Highlighting the hope that we have in Christ!

I opened my eyes and I was surprised to see how much darkness there was around me still. It was just as dark with my eyes open as when they were closed. I was sure it was still the middle of the night, but it still seemed unusually dark.  I lay there a good while longer, waiting for any amount of light to come shining through before I tried getting up.  After continuing to lay there, for what seemed like hours, there was still no hint of light. With great caution, I finally reach my arms out, striving to feel what was around me, and all I could feel were hard, concrete walls. As I continued to run my hands across the rough surface, I realized these walls lacked windows. I continued to carefully feel my way around in the dark, hoping I would stumble across a door so that I could escape this dark and dreadful room, but my search was unsuccessful.

For many days, which eventually turned into months, I wandered around in that dark room, striving to find any way out. After all my striving, I realized the room had completely entrapped me and there was nothing that I could do to break free from this place I had found myself. I finally stopped that pointless search and fell on bent knees, crying out loud for God to work on my behalf. There was absolutely nothing I could do, and I was in need of being rescued. I sat in that room long enough to feel and understand just how helpless I was, and if I was to gain the freedom that I longed for, it would have to come from an outside source. I needed a Savior!

I didn’t stay in that box forever. In fact, I experienced a great and timely rescuing! I was in the box long enough to experience what “way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness” really means, and therefore be able to loudly proclaim, “My God! That is who you are!”

How do we understand that God is our way maker, until we realize we need a way made for us? How do we take notice of His miracles, and see that He is our miracle worker, until we see we are in need of a miracle? How do we believe He is a promise keeper until we get to the point of needing Him to fulfill His promises before our very eyes? And lastly, how do we cherish His light and recognize that we need His light, unless we have experienced complete darkness?   

For a long time, I looked back at my time spent in that dark, empty room, and I would mourn over the wasted time, but honestly, it’s the time spent in that room that has fueled my praise to my King of Kings. Time spent in that dark empty room allowed my heart to be filled with an endless gratitude for what He has done on my behalf! I should have been trapped in that room forever, and you should have been trapped in yours. But God came, and He made a way, performed a miracle, flooded that dark place with His light, and set us free! The place of darkness didn’t have the final say so and therefore we have a great story to tell!

As we stand free today, it’s important to remember that many we encounter daily are not free. There are those around us that find themselves still in that dark room. Therefore, our stories must be told! It’s the message of hope that God has given us to share. Let those who still find themselves trapped in that dark and hopeless room know why you have hope today. Let them know that you too were once trapped in that room of complete darkness, but God heard your cries for mercy! Point those who are stilled trapped to our way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, our light in the darkness, and let them know why we can say “My God! That is who you are!”

I was steadily working to get settled into our new house. As I was working to organize our bathroom, I was constantly annoyed by our scale that always seemed to be in the way no matter where I put it. We have always owned a scale our entire marriage. It’s just one of those items you feel like you are supposed to have… Until that one day of unpacking and getting settled I asked myself, “Why?!” Why did I continue to hang on to something that, deep down inside, I hated? Why did I hang on to something that always resulted in defeat and discouragement, and it never truly showed an accurate reflection of my health? No matter how much I exercised or made healthy choices, the scale always let me down.

That day, I decided that the scale would no longer be a measure that I used to be apart of my daily living. I walked over, picked it up, walked out to the trash barrel and chunked that piece of discouragement where it belonged-in the trash! We threw a lot of things away during our move, but hands down, the scale was the best item I purged from our home! I walked away that day so liberated!

I held on to that scale for so long that I really believed I needed it. Since that day, I realized that there are many forms of measurements that I have carried around with me in my heart that I thought I needed and were never true accurate measures. There have been forms of measurements that I have held on to that only served as continued discouragement and hindrances rather than a catalyst for growth.

Success, acceptance, appearance, education, and perfection have typically been measures I’ve allowed to linger, believing they are necessary measures that I was supposed to use, but none of these measures reinforced the grace based acceptance that we have in Christ. The taste of grace we receive from Christ alone liberates us from a performance based living that will always result in defeat, because it’s not the new measure for our lives that Jesus died for… And really when do we really achieve a level of “enough”? Jesus, on the other hand, died to give us new life by a means of grace freeing us from the bondage of performance!

