Faith Fulfilled

Sitting here with my cup of coffee with French vanilla creamer enjoying a quiet morning.  My apartment is a mess.  There are boxes everywhere (I'm in the process of moving) and in the midst of it all, He is still speaking. I really love mornings like this- where lots of things are in chaos, but that constant peace in your life is God.  I was reading the story of Jacob this morning and how God gave him a dream.  In the dream, Jacob sees a ladder from earth all the way into the Heavens.  Angels were ascending and descending from the ladder.  At the top of the ladder, there was God who began to speak promises into Jacob's life.  Here's what He told him,

"...I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;  And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  And behold I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thous goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. "  Genesis 28:13-15

When I read this portion, I was reminded of a couple of things. This promise to Jacob was the same promise that God gave to his grandfather Abraham and his son Isaac.   The promise was not fulfilled in either of their lifetimes and neither would it be in Jacob's, but that didn't stop them from believing God.  God began the work in each of them and they were certain He would finish it.  Now that's faith!  I thought back to how my grandma prayed for my grandpa to be saved for more than 25 years and then she developed Alzheimer's disease.  Although mentally, she was no longer here with us and had to be placed in a home, her precious prayers that she had prayed all those years continued to come before God as a sweet fragrance.  My grandfather, in his late eighties finally surrendered to God and was baptized in Jesus Name. Although my grandmother did not get to see God answer this prayer in her lifetime, she saw it by faith and knew that even if she weren't here to see it, God would still fulfill his promise to her.  She joined the faith ranks with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well as many others since then. Remember, God cannot lie.  Every promise He has given to you will be answered.  I love it how God told Jacob, "I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of" (verse 15).  God was essentially saying that he would always be with the seed of Jacob who is now known as the Jewish nation or Israel. God has never left the Jewish people through everything they have gone through. He is not done with them yet. We see that although not all the promises are yet fulfilled, much of what God told them and their forefathers has already taken place.  The Jewish nation has spread from the north, to the south, to the east, and to the west. Not only that, but all the families of the earth have been blessed not only by all the amazing inventions and people who have come out of the Jewish nation, but also through Jesus Christ who was a Jew and became the Savior of the world. I can't wait until the day when God completes what He started in them and in us a church. He finishes what He started. That's the kind of God that we serve!  He did it for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Jewish nation, and my family. He'll do it for you!

Robbers of Stillness...

 "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want...He Leads me beside the still waters. " Psalm 23:1-2

There are many times God asks us to be still when He is trying to usher us into a new season of our lives.  Stillness is a time of inner preparation and God-given peace.  Queen Esther, before becoming the Queen of Persia, had to go through 12 months of preparation before she could appear before the king.  During this time, she learned all about the king, mannerisms of palace life, and lastly, how to look beautiful for the king.  It might have seemed like a long year for Esther, but in reality, this was the time for her to sit back and enjoy getting ready for her big moment.  If she had not used this time wisely, she would have found herself unprepared for her moment of destiny which could have ended in disaster. Lack of preparation and stillness on her part could have caused the king to overlook her, marry another, and with that, the Jewish people living in the Persian kingdom would have been annihilated.  Stillness is a time for God to prepare and polish us, a time to listen to that sweet and familiar voice speaking to us and ministering to us on a daily basis. It's a time to minister before Him, taking every part of Him into our spirits.  At times, in this stillness, moments can seem long and mundane in the natural world, but in the spirit, God is preparing us for something new.  We are not accustomed to being still, especially in the busy, fast-paced world in which we live.  We are used to making things happen.  Yet, stillness in God requires us to wait even more than ever as He begins to move mountains on our behalf.  The enemy of our soul does not want us to experience stillness, but wants to fill us with worry, anxiety and desperation.  He doesn't want God's peace to fill our life, but wants to plant confusion in us among many other things.  I have found two things in my own life that can easily rob me of stillness if I'm not careful, but I've also learned how to combat them. They are as follows:

1. Worry/Anxiety
Nothing pleases the enemy more than to plant seeds of worry and anxiety in our minds.  He knows that if he can make us doubt God's provision and God's plans for us, he can trap us within the confines of your own mind.  Thoughts such as Is God really with me?  Am I forgiven?  How am I going to accomplish that on my own?  What if I'm doing the wrong thing? What if this doesn't happen?  What if this really happens?  are just some of the thoughts that try to take us captive. The way to overcome worry and anxiety is found in 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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." 

