In Repentance & Rest You Shall be Saved!

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
    in quietness and trust is your strength,
    but you would have none of it.” (Isa. 30 NIV)

For a long time, this scripture has kind of haunted me.  

Have you ever read the Bible and – suddenly – a verse jumps out at you like it’s alive & you realize God is speaking directly to you?  

This was one such verse for me… but what made it a lot freakier was that I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT MEANT.

Clearly, God is not one to waste our time (or His).  If there’s anything I’ve learned in my years of following Him, it’s that God doesn’t mince words - so when He speaks something, I sit up taller & listen. 

So tonight when I read an “assignment” on Beth Moore’s blog (an adorable & wildly popular Christian teacher), I did what any good teacher’s pet would do: my homework!

Her assignment?

1) Read Isaiah 30:15-18 (in 3 versions).
2) Write which one spoke most to you & why!
3) Look up Webster’s definition of a “threat” [which pertains to the Scripture]. 
4) Reflect on what’s threatening you most in your life lately.
5) Then consider how you’re “fleeing” said threats you’ve been faced with.

So, guess what her assigned passage was?  Yup, the scary one that’s been following me around for years.

After reading each version, my favorite was this one (New Living Translation):

“This is what the Sovereign Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel, says:
‘Only in returning to Me
    and resting in Me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
    But you would have none of it.
You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
    They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
    is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
One of them will chase a thousand of you.
    Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
    or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.’

Blessings for the Lord’s People

So the Lord must wait for you to come to Him
    so He can show you His love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
    Blessed are those who wait for His help.”

My friends… do you realize what God’s seemingly been saying to me all along?

Come to Me for help.  Quit running to those you think can help you or the solutions you THINK are the answer - because they will only turn out to be your enemies!

If there’s a word I can delicately use to describe me, it might be the word “stubborn”.  Those who know me well might agree (and then we may throw down in fisticuffs :)

When I think I have something figured out, I HAVE IT FIGURED OUT GUYS!!  So you can get outta my way now!  (I think Solomon had a few choice words – or chapters – for know-it-alls).  

But for reals, stubbornness is NOT a beautiful or godly trait [though it's served me well at times!].

Maybe, just maybe, God has been longing to be gracious to me for many years… but I’ve tied His hands.  Maybe my own stubborn streak – me thinking I had it all together (which a casual observer of my life could challenge) & that I had the solution figured out – is what’s kept me from finding the rest & peace I’ve been seeking.

I have to honestly ask myself this question ~ & maybe you can, too:  

Have I really been chasing my own solutions, convinced they’d bring me peace & rest, when I only needed to wait for GOD to help me & give me HIS solution to find the peace I’ve been desperately seeking?

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
    in quietness and trust is your strength,
    but you would have none of it.”

And that’s the part that’s haunted me most: But you would have none of it.

I’ve rejected His help, so I didn’t receive it.  I forged ahead, sure of my stubborn self, and chased away any semblance of peace & rest I could’ve received!

I can’t count how many times I’ve struggled over an issue & continued to diligently peck at it, push & press against it, trying to whittle it away to nothingness – equivalent to me spinning my wheels or jogging in place.  

Yes, I had plenty of activity going on & appeared to be moving forward – but I was staying put. I haven’t actually been going anywhere, but I’ve been exhausting myself trying so hard.

It’s me flipping out on the bow of the boat, trying to keep from capsizing, when I’ve forgotten Jesus is on board peacefully sleeping through the tempest without a care.  It’s me forgetting He’s there until the crisis is so acute that I’m spent on my own – and I remember to go WAKE HIM UP. Jesus climbs up to the bow with me and says peace be still.  And only then does my storm cease.

God’s solution is for us to REST & let Him handle the problem.  We still work hard, but we must cease trying to make life happen on our own terms, or without His hand to guide & lead.

My favorite part of the Isaiah passage, one that I never noticed in connection to the first part until tonight, is the ending… it’s soooo SWEET!  And so like our loving God!  (In NKJV):

“Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.”

God is WAITING to be gracious to me. 

He’s WAITING with His solution to every problem you & I have.

He’s WAITING to take that burden off our shoulders & replace it with a lovely, much-needed vacation from the stress of carrying it.

Rest simply means we trust Him to handle it – we don’t fret, worry, push, pull or drive it forward when it’s the wrong answer, or the wrong timing, or the wrong everything.

We are blessed people when we wait on God’s help, not conjure up the answer to our problem ourselves.  STRIVING is the opposite of rest.  

Beth Moore’s whole point of this exercise was for us to identify what THREATENS us in our lives to take action apart from God?  What tempts us to “take matters into our own hands” (and how’s that workin out for ya, haha)?  

I know what mine are.  Do you?  

And now our biggest question is – God, what does it look like to wait on You with this?

I’m curious what your thoughts & ideas are!  How do we wait on the Lord for His answers, instead of chasing after our own?  

What does ‘waiting on the Lord’ look like?  I pray He shows us how.

xoxoxox
~Summer

 

God Intended It for Good

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”  ~Genesis 50:20 (NLT)

This very night eleven years ago marks a very important, transitional point in my life.

On November 9th, 2001, I was 18 years old, a newbie college freshman and newly-inducted sorority girl at my state university.  I was enjoying life with tons of new friends and a whole new world opened up to me.  I was doing well in my classes and partying a bit and living a great life.

Then that autumn, my life changed quickly.  And with it, the hope of my heart seemed extinguished for the next decade.

