The Peace of Power

I got to visit the ocean again this morning after an early-morning jog with a friend.  It was calm today.  I love the moods of the ocean.  Sometimes the waves come crashing in and go far up the beach.  Sometimes the waves crest smoothly and scoop up the shoreline.  Today, the waves were small and the ocean almost had a glassy look.  I could see far out over the ocean to the distance horizon with a bank of clouds.  When I first got there, the sun had not yet risen and there were gorgeous bands of blue, purple, and pink.  As the sun rose over the cloud bank the colors became more vivid and began to change into oranges and yellows.  Then the sun began to peek boldly over the top of the clouds…the dawn of a new day—a day with potential for great good if I surrender myself into the hands of my Heavenly Father.

This morning was so peaceful and quiet (minus the annoying four-wheeler that destroyed the peace for awhile.  Ha!)  It was re-assuring, though, to think that everything is in the hands of a God who brings the new day into existence with such peace and tranquility—no strain or stress.  If we humans were even capable of putting on such a lovely production, can you imagine the massive stress, preparation, scurry, rush, frustration, and practice that we would have to put into one sunrise?  The light has to be just right; someone has to coordinate the waves; someone has to make sure the half-moon is in just the right place; someone has to make sure the colors change as they are supposed to; the sun has to come up at just the right rate; someone has to scatter the hundreds of shells on the shore…and who knows what else....  And that is only for my little section of the beach.  Yet all night long, God kept the world spinning and the planets in order; He kept everything running perfectly and the sun came up this morning with no great rush, no stress, no perspiration, no headache, no effort.

God is awesome.  I'm glad that it is He that I trust with my life.  I'm glad that I can let Him control all the details instead of trying to keep track of everything myself.  In a world that seems like it turning upside-down sometimes, it's so comforting and reassuring to know that God has everything under control without any stress or strain.  It's a wonderful feeling of peace...kind of like a glassy ocean with gentle waves splashing on the shoreline and beam of brilliant sunlight shining across the surface….

Trust....

Today is a busy day.  I just got back to my room from lunch.  Between now and 9:00 tonight, I have to set up the choir sound system, make sure we have everything for choir tour, tear it all back down, and make sure that it's packed for tour, do laundry, pack completely except for my carry-on, and I really need to do some homework.  It's hard to believe that choir tour is here already.  Tomorrow morning I have to take someone to the airport at 9:30 and the choir meets to leave at 12:30.  Like I said, it's busy, but I like it that way, and I'm excited for tour.

The reason for this post, though, is just to share an answer to prayer that happened this morning that was really special to me and encouraged me in trusting God.  There was a job I did awhile back for which I was supposed to get paid, but I had not gotten the money.  I was really wishing that I could have the money for choir tour, but I really didn't want to ask for it.  I believe it was just this morning that I was talking to God about it, an d telling Him that I needed the money.  I think it was last night I simply explained to Him that I had done this work but I didn't want to ask for the money.  I decided just to leave it up to Him.  I checked my mail this morning hoping that maybe the check would come, but it wasn't in my box.  After chapel I was walking with a couple of friends over to the ad building and met the guy who was supposed to pay me for the work I had done.  You probably have guessed it by now.  =)  He held out an envelope and said he was on the way to the post office, but since I was there he'd just give me it there.  When I opened the envelope a couple of minutes later, there was twice as much money as I expected, and it was in cash so I don't have to deal with cashing a check when I don't have time to go to the bank.

God is so good.  I have experienced His provision before, but this was especially special to me because I had pretty well resigned myself to not having the money before tour or maybe even at all and left it in God's hands.  It wasn't even a huge amount of money, but it was a boost to my faith and my confidence in God's ability and faithfulness to provide. 

I have been praying along with some friends about some specific things as well.  Answers to prayer like this give me even more confidence that God hears, cares, and will answer in His time.  We must simply trust these things to Him and wait on His timing.

"So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat?  What will we drink?  What will we wear?'  these things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."  (Matthew 6:31-33 NLT)

Epic Win! ...And Fail.... All in One!

So…have you ever done something and felt like it was an epic win!  …and an epic fail all at once?  I did just today.  What I did made me happy!  But I was like…wow…that was a fail…I could have done it so much better….  Oh well.  Life goes on I guess.  In the long run, it was good!  :)  And I’m happy about it!

Thou Wilt Find a Solace There

Tonight is one of those nights when things feel a bit overwhelming.  It's a whole realm of things from very personal to international.  From battles I don't know how to fight, to decisions I don't know how to make, to friends that are hurting from choices they've made and choices others have made, to situations over which I have no control but over which I would like to have control, to people that are bound in sin's chains and are destroying their lives, to wars and rumors of wars all over the earth, to earthquakes in random places all over the world, to a nuclear plant that could in a moment change the way we all live life for the rest of time….

