There's this huge mountain in front of me. I stand in front of a raging sea. And the thing is, the Lord is calling me to climb up the mountain and to walk right into the raging waters. To go the other direction would be the wrong way and there are no ways around them. To get where God desires me to be, I have to make the climb and I have to step into the waters. And the task is daunting. Scary. Nerve wracking. Every fiber of my being screams to run the other direction. And yet God is calling me to go that way. The way that seems perilous and full of danger. And yet it's all about trust. Do I trust Him enough to get me through the stormy waters and to help me climb to the top of that steep mountain? Sometimes I think I have this trust thing down pat, and then the Lord throws these situations my way and I am forced to rethink everything I believe.
A new song by Lauren Daigle recently came out and I absolutely love it. It has become sort of my heart cry, as I face the mountains and the raging seas of this life. The chorus says: "When You don't move the mountains, I needed You to move. When You don't part the waters, I wish I could walk through. When You don't give the answers, as I cry out to You. I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You."
Sometimes He doesn't move the mountains that we think need to be moved and He doesn't part the waters for us, because He is calling us to climb that mountain and to step out onto the waters. He is beckoning to us, drawing us ever closer to Him, and asking us if we trust Him enough to get us through. The Lord has been with me every single step of my life. Every joy. Every heartache. Through the laughter and the pain, He has been there. He has always gotten me through every tough circumstance and so why should this one be any different? Why should I not trust Him? He has never failed me before and He certainly won't start now. I find myself, like the father of the boy who had a dumb spirit in Mark 9, uttering "Lord I believe, help my unbelief!" (verse 24).
May I learn to trust Him more and more each passing day, no matter what mountain He calls me to climb or the stormy waters He calls me to walk through. Sometimes He may move these things out of my way, but sometimes He will call me to simply trust in Him as I walk through them. He is sovereign and knows way better than I do what I truly need.
The link for the youtube video for Lauren Daigle's song "I will trust in You" is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXMPNXXnCls
Enjoy :)
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Sunday, May 22, 2016
A Song for Sunday" "Tell your Heart to Beat Again"
It's been a while since I have written a post on a Sunday, but I was led to do so this morning after a bit of a rough night spent in a lot of prayer and in the Word with the Lord. Hardships come in life and sometimes this world drives us to our knees, but this is where we can do our best fighting, in prayer before our Heavenly Father. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood or against our Father, but against principalities and powers, spirits and the power of darkness. Sometimes we just have to tell our hearts to beat again and keep on moving forward. It's not always easy, but Jesus is with us every step of the way.
A new song by Danny Gokey called "Tell your Heart to Beat Again" has been kind of my anthem lately. I go back to it when I need to be reminded that even though I am brought to my knees by circumstances in this life, this is a beautiful place where I can meet with my Father and pour out my heart to Him. Even when I can't find the words, He knows the content of my heart and He hears my cries in the middle of the night when I just don't know what to do. The lyrics of this song are as follows:
A new song by Danny Gokey called "Tell your Heart to Beat Again" has been kind of my anthem lately. I go back to it when I need to be reminded that even though I am brought to my knees by circumstances in this life, this is a beautiful place where I can meet with my Father and pour out my heart to Him. Even when I can't find the words, He knows the content of my heart and He hears my cries in the middle of the night when I just don't know what to do. The lyrics of this song are as follows:
Shattered, like you've never been before
The life you knew
In a thousand pieces on the floor
Words fall short in times like these
When this world drives you to your knees
You think you're never gonna get back
To the you that used to be
(Chorus)
Tell your heart to beat again
Close your eyes and breathe it in
Let the shadows fall away
Step into the light of Grace
Yesterday's a closing door
You don't live there anymore
Say goodbye to where you've been
And tell your heart to beat again
Beginning, just let that word wash over you
It's alright now
Love's healing hands have pulled you through
So get back up and take step one
Leave the darkness feel the sun
Cause your story's far from over
And your journey's just begun
(Chorus)
Let every heartbreak and every scar
Be a picture that reminds you Who has carried you this far
‘Cause love sees farther than you ever could
In this moment Heaven's working everything for your good
(Chorus)
Oh, so tell your heart to beat again