I can’t describe the events that led up to that day or the hours, weeks, & months that followed, but life has never been the same for me.

Yet despite the hardships that have come my way, do you know what I’ve found myself saying and thinking and truly believing this past year?

Thank You, God.  You rescued me.

Yes, I knew better than to party.  I grew up in a very caring, God-centered home. No family is perfect, and mine was no exception, but I had GOOD parents who cared DEEPLY about all four of us kids – and it showed in every decision they made.  They wanted a life for us that they didn’t quite have growing up.

I strayed from the well-beaten path laid out before me, and God kept catching me and redirecting me back toward that path.

But at some point, He must’ve known – as any parent has to when their child’s been warned enough times – that I was hell-bent on getting my own way, doing my own thing, rebelling from what I knew to be right.

I was most certainly in that place the day, 11 years ago, my world changed so profoundly.

Do I think God lets bad things happen to good people?

Yes, yes I do.

Do I think He allows it because He hates people?

Not at all.

God lays before us blessings and curses and tells us to CHOOSE LIFE.  Don’t rebel, He whispers; it’s foolish and always results in brokenness.

But at some point, many of us can get cocky and believe that we know better than our dear parents (and our loving Heavenly Father!).  I certainly thought so back then – I felt all those rules and restrictions that had kept me safe for most of my 18 years were actually hindering me from true freedom.

I couldn’t WAIT to grow up and be on my own.  Then I’d do……. whatever my heart desired!

And when I “broke free” back then, I did just that.  I remember watching MTV for a week straight (lame, by the way), surely the result of growing up in a cable-free home.  This was my first of many acts of “rebellion”: Forcing myself to sit through Real World marathons and hating every minute of it :)

I also recall drinking beer for 7-8 days STRAIGHT.  I know, Rebel Alert!!!! I’m not sure how the world handled my wild ways?!  ;) But for me, these were BIG deals.  And more than anything, they were a reflection of my heart: I wanted to do and experience a multitude of things I’d been protected from up until that point, and I viewed warnings as dares to explore unknown territory.

And explore I did.

There were much stupider choices, but I’ll spare us the rehash. Each week seemed to bring new opportunities to compromise and be foolish, culminating in tragedy for me.

I want to be perfectly clear.  I do not believe I caused my tragedy, but I assure you my rebellion and refusal to heed the voice of wisdom put me in precarious scenarios that proved to be disastrous.

I also do not believe God struck me with ‘lightning’ my freshman year.  He warned me – heavily – and extensively warned the people around me of the unwise path I was taking, but when we refuse to listen, we don’t know what awaits us on the other side of door number three… but I’ve learned that God doesn’t warn us for no good reason.

My insatiable curiosity beckoned me forward, and I paid the price.  Though my experience is absolutely not my fault, my decisions set me up for pain.  Likewise, I would NEVER blame God for someone else’s actions because He isn’t controlling other people’s lives just as He’s not controlling mine.

I’ve learned, though, that He steers our lives more than we know in the direction of hope and beauty.  He doesn’t leave our lives a disaster, even when we or other people train-wreck it for us.

Tune in for a moment as I recount once such journey!

Joseph’s Story

The biblical Joseph had one of the toughest lives in Scripture.  His dad’s unrivaled favorite among 12 sons, Joseph was sold into slavery as a teenager by his jealous brothers and lived as both a slave then a prisoner for the next 17 years.  He went from being a beloved son to a SLAVE overnight, was falsely accused, and was forgotten in his prison cell by those who promised to help free him.  He had his hopes dashed on more than one occasion.

Can you imagine spending half your young life in bondage, all while serving God and doing the right things?  That was Joseph.

Yet throughout his ridiculously unfair sentence, Joseph praised God and kept his integrity!

Eventually this man was freed and had the immense opportunity to face the very brothers who’d betrayed him so many years ago.  Through a sequence of amazing events, Joseph was given the No. 2 position in all of Egypt, and during a 7-year global famine was tasked with dispensing food to the surrounding countries.  What a job!

When his brothers came before their unrecognizably older brother, they pleaded with him for bread.  Joseph was literally their only hope for provision, and he knew it.  Placed in such a position of power and palpable vengeance, Joseph had a choice to make.

Do you know how he responded to their pleas?

“Heck no, I won’t give you bread – y’all ruined my life, so now I’m gonna ruin yours?”

Nope!  After revealing himself to his long-lost brothers, Joseph – in one of the most gracious acts of Scripture – replied:

“‘Don’t be afraid of me.  Am I God, that I can punish you?  You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.  He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.  No, don’t be afraid.  I will continue to take care of you and your children.’  So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.”

Displaying incredible wisdom beyond his years, Joseph understood that GOD Himself had allowed him to experience slavery – for a higher purpose.

Many people, Christians and non-believers alike, stop at this point of the story and shake their heads in disgust.  I can understand the sentiment.  No one wants to believe that a loving Father would ever allow suffering or hardship for His own, especially when He’s God and can effectively control all things.

We want to think God would pave the road for us in perfection, blessing us with only lovely and happy gifts (and He does give those, I promise!).  But who am I to say that something hard isn’t a blessing in disguise?

Could Joseph ever have predicted that his brothers’ selling him into slavery to Egypt would have been his (and their) saving grace nearly 2 decades later??  If Joseph had remained behind with his brothers, he wouldn’t have been in the position God placed him in to influence Egypt’s ruler and warn him that a severe famine was coming on the land.  God opened Joseph’s eyes to this fact, so Joseph warned the Pharaoh to store up food and provisions ahead of time so they would have plenty during the famine!

