I gave a word in church today. I didn't do it because I wanted to. For all my love of public speaking (and I do mean LOVE - I'm more comfortable speaking in front of 100 people than having a conversation with 3-4), the second it comes to speaking something the Lord has put on my heart, I feel so nervous. What if I get it wrong? What if I don't say it exactly the way I'm supposed to? What if my imperfect self distorts His perfect Word?
But there's a physical need that goes along with that word on my heart. My chest literally feels full, like my heart is going to leap out of my mouth. When I was a kid, I thought the soul was a glowing gold key inside of everyone's chest. When there's a word on my heart, it doesn't just glow - it burns. Once I get it out, I feel an overwhelming relief that has brought me to tears in the past.
Today the relief didn't last. The feeling in my chest came back, like I was supposed to say it again. Clearly the congregation didn't need me to repeat myself. They were there for the sermon, not for me, and they'd already gotten the message once. So I think there's someone else who needs to hear it - someone who wasn't in that room. In case you need it, here it is:
Stop hiding. That's not a rebuke - it's an encouragement. I don't know what you've done that you're so ashamed of, but it doesn't have to keep you from a good relationship with God. For one thing, He already knows about it. There is nothing we can do, say, or think that our Father isn't aware of. For another, if you give it to him, if you confess it and repent, He will forgive you. There's no need to sit in shame, or think that what you've done is so bad that you can't come back. That He's going to stop loving you. Your sin - even this one you're holding onto - was paid for on the cross. Jesus already took it. He washed your path in blood so that you can go to God no matter what has happened. You may feel like you don't deserve it, but the beauty of His love is that he saves us by grace. None of us "deserve it", yet He loves us anyway.
Jeremiah 33:8 reads "I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me." Ephesians 1:7 says "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." 1 John 1:9 is especially on point here: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
I don't know about you, but before I was saved, I didn't go to God with everything. I didn't want to "bother" Him with things that weren't "important." I'm going to repeat that: I thought I was inconveniencing my Creator, my Father, who chose everything about me, who made me, who died for me. Now? I go to Him with everything. And the best part is, he's not going to cast you out because you messed up. He's not going to get sick of listening to you. He's not going to leave your prayer on "read" and go about His business. He loves you. He forgives you. He will answer you.
If this word rings true with you, I encourage you to pray. To reach out to your community to pray with you if you're comfortable doing so. We are all in this walk together. He holds your heart, and I (and others) will hold your hand.
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Thursday, March 14, 2019
I want it NOW!
Y'all, I was up until nearly 3 this morning. Alarm goes off at 6 - oof. I'm on a plan to read the entire Bible in a year, and today, just 15 months into it, I've finished the New Testament and am midway through Jeremiah in the Old. (I'm still impressed with myself - the last time I tried I threw in the towel at the measurements of the ark of the covenant).
I've had things in the Bible grab me before, but this one grabbed and shook. Everyone has seen pins, magnets, shirts, painted stones, etc. with Jer 29:11 on them:
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
The prosperity gospel, followed - unsurprisingly - mostly by people who are extremely well off, uses this as one of its key passages to promote the message that if you're following God, you're going to get all kinds of fabulous things in this world and if you don't get them, it's because you're not Godly enough.
Most of you may recognize that as what is referred to, in the most technical terms, as a load of hooey. But even if we aren't buying into the "gospel" according to the world, we all at some point or another can get a bit impatient waiting on the Lord. My husband, for example, was laid off (from the same company where I work - talk about awkward) during a large restructuring the day after I came back from my maternity leave. Now, it's only been 5 weeks and he has found a new job. But those 5 weeks were agonizing. The same when I lost my job just over 4 years ago and spent 4 months looking. I remember wondering when exactly God was going to intervene on my behalf when I was the job-seeker. That's even when I started going to church again. I had a baby - and one with a heart condition at that! My credit card was maxed. My depression was spiraling. Where was my job????
