Choosing Joy

JOY –such a beautiful word! Joy is much deeper than happiness: happiness is fleeting, depends on everything we see, taste, hear, feel. But joy comes from the peace and strength Jesus grants us daily. It is unconditional –or so it should be.

The life of those who follow Jesus should be one filled with joy. But how many of us walk around defeated, distressed, and depressed? We are convinced our circumstances or the people in our life or those missing from it are the cause of our slumped shoulders, deep sighs, and frowns; but really, we are destroyed from within. Yes, we do this to ourselves!

Joy is a choice, you see.

Joy can be yours if you follow Christ, but you must claim it for yourself. Accepting Christ is not an automatic potion to a life of joy. In fact, pursuing His calling often brings much, much difficulty; it rarely negates life’s hardships but sometimes brings about more. There may be great sacrifice in claiming His death and resurrection: after all, Galatians 2:20 states that we are crucified with Christ. Yet we can glory through all of it.

How then? By choosing to see it all through His eyes –and to let His still, small voice be our vision when our human sight is impaired.

In I Thessalonians, Paul encouraged believers to see their life as a beautiful calling from the Lord –and they should rejoice in this realization. “In everything gives thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” We can REJOICE in His will! It is worth being thankful for!  A few days ago, Amy Carmichael pointed out in her devotional Edges of His Ways the strong truth in Romans 15:13: God equips us with “all joy and peace in believing.” There is JOY in truly believing Him –in trusting Him, in choosing to view His plan through His unseen ways, and in pursuing Him in reckless abandonment.

“’Hush’ to the thoughts that would depress, for the day is holy; it is the day that the Lord has made, that we may rejoice and be glad in it. Let us join hands with Paul, and thank God and take courage” (Amy Carmichael, Edges of His Ways). It is HIS day for HIS glory, regardless of what may or may not happen. Temptations and trials, difficult people and disappointments, hurt and strife –as followers of Christ, you and I can still rejoice through it all. We must trust Him to use it all for His plan and for His glory. So let us rejoice and be strengthened by His JOY.

"What though the way is long

In Thee my heart is strong

Thou art my joy, my song..." 

-Amy Carmichael

The Veil Has Torn

The writings of Exodus can appear long-winded, repetitive, and even useless at times. Oh the many times I have complained about its content! But when in my head and heart God connects dots from this more challenging piece of Scripture with the often Christian favorite of the New Testament, I am left humbled and can only rejoice with the delight He brings.

This morning I was thinking about all the things on my to-do list –the things I want to do and those I don’t; the things I take pleasure in and those I despise; the things that are easy and those that require effort. Lying in bed hearing the birds already worshiping, I knew what my soul needed but I wanted to indulge my head and attempt to accomplish everything in my own might. I wrestled, hid under the quilts –but already the sun revealed His glory through my half-drawn blinds, luring me to His feet. Finally, I rolled over, pushing away my human feelings. Sitting by the window and sipping coffee, I started writing down my worry and wanna-be achievement list while meditating on Philippians 4:6-7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” As my pen traced on the journal page each of my thoughts, God supplied His peaceful answer.

So I rejoiced along with the birds.

As I continued my reading of Exodus, I was captivated by the glorious description of God’s commandments concerning the tabernacle as well as the clothes worn by the priests.  One verse, though, that bounced off the page as if already highlighted without my pen was Exodus 26:33-34: “and the veil will divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. And you will put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.” The people of Israel were not to enter this most holy section where God’s Spirit was; they could not approach God on their own because of their imperfections compared to His holiness. A veil separated them.

One day everything changed, though: “And, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in half from the top to the bottom; and the earth did shake, and the rocks were split” (Matthew 27:51). THE VEIL WAS TORN. Why? What had just happened? Jesus, the Son of God, had just died, crucified on the cross and taking every single sin upon Him. He acted as the perfect sacrifice acceptable to God, making it possible for those who believe in Him to approach God anytime anywhere about anything. JESUS made it possible for me to approach God’s mercy seat this morning, leave everything at His throne of grace, and rejoice. “[The] veil is done away in Christ…when [we] turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Corinthians 3:14-18).