The scale is not the only form of measurement that I’ve needed to throw away, but it was definitely a good place to start! God calls us to throw off those hindrances, those things that easily entangle us and ultimately prevent us from living free in His grace.

Our only measure that we should strive for is evaluating how well we are staying connected to the True Vine, Jesus! When we stay connected to our source of life, we are supplied with everything we need!

Whatever your “scale” is, your form of measurement that results only in discouragement and inaccuracy, throw it away and walk away liberated to live in God’s grace!

Galatians 5:1-11

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?  That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty.  Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.”

In times of great limitation, in terms of what I seemed to be able to offer to the Lord with the praise of my heart and the portion of my day, I did not receive shame for what I lacked, but rather I received grace upon grace.

In the moments of when all I could offer were bent knees and utterances before the Lord, I received His sweet presence time and time again.

When the restraints in life seem so great, and seeming to work against you, I learned to just come to Him as I am and receive from from my Father who knows all and supplies all!

In seasons of great limitations, throw off any shame that seeks to hinder you and come to Him as you are, with all of you got! God is good at taking small moments, small portions of truth, and multiplying them into something monumental! Simply give Him what you’ve got!

I once read that it takes the same amount of energy to pray as it does to worry, but I beg to differ. I understand that this comparison is used for the purpose of encouraging prayer rather than worry, but in my personal experience with the two, they are not equal in the expenditure of energy. The energy it takes to pray is considerably less, but yet it results in liberation and answers beyond what we can know to ask for or even imagine.

Worry will rob you of all your peace, joy, and hope. Worry will leave you depleted of energy due to the constant efforts it demands, with nothing to show except a heart that is left in despair.

When choosing between the two, remember that worry is a prison for your soul and prayer is a beautiful communion between us and the One who knows all! Prayer is powerful and effective because the God we serve is powerful and effective! Laying burdens at His feet is truly victorious living!

The grip of anxiety can almost feel like a grip of death. It swoops in and takes a strong hold on your heart and mind. It’s so dominating in fact, that ignoring its presence is impossible.

If you have experienced anxiety in the manner that I have, then you know exactly what I am talking about. Walking  down life’s path, where I met its horrible presence, however, helped me have an increased love, faith and hope in God. My hate for anxiety produced an increased love for my Savior.

In the moments that I thought I was drowning, I learned to recognize the immovable, firm foundation that God had placed beneath my feet, and that He was teaching me how to stand.

my hate for anxiety produced an increased love for my Savior

Here are 5 comforting truths that I learned to take hold of in the thick of the battle:

1. God is our ever present help in our time of need!

The example that has best helped me understand this truth and provide tremendous comfort, is the account of when the disciples and Jesus are out on a boat and a sudden, unsuspecting storm begins. Here they were, stuck on a boat, completely surrounded by their storm, and no way of escape or place to hide! They had no choice but to run to the Savior! If this doesn’t perfectly depict anxiety?! Anxiety can pop up unsuspectedly and then make you feel completely surrounded, with nowhere to go. Truth be told, our Savior is also present in our storm and is always available for us to run to! (Luke 8: 22-25)

2. He wipes away every tear!

Nothing makes you feel more alone than walking through a relentless difficulty that is not understood by those closest to you. Tears can flow continuously over the pain you have deeply embedded in your heart and you long to be comforted, seen, and patiently understood. Having an omnipresent God who loves you means that in the quiet of your room, when those tears flow, He draws near, and longs to wipe away every tear!
(Psalm 34:18, Revelation 21:4)

3. God’s comfort is exponential!

God remains present during our suffering and He is still producing good things in our lives! As God works and brings us through the hardships, He gifts us with His assurance, peace, truth, and comfort! All of these tremendous gifts we receive from Him, are gifts that He longs for us to pass along to someone else when they find themselves in places we have already been. God’s comfort provides us with a tremendous hope that He longs for us to spread far and wide! (2 Corinthians 1: 3-7)

4. God is our fortress!
Anxiety produces fear and when fear sets in, the heart longs to find a place of protection and rest. Psalm 91:1, 2 tells us that God is our refuge and our fortress, and therefore, He can be FULLY trusted! God provides us with a permanent wall of protection, a wall of defense, and this wall rises higher than the arrows that the enemy shoots our way can ever fly, but it is a place that we have choose to run to and dwell. When I run to His place of shelter, there my heart finds the protection and rest it longs for.

