It's been almost three years since I've written on this blog. Honestly, it's been a very difficult three years. I'd call it a season of darkness. I know, without a doubt, two factors that played into it -- chronic, debilitating pain and a deep sense of loneliness. My response to those difficulties was most often not what you would write home to mom about. Scratch that! Let me be transparent here. I flat out dove into a pit of muck and mire. It was ugly…not somewhere a child of the risen Savior should linger for as long as I did."Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren't satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for something more, something other." ― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts
But, I'm here today to proclaim the glad news of deliverance, and to speak of God's faithfulness, steadfast love, and salvation (Psalm 40). I am SO thankful that even though I've messed up a
I believe one of the main reasons he allows these dark times in our lives is to break chains of personal bondage and generational curses. "It is for freedom that Christ set us free." (Galatians 5:1) God the Father not only longs for us to have freedom from hell and eternal separation from Him, He longs for our freedom from anything that oppresses us! No doubt, there IS a lost and dying world, but there are also lots of people in the church who are walking around half-dead because we have chains of oppression weighing us down! And the sad thing is…many times we don't even realize it.
Anytime we find ourselves in those dark places, we have two choices:
1. To give in!
By "giving in" I mean caving…to self-pity, self-comfort, and selfish ambition. We fall (sometimes even dive) into sin like Eve did when "she took some and ate it" (Genesis 3:6). That apple could represent many things…the woe-is-me moping and pouting attitude, the cash you thought no one would notice was missing, the candy bar you ate in secret, the phone call you had no business making, or the fix you needed just to take the edge off. I think you get the picture. Whether or not you categorize the sin as "little" or "big," SIN is SIN, and every one of those choices is a response that says something like, "God, I just don't know if I trust you."
I love the Contemporary English Version of 2 Peter 1:3 which says, "We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God's own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness." As I was reading that verse several months ago I had an "Ah-ha!" moment. It dawned on me that if God has given me everything I need to live a life that pleases Him, then He has purposefully chosen to withhold certain things so that I would live a life that pleases him. Does that make sense to anybody other than me? Let me say it this way…that ONE THING you think to yourself "If I just had ________________ everything would be ok" is THE thing God has chosen to withhold from you in order to make you grow in godliness.
God gives each of us an empty space. It's supposed to draw you to HIM. He wants to be the one that fills it. He wants to be your everything, and He will do anything He needs to do in order to capture the throne of your heart!
2. To give up!
By "giving up" I mean surrendering…first to Jesus as THE LORD of your life. This is spiritual birth and happens once. Then, if you've already done that, you have to surrender daily. If you're hard-headed like me, you have to surrender almost minute by minute to pride, resentment, bad habits, your own comfort, excuses, crummy attitudes, expectations, control, the need to be right, your fears, the desire to please or impress others, etc.
Once you surrender all that yucky stuff then you need to fill your mind with TRUTH and pray! Pray continually. Do whatever you have to do to keep God in the forefront of your mind -- listen to praise music, write down the ways he HAS blessed you in a blessing book, hang out with friends who make you want to be more like Jesus, and then pray...and read…and study…and meditate on scripture some more!
I wonder if you've ever wondered as I have…
How can the Father love me?
I've blown it again!
When will I ever learn?
But you see, my friend, THAT's the reason He sent His son Jesus! He knew we were going to fall. He knew we would fail. He knew we would run away. Matthew 9:12 says, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Oftentimes, we put on a mask and pretend that we are well when reality is we are dying on the inside. But I'm here to tell you, when you come to your senses, repent, and confess your sins to your heavenly Father, you'll find him waiting for you with arms wide open.
This past week while we were on spring break I read Max Lucado's book Six Hours One Friday. In it, he mentions the Cristo Redentor which is a statue located at the peak of the Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (If you haven't seen it, you need to google it!) Max goes on to tell the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-27) and then writes:
I don't know why but for some reason, now that I have seen that statue, I'll never look at the cross the same. When you find yourself in the dark or far country, know that the Father doesn't want you to hide (as if he wouldn't see you!), or pretend, or to keep running. He's waiting for you. In fact, He's looking for you, and He longs for you to come home ― where you belong!
I wonder if you've ever wondered as I have…
How can the Father love me?
I've blown it again!
When will I ever learn?
But you see, my friend, THAT's the reason He sent His son Jesus! He knew we were going to fall. He knew we would fail. He knew we would run away. Matthew 9:12 says, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Oftentimes, we put on a mask and pretend that we are well when reality is we are dying on the inside. But I'm here to tell you, when you come to your senses, repent, and confess your sins to your heavenly Father, you'll find him waiting for you with arms wide open.
This past week while we were on spring break I read Max Lucado's book Six Hours One Friday. In it, he mentions the Cristo Redentor which is a statue located at the peak of the Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (If you haven't seen it, you need to google it!) Max goes on to tell the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-27) and then writes:
"If there is a scene in this story that deserves to be framed, it's the one of the father's outstretched hands….When Jesus told this parable…did he open his arms to illustrate the point? …Whether he did that day or not, I don't know. But I know that he did later. He later stretched his hands as open as he could. He forced his arms so wide apart that it hurt. And to prove that those arms would never fold and those hands would never close, he had them nailed open."
Source: www.pontetravels.com/our-visit-to-christ-the-redeemer-statue
I don't know why but for some reason, now that I have seen that statue, I'll never look at the cross the same. When you find yourself in the dark or far country, know that the Father doesn't want you to hide (as if he wouldn't see you!), or pretend, or to keep running. He's waiting for you. In fact, He's looking for you, and He longs for you to come home ― where you belong!
