Be Still and Know that I am God!

 

The Rope Part 2 and Promises

Fam Jam eating at Majestic Pies in Morris, AL

The rope that I wrote about in my last post was not smooth and it hurt as I was trying to hold on to it these last two days.  

Wednesday night was awesome for me.  God knows exactly what we need and when we need it.  His timing is perfect.

    I know and would be considered silly to believe that everyday of my life is going to be sunshine and roses, but that doesn't mean that I want everyday to be bad.  I want good, easy, awesome days!  Days where everything goes right and everyone is healthy.  But this world is not heaven.  This is a fallen world where sin is present.  And because sin is present there is always going to be trouble, but for the grace of God, I don't how anyone makes it through this world. Jesus said that we would experience trouble in this world but to take heart because he has overcome the world.  Why should I expect anything less from the world as I try to navigate my constantly changing life?  It seems like every day, there is a collision between who I am in Christ, the values I hold dear, and Satan causing confusion and trying to destroy what little good there is left.  The problem with this collision is that the damage that results from this constant battle is me thinking that I am worthless and I have no tangible value to anyone.  Satan loves that because when I get to the point that I shut down under the pressure to be the person that the world wants to be, I become an ineffective witness for Christ.  But each time this happens, I grow closer to Christ. Not because of anything I do, but because of what Christ did for me.  

    It is not a coincidence that on Wednesday night, God used an article in a magazine and a brother in Christ to lift my head and show me that everything was going to be fine.  Wednesday night at SHBC was missions night.   For one reason or another, I haven't been going to missions night for the last couple of months. This particular night I was able to get to church early and I was waiting on the rest of my family to get to church, so I meandered over to where we have a bunch of different magazines in the lobby.  For absolutely no good reason, I picked up a copy of "homelife".  The first article I came to was entitled, "Lose the Weight" by Jen McCaman.  That interested me because of my interest in fitness.   The article was about how when we lose weight we rely on our will power to stay away from sweets.  But when it comes to God and salvation she says, "this self-propelled strategy fails every time."  I read the entire article and that started it!  God was reminding me that I was trying to hard to control what was going on and have some impact and the truth is, I can't do anything about what is going on in my life. Next was the bible study upstairs, where the men gather on the first Wednesday night every month.  Again, I have not made this a priority the last few months, but this night I was deteremined to be in that study.  I didn't know who was teaching or what we would be studying, but I knew that I wanted to be there.  The study that night started in Colossians 2 and ended in chapter 3.  Verse 6 in chapter 2 speaks about being rooted in Christ Jesus.  If I am rooted in Christ, then the fruit that I produce will look like Jesus.  Trying to do it on my own and getting depressed, frustrated, and angry about situations and issues is definitely not fruit that looks like Jesus! So from my perspective, God reminded me to stop relying on my self to handle these situations that I was so frustrated and angry about and to let Him handle it.  I have to note at this point that I did not give this situation over to God so I could get the results that I wanted.  I gave it over to Him because I trust Him.  I was reminded Wednesday night by God that He is always good and He is always faithful in His promises.  God can be trusted in the entirety of my life and your life.  

Promises

by Sanctus Real 

Sometimes it's hard to keep believing
In what you can't see
That everything happens for a reason
Even the worst life brings
If you're reaching for an answer
And you don't know what to pray
Just open up the pages
Let His word be your strength

And hold on to the promises (Hold tight)
Hold on to the promises (Alright)
Jesus is alive so hold tight
Hold on to the promises

All things work for the good
Of those who love God
He holds back nothing that will heal you
Not even His own Son
His love is everlasting
His faithfulness unending
Oh, if God is for us who can be against us
So if you feel weak

Neither life, nor death
Could separate us
From the eternal love
Of our God who saves us

Prayer at SHBC