That’s just what Egypt did, and that’s precisely why – when the famine struck – Egypt was the only nation prepared to survive it (and with enough food left over to aid other nations!).

Families came to Egypt from all over the world to obtain bread during the 7 year famine, including Joseph’s.  And because God had prepared the way ahead of time through Joseph, untold numbers of people survived, including Joseph himself and his dear family!

I’m not Joseph, second in command of a great nation, and I don’t have his integrity or complete heart of forgiveness quite yet… but I do know that God derailed my “perfect” life path at the young, impressionable age of eighteen because He knew it would save my life for the better, and I really believe in my heart, the lives of others in the future.

Sitting here 11 years down the road, I reflect on the changes God has made in my life, my heart, and my life’s path since I was 18.  I was on a highway to hell so to speak, in great rebellion and with no plans to stop.  I wanted very little to do with God, considering Him to be Someone I’d turn to “later” in life when I was ready to settle down and marry.  NEVER would I have chosen His narrow path when I felt my “real” life was just getting started!!!

Yet that’s precisely what I began doing.

Why?

Because I learned on that November night why the world’s promises of “freedom” and “no boundaries” are so empty and full of despair.  Yes, I had to learn the hard way, and I’m sure some of you reading may think I’m CRAZY for believing these things about my past experiences, but I genuinely know that they were FOR MY GOOD.  

God alone knows the destructive path I would’ve taken if He’d not so lovingly deterred me eleven years ago.  I am so very grateful, from the bottom of my heart, for the journey He’s placed me on.

It’s cost me dearly, but I don’t believe scales could measure what it would’ve cost me had I stayed on the path I was on.

I wholeheartedly believe that when God changes one person’s life as radically as He has mine, that others’ lives will be touched, too.  You can’t walk through bondage that I’ve walked through, darkness that I’ve been enveloped in, or despair like I have without God rebirthing something much bigger and newer and more wonderful in and through you.

His plan often begins with death first – of our dreams and plans – so HIS new life can spring forth.

And as I sit here in recent days and ponder the future of what America will stand for after this year’s very-pivotal election, and wonder about the course our country will continue to take in years to come, I can say with confidence that whatever our God may allow us to walk through, that He’s doing it with our absolute best in mind.

He’s done it in my life, He did it in Joseph’s, He’s likely done it in your own.  And I believe He will do it in America’s, too.

Because we are His, and those He calls His own He lovingly chastens… so that one day we can experience full-circle the outpouring of His blessings in our lives.

Amen!

Settle It Today

A most excellent post–one of the best I’ve read in a long time (author Regi Campbell).

I want to implement this principle in my life: Always settle it today.  I hope you will, too.

xoxoxox,
Summer

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What’s Down In The Well

October 10, 2011 in blog with 0 Comments

What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.

One of my young executives taught me a principle years ago that I’ve never forgotten. It was cathartic for me as a leader….and as a husband.

He said, “When something one of your employees does bothers you, confront them with it before that day ends. No matter how petty…how trivial…how embarrassing, confront it.”  Don’t go home; don’t let them go home without talking it out.

For years, I harbored grudges against my wife. “She’s not this”, “She’s not that” I’d complain to my friends (and anyone who would listen). Ultimately, my deceptive little heart used these judgements to pull away from her. I became even more critical…..more caustic. I used her “failings” to justify all kinds of failings on my end. It ended in disaster, with her leaving me and my life in shambles.

What would have happened if I had dealt with all that stuff? What if I had gone to an older, wiser friend and told him about my feelings and my judgements of her? What if I’d talked those things out with her IMMEDIATELY after I started feeling them? Who knows.

The reality is that it took her leaving to wake me up to the junk I had hidden down in my “well”. I couldn’t suppress it forever. It was going to come out; if not in the “bucket” of my words, in the “bucket” of my behavior. Like a splinter buried deep in the sole of your foot, it’s gotta’ come out or it’s gonna’ lead to real problems.

God created us for relationships. With Him, His son, His spirit and with other people. He taught us to keep short accounts…like “before dark” short. When we “man up” and deal with what’s lodged in our hearts, we’ll be healthier, “lighter”,  and more lovable.

It’s a discipline worth committing to.

Today.

I have to bring it up today.

I have to settle it today.

I have to talk it through today.

Don’t let yourself off the hook any more.

Deal with it now.

“Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”  Proverbs 4:23

P.S. My  wife came back and we started over. Married 42 years now, the 28 since she left and came back have been extraordinary, thanks to the grace of Jesus Christ and Miriam Campbell. 

*Read the original post here: http://radicalmentoring.com/2011/10/whats-down-in-the-well/.

Your Redemption is Near

The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.  The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.

-Romans 13:11-12

Today this Scripture was highlighted to me.  Your redemption draws nigh!

Redemption is His glory at the end of a long, difficult road.  God is weaving His redemption into each of our lives every passing day.  He is making our lives beautiful, turning what the enemy meant for evil into good.

This is the story of how He redeemed me.

Redemption from Pain

College and the years after brimmed with deep pain and darkness for me.  Some people call it the “Dark Night of the Soul”.  This was mine.

During my teenage years I had some tough experiences, things people should never have to deal with.  What followed was a decade of indescribable pain.  Life was crushing.  I don’t know how else to describe it.

