Category: Trusting God

Sometimes life seems upside-down. When we draw closer to God, we begin to learn and trust that He has a plan for us and we can let go of many of life’s anxieties knowing that He has our best interest at heart.

Boundless Borderless God

Posted on by Wendy
The God who created the universe is not bound by human understanding.
The God who created the universe, is not bound by human understanding.

I was recently having a conversation with a friend of mine about a book study she is doing at her church. It’s supposed to be about, “Experiencing God.” She was super excited about the class because she’s fairly new to the faith and she’s found that a lot of the, “studies” that she has participated in are fluff.

She was hoping to get down to some serious discussion about actually experiencing God, which involves way more than getting dressed up and attending church for a couple of hours on Sunday. She was quite disheartened to find that her new study began with a video that basically listed all of the ways that you can’t experience God.

Now I’m sure that the guy who wrote the book and created the video are way more educated than I am. Perhaps that’s the problem.

I’m really not sure how anyone can tell you how you can and can’t experience God. When I pointed out to her that God made a donkey talk, and showed up in a bush, and sent ravens to feed Elijah and that I felt like He could communicate with us in any way He sees fit, she said that the group’s answer to that was, that was in the Old Testament.

Um, hold the phone. If we believe that God never changes and that He’s all powerful, do we honestly believe that He is bound by any constructs that humanity can come up with? My friend said her group said, since we now have the Holy Spirit, that God no longer communicates in the same way as He did in the Old Testament.

But, didn’t the Holy Spirit come to help us and counsel us? He didn’t come to bind God in any way.

I told her that I felt like that one of the most dangerous pitfalls of modern day Christianity is that we have become like the Pharisees. We know all of the rules and can recite many of the verses, but we miss the majesty of God, the mystery of God.

We can’t explain it; so we don’t talk about it. There was a book that came out several years ago called, “Heaven is for Real.” Do we discount that boy’s story because we don’t understand it? What about all of those people with near death experiences who see a light? We can’t explain that either. Are all of those people making it up?

God is boundless and borderless. We couldn’t possibly fathom all that He is capable of with our small human minds. We can and should read the Bible to learn about His character and how He has acted in the past. We have to know that He would never instruct us to do something that is contrary to scripture. We also have to keep in mind that we have an enemy who would.

But, other than that, the Creator of the earth and sky, the One who calls the stars by name, the One who created me and you and numbers the hair on our heads, well His powers are limitless. I think we should always remember that.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Surviving the Switchbacks

Posted on by Wendy
Don't get discouraged. The view from the top is stunning.
Don’t get discouraged. The view from the top is stunning.

I love to hike and this is my favorite time of year for it. There air is cooler and the leaves are turning. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that some of the most beautiful views require a fair amount of effort to enjoy. Some of the most beautiful scenery God ever created is on the top of a mountain or looking over the top of a waterfall.

But, there’s a catch. To really appreciate all of the glory that nature has to offer, you have to start at the bottom and hike to the top. Sometimes the trail is a gentle walk with very few obstacles. Sometimes you can reach the top in no time.

Sometimes, however, the trail is covered with exposed roots and you have to watch your footing or you will fall. Then there are the trails with the dreaded switchbacks. There are some trails that are way too steep to go straight up, so someone along the way, created a more even system to reach the top. Unfortunately, they are quite tedious.

You walk awhile going in one direction then you get to the end and you are pointed back in the direction you just came from, but a little bit closer to the top than before. I have walked a series of switchbacks before where I felt like I had very close kinship with those hamsters in their little mazes. I wondered if I would ever each the top.

But, I had to keep walking. At some point, I realized I had come way too far to turn back. I was ever so sure that the summit was just around the corner and I resolved to keep going. I did stop for a water break at times. Sometimes you just have to rest and catch your breath.

But, when I reached the top, well, the sheer beauty made me feel closer to God. But, isn’t that always the case when we travel towards some kind of destination that seems out of our reach?

We begin with some kind of game plan or map and we get started. Sometimes we get to where we are going quickly. But, sometimes the road is long and the path is twisted. Sometimes we only take what feels like the tiniest of baby steps and we truly believe we are getting nowhere.

But, if we are following God, we may just be in a series of switchbacks, which means we are getting there, but at a slower, safer pace. Sometimes we need to take a break on our journey and take a little rest. We can pray for continued strength and guidance.

Wherever you are today in your journey, rest if you need to, but then, get up and keep going, even if you feel very weary or even discouraged, because in the end, if you are following Him, you will reach the top and the view is stunning.

