God Knows Just the Right Time

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

Galatians 4:4-5

In our lives, so many plans are prefaced with conditions: when things get back to normal; now’s not a good time; if I get a raise; we are so busy; I don’t feel right about it… it’s a wonder anything ever happens at all! Depending on our circumstances, making any number of decisions can be agonizing. How can we know when it is best to act and when to wait? When will we know the right time?

Was the timing right for Abraham to obey and leave Ur or for Moses to head to back to Egypt? How about a carpenter named Joseph going through with a marriage to his young bride? Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us, He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

In hindsight, these heroes of the faith made their choices at just the right time to fulfill a part of God’s plan. But at the time, unlike the writer of Ecclesiastes, “beautiful” may not have been their adjective of choice to describe their circumstances. Lacking any concrete evidence for the outcomes of their actions, they moved forward armed only with trust. In each case, their reward far outweighed any and all of their fears about the future!

Consider how salvation for all humanity was set into motion with the arrival of Christ at the right time. Jesus was born as a Jew under God’s law and yet was the only man who lived the law flawlessly. The Messiah’s sacrifice as the only perfect man was timed perfectly to redeem us as sinners under the law. Not only were we freed, we were adopted as heirs, sharing in Christ’s rich inheritance of all of God’s promises, provisions, and power.

With the weight of eternity in our hearts, having the faith to obey God can be a struggle. Trying to know which decision best follows His will can leave us paralyzed and indecisive. At these times, we easily forget God’s completely perfect record of faithfulness and love for us. Regardless of our circumstances, and our inability to see beyond them, we can always trust that God will always act at the right time!

Can't Get Over You

                                                        

I love the way You love like no other
It's got nothing to do with anything that I do
Time and time again You forgive me
So this time I choose to stay here with You

Hold me
Pull me just a little bit closer
I don't wanna lose this moment
Your love has covered me
And now I can't get over You
I can't get over You
I can't get over You
I just can't get over You

Here in the arms of my Father
Only grace can be found
So I lay my fears down
Nothing is the same anymore
You've changed me from the inside out
Now my heart is beating and it's singing won't You...

Hold me
Pull me just a little bit closer
I don't wanna lose this moment
Your love has covered me
And now I can't get over You
I can't get over You
I can't get over You
I just can't get over You

I can't get over You

I can't get over the way
Your love stays the same, oh Lord
I can't get over the way
Your love stays the same, oh Lord

Even through the good and the bad times
You stay the same
So my song will remain
Lord...

Hold me
Pull me just a little bit closer
I don't wanna lose this moment
Your love has covered me
And now I can't get over You
I can't get over You
I can't get over You
I just can't get over You

I can't get over You
I can't get over You
There's nothing I can't do
I just can't get over You

I can't get over You

I Am

The most essential gift you have to give is yourself. When you aren’t entirely true about that, you aren’t true. But we’ve all grown accustomed to committing dozens of little white lies about ourselves every day.

           

Except this man. He is Faithful and he is True.

           

Having given this some thought, perhaps we are better prepared now to understand why God answered Moses the way he did when he spoke from the burning bush. In the midst of the very unnerving encounter, Moses asks him, “Who are you?” God simply says, “I Am.” In other words, Me. Myself. An answer that is holy and full of integrity, wry and dumbfounding all at the same time. But it is the best possible answer he could have given. God is utterly himself.

Swift and Beautiful Through the Stormy Seas

No, this is not me announcing my journey going overseas anytime soon. Although the Lord could very well have that in His plans. Wouldn't that be big news, to find out at Intern Kickoff Weekend in April that I have been placed in another country! But for now, I am praying God will use me here another year. One of the biggest reasons I want to remain in country for now is because of the transformation in my own life which has occurred in just the past several months, and the many lives it has impacted around me in such little time. My friend Laura Lynn recently wrote me a little note of encouragement (I love these!) reminding me that I am beautiful and loved. She shared with me how she has witnessed my openness and vulnerability opening the door to so much healing in the lives of women in our community. I know I have a story of redemption that God has been using here and wants to continue using. So as my friend Laura Lynn has done (she inspires me), I have started writing a song. Now let me warn you, I don't know the first thing about writing music and I am just beginning to learn guitar. But as a good friend reminded me, God has given me a beautiful mind to express my feelings in worship to Him. So here is what I have so far. I hope those of you who read it will be blessed by the meaning behind it :)

You say your heart is getting harder?