We see that prayer and thanksgiving are extremely important in destroying seeds of worry and anxiety. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Prayer not only changes things, but it changes us as a person. When we are worried and anxious, we cannot focus on what God is doing in our life, but we end up focusing on what God is not doing in our life. Prayer shifts us back into the right gear. God takes control of our thoughts and destroys the negative seeds that the enemy is trying to plant. He replaces them with seeds of faith.  Also, thanksgiving is key.  We must thank God for what we already have and thank Him for prayers that are not yet answered.  I have found that thanking God in advance for unanswered prayers gives me such a peace that I can't explain.  When I thank God for a job that I don't yet have or a miracle that I can't yet see, I get an overwhelming sense that its done already. I feel like it's already happened.  That's what a spirit of thanksgiving can do!

2.  Distractions
When I visited Italy for the first time, I was warned by many to be cautious of pick-pockets.  I heard that one strategy of these thieves is to create a diversion to distract a tourist so that someone else can come behind them and take their money.  Often times, it is the same for us.  The enemy sends distractions our way so that He can swoop in and rob us of our inner peace. Sometimes we don't even realize it has happened until afterwards.  We are left wondering, How could that happen?  Distractions come in the form of people, problems, and non God-given dreams and ideas.  Often times, we are so desperate to escape the quietness of life, we cling to anything to give us excitement and purpose.  I remember so often clinging to higher education to distract me from having to wait on God.  Now, there's nothing wrong with getting a higher education, but when we use that as source of dependency and to give our lives meaning, it then becomes and idol.  The main way to avoid distractions is to stay focused on God. We do this through prayer and feasting on God's Word. Its His Word that helps us to identify the snares of the enemy. Its the Word that gives us faith to protect us from his fiery darts.

In conclusion, embrace the stillness that God has given you.  It is in the stillness where we are able to see God move on our behalf.  Let go of anxiousness and worry as well as distractions. Let God complete the work that he has started for you. Allow Him to usher you into a new time in your life. 

Walking by Faith

 "We walk by faith, not by sight."  II Corinthians 5:7

I heard a story about a family whose house caught on fire.  The children were all gathered and frantically ushered outside, but the youngest little boy, who was five years old, could not be found.  When the fire broke out, he became scared and hid himself under the bed.  Frozen in fear, he could not reply when his father called for him.  As the house continued to go up in flames and smoke engulfed the place, the father was forced to run outside to avoid smoke inhalation, but he planned on running back in to search for his lost son. All of a sudden, flames and smoke took over the first floor of the house.  There would be no way to run back in. That's when he heard his little boy's cry, "Daddy, mommy!  Are you there! The father caught a glimpse of his little boy frantically trying to climb out of the window on the second floor, but the little boy paused in fear when he realized there was no where for him to go. Smoke surrounded the house so the little boy couldn't see below him. The father yelled for the son and positioned himself in a place where he could catch the boy.  The father yelled, "Son, jump! Daddy will catch you!"  The little boy yelled back, "Daddy, I can't jump! I'm too scared! I can't see you!" The dad called out, "You may not see me, but I see you! Trust me! I will catch you!  Jump!"  With all the faith the little boy could muster up, he jumped, still not being able to see his dad. Seconds later,  his father caught him, just like he said he would, and the little boy's life was saved.  The lesson of the story is, sometimes we cannot see or feel God during certain parts of our walk with Him.  Yet, even though we cannot see him or feel Him, we must trust that he is there, leading and guiding us. We might be a little scared with things that come our way, but our job is to step out by faith knowing that our loving father will catch us.   He won't let us fall.  That's the kind of God that we serve.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”  ~Martin Luther King Jr.