The veil has been torn. What are we waiting for? Let’s gather at His mercy seat and REJOICE. 

In or Of: Whom Do You Fear?

When what I am reading in a class coincides powerfully with a theme in my current Scripture studying while challenging me in my daily life, it becomes all the much more powerful and personal, as if God’s Spirit were drawing lines in my dot-to-dot designs in my head of what my walk with Him should look like. A couple weeks ago I started reading Genesis, a little nervous of this Bible adventure. I am not positive I have ever finished that book or read it in its entirety at once. But, reading it became a dare I could not resist.

I have now reached chapter 33 and have noticed a reoccurring theme. Frequently, the narration includes God providing man with a promise, as if giving him an inside view of His plan and that man’s role in it. The man accepts and embraces it, clinging to it with all his might and emboldened for his journey. However, soon come various challenges against this promise, forcing the man to make a bold decision in either a negative or a positive way. The negative would have been the easiest; but the positive would prove to be the best in the long run.

In his humanity, Abraham chose both negative and positive alleys. Out of fear for his life, Abraham introduces his wife as his sister to foreigners, not once but twice, and almost loses her to them. God intervenes, though, and spares them both. On the other hand, in the well-known incident of God requiring Abraham’s sacrifice of his long-awaited son Isaac, Abraham’s faith is undeniable; God must intervene again, but, this time, because Abraham had thrown everything –including God’s promise of many generations to come- at God’s feet in submissive, reckless obedience to Him.

Lot undergoes similar choices as well. While living in a sinful city along with his family, he is offered a way out before God brings destruction to Sodom and Gomorrah. Even with the knowledge of the looming annihilation of his city, Lot does not care to hurry his family out. Rather, Scripture states that Lot took his time and God had to intervene again: the angels had to pull him and his family out of the city. Lot was so concerned about the seen and the things of this world (the city, perhaps his belongings, his lifestyle) that he and his family came very close to dying. Lot was so focused on this world that God was not GOD in his life. After that escape, God urges Lot to flee to the mountains for refuge. Yet, Lot responds with fear and prefers to stay in the city of Zoar, in his opinion safer than the wilderness. It is incredible and challenging to see just how much FEAR (fear of everything except fear of God) kept Lot from probably following God’s best for him and even for his daughters too who felt forced to take matters in their own hands in order to preserve their family tree.

Again, this time in the life of Jacob, we see fear of man and his temporary threats colliding with faith in God and His promised plan. Countless times, Jacob moves in FEAR of this world and relies on deception to try to mold his life into what he knows is God’s plan for him. Jacob even physically wrestles with God or an angelic being, as if God were stating, “Stop living and acting in fear, Jacob. Don’t you believe in my promises, in my presence, in my plan? Will you fear me or continue to fear men?”

Today, God is asking me the same question –and He is asking YOU that too. It is not my job to tell you what about specifically; only you in your heart can know that for sure as you follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. But I know I would rather God intervene in my life because I have trusted His plan in fear of Him than because He is working against what I have planted in fear of this world.

There are so many things we can focus on in this world instead of GOD, our relationship with Him, and His plan for this world! SO MANY: possessions, relationships, success, dreams, insecurities, safety, reason, fear, destruction, etc. -the list goes on. It’s good to think about those things –we are “in” the world after all. BUT we cannot be consumed by them. We are NOT “of” this world. The only thing we should truly be consumed by is the world we actually belong in…the eternal, the unseen, the relationship we have with Christ. Once we realize and embrace this, we become truly free to fulfill our part in His grand plan. We become truly only “in” this world and not “of” it. Fears of worldly concerns vanish; godly confidence steps in. People’s words still hurt our human heart but cannot touch our invincible soul. Darts and stones may end our breath here on earth, but this ending is only waking up at Jesus’ feet before the throne of God. Yes, “in” this world…but oh not of it!! So I must focus on my GOD, my relationship with Him, His promises, His plan, and my part in it…then will my eyes be opened to His beautiful, powerful, eternal, unseen…

Nancy Pearcey explains this concept in her book Total Truth with the following: “for the believer…the natural world is only part of reality. A complete perspective includes both the seen and the unseen aspects of reality…Day by day [Christians] are to make choices that would make no sense unless the unseen world is just as real as the seen world” (p. 361-362).

