In the vain of Ally’s “things I learned on Sunday…”
We worry because we think God can’t, or God won’t.
Anxiety kills generosity, because it causes us to hoard. How tight are you holding on?
Anxiety always leads to idolatry – it’s putting our trust in something other than God. And it will eventually own you.
So, what owns you?
Six years ago, I went on my first ever overseas missions trip. Every week for 6 months a small group of us met together to encourage, challenge, and inspire each other to live ever more faithfully into the lives we are called to. Those months culminated in two weeks working alongside churches in Holland and Scotland.
On our last night in Delft, we worshipped with the church community we had joined. We worshipped, we gave thanks, and we waited. Our Dutch friends begin to pray for us, and the prophecies started coming…
– – – – – – – – –
“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness…” [1 Tim 6:11]
As I was reading the Bible a few days ago, this verse grabbed me. I still so desperately seek tenderness in my life, and grieve for all the places I’ve not experienced it where I should have, not given it where I should have. So I ask the Father to make my heart more tender.
Do you really mean that Emma? Do you know what I’ve been doing? Do you know what it means to be made tender?
I know how much you love food, so think about tenderising meat… you take a mallet to it, and you pummel it into shape.
Is that what this has all been about? Is the pain God’s way of tenderising me? It’s like being pummelled by a mallet.
So I ask, make me strong to take those hits.
And then, I remember.
A prophecy spoken over me in that small room all those years ago:
“The LORD has made you strong! He has made you STRONG so that you can take the hits and he will make you stronger.”
God answered my prayer 6 years before I even prayed it!
– – – – – – – – –
May you be encouraged by the faithfulness of a Father who knows our prayers long before we ever pray them.
Community.
You hear a lot about that from me. Then somedays, I catch this glimpse of a God who loves it so much more than I do. This God who blows me away by the community he puts around me.
I got to be with my church family today again for the first time in a few weeks, and we sang one of the songs that grew out of our experiences. About the goodness of God.
You are good, You are very good…
I so wanted to sing those words, but I couldn’t get them out. Instead, I had burning tears run down my cheeks.
Then there was a touch.
It was just for a moment, but a friend had her hand on my back.
The touch that says more than words ever can.
I’m here.
I’m with you in this.
You are not alone.
That one touch gave me the strength to sing those words, ‘you are good’. Strength I didn’t have on my own. I could sing them because I knew she was helping me sing them.
And isn’t that the point?
I have never been a big period drama fan, but I have been completely sucked in by Downton Abbey. Steady now – don’t be giving me any spoilers for season 2! I’ve only just finished season 1, watching 2 or 3 episodes at a time.
I think Downton Abbey has got to me more than any of the others because of the pacing and the writing. The stories and the relationships between the staff and employers grips me.
I watched with baited breath to find out what would happen between Bates and Thomas, and as the story progressed I found myself seeing more and more of God in Bates.
No matter how many times Thomas and O Brien try to get him fired and disgraced – tripping him, framing him – he never sinks to their level. Even when questioned by his boss, he never says why he fell, or how he knew the wine was stolen. He always looks to bestow dignity to those around him. He always accepts the blame himself and takes their disgrace, rather than having them suffer indignity.
Bates inspires me to be a better follower of Jesus than I currently am.
How often do I accept disgrace so that someone else may gain dignity?
How many times do I let others endure disgrace without helping?
How many times will I have to watch a TV show before I do something about it?
I read a really great book recently. The kind that lingers in your mind and makes you ask questions of your opinions for weeks on end after…
Lauren Winner wrote this great memoir a few years back on her journey, Girl Meets God. I found it to be witty, intelligent and deeply moving. The book I’m referring to in this post, however, was her second (I believe) – Real Sex.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Lauren writes with scathing honesty about sex, the church, and chastity. It’s less “don’t do it” and more “here’s how it forms you…”
I’m curious as to what my married friends, and my single ones, think of the quote below…
“Marriage consists not simply or even primarily of a personal relationship. Rather, it crystallises the love of the larger church community. The couple is not just two-in-one, but two together within the whole, with specific responsibility for the whole… They must persevere in love, because the community needs to see God’s love actualised among God’s people.”
(Julie Hanlon Rubio)
We tend to view marriage as about us and our partner…
What’s our responsibility to the church community then?
Starting to get very excited about being at Solas festival at the weekend….
Recent Comments