God Sees You

At one time or another, we have all felt overlooked.  One of man's greatest desires is to be seen or acknowledged as a person.  We want someone to really see who we are and all that we have to offer. We want others to recognize our talents, our abilities, our strengths, and even our weaknesses and accept us. Yet, there are many times that we are passed over and others don't take the time to really get to know us. Others may not intentionally do this or maybe they are intentional because they have a sense of superiority.  Well, if you are feeling this way, I want to let you know that God sees you.  He sees every part of you. In Genesis, we read about a woman named Hagar.  She was the servant to a very important woman named Sarah. God promised Sarah that her descendants would be blessed through a son that she would one day have. Sarah became impatient with God and had her husband sleep with her servant Hagar, hoping to produce a son through her. When Hagar became pregnant, the Bible says that Hagar began to despise her mistress. Shortly after, Sarah physically dealt with Hagar and sent her away.  The Angel of God found Hagar in the desert sitting near a spring. He assured her that her son would be blessed and would be the father of many nations as well. He asked her to return to Sarah and submit to her. In awe of God's message to her,  Hagar said, "You are the God who sees me...I have now seen the One who sees me” (Genesis 16:13). God took the time to come to Hagar to relieve her distress because God saw Hagar's heart even when others didn't. He saw her heartbreak and desire to be loved and accepted.  He saw the injustice of what she experienced with Abraham and Sarah. He looked past her attitude towards Sarah because He saw the true woman the true her.   God knows your heart, your thoughts, your beautiful spirit, your skills, talents, and every part of your being as well.  He sees you.  When others overlook you, look up to God and know that He has called you by name, He knows the numbers of hairs on your head, and He has you engraved on the palm of His hands all because HE LOVES YOU.  It doesn't matter if no one else sees you.  The only one that truly matters is God.

The Virtuous Woman When She Was Not So Virtuous

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies....Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."
Proverbs 31:10-31

Julia Child was a famous American chef who introduced French Cuisine to American households. There are countless books containing her marvelous French recipes and countless more books written on her exquisite life.   I recently read a quote which read, "Julia Child wasn't always Julia Child".  At one time, she was an ordinary wife who struggled with cooking and didn't even know how to probably boil water. Yet, this part of her life is rarely focused on. We focus more on her final outcome than the process that she underwent to become this amazing chef.  Don't we often do the same thing...praise the outcome, but not the journey that led us to the final success?   I began to ponder about the life of an even more special woman- the Proverb 31 Woman, or the Virtuous Woman as we know her.
      For the longest time, I avoided reading Proverbs 31 about the virtuous woman or woman of excellence. To me, she represented perfection and something I could never be. Think about it, she makes her own clothing, she gets up in the wee hours of the night to prepare meals for her family, she's in real-estate, she has a job in agriculture, she also works in sales, and she volunteers to help the needy, all aside from being a full-time wife and mother. To add, she is also able to maintain a fashionable appearance, she's not a gossiper, and she's doesn't waste or squander her time. Wow!  We've got a Ms. Superwoman on our hands. Her discipline and her life balance put me to shame. I'm lucky if I can even grab a frozen lunch from my freezer on my way to work in the morning and here she is cooking up a storm in the early hours of the morning. One afternoon, as I read about this virtuous woman, I rolled my eyes to her. Oh please....like that could ever be me. Then I heard Him. God whispered in that still small voice, April, this woman of excellence didn't just become excellent over night. It took time and practice.  She wasn't  always so virtuous. She had to start somewhere. This got me thinking.  The woman in Proverbs 31 is described as someone that her husband could trust, but we never hear about the times where she messed up, ran up the credit card, lied to her husband, and had to work towards gaining back his trust again. We read how she reached out her hand to the poor, but we don't know about the time that she got burned out and tired of helping people, secretly wishing that they would get a job and help themselves. We don't read about the time she avoided Sister Susie because she knew that Sister Susie would again ask her for another favor or for another loan. We read that she wasn't a gossiper, but what about the time that she accidentally repeated something that she wasn't supposed to and had to humble herself before that person and ask their forgiveness?  We read that she wasn't prone to eating the bread of idleness, but what we don't know is that there were days that she spent too much time watching soap operas instead of praying and too much time on Facebook instead of meditating on the Law of God.  We know that her children praised her, but she'd cringe if we knew about the time she screamed at her kids and husband in a moment of frustration. Lastly, we are told that she was a woman of strength and confidence, but we don't realize how many times she was overwhelmed, tired, and weary from all her responsibilities, secretly wondering if she'd be able to maintain this balance that seemed to be hanging by a thread.  No, we don't know about this part of her life, the part of her life that was not so virtuous. The journey of the virtuous woman was probably not an easy one. Yet, her life experiences and failures were stepping stones to becoming the woman that God intended her to be. The same goes for us.  There is no such thing as perfection, but we are a work in progress.  Don't condemn yourself for your flaws and short-comings, but see them as bridges that God can use to create growth in you.  Realize your need for Jesus and lean on Him. A special note for single women- if you're not married, realize that you will not get married and all of a sudden be this amazing wife and mother. Proverbs 31 says that the virtuous woman did her husband good and not evil all the days of her life. This includes that time before she was married.  She took that time to cultivate herself and her talents, time to gain wisdom and understanding, to draw close to the creator of her soul.  My advice is simply to start now. Start the journey of being that amazing woman of God.  It will not happen overnight. There will be times you fail terribly, but get back up, let God wipe your tears, and keep pushing forward.  One day, just like a caterpillar transforms into a beautiful butterfly, we we will eventually transition from that  not-so virtuous woman to that amazing woman of excellence to the praise and glory of God. 

