Everything

I recently heard a quote that I loved.  It goes like this, How I view God is how I view everything.

Actually, now I'm plagued with doubt about the exact wording.  Maybe it went more like, What I believe about God is what I believe about everything.

Either way.

I've tried to explain to multiple people why this quote is such a great one, with varying measures of success.  It's a little more abstract than your run-of-the-mill statement.  But all that aside, here's why I like it.

Because if God is Just, and Perfect, and Good, and Unchanging, and He is Constant (I started capitalizing all the words and now I just can't stop), then I am able to understand that literally nothing else in this entire world will ever measure up to God.  Nothing.

A friend recently was talking about how life wasn't fair.  She's been praying for the salvation of several close family members, praying that their lives would get straightened up, that healing would come, but nothing was happening.  Don't all things work together for good to them that love God?  She loved God.

That's tough.  A lot of what was going on in her life at the time was unfair.  There isn't another way to say it except to admit that she'd been dealt a raw deal, and things were not looking good.  And you know what?  That's okay to say that things were unfair, things were unjust, things weren't looking good.

It's okay because God is good inspite of the injustices of this life.  It's okay because God is faithful in spite of the failures of literally every single one of us.  It's okay because there has never been a promise made to any single one of us that life would be fair.  It won't be fair because it can't be.  Because when I understand that God Himself is the only perfect and true constant, I can stop expecting that life will be perfect.  Life can't be.  Life is messy and hard, but in all of that, there's God.  And when I view the Lord Himself as the only answer, then I can rely on Him each and every time that life lets me down.

And that's why what I believe about God is what I believe about everything.  Because my view of God's of God's infallibility/immutability/etc. means that nothing else will measure up.  And that's actually a really, really, really reassuring fact.

Things I learned in 2014

This year, an abbreviated list (unlike last year's wordy list!), because most of the things I learned were kind of personal.  And you guys are my friends, but let's be honest, this is still the internet.

1)  Life is hard.
2)  God is good.
3)  Seeing a fault in one's self doesn't mean the fault will be automatically fixed.
4)  Spreading wings is a difficult and misunderstood task.
5)  Faith comes by hearing.  And hearing.  And hearing again.

And that's it, guys.  All of 2014 and I came away with but five share-able takeaways.

I'm banking on the Lord coming before next year, just so we're all clear.  I say this every year (every day?) but seriously, this year has got to be our year!

And a picture from an airplane, because it's a picture and I used to pretend I was going to add pictures to my posts, remember?

Evolution. Pfft.

A few weeks ago I was picking up my newphew(ish) from school and I asked him what they'd learned that day.

"Oh, nothing really," he said.  His usual response.

Naturally, I always give him a hard time about learning nothing, so I badgered him for a little more information.

"Well," he mused after a minute, "they were talking about volcanoes.  That was cool, but they said that it was because of evolution.  Can you believe that, Auntie Jo?  Can you believe that my teacher believes in evolution?  The Bible even says it's not true!  And she thought it was real!"

Oh, childlike faith.  I hope he never loses that staunch faith in the Bible.  Not like I think he's at risk to, but as a child I tended to say "Bible says it?  Count me in!" but once people started asking for specific examples of something, I never knew what to say.  I remember giving someone a gospel tract when I was little.  Just sort of wandering by myself when we were at a historic village one day.  Anyhow, the person to whom I gave this tract asked me if I believed in the Bible.  Of COURSE I did!  I was probably eight or so, which was old enough to know that I believed in the Bible wholeheartedly, but as soon as this grownup started asking me about the flood, and about creation, and all sorts of specific things that he said weren't true, I had no idea what to say.

It was sort of traumatizing, actually.

To this day, I'm not sure why I was wandering by myself, nor do I know why that adult thought it was okay to start grilling me about my beliefs.  I guess I did give him a tract, so I sort of asked for it.  Details, details.

Anyhow, I smiled when I heard my nephew(ish) talk about the folly of evolution, because of course it's not true.  The Bible says otherwise!

Tru dat, my friend.  Tru dat.

Hola!

Dear 2011,

Welcome.  I just wanted to let you know that I am expecting great things of you.  First, that I don't see much of you.  The Lord has promised that He is surely coming soon!  Woohoo!  Secondly, I trust that I learn to trust and obey.  I was considering that song the other day and realizing that my faith leaves somewhat to be desired.  Thirdly, that my walk might be worthy, leaving others with the knowledge of Christ.  Like Moses, I want my face to shine.

Thank you Lord, for another year.  Whether or not you come during these next 12 months, every day draws me closer to You.  Each day is a gift.  Thank You.

Jo

Wisdom and such

Solomon was pretty cool (minus the whole wife fetish, but we'll let that go for now). He ended up being a King while young, and really relied on the Lord to get him started... and then sort of let it slip. Again with the wife thing.