UNLESS THE UNSEEN WORLD IS JUST AS REAL AS THE SEEN WORLD.

As if those words were not powerful enough, Pearcey then challenges her readers: “The only way the church can establish genuine credibility with non-believers is by showing them something they cannot explain or duplicate through their own natural, pragmatic methods –something they can explain only by invoking the supernatural” (p. 363).

SOMETHING THEY CANNOT EXPLAIN OR DUPLICATE THROUGH THEIR OWN METHODS.

God’s plan doesn’t always make sense in our boxed-in human minds. God’s ways are not our ways but higher. God’s timing is perfect and beautiful. God carries out ALL of His promises. We are to live for eternity. We like to quote these truths to our Sunday School classes, print them on magnets for our refrigerators, and highlight them as comforting pieces in our Bible. 

But do we truly live them?

There Is Glory in Weakness.

We are taught to be strong. We are told to be held together, to hold our heads high, to be brave, to be bold, to let none see our weaknesses –the list goes on. When you show your power, others will not sense your vulnerabilities, will fear messing with you, will leave you alone, and won’t try to tear down your walls. You won’t be challenged. You will be in control. You will be safe.

Well, let me challenge you as I was…

I just read through I and II Samuel and watched unfold before my eyes the life of David. I almost cried when this man so faithful to his God in the middle of a crowd fell in a secret, deep sin. Yet my heart rejoiced when he found forgiveness and mercy in a God who still cared to have him remembered as the one after His heart. Known so well for his triumphant defeat against Goliath, David should stand out to us not only for a blatant victory against evil but also for his silent trust in a Sovereign God.

Though beyond a shadow of a doubt called by God to be the next king of Israel, David found himself RUNNING from his predecessor who had come to hate him for the very reason he had first asked for him: dedicated service and a heart for God. For years, David hid in the mountains, the wilderness, and even his enemies. Twice he had the opportunity to kill the very man who was keeping him from God’s call on his life –his friends, even, encouraged him to slay Saul. It would have been so easy. It would have been so fast. Then, by the swing of a sword, Saul would have finally been defeated and David could embrace his already guaranteed kingship –his calling. He had been anointed by Samuel after all. Both times, though, David refused to harm Saul. Was David weak? Was David a coward?

He realized he was but a mere man that a Sovereign God wanted to use. That same Sovereign God who had called him to kingship would take care of ALL of His adversaries in His time. David had no right to decide when that timing was. Perhaps this does make David weak, in the world’s standards.

But there was glory in this weakness.

David recognized that all along, all his life, even when he was a young shepherd boy, God honored his humble heart that pursued and craved Him.  Later in his life, when David had to face his sin and its consequences, it was “weakness” that brought him back to the heart of God. Again during his kingship, David was faced with foolish adversaries who mocked him; David’s men encouraged him to destroy these enemies. David could have easily put anyone to death in his kingdom –he was king! Yet he insisted that God would settle the matter in His own time, in His own manner. He knew He could trust God to fulfill His promise. He chose to do nothing and maybe even be viewed as a weak king so that he could leave room for God to work. There IS glory in weakness.

I started reading I Peter a couple days ago, and this morning, a similar theme seemed to shine from the pages: I Peter 2 points out Christ’s behavior when He was falsely accused and in the midst of unfair suffering: He completely left it in the hands of the Sovereign God. He knew what He was called to do –and He knew He could trust the Father to fulfill His side of the promise too.

We are called to a similar walk in life. What can this world really do to us?

No matter how weak we are, we feel, or we realize we SHOULD be…there is beauty and there is glory in that weakness. It is this weakness that draws us to our knees, that motivates our hearts to thirst for His face and His truth, that moves us to compassion to a starving world, and that secures our hope and true confidence in OUR Sovereign God.