The first year was a blur; I simply don’t remember much.  Each subsequent year was filled with searching, grasping for something to heal my wounds.  Utter desperation.  Despair.  Teeny glimmers of hope after all seemed lost.  And extreme confusion.

I turned over one stone only to uncover more.  There were LAYERS to this thing, this mountain of pain I held inside.  What was the answer?  What did I need most?

I realized I faced a choice: Deal with my experiences with my Healer’s help, the One I’d walked away from years prior, or turn away again to other ‘lovers’.

By the grace of God, this time around I chose Him.

As the pain intensified – which often happens on the road to freedom — I shrank back in fear, a shell of myself.  I sought Him, but leaned heavily on other crutches to make it through.  I didn’t want to unleash a torrent of struggles onto others, and I struggled to trust them, so I fumblingly turned to God again and again.  I slipped, yes!, but I returned to His feet.  I sought His heart for me.  I sought His salve and His touch… but I didn’t fully trust Him either.  Intimacy terrified me, so I played peek-a-boo with my Saviour for much too long, thinking He wouldn’t approve when He saw me up close.

But that’s not what we learn from His precious promises to us.  God shows His heart for His beloved, despite their repeated betrayal, in Hosea:

Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but He will heal us;
He has injured us
but He will bind up our wounds.
After two days He will revive us;
on the third day He will restore us,
that we may live in His presence.
Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge Him.
As surely as the sun rises,
He will appear;
He will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.

-Hosea 6:1-3

Ever so slowly, light shone into my prison.  God entered and chased away my shame, one lie at a time.  He began stripping me of old habits and destructive cycles, revealing to me a new abundant way of life.  Then He did a remarkable thing.  Like His word says, He gave me a new name!, one spoken to me in the depth of the pit: JOY.  I stared back at the man who spoke this over my life, this word of faith, through the eyes of deep sadness and pain.  Joy — me?  He said I’ll bring joy wherever I go?  Wow!  How unthinkable in that season, but how like our Creator to make us into the unthinkable–something glorious–when we could’ve never accomplished it on our own.  How beautiful!  :)

One painstaking step of faith at a time, I learned to trust my Creator as He showed Himself most trustworthy!  This word became true in my life:

The LORD sets prisoners free,
the LORD gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the alien
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.

-Psalm 146

This story of redemption is yours, and it is mine.  And it is life-changing when we share it with others.

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So!

Revelation 12 teaches us invaluable information about our redemption, our salvation:

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of His Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.’

To overcome our mutual enemy, each of us must share our story in our circles– proclaim our freedom, God’s redemption of our pain!  Scripture says “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!”  Speak it.  Share our travels.  Surely somewhere along the way, we will meet others struggling through areas God has given us victory in.  With these people we are compelled to share that freedom is possible, they are not alone, and such beauty awaits them on the other side. 

And that’s why I share mine.

Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
because they rebelled against God’s commands
and despised the plans of the Most High.
So He subjected them to bitter labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and He saved them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
and broke away their chains.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for mankind,
for He breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron…
He sent out His word and healed them;
He rescued them from the grave.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for mankind.
Let them sacrifice thank offerings
and tell of His works with songs of joy.

-Psalm 107

Do you see it?  Despite our self-made prisons and self-imposed chains, God breaks down bronze gates and iron bars.  This is redemption.  It is God giving ear to our cries in our distress.  It is our powerful Saviour rescuing us from every kind of death.

Hallelujah :)

Beauty from Ashes

God didn’t just save me from darkness.  He saved me to someplace, a place He carved out for me before the world began. (Thanks to Beth Moore for this revelation!)

Ten years after the nightmare began, after believing no man would brave peering into my brokenness or would find beauty there, God gave me my heart’s desire: He made me a radiant bride!  I didn’t think this time would actually come.  If my tough experiences had taught me anything, it was that I’d always be in ‘waiting mode’.  Yet, that assumption proved false.  Even now I find it hard to wrap my mind around how far He’s brought me.  Me.  Redeemed.

Yet here I am.

My mom called my attention to this recently at my “early birthday” celebration, words I can’t forget.  She said that despite the long journey I’ve taken — the pain and sadness, my desire to get married earlier than I did, and the painful waiting period that ensued — when my time arrived, God blessed me with two weddings, two honeymoons and all kinds of two-ness (two becoming one)!  [Yes, we had two wedding celebrations: our wedding day with parents and pastor, and a huge one with all our loved ones.]  As she said this, instantly this verse flashed into my mind:

Instead of your shame
   you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
   you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
   and everlasting joy will be yours.

-Isaiah 61:7

[and in the Amplified]:

Instead of your [former] shame you shall have a twofold recompense; instead of dishonor and reproach [your people] shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double [what they had forfeited]; everlasting joy shall be theirs.

Before marriage, I felt shame.  Many of my God-given dreams hinged on meeting the right man, starting a family and creating a life together.  But my dreams tarried.

Yet now I see how the Lord has turned each of these challenging times around for my good.  Each painful season changed something in me that needed to be changed, and each tough path I have traveled thus far has shown me new pathways to healing and freedom that I now share with others.  God has made “all things work together” on my and my husband’s behalf, and in the process He has made (and continues to make!) our story soo beautiful!