5. God’s truth liberates our mind!
Anxiety produces an endless battle in the mind! The more your thoughts follows its trail, the more weary, worn, deceived and defeated you will feel. But truth…truth sets us free! Philippians 4:8-9 are verses that are worth clinging to in order to help you in the fight of thinking about what is right and true. It is a fight, but God has given us His word as a weapon, our sword of truth, to help slay the lies and deceit that anxiety fills our mind with! God’s truth is a weapon that we must use and when we do, it will set our minds free!

The year of 2020… wow… where to even begin on describing 2020?! To say that it is a year that hasn’t gone according to plan would be putting it lightly! Many have felt the sting of disappointment that 2020 has brought along with it, but intertwined with the disappointment is a bold string of hope that still remains. That is one thing that God has taught me over and over again, is that through difficulty, hope really does remain, and if we seek the hope He offers, we will find it.
It is during difficult, uncertain times that I have had to have some painful and honest heart evaluations. Do I really hold tight to the truths that God works all things for the good of those who love Him, that what the enemy meant for evil, God turns it for good, that God is still on His throne, and that He has a faithful, unrelenting grip on my life? As trying circumstances unfold, like they have in 2020, we have to ask ourselves if we really believe in these truths? Do I see the thick bold, band of hope that remains present or do I ignore it?

… intertwined with disappointment is a bold string of hope that still remains…

As plans change, it sometimes can provide an open window for discouragement, disappointment, and doubt to enter. As a person who is very much a planner, I have had to learn to how make my plans without having all my hope and faith invested in them. I can love my plans and have so much faith in my plans that they become the source of my assurance instead of having a placed assurance in the One who establishes all things. The minute I invest more of my heart and mind into my plans than I should, God quickly intervenes and shows me the error of my way.

In times of sudden change, I am faced with an opportunity to see the magnitude of the guarantees that God provides  me, and that they never slip away. I am faced to see that, although all that is around me may fade away, I am marked with a permanent seal of redemption, a seal that is eternal. It is in what is eternal that should encompass all of our faith and consume our hearts! Our seal, dear friends, is eternal and unbreakable because it is a seal that has been placed on lives by our eternal, unbreakable God!

Ephesians 1:13b-14
“Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance, until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of His glory.”

One of my all-time favorite movies is Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner. In one part of the movie, Robin Hood attempts to cross this river, but in doing so, he invades the territory of a group of outlaws. Midway into crossing the river, he engages in a fight with “Little John”, who is really not so little, while still standing in the river. At the end of their scuffle, Little John gets knocked off his feet, falling to his back in the water. He immediately begins to panic, shouting over and over again, “I can’t swim! I can’t swim!” His apparent awareness of not being able to swim ransacked his mind, and fear took over. Robin Hood then comes over to him, grabbing his arm to help him up, telling him to stand to his feet. It’s a pretty comical moment in the movie when you see this big, burly, tough man screaming for help in knee deep water, and all he had to do was stand, with no swimming necessary.

As I think about this scene in the movie, I couldn’t help but wonder how often do I look like Little John, flailing around unnecessarily? How often does the thought of what I know I can’t do paralyze me, and all I really need to do is just stand upon the strength of the Lord?

Although it was apparent to another that all Little John had to do was stand, he needed to be made aware of just how close the firm foundation was beneath his feet. As life moves on, we might find ourselves in the position either of standing or flapping around frantically in shallow water. In either position that we may find ourselves, it is important that we always have a hand that is extended; a hand that is continuously extended to either to be a caring pull to lift up another, or one that is extended in humility in order to be pulled back up again.

When struggles arise, when our circumstances become overwhelming, or our hearts are filled with discouragement, it is so easy become aware of our limitations and forget about the character of God and what He CAN do!

It’s important that we always have a hand that is extended to either provided a caring pull or one that is extended in humility in order to be pulled back up again.

What a great encouragement today to know that God has given us a firm foundation that is sure, and all we have to do is stand upon Him and the truth of His word! As we seek to set our minds on Him, may His word serve as the gentle reminder of the firm foundation that we have readily available, helping us to stand once again!