But do you remember the prayer he prayed? He requested "wisdom and knowledge," and he might "go out and come in before this people." As a quick aside, I find great hilarity in that verse, but I take it a little bit out of context sometimes, so I won't dwell on that fact too much here. Anyhow, the Lord granted it to him (feel free to brush up in either 2 Chronicles 1 or 1 Kings 3), and all was good for Solomon (well, until the wife thing). (You know, for saying I wasn't going to talk about that I spent an awfully long time talking about it. Strange...)

My favorite part about this whole thing is that as a Christian, I get this stuff in the package deal! When you read Colossians 2 about being knit together in love etc. you find a useful little verse tucked in there (verse 3) that goes, "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Isn't that nifty? Just by being redeemed by the precious blood of Christ we get wisdom and knowledge. It's pretty much the best situation ever.

So when we feel all lacking in the wisdom department (though we all know what James would say!) just remember that we have it. Through Christ we have a direct line into Wisdom herself--see entire book of Proverbs for information about wisdom. For further confirmation, read this book. =)

So when something seems confusing and/or slightly complicated, I like to think about the fact that I have knowledge and wisdom hidden in me. Now if only it weren't hidden so well...

PS, that's James 1:5, in case I wasn't clear.

Patience

Has anyone ever read or watched Character Builder books from the Agapeland people? Because when I was a nanny I used to watch the little dramatized book versions thereof, and sometimes I think back to those and consider what good lessons they are.

For instance, right now, I'm not finding much in the way of patience. I'm actually a little irritable, to tell the truth, and I keep thinking of those Agapeland lessons and pondering that I should be more like a little child.

(Side note: I have been solidified in everyone's minds as a little child, but I'm talking more spiritually than mentally.)

I need to view things and actually think, first off, "What would Jesus do?" I need to think, "But I should love everybody!" I need to want to share, not just feel obliged.

Oh for the traits of a little child.

One toe at a time

Trust can be the scariest thing ever. Trusting another person with a secret/your life/that heirloom vase is something that humans just don't want to do. Personally, I find it difficult to trust anyone, even to the point of withholding parts of myself from those who love me the most. The idea of knowing that someone else holds that power over me... it's enough to make me feel entirely too vulnerable.

I know it's sort of ridiculous to think that way. After all, if someone loves you and/or has an ounce of kindness, they wouldn't betray your trust, correct? But sometimes things just happen. Sometimes we find ourselves revealing secrets that aren't ours to tell. My theory is that everyone trusts someone. Sure, I think, I can tell so-and-so anything, right? And I can, and they won't tell anyone else. Anyone else, that is, except for that one person that they trust to keep secrets. Who, in turn, trusts yet another person (but he/she would never tell anyone!) with that secret.

And most people don't purposely set about to air other people's laundry (dirty or clean, either way) for all to see, but, as I said, often it just happens. And, as I like to say, the only way to keep a secret is to not tell it in the first place.

If I were to hold things inside, nobody would have that power over me. But that brings it all back around to trust. If I form carefully constructed walls around myself, I'll never experience life as it was meant to be lived. Not to sound too cliche, but if I surround myself with walls, I'll miss out on feeling the wind in my hair, miss out on all but few brief moments of sunlight. I'll even miss out on the sights and sounds that would be blocked by such a wall.

Life is meant to be lived. I'm not sure how much pain we were really intended to experience (that whole sin/free will thing: ick), but I do know that it's only when you trust those around you that you'll grow closer to them.

Like with the Lord. You know as well as I do that if we just let Him do His perfect work, and trusted Him with our every circumstance, not only would our lives go more smoothly, but we'd draw ever closer to Him.

So I dare you to take that step of faith. Tell your sister something you wouldn't normally tell her. Stop worrying about what tomorrow will unfold, and rather give it over to the One Who holds tomorrow in the hollow of His hand.

And if you can't take a whole step, well, try a toe. Not all of us have the ability to jump into the water. Personally? I like to ease myself in, one toe at a time.

Evidence

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

I love that. The evidence of things not seen? I just like how it's worded. I've talked about faith before, we're all familiar with it, but somethings I just realize how incredible it is that we humans have the capacity to trust in things we don't see.

Everybody seems to think that believing in God is such a difficult task, because we can't see him. But we believe in wind. I can't see wind. We believe in cancer, and the natural eye can't typically see cancer. We believe in the far reaches of space, which we can't seem to find, no matter how hard we try. What makes God so different?

On a less-related note, a funny story.

My brother sneezed the other day at dinner and proceeded to tell us all that he liked to try and hold in his sneezes. I then informed him that when you hold in a sneeze you kill a bunch of brain cells. My family looked at me like I was crazy, at which point I spluttered, "No really, I read it in a science book or something!"

That's when my sister replied, "So you believe in evolution?"

