Run to Christ

"But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me even though many oppose me." - Psalm 55:16-18

Psalms are absolutely beautiful. They can speak to us in times of joy and sadness, heartache and happiness, distress and peace, etc. The list goes on and on. And, do you want to know why they can speak to us in so many different ways? First and foremost, they are inspired by an almighty, caring God who knows our every need and responds to them, but also because most of them were written by David. Do you want to know who David was? He was a shepard, a giant slayer, adulterer, murderer, and a man after God's own heart. Now, those don't all exactly go together, but that's a story for another day. Regardless, the Psalms were written by someone who felt all the emotions we feel and he went through Old Testament versions of our own struggles. But, do you know what he did when things got hard? He turned to God. 

If you read all of Psalm 55, which I encourage you to do, you will get the whole picture of what I'm about to say. But, for now, specifically look at verses 6-8. They say, "I said, 'Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest -  I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.'" Now, I'm not sure if you all think those verses are as beautiful as I do. But, I think they are beautiful. Mostly because I have definitely felt this way on multiple occasions. 

Sometimes it would be so nice just to run away. And, sometimes you know what God says? He says, "Why don't you run?" In Matthew 11:28 he says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Why is it so easy for us to feel like running from our problems but so hard for us to run to the person who wants us there? Jesus does not promise to take away our problems, but he does promise us rest and that's what David needed at this particular point in his life. And, that's what God did. He ransomed him unharmed from the battle waged against him. 

We are going to face problems. You can't run from them but you can run to someone who already has them all figured out. See, that's why God can give you rest, because he knows what the end looks like. He knows what grade you will make on that test. He knows when your future husband will come along even if you think you have already missed your chance with the person you thought was "the one." He knows how much you miss that friend or family member you lost. He knows every intricate detail about every problem you are facing which means he knows just what to do when you come running to him. He knows how it will all turn out in the end. David knew that God would be there, and so do we. The last words of my Pastor's sermon the other day were, "If  you can just hold on to God, it really will be okay. It may not be the okay you want, but it will be the okay you need." And, that applies to every situation you will face. God has it under control even if sometimes you want to run away or you literally want to lay in your bed all day and watch Netflix while you cuddle with your pillow pet and avoid people. God knows what he is doing. Don't doubt that. Don't doubt God's unfailing love for you. And, always remember that God never gets tired of you. He never gets tired period. So, even when your problems are too much for you, they will not even be scratching the surface of what God can handle. And, that's why David could confidently say, "But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me even though many oppose me."

God's Chocolate Fountains

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfullness." - Lamentations 3:22-23

This morning I had the pleasure of teaching my Mom's Sunday School class. It was super last minute. Like our teacher was running behind, so I decided to help him out. So, I opened my Bible to teach on Matthew 6:13 because I have been studying it for a devotional. I was then drawn to Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." I taught my lesson. And, by "taught my lesson," I mean I rambled on in that "oh, hey, I'm not sure what to say so let me just start rambling whatever comes to mind." Thankfully, God doesn't need any planning to say what He needs to. Somewhere in the midst of my rambling, I compared forgiveness to a never-ending chocolate fountain. Because who doesn't love a never-ending supply of chocolate? Ya know, besides me? I'll think of it as a white chocolate fountain and you all can think of it as a dark chocolate fountain, milk chocolate, whatever you would consume all day if you could. Over the course of the day I've thought of the truthfulness of that statement. We can forgive because God forgave us a long time ago when He died for our sins. He was completely perfect and CHOSE to die on the cross for us completely imperfect humans, because He loves us. He suffered and died for us. And, yet, we can't even forgive someone who cut us off in traffic three weeks ago. Why is that? It all goes back to us being completely imperfect humans. See, we run out of forgiveness because we run out of other things (i.e. patience, compassion, thoughtfulness). We neglect to that the world is full of people other than us. Maybe that person who cut you off had a medical emergency come up in their family or maybe on a more positive note someone they love told them they had found out some very exciting news and they were racing to find out what it is. But, we don't think of these things. We simply think "how in the world could they have cut ME off?" What if Christ had said, "How in the world could I forgive them when they hurt ME?" Imagine if Christ thought in capital "ME's." Where would we be? The good news is that He doesn't. He thinks in terms of love, compassion, grace, and forgiveness. And, He's got a never-ending supply of them! But, does Christ hold all of them for Himself? No, of course not, He shares them with us. He says, "Here's another round of grace for doing the same thing you did last week." Because His mercies are new every morning. He only asks that we share. He asks that we forgive as He has forgiven us. His segment of the chocolate fountain pours into our segment and it overflows into someone else's. That's what chocolate fountains do or else they wouldn't be fun to watch or dip things in. We know what it feels like to be poured into every morning and we should jump at the opportunity to pour into someone else so we can all enjoy some of God's awesome chocolate fountains. He has many flavors including: grace, forgiveness, mercy, hope, faith, love, etc. Which are you in need of today? Which should you be sharing more of? And, just think God's chocolate fountains are calorie AND guilt-free!

Why #foreveralone is not okay!

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." -Psalm 37:4

You know what has become one of my biggest pet peeves lately? Putting yourself down. As girls, we are so quick to compare ourselves to other people and put ourselves down. You know who we're helping? No one. You know how much good that's doing? None. Now I won't pretend that I have never put myself down, because I certainly have. But, it's time to stop. 

And, I think part of this starts with this new-found notion that just because we don't have a boyfriend at age 16, 21, 30, etc. we are destined to be #foreveralone. We are so quick to use this phrase. "Oh, I look so rachet today #foreveralone." "I just ate a pint of ice cream, 20 oreos, and 15.2 girl scout cookies #foreveralone." We are all guilty of saying these things and more, myself included. But, you know what this says? I am alone because of me not because of any plan God has for my life. 

God's plans are so much greater than the sweatpants we rock everyday or the oreo, extra oreo milkshakes we consume almost weekly. His plans include the desires of our heart. That's a big deal! God has placed certain desires within us and He knows just when and how to fulfill these desires. Am I saying that every girl's desire is to be someone's wifey? No, but it is one that comes up a lot. And, by us constantly saying #foreveralone, I feel like we are basically saying that God won't ever fulfill the desires He has given us. And, to me, that just isn't Biblical.

But, this verse also says something else. It says, "Delight yourself in the Lord..." What does this mean for us? It means that we should take delight in who we do have in our life: a God who sent His son to die on a cross FOR US! That's really all we could ever need, but God chooses to give us much more than that. He gives us family and friends and the desires of our heart. So, on top of His rich love, grace, and mercy, God ices the cake with the desires of our heart. He loves us so much that He is willing to give us what we desire. This desire could be a job, a husband, etc. But, we have to trust in what God can do and not rely on ourselves. 

Romans 8:25 says, "But, if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." If your desire has not been filled yet, then you should hope for the desires of your heart and then wait for them patiently. You know what this means? It means STOP putting yourself down, and, STOP comparing your love life with others. Because, ultimately, you have no idea what God's plan for your life includes and your desires could change tomorrow. God knows just what we need, when we need it. So, STOP being that person who claims to be #foreveralone. I know, I know this is easier said than done, but it starts with you believing just what Psalm 37:4 says.