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A Beautiful Wedding and Marriage....

This video really inspired me. “The Story of Ian & Larissa” from DesiringGod.org

God, You Choose...

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding^. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."  Proverbs 3:5-6

image:  (C) by www.martin-liebermann.de

Choices.  We make them everyday.  Some are more important than others.  Some have more long-term effects than others.  Daily, we choose the outfit we will wear, where we will go, what we will do, what we will eat, and who we will talk to. Some bigger choices include what career we want to go into, where we will live, what college we will attend, or whether or not we will attend college at all, who we will marry, and how many children we will have.  I still remember deciding to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. I also remember deciding to attend college. These produced positive effects in my life.  I also remember some not so good decisions that I made which caused me to live with the negative consequences for a long time.  I'll confess that sometimes I get overwhelmed by all the choices I have to make. Gosh, there are so many. Sometimes, they make my head spin.  I'll even admit that sometimes I wish I could hand the reins over to someone else so they can make decisions for me, but no luck so far finding such a person.  Nobody wants that extra responsibility (email me if you want the job).  he he. Anyhow, the question often becomes, how can I make sure that I am making the right decision for my life? For many, they go by the choice or decision that feels the most right to them at the time or what's in their heart. Yet, the Bible tells us that our heart can be deceitful.  So how do you trust something that is often deceitful?  The answer is simple.  You don't.  About a year ago, I was having coffee with a friend of mine.  This friend of mine is a godly woman who has served as a mentor for me. She and I were discussing some of these choices that we must make. I mentioned that I wanted to meet someone, but was afraid to enter a relationship with the wrong person.  My friend took my hands and said with such conviction and fullness of the Holy Spirit, "Let God choose! April, you tell God, I want you to choose for me Lord. He know the hearts of all.  Tell Him you don't want to make any decision on your own. Tell Him, God, You choose."  We prayed together right then and there and asked God to take the reins of my life and choose what was best for me in every area of my life, including relationships.  I have never forgot that prayer.  I have made it my prayer each day.  Now let me tell you, it has not always been easy to give the reins over to Him, but I do anyways because I trust Him. God sees the big picture so I know He sees things that I can't see in the future.  Sometimes, I have resisted His way because it was not what I wanted, but in the end, I gave in knowing the prayer that I prayed. Yes, I could make my own decisions and I might be ok with God for the most part, but I love God so much that I want Him to be in every one of my decisions. His Word says that in all our ways, we should acknowledge Him and He will direct us in the way we should go. Let me note, anything in the Bible is a given. If your decision has to do with starting a ministry to reach the lost etc, to participate in ministry, then you already have God's stamp of approval from His Word.  In conclusion, I don't want my way, I want His way. If you are struggling with having to make a big decision, whether it be what college to attend, should you date the guy or the gal, should you start that business you've always wanted to, should you move churches etc., stop where you're at and give the reins over to God.  Let Him choose. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Image Crossroads (C) by www.martin-liebermann.de