It is in times like these that I long to go home.  Not home here on earth, for there is no place here on earth that can truly be home when things are so uncertain on a global level.  No, I long to go a place far from here, yet not so far from here.  A place where there is peace…forever.  A place where the presence of God is the dominating, all-consuming, all-satisfying focus.  A place where everything that has ever happened here fades in the light of eternity....

Tonight I find solace in God alone—in the fullness of Who He is.  The Trinity—holy, pure, everything I need, and in His Word—the unchanging, infallible, powerful Word of God, which shall not return unto Him void.

Re-thinking Old Thoughts in a New Way

Welcome Week has come. It starts officially tomorrow. A few kids are already here. I've been busy trying to get things together to represent Missions, TESOL, and Student Government.

The reason for the title of this post is that during Gospels class tonight, a discussion came up about carnal traits and the "fix" for them--sanctification. Suddenly I was struck by a thought...or probably more than one. I don't want to share tonight. It's way too late. Suffice it to say, I've started my own little study and hope to continue it soon in some depth.

Fasting Facebook

I deactivated my Facebook account at 12:00 a.m. this morning.  The idea is to leave it thus until the end of Lent...40 days from now....  That will be the longest I have gone without Facebook consecutively since...well, probably since I joined Facebook.  I think it will be good for me.  I spend way too much time on there.  And while I've gotten better about not wasting so much time on there, I still spend too much.  Forty days is enough to work something out of one's habit system.  We'll see if it works.

Honestly, I don't care about Lent.  I just think it's a good time to fast something(s) in order to focus more on God.  Fasting is Biblical, and I think God honors it.  :)  Enough said.  Day one has begun!

A Tale of Two Paths

This is what my life looks like right now from my perspective.  I can see enough to know that I have two paths.  I can see enough to know that both paths look interesting.  But I cannot see enough to know which path I should take or where each path will end.  I can only guess.  It's hard to make a decision when there is no clear path.  That's where trust in God's ever-present, unchanging faithfulness comes in.

This changes the perspective, and it is this to which I cling.  It is the same two paths, but now there is something clear in the picture—something upon which I can depend.  The Word of God and the leadership of the Spirit will show me the way.  I have no other hope.  Outside of this, the decision will be made in my own power influenced by my own emotions and desires.  This must not be.  I find my light and my strength in the Lord.

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"  (Psalms 27:1)

In Throes of Decision-Making

I've reached that time of life where big decisions must be made.  Seems like I heard a lot about decisions like these as I grew up, but they seemed like things off in the future.  I haven't really been worried about them as a whole.  God has always worked everything out.  He led me to the right Bible college, and He's led me in my time here, but now I'm fast approaching the end of that phase of my life.  Suddenly I'm being approached with opportunities to move into other work.  There is no longer the security of coming back to school next semester.  Now…I really don't know where I'll be when next semester rolls around.

The scary thing is, I don't even know how to make decisions this big.  I don't even like to make decisions anyway.  I'm usually afraid of doing the wrong thing.  I know God knows the right thing, and I know He's big enough to let me know.  I just don’t know for sure what to look for.  I don’t want to make a decision based on my personal feelings or likes and dislikes because God is bigger than those things.  He knows what will be best for me ultimately and where I will ultimately accomplish the part in His Kingdom for which He has designed me.

This I do know as I seek the will of the Lord: whatever I do must be to glory of God and must bring praise to Him.  I read Psalm 103 this morning in the NLT.  It starts out,

"Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.  Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me." (Psalm 103:1-2 NLT)

Wherever I am, whatever I am doing, whenever and however I am doing it, I desire with the psalmist, "Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name."  There is no higher calling.

And so now I must watch…and pray…and wait….  And in His time, He will reveal His plan.  When He does, it will not likely be the whole plan, for I have not found God to work that way.  No, likely it will simply be the next step, and when I have taken that one, the next will be revealed.  I can say with the psalmist again,

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."  (Psalms 23)

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD…."  (Psalm 37:23a)

New Mornings; New Mercies

This morning at the ocean I was reminded of the faithfulness of God to work in His time.  As I looked out over the small part of the Atlantic Ocean that you can see from the shore, and as I watched the sun rising above the horizon casting a beam of light across the waves, I was reminded that even Creation was started at the command of God…in His time.  It was structured and each thing was created as He desired it…in His time.  Through the ages history has been ordered by God.  I will not begin to list examples this morning, but time and time again, in spite of the hard-headedness of men and the breakneck speed at which they have tried to circumvent the will of God, He has always carried out His plan…in His time.  This morning I rest in that fact—that a God big enough to manage creation and organize the history books is big enough to order the details of my life.  In that truth I rest.  In that truth I experience peace.  In that truth I wait.  In His time….

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time….  (Ecc. 3:11a)