One Word for the New Year

It wasn’t my idea, so rather than trying to paraphrase an idea that someone else has already so impressively articulated, I’ll just let you read it straight from the source for yourself.

http://www.myoneresolution.com/one-word-resolution/

Have you ever made a resolution and actually stuck with it for the entire year?

Is your resolution list for this new year really any different than the one you made last year? Or for that matter, every year previous?

In an effort to live my life more consciously for God… to seek His will… to follow His lead… to walk the path He has already laid out for me… my word for 2013 is intentional. That everything I do be done with a purpose. That all I seek to accomplish this year be for the sole purpose of fulfilling what God has asked me to accomplish.

I’ve always been good at being busy. Being busy for God, even. Teaching classes, taking classes, volunteering, studying God’s Word… but sometimes I do these things just to do them. Sometimes I do them just to stay busy. Sometimes I do them because I’m afraid of missing out on an opportunity to be a part of something God may be doing. But in over-committing myself, I’m never able to fully commit myself. I spread myself thin and don’t allow myself enough margin to fully be a part of what God really does want to do in and through me.

So this year, I want to be intentional. To allow God to use me where He wants to use me. To avoid filling my schedule with stuff He may have already designated for someone else. That there would be less of me in my commitments and more of Him.

What will your word be for 2013?

He Already Knew...

For the Lord is our judge,
The Lord is our lawgiver,
The Lord is our king;
He will save us—
Your tackle hangs slack;
It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly,
Nor spread out the sail.
Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;
The lame will take the plunder.
-Isaiah 33:22-23

 

As these words were penned, God was already standing with you in today.

 

Really think about that for a moment.

 

As God gave us His Word, He already knew exactly where you would be today - in this very moment. And He gave us these words to guide us, encourage us, and call us to truth - already knowing exactly where we'd be standing today.

 

And as He stands with you today, He is already standing with you tomorrow. What is true in our past and present days of suffering is that God is also currently present in our day of healing. Time is a worldly concept - God is not restricted to the laws of time. He is simultaneously in all places. God had a complete understanding and an absolutely sovereignty of and over your situation today, as His Word was being written for you.

 

While that concept may be next to impossible to comprehend this side of heaven, God will give us the faith to trust in Him and to trust in His truth. We can trust that He holds the answers when we do not. We can trust that He will guide us toward our next step in the journey of our lives, even when He chooses not to show us the entire path at once. We can trust that He has our best interest at heart, that His plan is the only plan that will bring us peace, and that He wants us to follow Him even more than we usually want to ourselves - because He knows the end of the story. He knows where the journey will ultimately lead. And He asks us to trust that He will not lead us down a wrong path.

 

God does not override free will. Even when He doesn't want it for us, He allows others to sin against us. But He also sees what we currently do not, and He is already standing with us on our day of healing. Trust that He wants to get you there; trust that He knows the way.

 

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope... when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you," says the Lord... "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." -Jeremiah 29:11-13; Psalm 32:8

Single & Parenting

It seems like the summer has gone by so quickly – it’s hard to believe that fall is just around the corner!

One of my favorite things about fall is that the church launches all kinds of new groups and bible studies! And I am super excited about a new group I’ll be leading at my church for single moms! If you’re a single mom in the Omaha area, this would be a perfect opportunity for you to get connected with a wonderful group of women, to talk about life, and to get personal with God’s Word. Together.

The group is called “Single & Parenting” and it will begin meeting this Sunday morning! In this group, you will have an opportunity to discuss and apply God’s Word to parenting issues such as discipline, emotions, conflict resolution, financial struggles, and so much more. And you will learn that you are not alone. Whether you are a single parent due to divorce, death, or having never been married, God values you and your family just as much as every other family. And He promises in Philippians 4:19 to “meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.”

I will have an opportunity to present the group it in further detail during our fall Bible Study Kick-Off next week, however, since the group will actually start meeting before then, I’m just trying to get the word out so single moms have an opportunity to get involved right away!

If you’d like more information about the group or if you would like to join, you can email me at smithjosie6@gmail.com or contact Westside Church directly.

I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us this season!

Pride and Obedience

I’m somewhere between completely impulsive and a total procrastinator. Actually, I’m nowhere between – I’m 100% one or the other, depending on the circumstance.

If I get a great idea, I rarely bother to think it through – I jump in, head first, and don’t stop until I inevitably screw something up and have to start over.

Give me an “assignment”, however, and I’ll put it off until the very last minute. And then 3 days later, I’ll start on it.

And then there are those occasional situations where I actually really want to do something, but for whatever reason – either I get busy, get distracted, or things just get in the way – it gets put off. And sometimes it gets put off for so long that I decide its time has passed, it’s just too late, and I write it off.

That’s where I found myself when I looked back on the years I’d spent as a believer without having been baptized.

