Step Out

Trust.  What does it really look like? God has been dealing with me in regards to this issue and in regard to service this week. 

True and absolute trust casts out all worries and fear. It inspires confidence because you know what ever you have put your trust in is not going to let you down. It requires surrender because you have to be willing to give control over to the one you're trusting. With this in mind, do we truly trust God and his plan or do we have symptoms of mistrust in our lives? Worry, doubt, fear, insecurity... It is so commonly stated "I'm trusting God to (you fill in the blank)" and yet we worry, panic, doubt, etc. in regard to the area we say we're trusting him with. If these symptoms exist, just making that statement is hypocritical (unless you're saying it to convince yourself of it rather than to declare it). Trust and doubt cannot dwell together because they contradict each-other. God asks us to trust him, but it is not until we truly do that he can do amazing things through us. 

Let's revert to that familiar "potter and the clay" analogy for a sec. The potter has a specific intricate plan to make the clay something amazing. However, if the clay refuses to be totally moldable, the potter will not be able to make it into what he has planned for it. The lump of clay has all the potential in the world to be beautiful, but potential means nothing with out willingness and action. The clay has to be completely surrendered to the potter, limp in his hands in order to be made beautiful. The clay has to trust the potter or it will always remain a purposeless plain lump of clay. 

He has a divinely amazing plan that involves us and waits to be unveiled until we trust in him. He says "I have something amazing to share with you, but you are unable to see it until you trust me because your doubt and control issues make you blind. Throw those down at my feet, trust me and let me open your eyes and show you something incredible. I'm waiting. 

This brings me to my second issue I've been searching out...service. Trust and service go hand in hand when you're serving to the degree that God calls us to. God doesn't call us to comfortable service, he calls us to sacrificial service. Sometimes what he asks us to do doesn't make sense to us, or doesn't seem humanly possible. That is why service requires trust. When we are 100% sure that God has called us to do something, we have to just step out and do it. He promises to take care of us and we can trust that. 

As humans, we all struggle with control issues (Well, I sure do!) We have good intentions and want to serve God, but when he calls us to something we try to wait and get a back up plan together to prepare for the act of service. Here is the thing about God and serving him...THE MOMENT HE CALLS US IS THE MOMENT HE WANTS US TO RESPOND. He has perfect timing and he reveals his will to us when he deems it time. When he tells us, He is ready for it to be done, other wise he would have waited. He only reveals to us what we need to know at that time. He may have a big plan in store for you but he may choose to reveal it to you in bits and pieces because He doesn't want you to try to get ahead of him. This is when trust and service collide and create something beautiful. We trust that He is sovereign and has an incredible plan that we are a part of, and we serve him whole heartedly as he reveals his will to us and takes care of us. Then we begin to see the big picture...the amazing, beautiful, intricate "why didn't I get the hang of this before" picture that will blow you away. Just step out. Trust and serve..and be amazed.

Eager Patience

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work with in us, to him be the glory...!" -Eph 3:20

This verse quickly became my life verse in 2010. For me, 2009 ended with some of the biggest challenges and changes that I've ever endured. It seemed like so many parts of my life had turned upside down right before the year ended. I suddenly found myself not knowing where to even place my foot next.  That is when God came and completely swept me off my feet and reminded me that I didn't have to know where to step. He would place my foot where he wanted it to be on his time.  I learned to trust that and be patient.

Leaving something that is familiar is always hard, and if anybody tells you its not, they're lying. The wonderful thing about having a relationship with Christ is that when He leads you to leave something familiar, you can guarantee he is only going to take you to something better (no matter how good the current situation seems). Often times this is a test of obedience. He asks "Will you follow me? Will you leave what you know and enter into something that you don't understand just because I ask you to?" When we truly trust him and understand how much he loves us, we can not help but obey.

That is the moment this verse will come to life. When we say "Yes Jesus, I'll do what makes me uncomfortable for you, I'll do something that feels like it hurts for you" that is when he will completely blow you away and knock your socks off with what he's been trying to do all along. When we learn to have his view of things, our entire perspective on life will change. This world is not our home, so why do we live and strive so hard for things in this life? It's because we forget that truth. We have all heard it and know it in our heads, but we don't exemplify it in our daily lives. It is not our core. When we make it our core, we cannot help but be changed and our hearts desire will not be to satisfy ourselves, but to be used by Christ in any and every way possible. When we realize that our purpose in life is to glorify him regardless of our situation, we will be transformed.

He has proven this to me so clearly this year. He moved me from a situation of comfort to one of uncertainty, but in that uncertainty there is the most immense peace I have ever experienced. I can't see the big picture of what he is trying to do yet. He isn't ready to reveal it to me, but I have never felt so clearly that I am exactly where he wants me to be and that something HUGE is just around the corner. He is about to "do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" and I am waiting.  Its hard to wait when you're so excited about what he is doing, but we can't rush his plan. So I wait with an eager patience. I wait knowing that his plan is perfect and mine was not. I wait with confidence in knowing I am right where he has placed me. I wait because he has ransomed my heart and shown me that his plan is truly the only one that will heal and satisfy it.