We Don't Talk About Current Problems

   Have you ever noticed that, as Christians, we are okay with talking about things we have been through that we have overcome? Maybe you were bullied in the past and that impacted your self worth but now you realize that comes from God. Or you could have been someone who used to have an addiction and you realized that you were just focused on masking some trauma in your past that you gave to God and overcame the addiction. Whatever your story is, it's not a bad thing to talk about those things. In fact, sharing your testimony can help others realize they are not alone. It can help them have hope to overcome it as well. 

   But I've noticed, at least for myself, at times we don't like talking about our current struggles. I'm not saying we have to blab our struggles to everyone out there. But if we don't share those struggles with God and other believers we miss out on relationship growth, the chance to be authentic, and we miss out on accountability. I think the reason we don't like talking about fresh problems is because they are like fresh wounds. They hurt, they still bleed, and we may not want to show weakness without feeling hope too. 

   Have you ever felt like that? You are going through a tough time and you just feel like you can't tell anyone. Maybe you don't want to be judged or you don't want to burden anyone. Or, perhaps, you are okay sharing what you've overcome with others but this current struggle is too close to home. You are unsure if you will make it through it. If you've felt that way, you are not alone. I've felt that way too and I've been scared to share what's going on with others because it's not easy to be vulnerable. 

   I'm not saying we have to share everything we are going through with everyone. What I am saying is that it is important to have a few trusted people who can come alongside you and help you. These people will pray for you, listen, and help you stay accountable. God created us to be in a relationship with him and others. We can show others we love them by being real with them and then they may feel more comfortable reciprocating. That's how great growth happens. When people come alongside one another to help each other and when people go to God with their struggles then God really moves.

   So, are you good at being authentic with others? Who is someone you could go to about any current struggles?

We Are Not Chameleons

    I'm sure you've thought about this question, if not now then when you were a child, if you could be any animal what animal would you be? God created many unique creatures during creation. They all have special features and abilities. One such creature is the chameleon. Chameleons have sticky feet, camouflage, can look two places at once, and have really long tongues. Imagine if you had those abilities. Sure, some of them may be strange but think about being able to blend in or being able to climb walls. That could come in handy sometimes, or just be a cool trick to show your friends.

   But, we are not chameleons. Though, I'm afraid some of us are trying to be chameleons whether we realize it or not. Chameleons blend in with their surroundings. They do this as a defense mechanism and to survive (so they can get food). What about you? Have you tried to blend in with the world? We are told in the Bible that the world is sinful. If we follow the ways of the world, we are not following God. God is holy and we are to try to emulate what he calls us to emulate. We are not to blend in with the world, we are to stand out. We are to stand up for Jesus and show others his love. 

   Chameleons also can look at two places at once. This is another great defense mechanism but it is not good for us. I've written blogs about being on the fence. If we are not 100% following Jesus then we are on the fence. If we are looking at the sinful things of this world while claiming to follow Christ, we are on the fence. If you are on the fence, you have made your choice to follow Satan and the world. We must fix our eyes on Jesus. We must do our best to grow in him and follow him.

   Finally, chameleons cling to whatever they are trying to climb. If we cling to things in this world, we are not following the Great Commission. Jesus gave us a commandment to go into the world and make disciples. Everything on this earth is temporary, except the souls of people. If we cling to things that are temporary and do not follow the Great Commission, then we are ignoring a direct command from God. If we didn't have a job to do after we accepted Christ as our personal savior, we could just be taken up to heaven. God created us to be in relationship with others and share the good news of the gospel to others. We get to be a part of his story in that way. That's why we cling to Jesus and show others how to do so as well.

   So are you being a chameleon in any way? How can you grow in each of these areas?

The White Knight

    Many children hear stories of fairy tales and fantasy. Stories with adventure. Stories where there is a hero, a villain, and someone/something that needs rescued. Those stories excite us. They make us wish for adventure in our own lives. 

   One particular story we hear a lot is the story of a knight going to save a princess. This knight faces dangers and will not stop until he rescues the damsel. In the end, the damsel is rescued and the knight and princess live happily ever after.

   These stories are told all in good fun and most even have a moral to them. The problem we run into is we grow up and begin to believe them to be true. I'm specifically talking about the women here. 

   Romance is a big genre in stories, movies, and songs in our culture. Women grow up dreaming of a man to come along and rescue them from their problems. Sure, women still live their lives and aren't sitting and waiting for their prince or in a sleep that needs to be awoken by true loves kiss, but I think we all still secretly are hoping for that one hero to come along and sweep us off our feet (whether we admit it or not).

   I've been there. I remember acting like I didn't want a relationship because I wasn't sure it would ever happen as time went on. I was hoping for a romance. I feel like that's because culture tells us we need certain things to be happy. We need a house, a good job, a car, a spouse, two kids, and a dog. That's the American dream. That's what we are told from a young age that we need and should strive for.

   But, there is another one who comes on a white horse. Revelation 19:11 says "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war." This event happens toward the end of the earth. Jesus comes on a white horse. He is the one who saves. He is the one who loves us unconditionally. He is the one who, in the end, will judge us. He loved us enough to die for us so we could be with him in heaven. Without him, our sin would send us to hell. He is who our eyes should be fixed on. We should be trying to emulate him and live our lives for him on earth. 

   So, are you living your life for yourself or for Christ? Are your eyes fixed on him?

How Strong Are Your Roots?

   One fourth of July my husband and I were at home for the evening. We had heard there were going to be strong storms that night so we stayed in to watch a movie. I began to hear the pat of rain on the window. Then our power went out for a minute and came back on. My husband looked outside and saw the trees bending. We heard later that there were 70 mph winds that night. 