 

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Crossing Our Jordan

Posted on by Wendy
When God calls us, He wants us to go all in.
When God calls us, He wants us to go all in.

A couple of nights ago, my hubby and I attended our small group get-together from church. We are watching a video about different places in the Holy Land that appear in the Bible. The narrator then ties them in to our modern life.

This time our video was about the Jordan River which appears several times in the Bible. The narrator explained that the Jordan flowed extremely quickly in Biblical days. It has now been dammed up to help supply water for the nation of Israel, but it used to flow fast and at times was very deep.

In the Book of Joshua, we find Joshua getting ready to at long last, lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. They had been wandering in the desert for forty years as punishment for doubting that God could deliver them. An entire generation had died.

But, in that time, God continued to feed them everyday. He provided for them in their time of wandering. Even in His anger, He didn’t abandon them. That is the nature of our God.

But, the moment of truth had arrived. God had told Joshua the time had come to cross over the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. The Jordan stood between their old lives of being lost and wandering and their new lives of what God had promised them.

But, I learned in the video, that the problem was that the Jordan was at flood stage. It was very deep and fast. The priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant, were commanded to walk into the Jordan. This wasn’t an easy, gentle slope. There was no wading in or dipping their proverbial toes in. If they were going to trust God, they had to go all in.

The story took on a little deeper meaning for me. Anyone can gradually wade into something, but taking the plunge is an entirely different matter. Thankfully, they didn’t hesitate. They plunged in and God stopped the water from flowing upstream.

Just like with the Red Sea, a generation earlier, He parted the waters, and the Israelites walked through on dry land. But, to get their miracle, just as Moses did with the Red Sea, God expected them to step out in faith.

God wasn’t interested in baby steps. He wanted fearless faith and when He got it, wow! He came through in a huge, miraculous way.

I’ve thought a lot about Joshua and the Jordan since I saw that video. What does the Biblical account have to do with us?

We all would love to see God move in big ways, but time after time in the Bible, we see that we have to step out in faith first, and quite often take a plunge, not wade in timidly. Fearless faith requires trust and obedience, two things that we often struggle with.

In the modern Western world, we like to plan everything and have contingencies. Jumping in without a backup is kind of frowned upon.

But, when God calls us, He says we should jump anyway, no matter how deep our Jordan may be. We should all remember, that we worship the God who stopped the Jordan at its source. He can always do it again.

What are you being called to do today? Take a leap and watch. Your Promised Land may be waiting on the other side.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Seemingly Insignificant

Posted on by Wendy
Building an authentic relationship with God requires praying about everything, not just the really big things.
Building an authentic relationship with God requires praying about everything, not just the really big things.

A lot gets said about not comparing ourselves to other people. We have no idea what other people have been through to get where they are. We are all God’s own unique creation and we should be focused on Him not them. Can I get an Amen?

When we think about comparing ourselves with other people, we normally think about people who we think have more and better anything, or everything, than we do. But, what about the flip side?

Sometimes I find myself grappling with a seemingly insignificant issue like one of my kids not passing algebra. It upsets me to see my child struggle, trying hard and still not passing. But, then I sometimes have a nagging feeling that says things like, “How dare you be concerned about something so trivial. There are children starving to death in this world, or at least your child is healthy; there are children dying of cancer, or, or, or.”

When I buy into that, I’m still comparing myself to others. That little nagging feeling doesn’t come from God because it separates me from Him. It makes me feel like my problems are too insignificant to take to Him. It makes me feel ashamed for not feeling thankful for all of the blessings that I have been given.

God doesn’t want us to feel badly about our emotions.

God wants true, authentic relationship with us. He doesn’t want us to just come to Him with a smile plastered on our faces and read off an automated list of the things we are thankful for. Yes, we are supposed to be thankful and live with thankful hearts, but we are human. We have bad days. We have everyday struggles. We get our feelings hurt.

God wants to hear about that stuff too. He knows our hearts anyway; to really grow our faith, we have to be honest with Him when we pray and if we are honestly worried or anxious about something, it doesn’t matter whether it seems insignificant to anyone else. We need to feel free to pray about it.

Can we expect God to answer a prayer if we’re not willing to share it with Him?

I’m reminded of an old hymn from my childhood that says it perfectly, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

I sometimes write to remind myself. Maybe you needed a reminder too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Trust Without Borders

Posted on by Wendy
"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders."
“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders.”

One of my favorite songs is “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail),” by Hillsong United. It’s all about being called out and answering the call to do things we couldn’t possibly do on our own, but if we rely on God, we can. I especially like to play it on Sunday mornings when I’m getting ready to go to church.