A year ago I would have never envisioned the life I’m now living every day.   I recall one moment last spring when God whispered to me, in my utter despair, “It’s always darkest before dawn.” He knew that after enough time passed and life didn’t happen as I’d imagined, hope died in me.

But God is faithful!  Eight months later I was blessed with two totally unique weddings — one flanked by New Mexico’s gorgeous snow and mountains and the other surrounded by Florida’s sunshine, sand and palm trees — and two honeymoons, when I’d only dreamed of one!  Both days were exceptionally beautiful.

Wow!  Did I deserve such grace after the places I’d been?  Or after failing to believe that He cared for me and would bless me one day?  No I didn’t.  Yet, that’s what grace means.  It isn’t earned or merited.  It is freely given.

His word promises us,

I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten –
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm –
My great army that I sent among you.
You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
and you will praise the name of the LORD your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
never again will My people be shamed.

-Joel 2:25-26

Repaid me He has.  And this is just the beginning of my story.

His promises are so beautiful because they are so true!  He will give us beauty for ashes, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  That’s just what He’s done (and continuing to do) in my life.  And that’s just what He’s doing in yours.

Our Final Redemption

God’s final promise of redemption will greet us in the next life.  It is such a glorious promise!  Savor each word because this is His promise to YOU and to me, to all His children, in the place He’s preparing for us:

“Though you were once despised and hated,
with no one traveling through you,
I will make you beautiful forever,
a joy to all generations.
Powerful kings and mighty nations
will satisfy your every need,
as though you were a child
nursing at the breast of a queen.
You will know at last that I, the Lord,
am your Savior and your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Israel.
I will exchange your bronze for gold,
your iron for silver,
your wood for bronze,
and your stones for iron.
I will make peace your leader
and righteousness your ruler.
Violence will disappear from your land;
the desolation and destruction of war will end.
Salvation will surround you like city walls,
and praise will be on the lips of all who enter there.

“No longer will you need the sun to shine by day,
nor the moon to give its light by night,
for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
Your sun will never set;
your moon will not go down.
For the Lord will be your everlasting light.
Your days of mourning will come to an end.
All your people will be righteous.
They will possess their land forever,
for I will plant them there with My own hands
in order to bring Myself glory.
The smallest family will become a thousand people,
and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation.
At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.”

-Isaiah 60

Until heaven, God will be working redemption in our lives here on earth.  Each broken part of us He redeems, each wound He heals in this life points us to our final destination and the Ultimate Redemption of mankind.  God promises a heavenly home where the sun never goes down!  Tears are not cried!  Unfathomable now, but it will be our reality later–just as I could never have hoped or dreamed or expected the life I’m now experiencing daily.  I couldn’t have even wished for the love I now know in marriage.  And this is just a glimpse of what’s to come.

I’ll leave you with God’s best promise of all.  See for yourself–Ephesians 3:14-21.  Let’s always remind ourselves and each other that we can trust God because He is faithful! 

Follow You

Simply put, I adore this song.

Leeland and Brandon Heath’s lyrics describe the heartbeat of what I hope my life is, the impact I desire to have.

I want to follow Him.  I want to reach out and help people encounter Jesus, not the hokey-made-up-religious Jesus, but the life-altering, heart-holding, walks-with-me-talks-with-me, compassionate feels-our-hurts Man who saved my life.  And yours (even if you don’t know it yet).

Jesus has saved me from unspeakable pain.  He’s rescued me from deep darkness, from a pit of despair it took a decade to climb out of.  Just this past year I’m seeing bursts of light everywhere!  How could I have missed this?  The world is full-color, after all, a truth I once relied on others to paint for me.  I was unaware of life’s beauty then.  My reality differed.

But all that’s changed.

This is no Interwebs pity party, mind you, so please don’t break out the tissues.  This is a CELEBRATION!  Of all He’s done for me.  Of all He’s done and doing for you!  This song encapsulates that — it captures my heart in a beautiful melody.

My old music faves depress me now.  They used to be my mantras, for years.  My how God’s moved and changed and healed my heart!

He continues to more each day.  He brightens my life.  I never have to go back to that pit!  He’s shown me freedom, what tangled me up in the dark, and how to show others the way out.

And that’s the message of this song.

Once you’re free, you never wanna revisit old places.  Leave them dead and buried.  You have new horizons to explore!  You have PEOPLE to reach with His hope.

If someone saved your life, all you’d wanna do is tell others what they did.  Spread their love and share your gratitude!

And if they risked their life for you, you would likely be so stunned, so grateful, you would want to serve them somehow.  Give them something, anything, to “pay them” what you really can’t return.

But what if Someone didn’t risk their life for you.  They GAVE it.  They died so you would spring to life.  What would you do then?  And what if they died for your friends too?  Your neighbors?

I imagine you’d tell others about this person who died in your place, and theirs.  Everywhere.  As much and as often as you can.  Who does that, after all?  Who dies so that someone else may live?

We all know… Jesus did.

At times when I lose this “Gospel saving” perspective, I have only to turn on this song and sing the words.  They remind me of my heart’s true desire, where I’ve lost focus in my life.  They re-orient me to my life’s mission.

I want to follow Him …… into the world, into broken people’s homes.  But I want to leave there ……. with chains dangling from my hands, the chains of people once in bondage.  People who can know the freedom I, too, now know.

Don’t you?

Thank You loving Father for rescuing me.  Where would I be without Your grace?  Make this song my life.  I want to help bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the year of Jubilee to those who are bound.  Help me, Father.  Enable me to be like You, Jesus.  Empower me Holy Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name I pray, amen.

