Lately, I’ve been wrestling with why Christians are content with being stuck. During Sunday’s sermon, I began to ponder this even more. If we have identified certain giftings or spiritual-bends within ourselves, why on Earth are we sitting on them. I know for sure that God has not called us to a personal salvation…like, if you have the gift of preaching, you just preach to yourself. What kind of sense does that make?
It’s not for a lack of “want to”, but we will come up with any excuse “not to”. Kids. Time. Money. Those seem to be the most popular. Granted, these all need to be taken into consideration, but not be the scapegoat. I’m a huge believer in the saying, “A person will do what they want to do or what’s important to them.” Taking it further, nothing will stand in a persons way or they will do what has to be done to make it happen.
Think of it this way: You’re thirsty, I mean, DYING of thirst…lips chapped, mouth parched, can barely speak, thirsty. You walk in the room and there sits a glorious glass of water AND it’s free…no charge…all you have to do is ask for it or accept it when offered. But you don’t take it because your kids need you or you don’t have the time. So now, you just walk around thirsty. You think of that glass of water from time to time, and you know where it is, but it just sits there…waiting on you.
That’s what I believe some of us are doing with this gift that God has given us. We know it’s there, but we aren’t taking advantage of it. We’d rather sit and pray about what God wants us to do with it and wait for His answer. But while we’re waiting, we get stuck. Stuck in the everydayness of life. We are offered ways to get connected and develop and grow deeper, but we’ll come up with every excuse not to.
How would you answer if God stood before you, and asked what you did with His gift? You’d start stuttering and coming up with excuses. Maybe, while you are stalling to come up with a good excuse, He’d just press the play button and you’d see all the opportunities that were available. What would you say then?
No more excuses…just pick up the glass of water and let God work out everything else.
“I picture God focusing steadily on the object of repair. One stitch follows another. It takes time. I picture painful penetrations of the healing needle. …I’m quite sure if my healing processes had been painless, I would have relapsed.” ~Beth Moore, “Jesus, 90 Days with the One and Only”
I have scars. Scars that I rarely pay attention to. After my reading this morning, I began to ponder what lessons I have learned from my scars. Here are a few:
scar on forehead: it’s not a good idea to run down the stairs, full speed, not paying attention
scar on side: spinning around with a fork in your hand is unwise, for one may fall and gouge themselves
scar on chin: clearly a 9 year old shouldn’t bathe a 2 year old. Someone may slip and fall and bust their chin wide open, requiring stitches that the father just sticks a band-aid on, scar resulting in becoming a keloid, thus giving said child an unnecessary insecurity…i digress
I have a c-section scar. There was a cyst that needed to be removed and the dr’s chose not to go in laproscopically. Because of the severeness of the surgery, my recovery took six weeks. No lifting, bending, stretching, sudden movements. Nothing but being still and gradually building your strength up. It was important to not rush the healing process because my body needed that time to properly heal. If I rushed, then I would have done more damage to my body. During this time, I learned patience and self-control…and really how to relax and let things just ‘be’.
Another scar that I have is on my ankle. Underneath this scar is a plate and 8 screws. I broke my leg and dislocated my ankle…requiring surgery. Of all my scars, this one means the most to me. You see, at this particular point in my life, I was running from God and I was getting good at it. Playing church, saying what needed to be said…or not said. I had already confessed a lot of things to my parents, but I was not willing to turn EVERYTHING over to the Lord. Still going through the motions. Being a good girl (the one that the important people saw). Even though I knew He was trying to get my attention, I ignored Him. I was golden, until that day. Home, by myself, I fell and my life forever changed. Because of the surgery, God had my full and undivided attention. He used my mom and one of my spiritual moms to minister to me. I couldn’t go anywhere…I couldn’t ignore Him. It’s hard to ignore Someone when you can’t move. I had to apologize to God. I had to face my sin…I couldn’t turn away. He forgave me. He healed me. He reminded me that before the Earth was formed, He knew me, so Who did I think I was fooling?
I am thankful for my scars. They were painful. I am thankful for the pain, for without the pain I may still be running…
There are few things things that move me to tears. I’ve often wondered what was wrong with me, when everyone else was balling, I wasn’t. I have a dear friend who can immediately go there with you, that is almost enviable. Well, recently I have been tearing up over some things/situations. Call it growth or connecting, I don’t know, but this past episode of So You Think You Can Dance moved me to tears.
I sat there, watching this performance, thinking of my Aunt who died from complications brought on by breast cancer. Then, while listening to the judges’ reactions, the tears flowed.
Here is Maxwell doing “This Womans Work” LIVE! Enjoy…
I have stood in front of a road for MANY years. Too scared to go down it. Fear has always been standing right beside me, reminding me of why I shouldn’t go down the road. I’ve fought and I’ve fought. I’ve done a pretty good job of avoiding those urges, keeping them carefully tucked away from my other dreams and aspirations…until last night.
