if it we ought to take this as a freedom call, from the shame and bondage of sin from our past that we are attacked by, or perhaps, it is meant to be a daily call of repentance from the pride we are tempted to lean into as we long for ultimate control of our lives.

Though I feel both could be broken down, I am going to run with the latter interpretation.

I have heard the saying “rejoice, mercies are new every morning!” as Lamentations 3:22-23 suggest. But lately I have been wondering why we ought to rest in that so much.

Honestly, I have come to notice that I am quite the cautious believer. I don’t take pride in the lack of child-like faith I have, but it is the way my mind works. So, I rather challenge the lies in my head and be sure of truth than try to manipulate myself when I know my brain requires a little more time to catch up to my heart.

So as this verse had been running through my head over the last few weeks, I realized it wasn’t because I felt inspired in my faith by it…no, unfortunately, I actually felt aggravated.

Mercy from God? Okay, I saw that displayed on the cross. Understandable. But NEW mercies. Every. Single. Day? Trying to believe that stirred nothing but guilt. I began feeling the weight of inadequacy, and because of that, a lack of faith that the verse actually included me among those who God desired to forgive.

But then I saw this quote from C.S Lewis that rocked everything.

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”

God provides new mercies every morning because He knew we would need it.

Track with me here…

Our heart longs for what only God provides. But because of our sin-nature of pride and hunger for immediate satisfaction, we sacrifice God’s plans for our own. We may not notice at first, but that decision means that we sacrifice life for death.

Death is existence apart from God. In a just court, we would be ruled guilty of rejecting Him and in turn, rightfully condemned.

Oh but what a loving God we serve…

Paving a way to be free from the ruling of death, by the sacrifice of Jesus, God revealed His grace on the cross.

But He knew that wouldn’t mean perfection for our future, nor did He expect it to on this side of Heaven.

He knew, that because of our brokenness, there would be times where we would still choose ourselves over Him.

He knew, that even though we love Him, we would cave under the temptation to reject Him.

And He knew, that no matter how hard we tried, we would never be strong enough to live the life He called us to alone.

So God gives new mercies…every single morning. Why? Because He knew we would experience new temptations…every single morning.

When C.S Lewis calls us to rely on Jesus as if nothing had yet been done, I realize it is a call to open our eyes to the reality of the war going on every single day.

Every day we are given the choice of life or death. Truth or lies. Forgiveness or bitterness. Love or shame. Trust or control.

Spiritual warfare is not just in big trials. It is unfortunately the ground our hearts reside in until we see Heaven.

My dear friend, you have your choice in battle. You have a loving God who wants to protect, nourish, and redeem you in this war, for He has already claimed victory.

But the choice is yours. Every. Single. Day.

May we never get complacent in our relationship with Jesus. May we strive, for nothing else, but to be closer to Him day by day. And with all my heart, I pray that we may rejoice in His mercies being new every morning…for if He held back for even just one day, we would never see the glory of true life.

So, will you make relying on God a daily act of surrender?

Hidden Glory – A Short Word on Gratitude & Contentment

Christian lifestyle, encouragement, Worship

Start…

Again and again the world pushes us into this race to the next big thing. Maybe it’s school. Maybe its marriage. Maybe its a career. What ever, it is always the future.

But how long must we pursue the future before we recognize it only leads to longing for the past?

So perhaps we don’t start that next big thing. Perhaps we simply experience. Exist in this moment as we are…

Perhaps we take on each day pursuing the one thing that matters… becoming more like Christ.

In that pursuit, along the way, we lose the deep desire of what has yet to come for what is.

We begin to see the glory of God in every fine detail of our day. The beauty of the garden leaves us in awe not just because of the grand display of flowers, but because we see God’s heart in even the weeds.

My dear friend, the future is delightful and God is certainly in it. But how much longer must it become our past to finally admire it?

In what way is your current place in life one of true gratitude?

The Lord does not just bring peace and hope where He treads. He is that embodied. It is who He is and how He is that gives us the freedom to hope in the wilderness. To love in the hurting. To trust in the confusion. And to rejoice in the now. No matter what that looks like. Not because we have to. But because the peace of having Jesus lead our steps means we get to, without a burden of shame, love and be loved.

So perhaps instead of starting the next big thing, we start seeking God in the place we are now. Dare to hope and look deep for the hidden glory dear friend.