I am so very grateful that even when my life has been shattered and I am stuck in a place where I feel I can't escape from my past mistakes and heartaches, the Lord brings reminders into my life to let me know that I am not alone and that I don't live in yesterday. My Father is the healer and the comforter of broken hearts and no matter what comes my way in this life, He will always have open arms for me and my bleeding heart. He will set me back on my feet and guide me forward. So I am going to let every heartbreak and every scar be a picture that reminds me of the One who has carried me this far. When I am brought down, I will get back up and take step one in the grace and strength of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Even when words fall short, I have a Father in Heaven who hears my heart cry and who will always lead me in grace. I am thankful for this every day of my life and especially on the nights when I struggle with doubt and fear and I have to spend time in prayer in order to get any rest. He is such a gracious and loving Father who beckons us to tell our hearts to beat again.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Another Year, Another Journey
Today I have officially lived for a quarter of a century. Each year the Lord brings new blessings into my life. Every year has its own hardships, joys, trials, pain, and laughter. When I was 20 I knew I didn't know everything, but gosh I thought I knew a lot more then I really did. Just 5 years later and I look back on me as a 20 year old and think, I didn't know anything! Ha! I know I still don't know everything, but I have grown a lot especially in the past year and here are some things the Lord taught me as I was 24.
1) People who truly want to be your friends will make the effort to spend time with you. If they don't, then they weren't really a true friend in the first place.
2) In life, you are seldom going to have more than 1 or 2 really good friends. If you have even one, you are blessed.
3) Sometimes God will bring trials into your life when your focus gets off of Him in order to force you to put your focus back on Him.
4) Sometimes the Holy Spirit prompts you to do things that aren't comfortable and that others may advise you not to follow.
5)Listening to God and following Him is always better than listening just to people. It's ok to get godly advice from Christians, but remember that you follow God first and foremost.
6) Sometimes it is better to step back from a situation and take a break for a while, get some rest for your weary soul, and regroup. Of course do all of this while praying.
7) Do not wrestle with the Holy Spirit's prompting on your life. It just brings you heartache. Always follow the Lord's leading, no matter how hard it may seem. He will give you the strength.
8) Always be ready to forgive those who have wronged you and be ready to seek forgiveness from those whom you have wronged. Go back and make things right if you need to.
9) Never stop praying for someone. Even when you can't find the words, God knows your heart and He hears.
10) Besides the Lord, one of the best things you can find in life is a good accountability partner to study the Bible with.
I learned a lot more lessons, but those are the main ones that God has really just been showing me this past year. I look forward to what I will learn and how He will move in my life this year. Last year He took me from heartache to hope, called me to step out on the water, and gave me the strength to make difficult decisions. I have never felt so free and it's all because of His amazing grace. I went from having a broken heart to having a heart that was mended and more open to loving children He places in my life. I went from single to being in a relationship with one of the most godliest guys I know that points me to Jesus daily. I am beyond blessed and I can't wait to see what 25 brings. I know with God by my side, even through the tough days, it's going to be a great and joy-filled year.
1) People who truly want to be your friends will make the effort to spend time with you. If they don't, then they weren't really a true friend in the first place.
2) In life, you are seldom going to have more than 1 or 2 really good friends. If you have even one, you are blessed.
3) Sometimes God will bring trials into your life when your focus gets off of Him in order to force you to put your focus back on Him.
4) Sometimes the Holy Spirit prompts you to do things that aren't comfortable and that others may advise you not to follow.
5)Listening to God and following Him is always better than listening just to people. It's ok to get godly advice from Christians, but remember that you follow God first and foremost.
6) Sometimes it is better to step back from a situation and take a break for a while, get some rest for your weary soul, and regroup. Of course do all of this while praying.
7) Do not wrestle with the Holy Spirit's prompting on your life. It just brings you heartache. Always follow the Lord's leading, no matter how hard it may seem. He will give you the strength.
8) Always be ready to forgive those who have wronged you and be ready to seek forgiveness from those whom you have wronged. Go back and make things right if you need to.