Women of Strength

This is good — contrasting “Strong Women” who seem to have it all together (who does?) and “Women of Strength” who rely on Him to make them strong.  My favorites are bolded:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A strong woman works out daily to keep her body in shape,
but a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.

A strong woman isn’t afraid of anything,
but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of fear.

A strong woman won’t let anyone get the best of her,
but a woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone.

A strong woman walks sure-footedly,
but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls.

A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face,
but a woman of strength wears grace.

A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey,
but a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In a recent job interview, I was asked (half-seriously): If you were a superhero, who would you be and why? 

My response (after laughing!): “Superwoman, because she saves the whole world — and looks great doing it!”

Hah — Yes, I’m ridiculous.  But it got me thinking.  Is this our goal as ladies?  Apparently it was mine.  But the sad truth is I’ll (probably) never be Superwoman.  A girl can dream, and a cape may look good on me, but I’ll never be able to ‘do it all’.  Is that a tough pill to swallow or what?

Not you, you say?  After all you’re lacing up those sneakers for a third half-marathon… You cook gourmet fare 5 nights a week (does Kraft count?)… Your kids are honor roll-ees (except that one semester)…. You juggle work, marriage and motherhood with grace, poise (and caffeine).  And you look good doing it.

But if we’re honest, we’re worn out from the Superwoman treadmill.  I for one want to get OFF.  And I’d like to not incur judgment for doing it.  This means we must give and receive grace for messing up.  This means we can laugh at our mistakes, not take them personally, brush ourselves off and ask for strength the next time.

Our world tells us (and we wanna believe!) we can do it all – achieve it all – but we reach The Wall eventually. We all face limitations. I fight my own weaknesses.  Funny enough, though we try to cover them up or downplay them, people around us know our faults anyway.  Time tells all.  We can’t hide them, so why not vocalize them and ask for people’s help?   This makes our struggles lose their power over us!

“But wait!” you say.  “Superwoman can’t ask for help!  Who will take her seriously?”

One of my favorite quotes ever says Never trust a leader without a limp.  If someone is unwilling to own their flaws in front of their people, they are not yet fit for leadership. A true leader must reveal who they are — warts & all — in order to successfully encourage others.  When a leader covers their struggles, they appear prideful and a tad dishonest (or outta touch with reality).  Pride leads to falls.  Dishonesty leads to much worse.  Neither trait qualifies a person to lead.

Some people have told me how “strong” I am and that I have my “act together”.  This makes me question myself: Do I show others I’m merely a strong woman who relies on myself or do I show that I’m a woman who relies on God to help me excel?  Do I grab His glory and hang onto it myself, or do I pass it on to the only One who owns it (and can handle it)?

Does my strength come from ME or from Him?  If Him, then people should be singing His praises when strength and excellence show up in my life!  People are drawn to those who have Supernatural Strength in their lives.  If you and I continuously give God the kudos, others will be more likely to turn to Him in their time of need, too.

Because we’re all weak sometimes.  We all need strength and courage and help.

“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  – Isaiah 40:31 

Are we pointing other ladies to Christ’s power in us, or are we keeping His praise for ourselves?  Are we relying on our own power, or are we gaining strength from Him?

Food for thought.  And (I hope) for change.

Jealous for Us

Putting God first (AKA firstfruits).  Remember when I wrote about that last month?  http://youaretheoneiwant.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/first-fruits/

He’s taught me a lot in 30 short days.  Today I opened His word to this passage (a book I’d never paid attention to!).  The passage is a little lengthy but the message, AWESOME.

“Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?  This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!  You have planted much but harvest little.  You eat but are not satisfied.  You drink but are still thirsty.  You put on clothes but cannot keep warm.  Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!  Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house.  Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.  You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor.  And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away.  Why?  Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses.  It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops.  I have called for a drought on your fields and hills—a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.”

-Haggai 1

Um, whoa.  Harsh much?  Not so fast…

What is God saying here?  His message is: ”Get your priorities straight!  This is why your house is in ruins…. why you have addictions you can’t satisfy…. why you work so hard but it’s never enough!  You are giving what belongs to God – the firstfruits of your heart, your money, your devotion, your time – to another.”

Hasn’t God said He’s jealous for us (Exodus 20)?  He will not sit by while we worship something else, something false.  We are His children!  Like any good father, He shows us when we veer off course, when we chase things that destroy us.

What kind of wife/husband would you be to ignore your spouse dating someone else — or to let your kids wander down a bad path that will cause them pain or even death, without correcting them?  Would you be able to say you truly loved them?

So what did our loving God do to His people, who left His temple unbuilt and thus rendered them unable to worship Him?  He sent disaster upon what they were relying on.

Why - because He hated them? 

No, because He loved them intensely and wanted them to realize they were devoted to the wrong thing.  He wanted to turn their hearts back to Him.  He was crying out for them to love Him back, to return to Him, to rebuild His temple so they could worship Him once more.

THAT IS A PASSIONATE LOVE!

So the people of Judah responded: They started building God’s temple!  And what did God do?  Check out Haggai 2:

“Look at what was happening to you before you began to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple.  When you hoped for a twenty-bushel crop, you harvested only ten.  When you expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, you found only twenty.  I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy everything you worked so hard to produce. Even so, you refused to return to me, says the Lord.

