Taken from a letter to a friend:
James 1:2-8, 12, 16-17 (The Message)
2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
5-8If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
... 12Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life....
... 16-17So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle....
Notes in the margin of my bible:
"Be certain about what you're asking for and then have the courage to ask for it and believe God will give it to you at the right time."
Sometimes I think we worry that when we want something with such intensity, that automatically it's a bad thing and therefore we shouldn't want it, because we're not supposed to want anything besides God. But what if what we're desiring is what God wants to give us in the first place?
Maybe then the challenge is seeing if our fear will get in the way of us actually accepting a gift from God. Maybe part of trusting is realizing that when God gives, it is precisely that, a gift. Pure and true, nothing deceitful, no strings attached, simply ours to accept and enjoy.
Sometimes I think we forget that part of being loved means God thinks we're worth it, and that He wants to give us things simply for that reason. So where does that leave us? I'm beginning to think that instead of beating ourselves up about wanting something with this much intensity, that perhaps what God really wants us to do is to step out, be bold and ask Him for it without a second thought, and trust that He'll deliver because He loves to answer us when we call.
So here I am then. Calling... and waiting for an answer.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Trusting God
Chris said something interesting to me today:
"You're right, you don't deserve it. But you also have to realize that God thinks you're worth it, and therein lies the answer. Accept that God thinks you're worth it, and accept that He loves you and wants to give it to you."
Matthew 5:3-12 (The Message)
3"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
7"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
8"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
10"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.
11-12"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Looked at these verses a few minutes ago and I wrote this in the margin of my bible:
"Everything is not what it seems. What the world counts for bad, God will use for good and for His glory."
These days I find myself walking out something that far more intense than I've ever felt in my life, but I'm beginning to think that maybe this period is to teach me what it really means to trust Him.
Think about it, if we learn what it really means to trust God and how to trust Him, what can stop us? We will have conquered the world right then and there.
"You're right, you don't deserve it. But you also have to realize that God thinks you're worth it, and therein lies the answer. Accept that God thinks you're worth it, and accept that He loves you and wants to give it to you."
Matthew 5:3-12 (The Message)
3"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
7"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
8"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
10"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.
11-12"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Looked at these verses a few minutes ago and I wrote this in the margin of my bible:
"Everything is not what it seems. What the world counts for bad, God will use for good and for His glory."
These days I find myself walking out something that far more intense than I've ever felt in my life, but I'm beginning to think that maybe this period is to teach me what it really means to trust Him.
Think about it, if we learn what it really means to trust God and how to trust Him, what can stop us? We will have conquered the world right then and there.
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