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While Digging He Found The Rock

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Last year I had volunteered for a task.  I was excited about this commitment, and if you would have asked me I would have said God made it very clear this was His will.  This was an area in my life where I felt God could use me, I could become his vessel.

Things started out good and were going as planned.  Then in the blink of an eye things went “south.”

I had made the commitment to complete this task, so I was in it for the long haul.  But when things did not go as I had envisioned them, I began questioning everything in me.  I wondered if I actually followed God’s will, I was so sure at first but now I was bewildered.  God did make himself evident as I was going through this trial and though this time of questioning.  That is what kept me hanging on.  He kept saying, “just be faithful.” When the task was finally completed I was emotionally and spiritually beat up.

If this was God’s will, why did things go so wrong?  My feelings were hurt, many tears were shed, and I was beaten down.   I even was so upset I emailed a trusted friend and said, “Living the superficial Christian life is so much easier  and I don’t think I am capable of anything more.” I thought I understood where God wanted me, I thought I was seeking his will, but I was left wondering if I did more harm in His name than I did good. (that alone scared me to death!)

God allowed me my time of questioning, he never leaves.  He allowed me to vent my anger and frustration.  But God being God is always waiting for the right time to reveal more of him.  I was recently reading the story about the two builders in Luke 6:46-49.  Maybe you missed this part of the story also:

    7 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

When you first read the passage above you think, ok this builder was smart and built his house on the solid foundation.  I am one who lives on solid foundation as a Christian, which is what I have been taught to believe.  But if you read it slowly you see the words “who dug deep and then laid the foundation.”

The foundation was not already there for the builder to build his house on, there needed to be blood, sweat and tears until he reached the foundation to build his life upon. This builder built his house ON ROCK.  Imagine the hard work he had to put into building his house.  No wonder the other builder built his house on the sand, he saw what it took to build on the rock and did not want to put himself though all the hassle.

Is there a possibility that during that time of digging he wondered if this was really the right spot?

Possibly the builder had the misconception that the foundation should be ready for him to build on as soon as he accepted the piece of land.

During the building process, I am sure there were many questions and insecurities.  But you know what the builder found, God allowed those questions; he allowed those tears to fall.  But once the builder came to the firm foundation, there was NOTHING that could shake him.  No matter how hard the storms blew, that builder put his time in and found the foundation to place everything upon it.

He found the ROCK.

I learned a lot from that experience last year, and this next year as I mentioned before brings questions and insecurities, but what I do know is that I did hear God’s word correctly.  I was just in the process of digging!  May God reveal more of Him in 2010!

What about you?  Have you ever been involved with something you were sure was God’s will but it did not go as planned?  Maybe you were hurt in the process and it left you spiritually bruised.  Maybe this little story of the man who had to DIG to find the ROCK will encourage you to stay the course and to remain faithful.

Happy New Years!

Lies I Believe

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I was reading Bryan Allan’s 2009 re-cap and I came across this post. By the way if you have never read his blog, you should. He cracks me up!

Instead of a New Year’s resolution post, I figure I will take Bryan’s challenge and share some of the lies I tend to believe about myself. Satan likes to attack me with these lies, and even when I know they are lies I still fall in their trap many times. Satan likes me to believe things that are just not true. So I will begin this new year trying to tackle them head-on with God’s power.

Here’s a few of the many lies that I deal with on a consistent basis:

Lie #1 — I will never be good enough.

I feel like I should be Stuart Smalley who recites, “Because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and, doggonit, people like me!”

I like to surround myself with good teachers, mothers who are great at what they do, women who are organized and can help me become more organized, speakers who are good at communicating, and authors who know the right words to say. It is good to surround yourself with these people, but at the same time I would love to the be the one who is teaching others (who has vast knowledge of things). I want to make an impact on others the same way others have impacted me.

Instead I don’t feel there is anything I am good enough at, to help others. I know this is a lie Satan wants me to believe. Even reading that in print makes me cringe. To believe I have anything to offer is a sin Satan wants me to believe. It is only God working through me, that makes it possible for me to help others. It is when you give your weaknesses and failures to Christ, then he can use you to impact others. If we try to do it in our own power, we will be like the hamster spinning the wheel.

