Are You Upset??

I have had the opportunity to talk with some people recently who, in my opinion (take it for what you paid for it!), are offended. Their life does not look like what they want it to and they are upset. And these things that they are upset about are all things that are out of their control. Only God can be in control of these things. When life is disappointing, we have the right to be upset, don't we?  hmmm...

Let me ask you this -- Have you ever thought any of the following to yourself:

• I want a husband. Why doesn't God give me a husband? I wish He would just give me a husband. Look at her over there. She has a great husband and she isn't even nice to him. If I had a husband, I would treat him so much better than that. I deserve to have a husband so God should give me one.
• I want a baby. We love children and we would be great parents so God should give us a baby of our own. Why are they having another baby? They already have 2 (or 4 or whatever) so why is God giving them another baby and I don't have one at all. It's not fair!
• This area is where I should be doing ministry. I really want to do this area of ministry. Why won't the pastor let me be in this area of ministry? I feel that I would be good at this ministry. If I don't get to do this ministry then I'm just going to be sour about the ministry and the people who are involved!

But we have the right to be upset, don't we? hmmm.....
When John the Baptist was in prison, he sent his followers to ask Jesus if He was the Messiah or if they should wait for someone else (Matthew 11 & Luke 7). This was the same John who was the forerunner to Jesus' own ministry and who proclaimed 'Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!' (John 1:29). Of course John knew Jesus was the Messiah! So, why did he ask that question?

Well you see, Jesus' ministry didn't look like what anyone expected. John the Baptist certainly didn't expect that he was going to end up in prison. And while he was in prison, Jesus was out continuing His own ministry. The Bible doesn't say that Jesus visited John in prison. Do you think John felt forgotten by Jesus? He was sitting there in a dark and damp prison while Jesus continued performing miracles, healing people and bringing them into a relationship with God. But the Jesus who had the power to heal the lepers, the blind, the deaf and the lame, the Jesus who had the power to raise the dead, apparently didn't have the power to get John out of prison. Or at least that's how it seemed to John.

Here is a prayer that I think John the Baptist may have felt while in prison:

"Dear God, I've got a couple of things I'd like to talk over with you. I've got a couple of questions. You see, I have spent my entire life working for your Kingdom. From before I was born, I was chosen by You for my life's work. I have done what You called me to do - I pointed people to Your Son. And now, I am sitting in a dark, damp, lonely prison cell and that same Son hasn't even come to visit me! I sit here hungry, tired, cold and sore and meanwhile, He is out healing people! Why doesn't He come get me out of this situation? I guess Lord, what it boils down to is this: My life doesn't look like what I thought it would, so are You the real deal? Or not?"      a possible prayer of John the Baptist while he was in prison

And do you know how Jesus answered John's disciples when they came and posed that question? He said 
'Blessed is he who is not offended because of me.' (Matthew 11:6) Yes, John the Baptist was offended. He wanted things to look like what he thought they should look like. But do we really have the right to be upset when things look different then what we think they should look like? We think to ourselves, 'I deserve to be upset about his'.

Jesus was beaten and tortured even though He was perfectly sinless. He never spoke up and demanded His own rights. He never spoke up and said, "I am upset AND I have the right to be!"

So I just wonder, are we trying to live the life we would choose or the life that God has chosen? 

Do we trust Him enough to let go of the offense and surrender to His plan?

His Way Or My Way?

What if you could get what you wanted but in order to do so, you would have to be out of God's will for your life? Would you do it? What would you do to get your own way? And would the sacrifice be worth it?

When we were on our vacation in New Hampshire we played a game called 'Would You Rather?' Essentially you are given two choices and you must pick one of the two. So, I'm going to give you my own version of 'Would You Rather?' today.

Would you rather:

Get Your Own Way

OR

Be In God's Will For Your Life?

You MUST choose one. You cannot always have it both ways. (Yes there will be times when these two choices line up with each other).

Is what we want really more important than what God wants? How near-sighted we are when we are upset and disappointed that things in this life aren't going the way we want. If the thing we wanted would accomplish God's will, then OF COURSE  He would give it to us!! Like a loving Father, He doesn't withhold ANY good thing from us.So why are we so bogged down with depression, sadness, wanting what other people have? Why is it that we have such a hard time with TRUST? Can't we see that God has our best interest at heart?


God's ways are so much higher than our ways. He sees the end from the beginning. He has promised me that He will NEVER leave me or forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5). He has promised that He has plans for me to prosper and to give me a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

Shouldn't I be trusting in that instead of doubting??

PS -  Here's a preview of this week's Week In Review post:

Random Thoughts On Grace

 The photos in today's post are brought to you courtesy of: My Vacation To New Hampshire.

The post about God's grace being sufficient caused me to wonder what does it mean to have God's grace in/on your life. If someone were a new Christian, they might not understand what that post was about.

So I took down some notes about grace that came to mind. For me, it means having the Presence of God with me.  It means that I have His guidance for my daily decisions. I can draw on His peace and His forgiveness and fill my life with those and I can then pass those on to others. I receive God's blessings on my life and those too flow over to bless other people. I cannot pass something on to someone else that I do not have myself.