Think about this eighteenth day of December, the day when the foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid.  Think carefully.  I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn.  You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops.  But from this day onward I will bless you.”

He blessed them!!!  For even beginning to walk in obedience, He spoke His blessing over their lives.

The coolest & most exciting part (to me)?  This morning God spoke the same message to my heart: From this day onward I will bless you.

Why?

I believe it’s because we’ve been giving Him our firstfruits, honoring Him with the first of our crops (which we actually have, from our new garden!), our time (our mornings and the beginning of each month), our wealth (the first of our paycheck).

Have we been perfect?  No, but we’ve started plodding the path of putting Him first.  Proverbs 9 says God blesses people who give Him their firstfruits.  We recognized this — that the firstfruits already belong to Him — so when we give Him what’s rightfully His, He blesses the rest.

And He wasn’t kidding: He’s blessing our faces off.  No, we don’t share this to toot our horns.  We share this to demonstrate that the Bible, when applied, changes our lives :)

May God give you grace to do the same!
xoxo Summer

Communication: To HEAL or HURT?

Here’s a question to ask ourselves:

Is my communication helping or hurting this situation?

Is what I’m about to say/write able to bring people up or down?

No, seriously.  Ask yourself this whenever you’re tempted to write a volatile email or spread juicy gossip.  I know it’s juicy.  I know it’s like that itch you MUST scratch.  Put another way:

If they were here, would I say this – the same way? 

Maybe you would.  Maybe you – can I be direct? – struggle with being a jerk.  Then there are others, the less aggressive, who find it hard to confront people directly.  So we go to others when we’re hurt, seeking sympathy, but instead build walls and tear down other people’s relationships.  All to alleviate our own desire for revenge. 

Lately I’ve witnessed the major destruction such words bring to relationships, people slandering each other.  This is the worst kind of insult: Behind your back, when you are defenseless.  As believers in Christ, we need to be mindful of  the incredible power of our words.  Are you building people up or tearing them down?

Jesus has a word for us in this department.  A lot of words.  Hang onto your britches! 

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he hears you, you have gained your brother.  But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’  -Matt 18:15-16

Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  Up to seven times?’  Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’  -Matt. 18:21-22

If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  -Matt 5:23-24

Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  -Matt. 7:1-2

And Solomon:

Hatred stires up strife, but love covers all sins.  -Prov. 10:12

These wise words teach us this:

1. First forgive.  I know it’s hard.  We’ve all been backstabbed, betrayed, used, abused.  But your quality of life hinges on your forgiveness (or lack of).  If you want a joyful life, you must forgive; there’s no other option.  Take it from one who learned the hard way: Grudges only destroy you and your relationships.  If you’re upset with someone, forgive them before approaching them about the issue.
2. If someone’s hurt you, GO TO THEM.  Don’t tell your boyfriend, sister/ aunt/ mother, or cubemate.  Let that person know they hurt  you and give them opportunity to explain, apologize or make amends.  Has someone ever done this for you?  What a relief that they approached you instead of telling half the town or posting angry Facebook statuses!  On the flipside, have you ever had someone do the opposite: tell your entire circle but you that you’ve offended them?  I have.  The result?  Division, misplaced anger, mega damage control.  People, let’s handle conflict responsibly, like adults.  Put your big girl panties on and deal with it head-on. 
3. If someone else is upset with you, go to them.  Do not delay!  Waiting simply gives our enemy time to weave division, hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and gossip/ slander.  God makes it clear He’d rather we reconcile with others than receive our gifts.  Reconciliation first; giving second. 
4. QUIT JUDGING.  You are not your neighbor’s judge – GOD IS.  If you simply must get something off your chest about someone else, aim it at God.  He knows what you’re thinking already, and He’ll likely give you a new perspective.  For me He’s made me aware of my own failures (which He’s forgiven me of constantly) or opened my eyes to their viewpoint, the motivation behind their behavior, and His compassion for them.  Pray to Him - ask Him to help that person grow in the area of their failure.  Ask for His grace to let it go whenever they mess up.  Search scripture for similar incidences.  It is replete with wisdom on how to treat other people, none involving your vengeance!   You will be BLESSED by following this advice!!

If you have a grievance with someone, go to them today.  Refuse to talk behind their back.  People are more reasonable when you open the door for them to share their feelings and perspective with you.  You may gain valuable insight into their heart/ behavior.  If they’re unreasonable, take someone else with you.  If that doesn’t work, brush it off and move forward; you tried your best. 

This works anywhere: Home …. the Workplace …. Church …. Small groups …. Friends.  Quit adding fuel to the fire and backbiting/ gossiping.  Stop attacking and finger-pointing.  Be humble enough to admit your mistakes and give others grace to do the same.  If we’d follow this, it would stop untold amounts of drama in our lives! 

One last benefit:

A gracious woman attains honor  -Prov 11:16

Yes, forgiveness brings you honor!  I’m reminded of Taylor Swift’s gracious response to Kanye at last year’s VMAs.  Hats off to her for controlling herself when many would have reacted less kindly. 

As the Apostle Paul would say, Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And as I would say - Much love.  Go spread it around :)
XOXOX Summer

‘The Beast Within’

“The winner of this battle is simply decided by which wolf we feed.”

God’s been speaking to me about this lately… and then suddenly, there it was today in black & white: the beast within! 