Lie #2 — You have to have the perfect looking Christian family.

When you attend church you have the father who is active in everything, the mother who volunteers, and the children who attend every time the doors open. If you don’t you fall short of the expectation your church has for you. If your family does not fit the perfect “Christian” family mold, then others wonder if your Christian walk is suffering. Or maybe they think you are walking away from the faith. This is a big lie I struggle with. Because my family does not fit into that mold, I struggle with the lie that we will never “fit in.”

My husband’s mission field is on the basketball course. Many don’t see how we drive many kids around who would not normally be able to participate. My husband gives his time day in and day out, loving on these kids. Giving them stronger self esteem. Kids from 5 years old and up. If you talk to any child who has spent time with my husband they will tell you they look up to him. We have kids hang out at our house, just so they could have the security of an older man being a role model. But that is not seen inside the church doors, and really most people don’t see any of that. My husband’s outreach may look a lot different, but it is impacting lives. But I am the only one that can toot his horn, for he NEVER will.

I strongly believe in supporting your church, God command it! I love my church, but I struggle with the lie that if we don’t have our mission field within the walls of the church then we are not part of the mold. It is a lie Satan places in my path constantly. It breads insecurity. But I know if we follow in the mission field God gives us, then we are being faithful. And my church has been nothing but loving. So this is a lie from Satan I hope to fight with God’s help.

Lie #3 — Who the ever told you, you could write?

In 2009 I was published for the first time in the devotional book Pearl Girls. I will admit to anyone within ear shot, I am the worst speller around. Satan wants me to believe because of these limitations, Pearl Girls was just a one time event. That I don’t have what it takes to be published again.

Granted I don’t have the time to sit and write during this season of life, but I have writing ideas to work on once my kids are older. =)

 

I am going to end this post the same way Bryan did. “I’m not asking you to share your struggles here – though you can if you like – but have you sat down recently and thought about the lies you might be believing? Are you believing things about yourself or your circumstances that just aren’t true and may actually be harmful to you?”

I have found actually writing out some of the lies I believe will help me tackle the ways Satan likes to trip me up.

See you in the New Year!

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

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That is the phrase that has been circling around in my head.  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  Our family traveled to Baltimore to play in the snow I will be sharing some photos here soon.

At the beginning of any new year people become contemplative, wondering what the new year will bring.  Wondering what lies ahead.  Well lately life has been handing people in my family some lemons.  I begin this new year with more questions then I do excitement, but that tells me God is going to move in mighty unseen ways.

As I was driving home God said, “Lori what can you do with lemons?” Lemons are tart, most people don’t eat them just as they are, for many people they by themselves are undesirable.  That is like some of the trails and questions we face, they by themselves are undesirable.   But what happens to lemons if you add some water and some sweetener with a tall glass of ice, you have a nice drink of lemonade.  Something that is very desirable on a hot summer day.  What if God takes your trials, your questions, adds a little more “through” kind of  faith, grace and mercy into the mix?  Then you have something that was undesirable, now bringing Glory to Him.

What I do know to be true is that if God is calling you to go through something, he will provide the means necessary to do so.  Sure life may not go as planned, look at Matt Chandler who ended his year with brain cancer, but I do see how many people he has touched and I know of at least one who has become a Christian because of it.  Life may become unpleasant, our natural desire is to live a relatively easy life, but one thing I have learned is that God’s power is shown brighter through our weakness.  When trials come, and life changes, God is calling you worthy.  He is holding your hand through everything, asking you to be a vessel for His power.  I guess the question remains, how will each of us respond? Because we have free will, God will allow us to fall into the pit of despair, he will allow us to become angry and bitter, but that is not his desire.

So I sit here looking at what is to come, asking God to remove some thorns, but knowing in my heart God is going to ask me to have some “through” kind of faith.  God is asking me if he can take my lemons and walk me through the process in making some sweet lemonade in the New Year.

Is your future uncertain, are you still dealing with job loss or health issues?  Has life given you some lemons and you look into 2010 with hesitation? Be encouraged God’s power is stronger in your weakness and he can take the undesirable and use it to bring Glory to Him.  Right now for me, I take my Saviors hand and ask him to show me how to make sweet lemonade in the new year.   How about you?