That song reminds me of an interesting truth about our Christian walk. God often uses our gifts and talents to further His kingdom and we all too happily volunteer for things that we’re comfortable with. If organization is our gift, we are happy to volunteer to put things together for church. If hospitality is our gift, we are happy to meet and greet on Sunday mornings. If we are strong with numbers, we might help out with a fund-raiser budget. We are willing to use our strengths.

But, sometimes, there are very specific tasks that we want nothing to do with. For example, for some people, the idea of public speaking scares them senseless. For others, the idea of actually teaching others about Jesus, makes them very uncomfortable.

Yet, it seems as we grow closer to God and stronger in our faith, He becomes very intent on doing away with anything that frightens us. If something makes us hesitate, He often calls us to face it and sometimes in a big way. He seeks to root out fear, so that we no longer carry it. Think about Moses the stutterer. Oh, yeah, God called him to meet with Pharaoh repeatedly and then lead the Israelites out of captivity.

My hubby has never really been very keen on public speaking. He’s a great listener and fabulous one on one, or in a small group, but large groups have never been his thing. He’s always had a strong faith, but praying out loud and in public was also not in his wheel house.

For the past year, he’s been attending a men’s prayer group. He rarely misses and his faith has grown even stronger.

Last Sunday, when our pastor got ready to do the benediction, he said he was going to call on one of his prayer partners. I’m not sure why. He doesn’t normally do that. But, he then proceeded to call on my hubby to pray in front of the entire congregation. I felt him tense for a split second; then he bowed his head and prayed. He was completely relaxed.

God had been preparing him and my hubby let the Holy Spirit take over. He let God use him and in the process kicked a lifelong fear to the curb.

We talked about it later, how he didn’t even know what he prayed. But, God knew. That’s what God does.

He calls us out to do things that frighten us or make us uncomfortable, things that we can’t do without Him. When we obey, He shines through us in really big ways and our faith grows stronger.

But, He won’t force it. We have to be willing, and when we are, He’ll teach us to fly.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

P.S. I’ve included a link to that song. It’s good stuff!

 

Caterpillar Seasons

Posted on by Wendy
Caterpillars are dull and unremarkable, but we have to remember that it's just for a season.
Caterpillars are dull and unremarkable, but we know that it’s just for a season.

I have seen caterpillars everywhere lately. It seems like wherever I walk, I have to be careful not to step on one. My daughter even announced to me yesterday, that she had saved one that was crawling in the garage. That’s a huge step for her because she really hates worms. But, she knows that a caterpillar is much more than a worm and she has a special love for butterflies.

Don’t we all? Most butterflies are so beautiful that they look like God hand painted them. However, no butterfly was ever born a butterfly. Nope, they all start out as lowly, unremarkable worms, crawling around on the ground, completely unaware of the breathtaking potential that they carry within them.

I think we all are like caterpillars at one time or another, just slogging along in our drab and unremarkable way. Thankfully, Jesus can see the butterfly within, even when we can’t. He saw the butterfly in Peter even though he would deny him. He saw the butterfly in Mary Magdalene even though she was possessed by demons. He saw the butterfly in Levi, the lowly tax collector and he sees the butterfly in me and you.

When we take our focus off of ourselves and our own day-to-day trials and put it on Jesus, something amazing happens. We realize that we are loved, cherished and created for a purpose. We realize like the butterfly, that we are beautiful and one of a kind, because God made us and He doesn’t make mistakes.

Following Jesus, gives us wings.
Following Jesus, gives us wings.

When we stay focused on Jesus, we feel like we can fly and that all things are possible. But, sometimes we forget. Sometimes we get off track. We let our noisy world drown out the truth and we go back to being a caterpillar. But, here’s the beautiful truth about following Jesus: We can go back to being a butterfly if we choose to.

Jesus always welcomes us back with open arms and his transforming love will change us back into something beautiful.

If we ever find ourselves in a caterpillar season, we need to remember that Jesus wants more for us than we are willing to settle for and that we are loved beyond measure, even enough to die for. That’s how much we matter to him.

He wants us to put on those beautiful wings and fly around and share that truth with all of those caterpillars who desperately need to hear it. What do you say? Are you tired of crawling? Are you ready to fly? Jesus is waiting.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

 

Rainbow Reflections

Posted on by Wendy
The rainbow represents God's powerful promise.
The rainbow represents God’s everlasting promise.

My mama texted me this picture of a rainbow that my sister took on her family vacation. I’ll have to admit that I found it stunning. It’s rare to see a complete rainbow extending in a full arc, even rarer to see the second one behind it. She also wrote that she was supplying some possibility photos for my blog. She has always been one of my loudest cheerleaders.