We have two sides.  The question is, which one are we feeding – our selfish desires or our spirit within us?  Because when tough times come, the stronger one will rise up and react.  Am I feeding cravings for pleasure, unrestrained rage, a loose tongue that cuts down others and speaks death over my circumstances?  Or am I feeding forgiveness, purity in my thoughts and how I treat others, faith in the midst of fears, and hope despite odds stacked against me?  (Ahem, this post is for me as much as it may be for you!)

Let’s must keep in mind that we can’t tame this beast alone.  Sure, we may be able to discipline ourselves for a time — outwardly at least.  But self-imposed discipline can’t cure the problem!  Col. 2:20-23 says:

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

These commands lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence — any!  We can’t rein this beast in ourselves.  We must simply ask God for grace to help us! 

Are you struggling with parents, kids, an ’inconsiderate, lazy, critical’ spouse or boss?  A coworker or friend that sucks the life outta you and uses you for gain?  An addiction?  Finances?  A lack of joy?  Waning health, despite having ‘tried everything’?  Been there! 

Ask God for TODAY’S GRACE.  It’s your daily portion!  Pray to your Abba Father who sees and truly cares:

“Please give me my daily bread, Father.  I need incredible grace to deal with this.  Your Word promises I can come boldly before Your throne to obtain grace and mercy in time of need.  I am in need!  Thank You Father for providing exceptional, overflowing, more-than-I-need grace.  Thank You that I’m victorious.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!”

Pray.  And believe!  I am right there with you clinging to hope, believing for things I’ve waited on for years.  I’m so thankful I don’t have to live each year at a time – just daily. 

Thank You Father for Your daily bread.  Thank You that You’ve apportioned it for us before today arrived – before our tire blew out and we didn’t have money to cover it.  Before we were betrayed by someone we loved with our whole lives.  Before illness struck.  Before my spouse left, or my business hit rock bottom. 

Your grace is sufficient for me, for Your power is perfected in my weakness.  Thank You Lord that this is true in my life right now.  You know how desperately I needed this today.  You are awesome.  You are mighty.  And You are bigger than this. Your provision is waiting in the wings. 

* Confessions of a [Recovering] People Pleaser *

I’ve watched many friendships die because of a competitive spirit. 

Why?

Because sometime after college, a lot of friendships changed from openness to “Show and Tell”.  The distance between us made close friends into acquaintances.  Our lives became busier, with fewer phone calls and less “face time”. 

With passing time, Facebook confirmed our suspicions: old friends are taking separate roads.  Alternate lifestyles, divergent career paths, new interests, weddings and childbirth.  Former strong believers fell off the wagon and God haters jumped on.  The reality of our friendships became clear: many were merely circumstantial, conditional. 

This rude awakening hurts.  Maybe that’s why we call the shift from school years to work life the ‘real world’.  During this shift, the reaction of many is to withdraw in isolation or shallowness.  Other people cling to dead relationships, in denial.  Still others muster up all their strength and ‘discipline’ to becoming the best they can be.  They hope in the process of proving themselves, that they will earn love.  No one I know goes through this period of time with a fully-intact heart.   

Scripture talks about this.  It says that in the last days, the love of many will grow cold.  Why?

Because of ever-increasing wickedness.

Is that what we’re experiencing?  Do people begin lashing out, shutting down, or changing from caring to competitive because our world’s becoming more wicked and self-centered? 

As we collect years, love seems to be in shorter supply.  We experience hurt with people, so we resort to competitive tactics to satisfy our hunger to be loved.  Many disguise these tactics in career pursuits, a great marriage, wonderful ‘obedient’ children, the perfect pie, impressive amounts of money, church attendance and abstaining from pleasures, looking beautiful 24/7 – all in an attempt to earn love. 

But by definition, love isn’t acquired by earning.  It isn’t had by how outstanding your performance at work is or how toned your abs are.  Ladies — it isn’t because you’re effortlessly beautiful (is anyone?) or because you don’t have cellulite (that they know of ) ;).  

Those who don’t fall into the competitive trap are in one of two categories: those who believe they can’t measure up so they stop trying to prove they can… and the few who rest in the assurance they are loved already.  Loved already?  But by who, if not someone in the world?       

Whether we step up to the plate and compete with others for love or believe we’ll never hit the mark and give up, both instances indicate our love is growing cold.  We are more concerned about earning love than giving it.  And so we go round and round.  The cycle perpetuates itself. 

But what we fail to grasp is that there isn’t a limited supply of love!  There is BOUNTIFUL love, overflowing from the rafters.  However, this love isn’t found in the world.  When we seek the world’s applause, we must compete because the world only likes winners.  And to win, someone must lose.  Actually, many someones. 

But in God’s world, love knows no limits.  Our faults only position us to receive more of His love!  We’d never fear that we’re unlovable unless we recognize that we have unlovable parts, so embracing our failure can lead us to discovering true love in God! 

The truth is, love can only come from two places: inside the world or outside it.  Our life experience looks like this: We see our failures.  We experience the world’s rejection because of them.  We then have a choice: to stay on the world’s never-ending treadmill, to withdraw in despair at never measuring up, or to seek another Source of love outside the applause of man. 

Once we stop going to the world as our source of confidence and affirmation, we can truly begin living.  Freely!  And our love will not grow cold.  It will thrive regardless — shining in an otherwise hate-filled world. 

Jesus, thank You for saving us!!  From our common enemy, from our dark and cold world, from each other, and from ourselves.  You are our only hope for love, and the only way we can love others without condition.  Thank You for what You’ve done!