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”                                                2 Peter 1:3

One of my all-time favorite movies is Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner. In one part of the movie, Robin Hood attempts to cross this river, but in doing so, he invades the territory of a group of outlaws. Midway into crossing the river, he engages in a fight with “Little John”, who is really not so little, while still standing in the river. At the end of their scuffle, Little John gets knocked off his feet, falling to his back in the water. He immediately begins to panic, shouting over and over again, “I can’t swim! I can’t swim!” His apparent awareness of not being able to swim ransacked his mind, and fear took over. Robin Hood then comes over to him, grabbing his arm to help him up, telling him to stand to his feet. It’s a pretty comical moment in the movie when you see this big, burly, tough man screaming for help in knee deep water, and all he had to do was stand, with no swimming necessary.

As I think about this scene in the movie, I couldn’t help but wonder how often do I look like Little John, flailing around unnecessarily? How often does the thought of what I know I can’t do paralyze me, and all I really need to do is just stand upon the strength of the Lord?

Although it was apparent to another that all Little John had to do was stand, he needed to be made aware of just how close the firm foundation was beneath his feet. As life moves on, we might find ourselves in the position either of standing or flapping around frantically in shallow water. In either position that we may find ourselves, it is important that we always have a hand that is extended; a hand that is continuously extended to either to be a caring pull to lift up another, or one that is extended in humility in order to be pulled back up again.

When struggles arise, when our circumstances become overwhelming, or our hearts are filled with discouragement, it is so easy become aware of our limitations and forget about the character of God and what He CAN do!

It’s important that we always have a hand that is extended to either provided a caring pull or one that is extended in humility in order to be pulled back up again.

What a great encouragement today to know that God has given us a firm foundation that is sure, and all we have to do is stand upon Him and the truth of His word! As we seek to set our minds on Him, may His word serve as the gentle reminder of the firm foundation that we have readily available, helping us to stand once again!

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”                                                2 Peter 1:3

Making decisions can be extremely exhausting for me at times. Especially when the “way to go” doesn’t seem so clear. There have been times when my pros and cons lists seem to be equal in weight, causing the thoughts in my brain feels like a ping pong ball bouncing around recklessly as I strive to come to a decision.

But then there are times when the decisions I should make are more obvious, and very little mental energy is needed in the decision making process. I wish more of life was lived in the “cut and dry” but in my experience, this is rarely the case. There have been so many different paths to choose from over the years, and many choices for us to make as a family, and the choices that we should make have not always been so clear, causing us to call out to the Lord with a plea of “Lead us, God! Lead us in the way we should go.”

The Israelites also found themselves in a place where the way that they should go was not so clear, and they needed God’s constant guidance to lead them in the way that they should go. The desert could not have been an easy place to navigate through, and therefore God not only guided them at night in a pillar of fire, but He also guided them during the day in a pillar of cloud. Day or night, they were in need of God’s constant guidance, and not only was it God’s guidance, it was His very presence that was going before them!

Recently, my husband was very excited to learn and share with me a new term that he discovered- theophany. (THEE-O-FU-NEE) A theophany is a visible manifestation to humankind of God. This manifestation is an action that CLEARLY shows something that is abstract to people! Understanding that the cloud by day and the fire by night were not just objects attached to a fishing pole, dangling from the sky for the Israelites to follow, but it was an act of guidance that also showed that the very presence of God was with them, is pretty mind blowing to say the least! His presence went before them, and He, God, manifested Himself in such a way to lead His people moment by moment, day or night.

This distinct difference in knowing the “objects in the sky” leading God’s people was actually His very presence leading them, helps me understand that God wasn’t just leading them through an obstacle course, but rather as He was leading them, they were in His presence!

How this truth changes the way that I will pray when the path of life seems clear OR unclear! No longer will I just pray “Lead me Lord!” Instead, I long for my prayer to be, “Go before me Lord and allow me to go in the way of your theophany, in the way that you are manifesting your presence in a personal and unique way that will lead and guide me!”

Our lives are SO much more than an obstacle course to be navigated through, but rather our lives should be lived with the moment by moment guidance of the God who desires to not only lead us, but to lead with His presence, and ultimately lead us to that glorious promised land!
When the decisions of life seem to be difficult to make, take heart in knowing that it may just be that God is striving for us to see Him lead us with His presence, and remind us of our constant need for His guidance, day and night, that He will faithfully provide!

Exodus 13:21
“ By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.”