The next day, when I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, someone had taken a picture of another beautiful rainbow. Her caption was “the storm that came before it wasn’t nearly as lovely.” No kidding, I thought. Isn’t that always the case?

But, the two rainbow pics, back-to-back, made me feel like God wanted me to read the flood story, so I headed to Genesis.

There are so many fabulous examples of God’s love for His creation and of His mercy, in the account of the flood. Because one man, just one, was righteous, God saved him, his wife, his sons and their wives. Ever feel like what you do doesn’t matter? Ever wonder what’s the point of following God and trying to keep His Commandments when no one around you does?

God is watching. He knows. Noah’s salvation from the flood is a powerful testament to that.

God also gave Noah very specific instructions on how to build the ark. Noah followed them to the letter and he and all of his family, as well as all of the animals were saved due to his exact obedience. He didn’t ask God why He was flooding the earth, or decide to do it his own way, or decide that he would listen to parts of God’s instructions, but not all of them.

Just like Noah, God has given us a set of instructions to keep us safe from life’s floods. If we follow them, we too can be kept from disaster, but the key is that we’re not supposed to pick and choose. We’re supposed to be obedient, even when we don’t understand. I can’t imagine that Noah could even begin to fathom what was coming in his future, neither can we.

In Genesis 7:16, the Bible tells us that after Noah did what he was told, God shut him in. God wasn’t taking his freedom; He was keeping him safe. When God shuts doors behind us, He is doing the same. We shouldn’t try to pry them back open.

Most scholars believe that Noah and his family and all of those animals, were on the ark for a little over a year. Try to remember that the next time you are really struggling to wait on God’s timing. Chapter 8 tells us, “God remembered Noah.” God remembers us too.

When God finally told Noah and his family to come out, He blessed them. They had been obedient and steadfast and God made a covenant with them, and all of their descendants, and every living creature, and He gave them a sign.

“I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.Whenever the rainbow appears in the cloud, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:13-16

Can you imagine the awe that filled Noah and his family every time a rainbow appeared in the sky after the flood? It was a physical manifestation of God’s promise. It had to have been breathtaking. Reading Noah’s story reminds me of the wonder that Noah must have felt. It makes me pause and reflect and give thanks.

Maybe you needed a reminder too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Don’t Neglect the Rehab

Posted on by Wendy
Spiritual healing takes time and work, but the results are life changing.
Spiritual healing takes time and work, but the results are life changing.

A few years back, my daddy had knee replacement surgery. It was a long and painful road for him to get to that point. He had considerable pain in his knee for quite some time, but it was a pain he was familiar with. The surgery was a different kind of pain altogether and it was unfamiliar. So, he waited.

He lived with the discomfort for a long time and limped sometimes which caused other parts of his body to suffer. At some point, he and his doctor finally decided that the time had come and he reluctantly agreed to the surgery.

He was told going in that the most important part of knee replacement surgery is the rehab that comes afterward. When the surgical wounds finally begin to heal, you have to go to regular physical therapy sessions to make the new knee move with the leg like it’s supposed to. The sessions can be grueling.

Many people just refuse to go because they can’t deal with the pain involved with the healing. But, the ones who do go and perform all of the required exercises, feel like brand new people. In time, their new knee works better than ever. They are pain-free and have a new lease on life.

I watched Daddy go through all of that and he came out on the other side like a champ, even though the days in between were sometimes dark.

I was thinking how we have a tendency to carry around old injuries like Daddy’s knee that needed replaced. We sometimes carry anger, resentment, regret, emotional pain and guilt, wrapped securely around our hearts. We know it’s not healthy. We know it’s painful, yet it’s something we are familiar with. We are reluctant to let it go because we don’t know or trust what will be on the other side.

When, at some point, for whatever reason, we are convicted to let these things go and lay them at the foot of the cross, we want to believe that’s the end. While it’s true that we are granted forgiveness, whenever we repent and ask, healing takes some time. True healing is like rehab after knee surgery.

We have to begin our day with prayer about that healing. We can seek out others who are on the same path. We can find a church and a small group within, who will love and support us. We can find a wise, Christian mentor to help us along the way. We can read our Bibles to fully appreciate God’s grace and mercy.

Healing takes time and work, but when it’s done, Jesus heals all of it. Even the most impossible cases can be totally transformed. The key is our willingness. Just like physical rehab, the spiritual rehab has to be done by a willing participant. It can’t be forced.