   The next day we went for a walk as a family. There were leaves and branches scattered everywhere. The grave in our parking lot lost the roof. Large trees were snapped in half. But the oddest thing was a huge oak tree had fallen completely over and you could see its roots. 

   Looking at that tree, I was shocked. How could a tree that was so big have roots that wouldn't keep it in the ground. When I got a closer look in the hole and saw that a lot of the ground where it was planted was made of rocks, it made more sense. It also was a good lesson for our Christian walk.

   We are told to be firmly rooted in Christ. This tree was large but the roots were not firm. That would be like a Christian going to church and going through the motions but not having a personal relationship with Christ. They would not be growing in him thus their roots would not be deep and strong.

   There is a parable in the Bible that talks about where seeds are planted. Some seeds are planted in the rocks and they don't take. We must ensure that we are in the good, fertile soil of Christ. We must make sure we are surrounded by other Christians who are helping us grow and not in the rocks of the world. That is how we continue to grow in God and have firm roots.

   So, how firm is your foundation? How can you continue to grow in God each day?

Keep Trying

   My husband enjoys playing soccer in a summer league. He's played on the same team for years now. Usually he is recruited to play defense. That's the position he is best at and the team needs him there the most. This season though, he decided he wanted to play striker. He wanted to have fun and he barely played striker on that team before. He also wanted to score some goals if he could.

   At first, during the season, he played striker and the team struggled to win games. He kept telling the team he wanted to play striker though and they abided by his wish. As the season went on, the team began to struggle more as people on the team wouldn't show up to games. My husband decided to sacrifice his wish and played defense or midfield to help the team. That didn't mean he gave up on his goal. 

   During the last regular game of the season, he went to the game and discovered that four of the players who didn't say they were not coming didn't show up. They began the game with five field players against seven field players. They were playing against the second to last place team and my husband had hoped to score a goal that night but it didn't seem possible because of how few players they had. 

   At halftime they were playing 7 verses 8 with one substitute (it was a co-ed league so they needed to have two girls on the field but only one girl was there). The team kept pushing through in the second half even though it began to rain. My husband found himself in the midfield and he ran down the right side of the field. He made it past one defender, took a shot, the goalie blocked it but didn't catch it, my husband recovered the ball, he went around the goalie, he shot and scored. Just as he scored, the rain stopped. I looked over to the left and saw a rainbow. My husband hadn't given up on his dream even though the odds were stacked against him.

   That's what we need to do in life as well. We must persevere through it all. Hard times will come in our lives. When they do, we have a choice. We can choose to give up or we can push through. We can choose to trust God and work hard. 

   So, are you persevering through trials? How can you rely on God in everything?

Are You Awake?

    If you know me or have read my blog for a while, you know a place I like to go is Camp YoliJwa. It's a Christian camp that I've gone to for most of my life. While there, you do different activities. One of the things you do there is sing songs. There's a song that we sing in the mornings from time to time usually toward the end of the week because that's when everyone is tired. 

   The song goes like this: "I'm alive awake alert enthusiastic. I'm alive awake alert enthusiastic. I'm alive awake alert. I'm alert awake alive. I'm alive awake alert enthusiastic." There are motions with the song and the whole point of it is to wake you up if you are not awake. It is a silly song and usually brings laughter to the group. 

   Sometimes I think this song can relate to our Christian walk. We start to get tired and begin to just go through the motions. We don't feel like doing all the things, working hard, and trying to grow in God because it feels like work and we are tired. That's when Satan gains a foothold in our lives. When we begin to become tired or lackadaisical in our walk the devil comes in to try to break us away from God. 

   This is why we must be "alive awake and alert" in our walk with God. We need to stay strong and grow in him lest Satan step in to break us and our relationship with God. Not only do we need to be alert, we should also be enthusiastic about our walk with God. No other religion has communication with God. Sure, other religions can pray, but they don't hear back from their god. Our God wants a relationship with us. He wants us to talk with him and he listens. He gives us direction too, if we listen. Isn't that something we should be enthusiastic about? The creator of everything wants a relationship with us.

   So are you "alive awake alert enthusiastic" in your walk with God? How can you grow in God today?

Weather and the Good News

    I know we've all done it. We checked the weather for a certain day wondering if our plans would change or be cancelled. Then, on the day of our plans, the weather changes and we blame the weather person for getting it wrong. 

   Well, what if we didn't have weather people or the ability to look at a weather forecast? How would we plan events then? How would we know what to wear? We would have to go outside to figure out what the weather is. We would have to prepare our everyday lives like rain, snow, or sun might happen. Would we still plan events not knowing what the weather will be like? We probably would. 

   New question: what if we didn't have the Bible? I know, that's a big jump but stay with me. The Bible gives us a forecast of events that will happen in the future. It tells us how to live our everyday lives. If we didn't have the Bible, we wouldn't know those things. We wouldn't know what was coming in the future. 

   Even if we didn't have the Bible, I believe God would make the good news of the gospel known. People cannot stop God's plans from happening. Sure, we have free will, but God is the author of everything (look at Jonah, he had free will and chose to disobey God then he got eaten by a fish and changed his mind). God is a good father and he would let us know that one way or another. 

   Thankfully, we do have the Bible. That's one tool we can use to get to know God. It also tells us the forecast of the future and how to deal with problems that come up in our lives. While the weather person may get their forecast wrong, the Bible tells us the truth. We should be grateful to God for the gift of the Bible. We should also be grateful that we don't have to pack a rain jacket, umbrella, snow pants, a winter jacket, sunscreen, etc. everyday because we do have weather people; even if they get the weather wrong sometimes. 

   So, are you grateful for the gift of the Bible? How can you spend time in God's word each day?