I had decided it was just too late. Most people jump into baptism shortly after committing their lives to Christ. It feels like a natural transition from an old life into a new one.

But not me. I didn’t even have a church when I committed my life to Christ, so I wouldn’t even have known how to go about getting baptized. Besides, it wasn’t really a very high priority to me at the time – I’d been baptized as a baby, so I figured if it was something God wanted me to do, I could consider myself “grandfathered” in.

Eventually I found a church. And a church family. And over time, I became involved in different areas of ministry.

When God started nudging me toward baptism, I graciously told Him thanks, but no thanks.

I mean, what would people think if they knew I’d spent all that time as a believer not having been baptized? What would they think if they realized the woman who taught their bible study class last semester hadn’t even been baptized?

What would people think??

(And also, who wants to spend two hours getting ready for church in the morning, putting on makeup and blow drying and straightening hair, just to be dunked in a pool of water and have to start all over again?!)

But God being God, He rarely lets us get away with excuses that easily. And He’s not a big fan of pride. (Trust me on that one, he reminds me of that more often than I’d like to admit!)

Eventually, He convinced me I needed to do it, and He did so through my 8 year old.

It reminded me a little of the times when you’re a kid and you send the youngest, cutest, most innocent sister to ask mom if you can all go out for ice cream – because you know, while she would have no problem saying no to you, that sweet baby is hard to turn down!

Well, my daughter asked me if I’d ever been baptized. And then she asked me if we could get baptized together.

And what mom in her right mind could say no to that?!

But I’d be lying if I said I was instantly excited about it. In fact, I’ve had to spend a lot of time in prayer about it – mostly asking God to simply help me get over my own stupid pride.

And finally tomorrow, she and I will be baptized together.

Sure, we know a lot of people in the church… but we won’t have pews full of family to stand and support us like many people do. And there may even be people there who do think the very things I was afraid they would think.

But God has shown me that that’s ok.

My prayer has finally turned from asking God to help me get over my pride, to asking God to use this opportunity to move the hearts of people who may feel the same pride I felt. To show people it's never too late to be obedient to what God asks us to, even if we're a little bit afraid of what others might think.

And also that He’d give me just a tiny bit of grace and not let my mascara run…

Too Many Words

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

There are times in our lives that God brings us to a place of brokenness to show us just how much we are in need of healing. God delights in our brokenness, because it is in these times that we often allow him the most room to work in and through us. Sometimes this brokenness is due to something in our present; other times the brokenness is due to something in our past.

Over the last few months, God has brought to me such a brokenness – a brokenness due to something from the past. Tonight, through tears, I prayed the same prayer I've been praying for so long: God, show me how to fix myself.

And tonight, for the first time, I heard an answer. He whispered this simple answer to my heart, and it was perhaps the most powerful answer he's ever given me...

Your prayer has too many words.

And without even thinking, suddenly I prayed: God, fix me.

The excitement in speaking that prayer was INCREDIBLE!!! I actually screamed out loud, I was so excited!! And then I laughed... I stopped crying and I laughed! And then I laughed until I cried!!

I had been feeling so hopeless and so helpless for so long. No matter how hard I tried, I could not seem to come up with anything I could do to fix this issue in my life.

And God showed me – the reason I couldn’t come up with anything, was because there wasn’t anything I could do! Changing my prayer allowed me to release the control I never really had in the first place; and it allowed me to release myself from the responsibility of fixing something I was never capable of fixing! It shifted the control and responsibility to God – where it really always was anyway!

Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. (Jeremiah 17:14)

Jeremiah doesn’t pray Show me how to heal myself, Lord, or Show me what I need to do to be healed. No! He simply says Heal me, Lord!

…and I will be healed.

Is There Anything More Difficult?

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Matthew 18:22-23

One of the most difficult things God commands of us is to forgive others. When people hurt us – especially when they hurt us deeply – forgiveness can feel impossible. We feel like if we grant forgiveness to the other person, it sends a message to them that the sin they committed against us was no big deal. That it didn’t hurt us. And it can even feel like we’re granting them permission to continue to sin against us.

But guess what…

People will sin against us, whether we grant them permission or not. People will hurt us, whether we grant them permission or not. No matter how much they love us. The message we are sending is not one of “permission” but one of God’s grace and mercy. We are not dismissing the pain; what we are telling them instead is that the relationship is worth more than allowing the pain to control us.

The bible talks about two types of forgiveness.

God calls us to forgive unconditionally directly before him. One on one with God. Anything against anyone.

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Mark 11:25

The second type of forgiveness is a little more conditional.

If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.

Luke 17:3

God doesn’t command us to immediately speak words of forgiveness to those who have hurt us. No, what he tells us is to first rebuke them. Telling someone their words or actions hurt us allows the process of forgiveness and healing to begin. The other person then has a choice. They can choose to dismiss us, or they can choose to repent.