But, the results, well those are life changing. They even have eternal implications. We have to remember not to neglect the rehab. It’s just too important.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Trusting the Director

Posted on by Wendy
If we listen to the Divine Director, we can be unstoppable.
If we listen to the Divine Director, we can be unstoppable.

I volunteered to help hand out marching band uniforms yesterday at my son’s high school. He’s a freshman so this was a first time for me. High school marching band meets throughout the day in sections. The first class of the day was drumline which includes all of percussion.

When the kids arrived for class, the band director spoke with them for a few minutes and then told them to get out their instruments. The noise and chaos (or so it seemed to me), that ensued, was close to deafening. Everyone was playing a different beat on a different instrument. I knew intellectually, that the director had been teaching band for years, but the noise, the noise….

What seemed like forever later, although in reality it was only a short time, the director took the podium. The room was silent. He gave some instructions and they played together. It was still incredibly loud, but it was music, with a beat. They were good. It made sense.

The next class was brass instruments. There were a lot more of them that in the drumline. The same thing happened. The director spoke with them for a few minutes and the noise began. Those tubas and trombones made every bit as much racket as the percussion group.

Once again, the band director took the podium, pin drop silence occurred first and then beautiful music. Towards the end of the class, I was tapping along and wanting to yell out a cheer with them. Who would have thought out of all that chaos, that beautiful music could be produced?

Well, everyone but me, I suspect. The band director knew and the band members knew too. It was the casual observer, the outsider, who didn’t know.

Later on that day, he would bring all of the rest of the groups together with the first two and have them march and play as a team. The result would be fabulous.

After I went home and took a couple of Advil, I pondered the workings of the marching band and how similar they are to the Christian Church.

To the outside observer, we often look like a mess. We run in different directions and are passionate about so many different callings and causes that it seems like we could never really come together and accomplish much of anything.

But, our Divine Director, changes everything. When He takes the podium and we listen to Him and follow His directions through the Bible, and through prayer, we become a Divine Marching Band of Christian Soldiers. We produce beautiful acts, beautiful music and we can change the world. We are a force to be reckoned with and we are unstoppable.

All we have to do is be willing to listen and follow. The results are nothing short of miraculous. Anyone feel like marching?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Faith’s Blessings

Posted on by Wendy
We worship the God who created the universe. Is anything too had for Him?
We worship the God who created the universe. Is anything too hard for Him?

Last October, my family visited a new church, well, new to us. This church had been started fourteen years earlier by a core group of believers who were looking to worship together. They began as Independent Methodists and they met at a local school.

Over the years, they bought a building and then realizing they had no room to expand, sold it. They met at a local funeral home for a while and became part of the Wesleyan Denomination. They were always looking for something permanent, but were unable to find the space they could afford. There was an  empty church in a nearby town, but it was too expensive and needed a fair amount of renovation. That group of believers was adamant on staying together as a church.

The summer before my family visited, they were given thirty days notice to vacate where they had been worshiping. They had nowhere to go and could find no viable, rental space. Many newer members, abandoned ship for greener pastures. But, the core group, continued to pray and hold fast to what they felt they were called to do, worship together and stay together.

A garage-type space opened up, no rooms, no sheet rock, just walls. That core group of believers did what amounted to an Amish barn raising and created a space that would work. It was small, but it was theirs and they had a lease. They had some breathing room while they searched for something else.

My family visited that little store front space and we were immediately drawn in by how welcome we felt and the amount of love we felt there. We could feel God. We ended up joining.

In May, the leaders of the church were informed that the little church that they had looked at earlier, but found too expensive had dropped in price. They invited the entire congregation to take a look. While it was small, it sat on seven acres. We took a vote and everyone voted to purchase it.

Here’s where God got busy. We were told by our denomination, if we could raise $50,000 in six months, that they would match our funds. The entire idea seemed incredibly out of reach. Our church is very small, with less than 100 members, but a capital campaign was kicked off in July. Yesterday, 40 days later, we had surpassed our goal.

We were all in shock, although I don’t know why. We worship the God who can turn water into wine, the God who parted the Red Sea, the God who called the stars into being, the God who fed thousands of hungry people with a few fishes and loaves of bread, the God who sent us His son to save us. Is there anything He can’t do?

For fourteen years, this particular Body of Christ has remained obedient and faithful and they have waited on God and His timing even though all seemed lost at times. They stood fast and today, they were rewarded for their faith.

In October, we will move into a little white church on a hill that will have been completely renovated to welcome all who would come, to know Christ. While we are all giving stunned thanks for the amazing blessings which we have been given, we wait in wonder to see what God will do next.

Yesterday, we were all reminded of Gabriel’s famous words to Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:27

Maybe you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