This time around, I was more calm and confident, knowing something better was on the way. But it was still hard to wait. We do it with little things, big things, and everything in between. Where's the spring weather - we want to stop getting sick! Where is that promotion you've been waiting on? Why does everyone else seem to have nice things and you're scraping pennies together? Why is your body failing you when you've treated it well? "WHERE IS THE PROSPERITY?", you may want to shout.
But that's because we forget. Context is key when it comes to anything, and the Bible is no exception. Let's take a look at Jer 29:10. God has handed His people to the Babylonians because of their defiance and idol worship. They've turned from Him and refuse to follow His path. They are in a fairly epic time-out:
"This is what the Lord says: 'When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place."
Hold up - seventy years? During that time, new children would be born. Many of those exiled would die. They were tasked to go about their lives and, I'm quite sure, think about what they'd done. Much like Moses and Abraham before them, most of these people would never actually get to the prosperity. Compared to that length of time, four months is a blink.
So what do we do while we're waiting? God wouldn't just leave us in the lurch wondering what to do. Verses 12 and 13 give us an answer: "Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
We are human. We are flawed. Patience is not most people's strong suit. And it gets even harder when we or our loved ones are suffering. But Good is GOOD. He may not be tossing out prosperity like Oprah with a pile of prizes, but what he has for us is so much better than anything we get here. Worth anything we go through here. Seek Him. Trust Him. And surround yourself with people who will lift you up and pray with you when you feel like you can't wait anymore.
I've had things in the Bible grab me before, but this one grabbed and shook. Everyone has seen pins, magnets, shirts, painted stones, etc. with Jer 29:11 on them:
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
The prosperity gospel, followed - unsurprisingly - mostly by people who are extremely well off, uses this as one of its key passages to promote the message that if you're following God, you're going to get all kinds of fabulous things in this world and if you don't get them, it's because you're not Godly enough.
Most of you may recognize that as what is referred to, in the most technical terms, as a load of hooey. But even if we aren't buying into the "gospel" according to the world, we all at some point or another can get a bit impatient waiting on the Lord. My husband, for example, was laid off (from the same company where I work - talk about awkward) during a large restructuring the day after I came back from my maternity leave. Now, it's only been 5 weeks and he has found a new job. But those 5 weeks were agonizing. The same when I lost my job just over 4 years ago and spent 4 months looking. I remember wondering when exactly God was going to intervene on my behalf when I was the job-seeker. That's even when I started going to church again. I had a baby - and one with a heart condition at that! My credit card was maxed. My depression was spiraling. Where was my job????
This time around, I was more calm and confident, knowing something better was on the way. But it was still hard to wait. We do it with little things, big things, and everything in between. Where's the spring weather - we want to stop getting sick! Where is that promotion you've been waiting on? Why does everyone else seem to have nice things and you're scraping pennies together? Why is your body failing you when you've treated it well? "WHERE IS THE PROSPERITY?", you may want to shout.
But that's because we forget. Context is key when it comes to anything, and the Bible is no exception. Let's take a look at Jer 29:10. God has handed His people to the Babylonians because of their defiance and idol worship. They've turned from Him and refuse to follow His path. They are in a fairly epic time-out:
"This is what the Lord says: 'When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place."
Hold up - seventy years? During that time, new children would be born. Many of those exiled would die. They were tasked to go about their lives and, I'm quite sure, think about what they'd done. Much like Moses and Abraham before them, most of these people would never actually get to the prosperity. Compared to that length of time, four months is a blink.
So what do we do while we're waiting? God wouldn't just leave us in the lurch wondering what to do. Verses 12 and 13 give us an answer: "Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
We are human. We are flawed. Patience is not most people's strong suit. And it gets even harder when we or our loved ones are suffering. But Good is GOOD. He may not be tossing out prosperity like Oprah with a pile of prizes, but what he has for us is so much better than anything we get here. Worth anything we go through here. Seek Him. Trust Him. And surround yourself with people who will lift you up and pray with you when you feel like you can't wait anymore.
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