Well spoken, sister mine.

Asking about Acts - Part II

Let's talk for just a minute about Acts 27. Great chapter, truly it is, but there's one thing I always hear about it that sort of gets to me. Which is to say, Acts 27:29. "Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for day."

The romantical side of me just likes to hear about a ship full of people wishing for day. Sounds cool (especially since you know they all survived at the end, phew), but it's the four anchors I hear a lot about. I'm not sure if any of the rest of you hear about these four anchors, but I highly recommend that if you're not familiar with a good sermon or two on the subject, that you head over to Google and, well, google it. "Acts 27 four anchors" is all it takes to come up with dozens of thoughts on these anchors.

I hear all sort of thoughts about them. Article number one on that Google search says that the four anchors are representative of Paul's steadiness in the storm. 1. He was in the presence of God, 2. He was God's possession, 3. He had a sense of purpose, and 4. He had a positive confession of his faith.

Well, these things are all good and right, but is that really what those four anchors represent?

Another article (also in the top ten Google listings under the search for "Acts 20 four anchors") says that the four anchors were that Paul 1. Prayed, 2. Had the Word of God, 3. Obeyed God, and 4. Had the hope of salvation. Once again, great things, but is that what those anchors mean?

I've heard other things. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, if you'll believe it, were once referred to as the four anchors. In Acts 2:42 mentions new Christians continuing steadfastly in 1. The apostle's doctrine, 2. fellowship, 3. Breaking of bread, and 4. prayers. That's pretty popular from what I've personally heard.

Anyhow, there are more, which doubtless I'll remember in the middle of the night tonight, but you get the idea.

Now, I'm not trying to be contrary (although I realize I come off as sort of contrary sometimes), but I'm trying to be practical, I guess. My hang-up with this whole situation is this: why are we comparing things to these anchors, anyhow? The anchors sure didn't help the ship, did they? This was a ship that, if we're trying to compare apples to apples, wouldn't even be qualified as a Christian ship (re-read the chapter, I'm sure it'll make sense in a moment!). So the illustration is already a little flimsy, in my opinion.

So, like I say, we have a ship who'd been trying, on its own merit, to reach land, cast these four anchors into the sea, and, well, that didn't work either. The ship broke in pieces, much like Humpty Dumpty, I imagine, only with less yolk.

May I reiterate: why do we like this illustration so much? These four anchors gave those sea-sick people not one ounce of help, and I'd like to keep viewing prayer and obedience to God as something that'll help me, thanks for asking. I once decided that I was going to sermonize all on my own, and started telling people that I thought that the four anchors referred to Jacob's four wifely things. Moral of that story? Have just one wife. For some reason that doctrine never really caught on, funny... =)

This really solved nothing, I suppose, but it felt nice to spit it all out.

Question me

I like Amos.

The book in the Bible, I'm too young to have known the actual Bible Character. =)

But I like to read Amos. It's straightforward, when Amos has a question, he asks God for a little insight. The Lord answers, sometimes with a lot of information, but usually not. The Lord would ask Amos to pay attention to what was going on around him, "What do you see, Amos?" and Amos would answer to the best of his ability, "a plumbline," or "a basket of fruit," and the Lord would carry forth about what it meant.

Wouldn't it be awesome if we just listened when the Lord asked us things, and asked Him questions in simplicity? "Lord, Jacob is small, how's that going to work out?" (A question from Amos, not me, I personally don't worry much about the shape or size of Jacob.)

None of this, "So anyhow, Lord, if indeed Party A does exclude me from Event 7c at the urging of Unlikely Candidate 13, what am I going to do??" But rather a simple, calm, "Lord, what's going on?" In a word, to ask, and not question.

Ah, for the faith of Amos.

Blind faith

There have been some tragic events going on recently, one of which involved a friend of mine who died of bone cancer. He was only 15, and it's been really hard on his family. One reason it's been so difficult is because his dad just didn't expect him to die. He'd been led to believe that it was always God's will to heal someone, and that sickness is indicative of sin. When his son died late Friday night, he turned to his wife and asked if she saw this coming.

He had faith. Faith that God would restore his son to full health and fix what was going on.

Sometimes we talk about "blind faith" and how it's trusting God even when we just can't see what He's doing. But this time? This time blind faith meant that he (the dad) believed that God would do a certain thing, rather than believing that God would do what was best for the situation. And I know I have a measure of that myself--I tend to think, "hey, He wants us to have faith like a grain of mustard seed..." and then I don't open myself to the possibility that He'll do something other than what I want Him to.

And questions with this are so hard. "How can someone with such strong faith feel so let down? Aren't we supposed to be protected?"

When people ask me things like that I just don't know what to say. It's such a difficult thing to be willing to trust God completely; blind faith that trusts Him to do the right thing, regardless of personal preference.