“You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied…the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands” (I Samuel 45, 47).

This was David’s cry throughout his entire life –against the bears and lions that sought to steal his sheep; against Saul who coveted the blessing of God on David’s life; and against all other enemies that mocked David’s leadership and delight in God. Will it be yours? Dear readers, I do not know what you’re going through. I probably will never hear from you nor hear your story. But I wager to say that you have weaknesses –everyone does! It’s really not a matter of having them but of what you will do with them.

Will you be ashamed of your weaknesses? Will you stuff them in a closet, hoping that the doors will not accidentally open when you have company over? Do you have power but long to restrain it but are afraid to? Will you accept and embrace your weaknesses, leaving them at His feet? Will you commit yourself to the One who judges righteously (I Peter 2:23)? Will you trust Him?

There is GLORY in these weaknesses, no matter what these are. 

Our Hearts

Why does God allow suffering to His faithful?
Why are dreams so long to become fulfilled and sometimes never come to pass?
Why does He seem so silent at times while the world is quick to speak its opinions?

I read Job in a week. I’m not sure if a book in the Bible has ever captivated me so fully and so wholeheartedly. Portrayed as a man faithful to his God, Job enters an incredible sequence of events that completely shake his entire life: in a matter of minutes and as a result of spiritual warfare, everything (except his negative wife!) was stripped away from him. We don’t know how long his agony lasted, but part of his suffering included a constant outpour of various words and opinions from his “friends.” Every single one of them had an opinion; and while each opinion held truths within it, it did not address Job’s real issue. Then God stepped in. He did not answer Job’s questions; rather, He pointed out His sovereignty. Job was absolutely humbled; how foolish he had been to try to explain the meaning of what was happening to him. While God blessed Job in unmeasurable material and familial ways in the long run, Job received the most important gift right after God’s words humbled him: a true heart for God –not a heart after sacrifices and ordinances, but a heart after the Almighty.

Yesterday, I began reading I Samuel. I jumped into a storyline early on that I had expected; but I also discovered a similar theme to Job that I had not foreseen. I Samuel begins with an insight in the life of a woman, Hannah, desperate for her own child. She and her family are seen as faithful to God through their regular prayers and sacrifices, similarly to Job’s situation prior to his moment of desperation. Hannah, too, is persecuted, though mainly emotionally. Her dream for a child was honorable –yet God did not seem to be fulfilling her vision. Eventually, He did provide her with a son, Samuel, who would do wonders through God for Israel. Why did God make Hannah wait? What did God want of her?

He wanted her heart…just like He wanted Job’s…and He wants ours.

There is no telling how Hannah would have been toward God and the future of her son had she not had to wait, had she not had to endure the pain from the words of her husband’s second wife. There’s no telling how Job would have continued viewing God had he not been tried. Would both Hannah and Job have continued in simply following the rules and offering sacrifices rather than truly pursuing the heart of God?

The desires God places in our hearts are for a very, very, VERY specific reason; but if we try to meet them on our own timetable or if we pursue them more than the One who gave them to us, we risk missing quite a bit of beautiful growth in the Lord –we risk missing what He wants most for us: a heart after Him and His purposes. Jesus boasted of Mary’s best decision: to choose the “good portion” of life (Luke 10:41-42), pursuing the heart of God. Similarly, God looked past David’s human mistakes and still had him remembered for his most important trait: a heart after God’s (Acts 13:22).

So to those of you waiting for your dream to come, to those of you praying for healing, to those of you who are confused about your next step, remember that if your heart is after God’s, you already have everything. Let your heart pursue Him, confessing His sovereignty. He CAN be trusted. “He suffered you to hunger…that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone…” (Deut. 8:3) –He wants us to have the most important part of life: satisfaction in Him, in pursuing Him, in knowing Him. Forget the calling, forget the mission; yes, those are important. But what He wants most is our heart. As so beautifully said by Amy Carmichael, “It is a safe thing to trust Him to fulfill the desires He creates.”