The response may not be immediate – sometimes it takes time. If there is no repentance, God doesn’t command us to speak words of forgiveness toward them. We are still to forgive them before God, but only upon repentance are we commanded to speak those words of forgiveness directly to them.

And it’s important to remember that although we are hurt by the sins committed against us, the greatest weight of those sins is actually committed against God.

David understood that.

“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”

Psalms 51:4

David was a murderer, an idolater, an adulterer, and yet he recognized that his sins were ultimately sins against God. Because of this, despite all he did, God called him “favored”.

God doesn’t expect perfection. He didn’t create us to be perfect. If we were perfect, we would have no need for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. God knows we’re going to mess up. He knows we’ll make mistakes, and he knows we’ll sin. And he loves us anyway. He forgives us anyway.

He grants us his grace and his mercy, even when we don’t deserve it.

Especially when we don’t deserve it.

Because that’s when we need it the most.

Dialog with God

I’m glad God is the rational one in our relationship. Sometimes when I feel like things in my life are getting just a little too out of control, I can get a little emotional. Maybe even a lot emotional.

I cry out to God, and sometimes I feel like the conversation goes a little like this:

Me:      I can’t believe that just happened! My world is falling apart! This is catastrophic!

God:    Relax. It’s under control.

Me:      Relax?! Don’t you know how important this is to me?!?

God:    I do. That’s kinda the point…

Me:      Then why are you letting this happen?!? I can’t handle this right now!!

God:    Don’t. Let me.

Me:      You?! What are YOU gonna do about it?! If I don’t figure out how to fix this RIGHT NOW –

God:    You can’t fix it. Just be patient. Haven’t you learned by now that you can trust me?

Me:      I guess so, but –

God:    Patience.

Me:      Fine. But –

God:    Trust.

Me:      *sigh*

            Can I –

God:    Faith.

Me:      Ok, ok.

God:    Perhaps you could do some reading while you wait. Let me recommend a Good Book…

And then a few days go by. I’ve stopped worrying about the problem, but I’ve also kind of given up hope that it will be resolved. I’ve just come to a place of acceptance…

And then God surprises me.

He fixes it. Just like that. Effortlessly.

Me:      Thanks God. I guess you were right. I realize I can trust you, after all.

God:    See. I told you.

Me:      I’ll never doubt you again…

A week later…

Me:      I can’t believe that just happened! My world is falling apart! This is catastrophic!

God:    Relax. Don’t you remember the last time you said that?

Me:      Yeah, but –

God:    Really? Are you REALLY gonna make me go there again?

Me:      *sigh* I’ll get the Book…

It's Friday now.... but Sunday's coming.

Dear God,

If you must hit me over the head with a 2x4 to get my attention, please do it good and hard the first time, because you know I can be stubborn and I'd just like to avoid having to go through it all again. And again and again and again...

Amen

A dear friend of mine shared with me a prayer much like that one. And I get it. I don’t always like it, but I get it.

I’ve been blessed with the gift of “adaptability”. It’s great in many respects – plans changing at the last minute don’t usually cause me stress; interruptions in tasks I’m trying to complete don’t generally frustrate me; and all of life’s little hiccups are merely opportunities to engage my creative thinking abilities. But sometimes my ability to adapt so easily in certain circumstances also prevents me from learning the lessons God might be trying to teach me in those times.

So occasionally I require an all-out blow to the noggin.

And that’s not fun.

In those times, I find myself in a place of brokenness, with nowhere to go but to God.

Brokenness looks different for everyone. We all have our own personal limits – the extent to which we can handle things that come up in our lives on our own. And God takes us to those limits. And then he takes us past them. Because he wants us to remember that it is only through him that we will find true strength. We gain nothing by relying only on our own abilities.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1:2-3)

My brokenness comes through trials of many kinds. Not one big trial, and not trials here and there – but a sudden onslaught of difficult trials of many kinds. Financial struggles that leave me feeling hopeless; relationship struggles that leave me feeling wounded; parenting struggles that leave me feeling powerless; even heart struggles that force me to recognize that I’ve been relying on idols rather than God. Ouch.

And I know I’m not alone in saying that these trials don’t exactly elicit “pure joy” from my heart! But I realized something… that verse doesn’t say I have to feel pure joy in the midst of my trials. It just says I have to consider it. The dictionary defines consider as to think carefully about; to contemplate; to reflect on. That’s a little easier for me to wrap my heart around. I can think about joy. I can contemplate joy. I can reflect on joy. Even when I don’t feel joy. Because the feelings of pure joy will eventually follow, just as James goes on...

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:4)

When I allow God to test me, and when I respond by trusting in him, I give him the opportunity to produce in me a maturity and a completeness that only he can accomplish.