It's been trampled along the way?

Just give it to the Potter

Now your heart is new wet clay

You say your heart is like deep water?

Cold and dirty underneath?

Give it to your Father

His love will cover it like a sheath

Chorus:

Broken, humbled

On your knees

A vessel for His glory

You will shine for all to see!

Swift and Beautiful 

Let your feet be

Tell others of your story

So He can set them free!

When you are still searching

Looking for His loving face

Seek Him in your hurting

And enjoy His saving grace

Temptation, you may fear it

Know the waters have been cleaned

You're new, filled with His Spirit

Now you are redeemed!

Chorus:

Broken, humbled

On your knees

A vessel for His glory

You will shine for all to see!

Swift and Beautiful 

Through the stormy seas

Tell others of your story

So He can set them free!

Swift and Beautiful

Let your feet be

Swift and Beautiful

Through the stormy seas

Lent: What are you willing to sacrifice?

Today is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent. I’ve heard of Lent before, though I’ve never really observed it in a sacrificial way, never having done anything special to celebrate it. If you’re like me, you’ve never fully understood what Lent is all about. If so, I’d like to refer you to two sources. One is a blog entry from a very wise man, Bill Dogterom. Click here to read more about how he explains how we can prepare ourselves for this season. Another source is a 2 minute video I found that puts it very clearly, marking out what Lent is all about. You can watch it below:

Extreme poverty is when someone lives on less than $1.25 a day and lacks the means to meet minimum standards of food, clothing, health care, and shelter. Today, one in every five people lives on less than $1.25 a day. Around the world, 14,000 children younger than 5 die every day from hunger and related causes.

I try to see the faces behind the statistics, and families that starve to death, while I live a comfortable life despite living below the national average income in America. This Lent season, I've decided to do something about it, and play my part. The picture at the top is a picture of some of the food I am going to live on for the next 40 days, costing me just about $1.25 per day. My goal is to at least sacrifice what I spend on food and how much I eat, and give the remaining money to the poor. During these next 40 days, I will sacrifice my daily bread, while spending time in prayer with Jesus, who is our spiritual bread - the bread of life. I’ll be praying for those in extreme poverty as I eat what most in the world typically live off of: rice, beans, lentils, and other basic necessities. 

I know what a lot of you are thinking..."But didn't you just do this same thing for 21 days with the Daniel Fast?" My answer is NO! Yes, I spent 21 days fasting and in prayer. A lot of this time was a sacrifice for myself. This is a sacrifice for others. 

But the sacrifice of food is not enough to make a real difference. Therefore, I will take the money that I would normally spend on food, and donate it to those in extreme poverty. I am going to donate through World Vision to certain areas of need. For instance, $75 will buy a goat for a family or village, $25 will buy two chickens, and just $35 can purchase up to $385 worth of medical supplies to sick children. 

Some of this money will also be saved for the upcoming summer projects my friends in Cru will be participating in this summer, where they we be able to share Jesus, the bread of life, with those who have never tasted it before. 

Just imagine if we all made small sacrifices for the world’s poor, both physically and spiritually. We can make a difference together. Will you join me?

Find Your Joy

She curls her toes over the edge of the diving board and peers into the water below. Polka-dot bathing suit. Pink goggles. Pink rubber bands holding soggy pigtails in place. She's not exactly the picture of courage but just when it seems she's going to back down...she grins and instead leaps up, up, up and over the edge.

JOY is a powerful motivator. And it always trumps fear.

We know that as kids. But somewhere along the way we forget how much it's true. We start believing life is serious business and getting rid of fear requires intensity and determination.

Not always.

Sometimes it's as simple as rediscovering our joy, embracing our passion, taking the hand of the Good-Gift-Giver and daring to follow him over the edge.

What do you really love?

What makes you feel joy in a way that nothing else does?

Where do you feel God's presence more than anywhere else (because where he is, joy is too)?

When fear tells you to turn back--to stop following that dream, taking that step, making that difference--run toward joy.

Because, here's the secret, fear has a fear of joy.

And it won't dare to follow you when you jump heart first over that edge.

Daniel Fast (Day 21) Finished...yet just begun!