Simply Duty

So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’ (Luke 17:10).

This evening, I started to really seriously look at my upcoming coursework for my next class that is about to begin. To be completely honest, I started to feel that big drowning feeling in my stomach rising through my chest: the big “o” word –overwhelmed, especially since this course is supposed to overlap with another one that looks twice as more intense and demanding. Suddenly, I had to laugh at myself, at my fear, and at my future! I can’t let myself get overwhelmed, but rather I should remember what, or rather Who, this entire degree is all about: His work and His alone. It’s about my taking a leap into the unknown, about walking on water…with just the sound of His Spirit to lead me and with my eyes wide open to continue to see His beautiful painting come alive before my heart, mind, and soul. In fact, He has already begun to reveal to me part of it in ways that only point to Him. Nobody else may quite see it as I do; others may even view me as crazy. But all that matters is that I, I do know. And as I know and remember, I grow and am left only more and more in humble awe and sincere emptiness, ready for Him to fill and overflow me over and over and forever.

But as I move to embrace every day as an adventure with and for Him, I cannot fall to the temptation to pat myself on the shoulder for such a choice. It is, rather, just my mere duty to Him. Following Him, picking up my designed cross, forsaking this world and its empty promises, seeking His face above all, breathing in and out His Word, and obeying His still, small voice –this is only and simply my calling. Just as Jesus tried to explain to His disciples many, many years ago, I need to recognize that to choose any other walk is foolish…and to cling to His promises while trusting and obeying is my only reasonable service, the essence of true life, and the summary of any lasting legacy. We have done what was our duty to do. Simply my duty –no accolade should be expected. What a foreign concept for my human, sinful mind swamped by a culture that worships self, seeks personal advancement and comfort above all, and desires to prove itself worthy! Everyone and anyone desire a prize, some sort of trophy –but do we really deserve it?

Micah 6:8 states that what God REQUIRES of me is to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him. Through Christ’s strength, this has become my duty. Will I accept it with joy this year of 2014, only hoping to hear one day, Well done, good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:14-30)? Will YOU?

Hopes & Fears Met in Thee Tonight

It’s that time of year –CHRISTMAS! It’s weird to think that one year has passed since the start of my blog. Looking back over the past year, it’s as if I can see how one thing led to another, stretching me in my faith and leading me towards Shiloh’s Mount. I caught a glimpse as never before about what it means to take leaps of faith; to truly only lean on the Savior; and to trust Him to fulfill what He has promised towards you.

I read a few days ago Luke 5:1-11, and while I cannot possibly compare my journey to those of the disciples’, I did recognize a pattern in their life that occurred at least a couple times in my past year. Like reading the steps to following a pattern to make a quilt square, I saw it all come together. In the Scripture passage, Jesus enters a ship and asks Simon, a fisherman on it, to throw the nets into the water again. Simon tells Jesus that there is nothing to be caught BUT that he will proceed anyways. We see here the first step:  simple obedience when it does not make any sense. 

The disciples actually catch so much fish that their net breaks and they need help from other fisherman in order to collect the fish! Simon Peter is astonished and humbled. I can definitely relate to this next step: God works and I am humbled. This has happened so much this past year: countless times I weakly followed the Lord, with so little confidence in who He is…only to be blown away by His faithfulness and His provision.

What’s amazing is the third step: Jesus looked past the sinful minds of His future disciples and stated FEAR NOT, calling them to become fishers of men. God looks past all of our sin, failures, abilities/inabilities, and insecurities and gives us a calling, something to do, to obey. And just as the fisherman responded, so should we: they finished up their current job, left everything behind, and embraced their calling: following Him. What is the last step in this quilt block? Usually finishing up our current job (unless sinful), leaving everything behind, embracing our calling, and following Him.

This is what Christmas is really about: casting aside our fears of years past and unwrapping the gift of hope that comes through following Christ alone…because that little baby we so easily sing about this time of year is the Son of God, long-expected Messiah, and the only Savior. So let the weary world rejoice!