9) Never stop praying for someone. Even when you can't find the words, God knows your heart and He hears.
10) Besides the Lord, one of the best things you can find in life is a good accountability partner to study the Bible with.
I learned a lot more lessons, but those are the main ones that God has really just been showing me this past year. I look forward to what I will learn and how He will move in my life this year. Last year He took me from heartache to hope, called me to step out on the water, and gave me the strength to make difficult decisions. I have never felt so free and it's all because of His amazing grace. I went from having a broken heart to having a heart that was mended and more open to loving children He places in my life. I went from single to being in a relationship with one of the most godliest guys I know that points me to Jesus daily. I am beyond blessed and I can't wait to see what 25 brings. I know with God by my side, even through the tough days, it's going to be a great and joy-filled year.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Heartache to Hope
God has taken my life and transformed it from what it looked like a little over a year ago. Then, it was broken and crushed and hurting. My heart was bleeding, bruised, and torn. And now through the ashes of brokenness, God has mended my heart and crafted something beautiful. Something I could never imagine a year ago when the pain cut so deep and the hurt was just too real. I seriously never saw it coming until it happened, but through the pain of yesterday God has brought to me the peace in today and the hope in tomorrow.
I would willingly tell anyone who asks me about my life now that I am so extremely blessed and not just because God loves to bless His children no matter what, but because He especially loves to bless them when they follow Him in obedience. I am not here to blow my own horn or to sing my accolades, but to share something the Lord really taught me this year. It wasn't easy, but so freeing and the end result is so full of joy. Sometimes God allows us to go through heartache in order to get our focus back on Him and to use that heartache to point us to the hope that can only be found in Him.
It can't be found in a guy. It can't be found in friends. It can't be found in drugs or alcohol, fame, success, job security, social standing etc. True hope can only be found in one place. In the arms of Jesus Christ. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."-Proverbs 13:12 To defer means to put off something, to lay it aside until later. When we do not place our hope in Christ where it should be as Christians, we attempt to take our hope and put it in other people and things. This only causes us to become heart sick. I am not talking about heart failure or heart disease, even though it kind of is an illness.
Hope placed in the wrong things makes us sick. The heart will start to feel heavy, weak, and burdened. We will search for anything to make us feel better, but if we don't run to Christ we will return empty and dry. But a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. When we long for Christ, when we seek Him and we follow Him, our hearts start feeling a lot lighter. The burdens are lifted, the chains are broken, and we are free. "Come to me", Jesus says, "to all who are weary and heavy laden" and He will give you rest.- Matthew 11:28. Rest for your souls and rest for your heart. The call is simple, but the task is difficult. We just have to take that first step in His direction and hope in Him alone. And yet that first step is always the hardest.
This past year I have learned that when my hope gets off of Christ, He will sometimes let me experience heartache from the ones I place my hope in. This is so He can teach me that true hope comes from Him alone and placing my hope in mere men or worldly things is futile. And so the heartache comes and it hurts. Oh how it cuts my heart in two. But through the pain, the Lord was teaching me to lift my eyes up to Him once more and place my hope where it belongs; in the precious and loving arms of Christ.
When I started to place my hope in Christ again, the Holy Spirit started speaking to me about some tough decisions I needed to make with my walk in Christ. I walked away from some things I had gotten comfortable in and that people tried to advise me to not walk away from. But, once again, I had to remind myself that my hope is found in Christ and if He is calling me to move, I have to obey. To not obey will be detrimental. When I wrestle with Him, it brings heartache and pain. But when I surrender to His will, it brings hope and peace. From the ashes of heartache and pain, He has brought me to hope and peace. I will ever praise Him for this!
When we place our hope where it belongs, in Christ, and we obey His leading, He pours out blessings on us. God rewards obedience just like a good father rewards good behavior in his children. And God is our perfect Abba Father. God rewards obedience, but He chastises the disobedient. Just as every good parent knows, you can't let disobedience go unchecked or it will grow and grow into something far worse. And so God allows certain things into our life when we are not placing our hope in Him and we are disobedient to His calling on our life in order to turn us back to Him, to be the children of God we were created to be. Full of peace and hope instead of pain and heartache.