He never promised me I wouldn’t have pain. In fact, he promised exactly the opposite. But he also promised that he’d see me through it and that ultimately, he had already conquered it for me anyway. All I have to do is trust that he’ll get me to the place where he’s already waiting for me.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

And if nothing else, these trials have given me a greater and deeper appreciation for the cross. On this Friday, we remember the immense and unimaginable suffering and death of Jesus. For us. For me. So that I could stand blameless before the Father. I don't deserve his grace, but he gives it to me anyway. Because of Jesus. And on Sunday, we will celebrate the miracle of the Resurrection.

Without his death, there is no resurrection.

Without my suffering, there is no redemption.

It's Friday now.... but Sunday's coming.

A New Direction

A man's heart plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

It’s hard to believe, with today’s temperature estimated to hit almost 90 degrees, that we were in the midst of winter just a few short months ago.

Today as I was clearing the memory card on my camera, I came across some photos I had taken one beautiful winter afternoon, following a peaceful but heavy snowfall. The kids and I had been driving through a park, admiring God’s lovely artwork in the snow-covered trees, and I couldn’t help but attempt to capture some of the gorgeous scenery with my camera. The kids laughed at me as I stopped several times, right in the middle of the road, to jump out of the car and run up and down the slushy street, snapping photo after photo of the trees God had used as the canvas for his masterpiece.

The beauty of it all was breathtaking. The way the snow appeared to sit oh-so-perfectly balanced on the otherwise naked branches of the trees; the way the white-covered ground blended itself almost seamlessly into the white-gray sky; the way the trunks of the trees turned themselves into jagged branches, which reached carelessly in every direction until disappearing into the backdrop of the ground-meeting-the-sky.

I couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful.

And then we hit a road block.

Apparently in the midst of the peaceful snow storm, a tree had come down. The weight of the snow on its branches appeared simply to be too much for its somehow weakened frame to hold, and it had fallen right in the middle of the road on which we were driving.

We were forced to turn around.

I was a little disappointed. I was looking forward to continuing to take in the beauty I was sure would continue down the road which I had chosen to take. I was annoyed at the obstacle in front of me because it was preventing me from going where I wanted to go.

But upon turning the car around, I noticed something incredible. The back-sides of the trees, which had been hidden from me before due to the direction I had been travelling, were as beautifully snow-covered as the branches above them!

Had I continued in the direction I had initially chosen, I never would have seen the opposite side of them. But the obstacle in my path forced me to choose a new direction, and because of that, I was blessed with a new perspective!

And it hit me.

How often does God do this to us?

How often does God call us to travel in a new direction by allowing us to encounter obstacles in our lives?

Oftentimes we call out to him – sometimes in annoyance at minor inconveniences, and other times in agony over more devastating situations – asking him why he allows these things to get in the way of the plans we’ve made for our lives.

But God sees the beginning and the end. He sees what we do not. And when we humble ourselves to God’s redirection, sometimes we are amazed to see things from a new perspective, which we may have never before considered. Our eyes become opened to things we never would have seen, had we not been forced to turn around and choose a new path.

Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105)

It's Not So Bad! (Is It?)

I really don’t see what the big deal is – this single mom thing is cake. Easy Peasy. Seriously. Why do people act like it’s so difficult? Why are people always telling me things like: “I don’t know how you do it!” and “I could never do what you do!”?

I have a good job. I have a decent income. My daughter is obedient, respectful, smart, and well-behaved.

All those verses you read about children obeying their parents – I drilled those into my daughter. They are, after all, of utmost importance!

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (Ephesians 6:1)

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. (Colossians 3:20)

I expect that of my child. I demand that of my child. And she is more than willing to comply.

Apparently, I’m just really good at this mom thing.

Embarrassingly enough, that was my attitude for the first few years of my single mom journey. One of “Oh yeah, I got this!”

And then came my son…

…Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. (2 Corinthians 12:7)

Yep, that’s him. The thorn in my flesh. My tormentor. And dare I say, the messenger of Satan?! (That’s certainly how it feels some days!)

And my eyes were opened. Suddenly, “I don’t got this” so much anymore. At least not on my own. I had become conceited in my abilities as a mom – as a single mom – and God blessed me with an awareness that I didn’t quite have the level of control I thought I had.

And what a blessing that was!

In my weakness, He called me to lean on Him! To call out to Him! And ultimately, to trust in Him! He taught me about grace, and about His perfect strength. He showed me my pride and called me to humility. He taught me about struggles, challenges, and adversity – not that I’d never experienced those things before, but I’d never experienced them fully in the way He intended me to experience them!

He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Both of my children have blessed me tremendously, in ways unique to the personalities God gave them. From my daughter I learn about faith, joy, and obedience; while my son teaches me humility, weakness, and grace.

What perfect balance God has in His plans!