My mother calls me, for the 2nd time that day…which normally means that she wants something. LOL! She says, “Heather, I have a project for you.” I IMMEDIATELY cringe…don’t want to do it & I don’t even know what it is yet. She proceeds to tell me what she has been thinking/praying about all day and just when I am about to shoot her down, she places a layer of “That’s what I feel the Lord telling me.” Really? Really? Don’t you just love it when the good ole parents get the Lord involved?!
So, with both hands raised, I’m surrendering. I’m going to walk down this road and see what’s in store. Here’s where I need to pick your brain. If there was a book that prepared your daughter for life (school and all), what topics would you love to see addressed?
I can’t be with my father today, so I thought that I would put this up for all the dads with little girls. Wonderful song!!!!!!! Enjoy! HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!
Stop counting on your fingers! I’m 32!!! I praise GOD that I have been allowed to see another day, let alone another year.
I have been blessed so much this year! My marriage has been strengthened and we seem to be basking in that “marital stride” I’ve heard so much about. Rick has been my rock! I love that I get a front row seat in seeing God work in his life. I LOVE this man!
My son turned 2 and he is becoming such a loving, caring, & articulate little man! He has been an absolute blessing as an older brother…very gentle and compassionate…even when he co-parents Ash! Gotta love him!
I gave birth to my baby girl! She is such a delight! And I have never seen a child more determined to do things on her own time (i.e. taking steps at 7.5 months)!!!! “I will only eat table food at 6 months! I will drop my nighttime bottle at 8 months! I will sing my ‘Daddy Song’ during the last hour that I am supposed to be napping! I’ll take my water in a sippie cup, thank you!” If I had expectations for her, she has exceeded them! She’s a firecracker and I love her to pieces!
Spiritually, I feel as if my hunger and thirst for His Word has been renewed. I am encouraged that The Word has become alive again. Not saying that I was in a Spiritual Slump, but you know how sometimes you can get “used to” the awesome preaching and regular routine of having a quiet time. Now, I long to get in It! And surround myself with people who are passionately pursuing Him. I have been challenged to stretch myself in really reading and studying God’s Word. I LOVE the Lord & I LOVE that He speaks to me so clearly through His Word!
My prayer for this year is that I would become even more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I’m often hesitant to do things or express an idea because I’m too concerned about how it may come off or whatever. The Lord is giving me some very specific tasks for this coming year and I can’t waver or be timid. I recognize my need to be led by the Holy Spirit, so I pray that I stand with boldness and loyalty!
I LOVE Hymns. I couldn’t always say that, but I can now. I guess it came with age and maturity. I just really love the Truth and Hope that lies within the lyrics. So I was VERY excited when I found out that members of The Autumn Film got together to form Page CXVI and release “Hymns” (you can download it for free, for a limited time, from their website). Good stuff! I heard them perform “In Christ Alone” live & I just fell in love with their arrangement. So here it is to share with you…
I LOVE the Truth behind this song so I did a little searching into the story behind the lyrics. I found an article here. These are some of my favorite take-aways:
Written in 2002, “In Christ Alone” was a collaborative effort between Townend and fellow songwriter (and now good friend) Keith Getty. “The song came about in an unusual way,” Townend explains. “Keith and I met in the autumn of 2000 at a worship event, and we resolved to try to work together on some songs. A few weeks later Keith sent some melody ideas, and the first one on the CD was a magnificent, haunting melody that I loved, and immediately started writing down some lyrical ideas on what I felt should be a timeless theme commensurate with the melody. So the theme of the life, death, resurrection of Christ, and the implications of that for us just began to tumble out, and when we got together later on to fine tune it, we felt we had encapsulated what we wanted to say.”
One e-mail described how a U.S soldier serving in Iraq would pray through each verse of the song every day, and how the promises of God’s protection and grace helped to sustain him through the enormous pressures and dangers of life in a war zone.
“It seems like this song is timely,” Townend says. “We in the West have had our sense of safety and security brutally torn apart by recent world events, and it’s caused many to re-evaluate the foundations of their life. I feel that the song has helped to stir faith in many believers that God really is our protector; that our lives are in His unshakable hands.”
He continues, “The lyric [of this song] excites me because it places our hope, our assurance, our eternal destiny in the right place—on the solid foundation of Christ. I know in my own life I need reminding continually not to live by my feelings or my circumstances, but by the unchanging truth of the gospel.”
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny…
I have two new favorite singers! I’ve already told you about Jazmin Sullivan, now let me tell you about Chrisette Michele. She is AWESOME! My sister is using a few of Chrisette Michele’s songs from I AM during her wedding. The one I am listening to over and over is Golden! Enjoy…
Lately, I’ve been wrestling with why Christians are content with being stuck. During Sunday’s sermon, I began to ponder this even more. If we have identified certain giftings or spiritual-bends within ourselves, why on Earth are we sitting on them. I know for sure that God has not called us to a personal salvation…like, if you have the gift of preaching, you just preach to yourself. What kind of sense does that make?
“I picture God focusing steadily on the object of repair. One stitch follows another. It takes time. I picture painful penetrations of the healing needle. …I’m quite sure if my healing processes had been painless, I would have relapsed.” ~Beth Moore, “Jesus, 90 Days with the One and Only”
child an unnecessary insecurity…i digress