There was Peter’s threefold denial, Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, and my battle with chicken buffalo dip on Super Bowl Sunday during my 21-day fast: these are the great crisis moments in recorded church history. Thankfully, Jesus escaped the temptation, while I faltered having been lured to the brink of punishment in hell by that addicting dip. Though I failed in my twenty-one day fast (aka my “grace day”), the good news is that I never sinned, because eating buffalo chicken dip doesn’t transgress any moral laws at least in this corner of the universe. To me, this is the beauty of fasting.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). Fasting is a practice deeply grounded in God’s Word and one that I now encourage others to participate in. Finding a biblical precedent for fasting is easy, while finding a passage that explains its purpose is not. Like the tassels on the High Priest’s garments, I’m sure they serve a God-ordained function. What I have learned about fasting has primarily come from doing it and noting its spiritual value. These are the things that I have learned over the past 21 days:

First, fasting seemed to create habits or triggers of reliance in my life. My hunger, which normally arose every 5 or 6 hours, became acute every 5 or 6 minutes when I was fasting, and hunger was my trigger to turn to God for strength, or at least I used it as such during my fast. Of course a tragedy in my life accomplishes the same thing, but fasting creates this necessary environment for reliance without the nasty side effects of inoperable brain cancer or the loss of a loved one. While I’m fasting, all day long I call out to God, for strength, endurance, self-control, empowerment, and wisdom, which in fact, should be normative for a Christian, but in reality is now how we always react.

Second, is what I would call “practice choices.” When I fasted, my flesh, in a very persuasive way, demanded to be fed, and throughout the day I continually had to tell it, “No, you can’t eat, so stop your whining.” It is the same fleshly dynamic of sin and temptation, particularly lust. The only difference is that if I stumbled during my fast and gave in to the terrorist demands of my flesh, I have not compromised myself morally.

Through fasting, self-control was cultivated, and I habitualize said “no” to my flesh. It’s like a full day of practice in preparation for game day. Food is life and my umbilical cord is definitely tied to the kitchen. When I fasted I was snipping the umbilical cord, which caused me to go to God for greater life in order to compensate for the life I am now denied. Many things impart life to us. Some of them are God-ordained sources. Other sources are not necessarily sinful but deriving too much life from them, rather than God, does damage to our souls. The godly man or woman aware of this dynamic is willing to pull the umbilical cord where and when it needs to be pulled. Fasting is a spiritual discipline that made such suicidal choices (which paradoxically leads to deriving greater life from God) a regular part of the past three weeks.

When I fasted I was weak, and when I was weak I was humble. Fasting gave me a firm grip on my smallness and lack of omnipotence, as opposed to coffee, which makes me feel fast, smart, and competent (unless I were to drink coffee when I was fasting which I’m pretty sure would have made me delusional). Humility is not low-self esteem but an accurate perception of my finite nature. Humility magnifies my need for God and always leads me to Him. Fasting is a helpful aid in humbling oneself before God.

Third, fasting is a plea for help, a red flare sent up from the soul for a specific reason or cause. I fasted because I was in distress and desperate for God. But I did it with the caution that I was not attempting to manipulate God or make Him care more than He does. I wasn't holding by breath in blueness until I got my way. Fasting was a vehicle allowing me to spend my passion and desire for deliverance, and I chose it instead of manipulating, yelling, or whining (although through it I feel I complained and whined a lot).

There is a lot I do not understand about the practice of fasting, or the tassels of the High Priest, but I have derived enough from its discipline within these past 21 days to know this will not be the last time I put this discipline into practice. That is why I am choosing not to end it completely. Each week from now until the end of this semester, my friend Laura Lynn and I will be fasting from one specific thing. This week she chose coffee and although I am not a heavy drinker, I am choosing to fast from it as well. This is a chance for us to continue humbling ourselves before the Lord and doing it in a context of community, where accountability and encouragement can point us to Christ in our weaknesses. Both of us have been accepted to intern with Cru this upcoming year. We have already experienced many trials and suffering along the way. We know the enemy is only going to be attacking harder with our commitment to full-time ministry. Please keep us in your prayers as we put on the full armor of God each day and fight for Love. I will continue posting as regularly as possible about our semester-long fast and the journey of our swift and beautiful feet, which God has commanded us to use in order to spread the Gospel. Here we are Lord, send us! 

Laura Lynn and I at Preview Weekend for CRU Staff

You can follow Laura Lynn here.