Thanks be to the Lord who took my life from a year and a half ago and molded me into who I am today. He still is working on me and I pray I can always be faithful and obedient to His calling. He has blessed me far beyond what I could imagine and I am so filled with joy. He has brought a very godly man into my life with such a servant heart for Christ who points me to the Savior daily. I never thought I would be so blessed. God blesses His children, y'all, and He loves to reward those who follow Him no matter what. He has transformed my life from heartache to hope and even when trials come, may my hope ever be found in the loving arms of Christ.
"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand."- My Hope is Built on Nothing Less, Hymn
I would willingly tell anyone who asks me about my life now that I am so extremely blessed and not just because God loves to bless His children no matter what, but because He especially loves to bless them when they follow Him in obedience. I am not here to blow my own horn or to sing my accolades, but to share something the Lord really taught me this year. It wasn't easy, but so freeing and the end result is so full of joy. Sometimes God allows us to go through heartache in order to get our focus back on Him and to use that heartache to point us to the hope that can only be found in Him.
It can't be found in a guy. It can't be found in friends. It can't be found in drugs or alcohol, fame, success, job security, social standing etc. True hope can only be found in one place. In the arms of Jesus Christ. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."-Proverbs 13:12 To defer means to put off something, to lay it aside until later. When we do not place our hope in Christ where it should be as Christians, we attempt to take our hope and put it in other people and things. This only causes us to become heart sick. I am not talking about heart failure or heart disease, even though it kind of is an illness.
Hope placed in the wrong things makes us sick. The heart will start to feel heavy, weak, and burdened. We will search for anything to make us feel better, but if we don't run to Christ we will return empty and dry. But a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. When we long for Christ, when we seek Him and we follow Him, our hearts start feeling a lot lighter. The burdens are lifted, the chains are broken, and we are free. "Come to me", Jesus says, "to all who are weary and heavy laden" and He will give you rest.- Matthew 11:28. Rest for your souls and rest for your heart. The call is simple, but the task is difficult. We just have to take that first step in His direction and hope in Him alone. And yet that first step is always the hardest.
This past year I have learned that when my hope gets off of Christ, He will sometimes let me experience heartache from the ones I place my hope in. This is so He can teach me that true hope comes from Him alone and placing my hope in mere men or worldly things is futile. And so the heartache comes and it hurts. Oh how it cuts my heart in two. But through the pain, the Lord was teaching me to lift my eyes up to Him once more and place my hope where it belongs; in the precious and loving arms of Christ.
When I started to place my hope in Christ again, the Holy Spirit started speaking to me about some tough decisions I needed to make with my walk in Christ. I walked away from some things I had gotten comfortable in and that people tried to advise me to not walk away from. But, once again, I had to remind myself that my hope is found in Christ and if He is calling me to move, I have to obey. To not obey will be detrimental. When I wrestle with Him, it brings heartache and pain. But when I surrender to His will, it brings hope and peace. From the ashes of heartache and pain, He has brought me to hope and peace. I will ever praise Him for this!
When we place our hope where it belongs, in Christ, and we obey His leading, He pours out blessings on us. God rewards obedience just like a good father rewards good behavior in his children. And God is our perfect Abba Father. God rewards obedience, but He chastises the disobedient. Just as every good parent knows, you can't let disobedience go unchecked or it will grow and grow into something far worse. And so God allows certain things into our life when we are not placing our hope in Him and we are disobedient to His calling on our life in order to turn us back to Him, to be the children of God we were created to be. Full of peace and hope instead of pain and heartache.
Thanks be to the Lord who took my life from a year and a half ago and molded me into who I am today. He still is working on me and I pray I can always be faithful and obedient to His calling. He has blessed me far beyond what I could imagine and I am so filled with joy. He has brought a very godly man into my life with such a servant heart for Christ who points me to the Savior daily. I never thought I would be so blessed. God blesses His children, y'all, and He loves to reward those who follow Him no matter what. He has transformed my life from heartache to hope and even when trials come, may my hope ever be found in the loving arms of Christ.
"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand."- My Hope is Built on Nothing Less, Hymn
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