Stormy Week

Psalm 91:1-2

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

What a truly amazing and awesome God we serve. My week was filled with activities, prayer, and service to others. At each moment of the day I noticed something amazing. When I tried to do the work in my own strength I was exhausted and overwhelmed, but as soon as I would ask God to intervene and help me I had amazing energy and love for all the different situations going on around me. I am so thankful that He doesn't expect us to live life in our own strength. What a mess we would be in!

As Paul puts it, suffering is for us to become more like Christ, and so we will be made aware of our need of God. It also grows our faith.

Faced with the possibility of even death during his trips to Asia (which we don’t have much info on) Paul quit relying on himself and learned to rely on God. God DID rescue them from mortal danger and Paul’s faith was increased.

I pray that we will continue to rely on God for our strength. I pray that when we go through fire and trials that we will trust that God is refining us for His service and that when we make bad decisions that He will lovingly correct us and that we will continue in His service.

Praying Praying Praying

James 1:2-4

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I feel like I have been down on my knees for days, asking God to intercede on my friends' behalves. There are seasons in life where you feel spiritual darkness more than other times. I don't know if it is just living in Japan and being a foreigner that makes it seem more intense, but for whatever reason right now it is very intense. There are so many battles and struggles going on around me that really need deep prayer. God is a God of answers and I am praying for answers for my friends and for myself.

I love to talk and share any wisdom that I have gained from my own life that might help someone else, but sometimes there just aren't words for the pain that someone else is going through. As I'm writing this a flood of situations surrounding me are coming to mind. I wish I had all the answers and I could make it all better, but I can't.

God is truly the author of our lives and while I don't believe he causes harm to us, I do believe he allows things to happen to refine us for his glory and for our work in this world. Lately I have felt like sifted wheat. There was a great analogy in my study this week on Daniel. It talked about how God allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to become like a great tree providing for everyone with fruit and shelter. However, the King still didn't recognize the one true God as the author of his life and God took him down to a stump. He protected that stump and wouldn't let any harm come to it except what was good for building him back up to be fruitful and serve God.
I think that's what he does with us sometimes. He is taking us to a stump where we can only rely on Him to grow us back into the kind of children God wants us to be.

One of the hardest things for me right now is to be vulnerable in my prayers. How do you say, 'Your will be done' when death is involved? How do you trust when it comes down to precious relationships and precious lives? These are the questions I have had to ask God and even through asking Him I know my heart still says ' Your will be done'. I know He is perfect and His will is perfect. The Bible tells us to make our requests known to God and He will answer them. So, I am requesting on my knees and asking for His grace and mercy, but ultimately... YOUR WILL BE DONE!

Unshakable Security

Where can we find unshakable security?

I read this phrase unshakable security in my Bible study this week and it hit me like a 10lb brick. People see me as confident, strong, ambitious and most definitely secure. My personality traits that other people see solely rest in Christ. I work daily on my insecurities, lack of ambition, and other struggles. It is only by God's grace that I can overcome those things.

Christ is the foundation of unshakable security for me. I second guess my thoughts all the time. The more I study God's word the more I am learning how inferiority complexes are just as self-indulgent as superiority complexes. They both are relying on self and not God.

He knitted us together in our mother's womb. He told us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. His word also says that he has a plan for us to prosper us and to make us into His image! It is so amazing to think that God doesn't want us to sit around and be depressed and self-indulgent. He wants us to use our God given talents and desires to serve Him and bear much fruit.

I keep running into people with insecurity issues especially with self-image. It's amazing how many fad diets there are and how many ads or commercial there are pushing us to lose weight, get fit, have surgeries, etc. The bible talks about each of these areas. Amazingly God didn't put a height/weight chart in any of the books of the Bible. He does mention literally that exercise is of 'some' value. He does call us to care for our bodies because they are temples of the holy spirit. We should honor our bodies and care for them, but to overindulge in any of the areas I believe is a sin. Trusting God with exercise and eating seems to be tough for most of us. He wants our very best for us and has already given us the tools to live a god-centered life.
My prayer is that I/we will take each day captive and trust God with what He is going to do with it.