Wednesday, April 20, 2011
I Wonder.
How hard will I cry out of joy when I get to Heaven and God looks at me and says, "I love you."
Monday, April 18, 2011
Be Still.
Last night after Stand (the Sunday Night College Ministry at First Baptist Church of Brownwood), Austin (First Baptist's Youth Minister) brought up a really good point that he said had been coming up a lot in his own life over the past week: people in general will not rest. We stress ourselves out and in these times of stress, afternoon naps and movies are merely used as tools of distraction away from our stress. These do not actually relieve stress or fix it, they simply hinder it for the time. People more often need to be told to just... be still.
This is on my mind because I happen to be mid-stress mode right now. Summer is technically 17 days away, there are 4 days of finals and every project that has been assigned in any of my classes seems to be due either this week or next. I have a test tomorrow and a book report on the most boring book I have ever picked up due Wednesday, and it all has to be finished today since I have work tomorrow. This still would not propose such a time constraint if it were not for the fact that tonight and tomorrow afternoon there are Chapel services that I have to attend in order to finish up my Chapel credit for the semester. My mind feels like it is going a hundred miles a minute, but no matter how much I seem to beg myself to just STOP and take a minute to refocus, I get consumed by worry: worry that I won't make a good grade on this test tomorrow, worry that I'll be up late tonight working on my biology book report which will make me tired at work tomorrow which will in turn make work ten times longer which will then make work ten times more dull....... my muscles tense up just thinking about it.
But then there's Psalm 46.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the LORD has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Reading that slowly is so calming. Reading the Bible and being in God's Word doesn't take our "to-do's" away. It doesn't necessarily make tests simpler and homework easier. What it does do though, is so much more valuable and important: it reminds us of who God is, and that no matter what, He is our refuge in good times and in times of trouble. He can be counted on no matter what, and there is nothing more valuable than a relationship with Him.
The end of school is near. The end of my freshman year of college is imminent. Although everything seems to be colliding together and stressed within a two-week time constraint, God is always here: strong and unchanging. Reliable and powerful, full of understanding and love.
His love is strong, His love is great, His love is good.
Knowing that is more important than anything I could ever memorize for a test.
This is on my mind because I happen to be mid-stress mode right now. Summer is technically 17 days away, there are 4 days of finals and every project that has been assigned in any of my classes seems to be due either this week or next. I have a test tomorrow and a book report on the most boring book I have ever picked up due Wednesday, and it all has to be finished today since I have work tomorrow. This still would not propose such a time constraint if it were not for the fact that tonight and tomorrow afternoon there are Chapel services that I have to attend in order to finish up my Chapel credit for the semester. My mind feels like it is going a hundred miles a minute, but no matter how much I seem to beg myself to just STOP and take a minute to refocus, I get consumed by worry: worry that I won't make a good grade on this test tomorrow, worry that I'll be up late tonight working on my biology book report which will make me tired at work tomorrow which will in turn make work ten times longer which will then make work ten times more dull....... my muscles tense up just thinking about it.
But then there's Psalm 46.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the LORD has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Reading that slowly is so calming. Reading the Bible and being in God's Word doesn't take our "to-do's" away. It doesn't necessarily make tests simpler and homework easier. What it does do though, is so much more valuable and important: it reminds us of who God is, and that no matter what, He is our refuge in good times and in times of trouble. He can be counted on no matter what, and there is nothing more valuable than a relationship with Him.
The end of school is near. The end of my freshman year of college is imminent. Although everything seems to be colliding together and stressed within a two-week time constraint, God is always here: strong and unchanging. Reliable and powerful, full of understanding and love.
His love is strong, His love is great, His love is good.
Knowing that is more important than anything I could ever memorize for a test.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Patience.
God made me a thinker. God made me a planner. God also gave me a lot of excitement and anticipation. This is good: it keeps me bubbly and joyful, but it also means that by my own power, I allow myself to get caught up in my thoughts and my plans. When things (surprisingly enough?) don't go as I (of course) envisioned that they would, I get even more caught up in them: tripping over my own feelings as though they're a rug that's not laying flat. All I can then concentrate on is the bump in the rug and the problem it's caused me. I'll be frustrated that MY plan didn't go how I wanted and expected them to.
I think this is true for everyone to some extent, but it has definitely ALWAYS been an issue for me. Sure, I "know" that God wants me to just let Him take control, but sometimes, I think that I just say my plans are like... "in God's name" or something, and I think that if I pray for something REALLY hard, then I'll get it. I expect it to work like a secret formula, so that what I anticipate is going to happen, does.
But God isn't a secret formula, there isn't a hocus-pocus type of spell in prayer which will make us succeed in everything we do. Praying doesn't necessarily give us what we ask for, and using prayer as a selfish tool only makes us lose sight of the true value and importance of it.
It's true that God does call us to come to Him with our everything, (He also instructed us to come to him with our needs in thanksgiving. I think that's a really awesome reminder of the perspective we're supposed to have on this world.) but there are a lot of things which we, or I, feel entitled to merely because it is the "social norm", or because I want it.
No one has the PERFECT relationship with God; we will ALWAYS have our struggles against Him. I don't want to always be stubborn when it comes to relinquishing what I imagine to be my own control over situations to Him, but this could possibly be something I do have to be wary of for the rest of my life. Still, no matter how much I may fight and struggle against Him, He will always prevail. God is bigger than any box I could ever try and put Him in.
A thought that has been coming up often lately, is that whenever God says "no" to something I ask for, it's because He's saying "No, I have something even better than that."
SO: if I happen to be in your prayers, please pray that I be given more patience.
In the end... God ALWAYS has something better.
I think this is true for everyone to some extent, but it has definitely ALWAYS been an issue for me. Sure, I "know" that God wants me to just let Him take control, but sometimes, I think that I just say my plans are like... "in God's name" or something, and I think that if I pray for something REALLY hard, then I'll get it. I expect it to work like a secret formula, so that what I anticipate is going to happen, does.
But God isn't a secret formula, there isn't a hocus-pocus type of spell in prayer which will make us succeed in everything we do. Praying doesn't necessarily give us what we ask for, and using prayer as a selfish tool only makes us lose sight of the true value and importance of it.
It's true that God does call us to come to Him with our everything, (He also instructed us to come to him with our needs in thanksgiving. I think that's a really awesome reminder of the perspective we're supposed to have on this world.) but there are a lot of things which we, or I, feel entitled to merely because it is the "social norm", or because I want it.
No one has the PERFECT relationship with God; we will ALWAYS have our struggles against Him. I don't want to always be stubborn when it comes to relinquishing what I imagine to be my own control over situations to Him, but this could possibly be something I do have to be wary of for the rest of my life. Still, no matter how much I may fight and struggle against Him, He will always prevail. God is bigger than any box I could ever try and put Him in.
A thought that has been coming up often lately, is that whenever God says "no" to something I ask for, it's because He's saying "No, I have something even better than that."
SO: if I happen to be in your prayers, please pray that I be given more patience.
In the end... God ALWAYS has something better.
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