For the Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ
The God of the Israelites’ wilderness is the same God of the Israelites’ parted sea. The God of David’s valley of the shadow of doubt is the same God of Calvary’s hill. He does not change that I might better see Him. My faith is strengthened that I might better seek Him. And in seeking Him I see Him.
Therefore, my soul cannot help but tell of the treasure in the lowly places. For He is working there.
And I don’t want to miss it.
When the Israelites turned from God repeatedly, allowing their questions and doubts and confusion to overwhelm their wearied hearts, and when they so stubbornly and selfishly denied their Redeemer and Creator…still He remained faithful. And throughout all the prophets this theme continues, woven in an endless and beautiful depiction of God’s love despite our human inconsistencies and flaws. This theme to slow down…and remember.
Who could ever dream to hope of a God that seeks a filthy people who runs from Him, denies Him, betrays Him, and attacks Him? And yet the Creator of all mankind is, in an overwhelming love story, faithfully seeking His heart’s love…though we hide from His arms and faithlessly chase worldly pleasures and disgrace. How breathtaking. How beautiful.
How unthinkable.
As a missionary I have come to realize that as seasons change, my heart grows weary. Why? Simple. I’m human…and humans don’t like uncertainties. We don’t like stepping out of our comfort zones or initiating something without knowing what the outcome will be. We’re scared. That’s the long and short of it. We’re scared that… Continue reading Breathe, Little One: As Seasons Change, God Stays the Same
Several weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity of going to stay with a missionary teammate in an extremely Islamic village. The experience taught me so much about missions, God, people, the brokenness in our world,… and myself. And through all of that, the lesson that stuck out to me the most is this: I need spiritual rest. And so do you
When all we see is worthless, invaluable, and hopelessly broken, Yahweh is still looking compassionately upon His lost sheep whispering “I love you. I’m still fighting for you. I’m not finished yet.”
And friends? We need to be praying. We need to be desperately and sincerely praying for the lost and hurting souls around the world. Because they matter to Him.
I know it is quite easy for our schedules to turn into habits and our habits to turn into boring norms that don’t seem too exciting or purposeful. But don’t give up on the here and now. Because by doing that who knows what other opportunities you could be giving up on as well? Who knows what lives might be touched, mindsets changed, and hurt mended?
Follow Jesus right here; be a light in a dark world right now.
How do we know what our calling is? How can we better sense the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our lives? And for those of us who are still waiting for direction from God…what do we do in the meantime?
Wouldn’t life be simpler if we didn’t worry? As a missionary kid I’ve never known a lot of stable ground. The future almost always looks uncertain and tomorrow, well…we’ll get there when we get there. In a way, it’s a blessing because it reminds me to live in the moment. But we all know that the unknown is hard.
Does your world feel heavy, friends? Mine does sometimes. Sometimes the world feels like a backpack that has new books added to it every morning. There are some good books in there, but eventually they all add up. The truth is that the world is heavy.
Too heavy for us.
But here’s an enlightening fact: it’s not ours to hold.