I can tell you this, if you knew me years ago and then knew me now, you would see an incredible change in me! I have let go of so much anger and bitterness, anxiety and worry and the need to be in control. I have so much peace now - God's peace - and there were many times in the past when I thought I would Never know what peace really was!! His peace is so amazing to me! It really does pass all understanding (Philippians 4:7). I have peace now when my circumstances say that I shouldn't. I am so grateful to Him for that!!

I would say that the definition of Grace is Unmerited Favor. I do not deserve God's forgiveness but He gives it to me anyway. I certainly did nothing to earn God's favor but that too, He freely gives to me. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  These two things, His forgiveness and His favor, should cover everything that I do. Receiving His grace also gives me a well of strength that I can draw from in any situation.  I know that in times of waiting, I need to draw out of this well. James 1:4 says: Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Waiting always has a purpose. I can also draw from this well when I am in need of giving forgiveness. Colossians 3:13 tells me to Forgive as the Lord forgave me. In my natural self, I am not patient and I do not forgive easily. These are two areas where I need His help. 

I also think that Grace means that I am not Condemned. Therefore, there is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 I was Completely Forgiven when I accepted Christ as my Savior. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross covers me for all time!! Yes, I still need to confess, but not because I need to alert God to the wrongs that I have done. He already knows what I have done, ans also what I will do in the future. Confession is to bring me into a closer, more intimate relationship with Him and so that I can let it go and not give the devil a foothold by which to try to convince me that I am condemned. God does not condemn me so I should not condemn myself. I also should not condemn others. When I allow other people to be forgiven as well, I am showing them God's Grace, through me. With His help, I can accomplish this.

This is by no means an exhaustive idea of grace. If you were to search the Bible for what it says about grace, I am sure you would get much more than this. (This entire post was actually written off the top of my head without doing any studying, so I apologize if it feels scatter-brained!) Hmm, could be a future blog post? So, what would you say that grace is? What does it look like in your life?

Musical Monday: Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

I feel like I'm sort of on a 'Grace' theme so I'm going to stick with that. I guess you could say that Part 1 was my pondering about His grace really being enough. That would make this Part 2 and Part 3 is mostly written so I will post it in a day or so.

Today's song is Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone). I love this song so much!! If I stop and focus on the words as I sing, the singing of it becomes for me an act of Worship. I am so moved by my gratitude to Him for giving me His grace! Last fall I gave my testimony at church and I requested that we sing this song with it - for without His grace, I have nothing, I am nothing. (Someday I have in mind to write my testimony here for you, but I am not ready for that yet.) Usually I post the song with the lyrics so that if you are unfamiliar, you can still follow along and know what the song is saying. Today's song is the video from the movie Amazing Grace. I will post the lyrics below. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it! It is the story of William Wilberforce, who sought to end slave trading in the late 1700's in England. I may not have been involved in any slave trading in my life but I can still sing 'My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me'. And I am so thankful that He did ransom me and set me free!!

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)"

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

[2x]
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine

PS - I just had to share this giggle with you! After posting earlier this week about you-know-who (Mary & Martha), imagine my surprise when I got to church this week and realized that Pastor Dan was preaching on them! LOL Even Matt giggled about it! I will tell you later this week what he had to say about them. It was something different then what I have seen before. I guess God really wants me to learn from these two ladies!!

Is His Grace Really Enough?

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

 Have you ever heard a song or watched a movie or read something that you have done many, many times before only to have it appear fresh to you on that particular day??

The other day I heard the song Your Grace Is Enough by Chris Tomlin. Now, I have heard this song probably hundreds of times. It is on my favorite Chris Tomlin CD (Arriving), we sing it in church, it's on my iPod. I know all the lyrics by heart. But this day somehow, the line that says Your grace is enough for me really stood out to me and I wondered -- Is it enough? Is it really enough?? I started to think of different circumstances where it might NOT be enough - things I have gone through and things that my friends and family are going through now. Is His grace REALLY enough to get us through those situations?? Who of us would answer that His grace is insufficient? I'm not sure that I know too many people who would answer that it is not. And yet, isn't that how we treat His grace by our behaviors? Don't we all have doubts - times where we lack a trust in His grace and His provision? Don't we doubt that the job will come through? Don't we fear when the bills come in? Do we trust when illness strikes? We struggle with depression, anxiety, addictions. All of these behaviors say that we don't believe that His grace is enough.

So, I wonder, if we truly recognized that His grace IS sufficient enough to carry us through anything:

•  would we have more peace?
• would we have more joy?
• would we be less stressed?
• would that be what it looks like to 'live by faith and not by sight'? (2 Corinthians 5:7)

I lived for many years with anxiety, fear and doubt. I didn't know how to trust God. It was scary to let go of that junk because I didn't know what I would have in place of it. I had absolutely no idea how wonderful His grace really was to receive!! How freeing it is to place my burdens at His feet and to trust that He will take care of them. I no longer need to worry! Praise God!!

And this whole wondering left me with an overwhelming sense that YES, IT IS ENOUGH!  My faith was strengthened by having followed that train of thought and realizing that there is not a situation on Earth where His grace would not be enough for me! There is absolutely NOTHING that could happen to me that He would not be there with me and for me. I am never abandoned, never alone! I am never left helpless and therefore I am NEVER HOPELESS!! What a comforting feeling that is!!