Hurting

People are hurting. Maybe you are. In the last year my wife and I have each lost grandparents that were close to us; today I am missing my grandmother. She was like a lot of grandmothers very sweet, didn't like to speak ill of anyone, loved her family, was a faithful wife, sick from time to time but wouldn't let you feel sorry for her, and always was a huge encouragement to my life. My wife and I also lost our nephew who was 10 years old a couple of months ago, and that was beyond expression heart wrenching. His parents have lost their home, laid off of work and now their oldest has passed away---how do you even breathe another breath after that?!

I could spend hours sharing the pain of folks we know and what they are going through but my purpose in sharing this is to get a few things off my chest and gain some perspective.

Two words I memorized in Sunday school as a child,"Jesus wept." It was the easiest verse to remember. In John 11 Jesus was asked to come help Lazarus who was sick by Mary and Martha, and in God's timing He came, and says after seeing all the grieving by friends and family because Lazarus was dead Jesus groaned in the spirit and was troubled, then he wept.

Jesus gets it, He understands how hard life can be for us. What if He had said,"Hey sisters why are you crying, where's your faith, Lazarus is in Heaven so be joyful, nothing to cry about!" Well that would suck if our Savour was so insensitive, I am thankful He understands that sometimes life is inexpressibly difficult, and He grieves with us! Yes God hurts with us when we've lost our home, our job or even a loved one!

So if your having a crummy day or week or year I hope you can break away from the idea of always having to have a Sunday school smile and rest in the fact that our Father does very much love us intimately.

Sidetracked?

Feeling sidetracked as a Christian? Maybe you've lost your way and feel like your just going through the motions. I have had my face on the floor in desperation for God to speak to me; I have felt galaxies away from Him and never stopped to realize He was right there the whole time. Now I don't believe that a man or a book can save us or give us the 12 steps we need to get back to God, because He's never left us. What I do believe is that God will speak through faithful men the message we need to hear to get us back on track. Abiding Life Ministries has a book called 'Sidetracked in the Wilderness' that helped me find my way back to the life Jesus promised to His followers, the abundant life. So I encourage you to check them out, I have a link set up on the right that will take you to their home page.
Lastly, I read this book 10 years ago, I was younger then and didn't enjoy reading; but a good friend gave it to me and so as I read it I couldn't put it down. Let me know what you think, if you get a chance to read it. Blessings.

Messy

So I had this thought the other day that I often have,"why can't I find some rhythm in life, you know a consistent groove," and I felt God saying to me, "you were never meant to." What?! So I started thinking down those lines of what then was my life supposed to look like...messy? And I remembered that in Ephesians (2:10) it says we are God's workmanship; His poema, a work of art. Artwork can be messy, but as we all know that it can bring so much life into a room when it's complete and hung for all to admire. God's purpose, by any means necessary is to bring His life into the world through our lives; so that when the painting is finished it will show everyone how beautiful His heart is for them. And so now I realize that I will have those character flaws that need adjustment, those doubts about the future that require faith, those ugly sins that I'm still trying to shake, and life can be okay as long as I rest in His perfection and will. Of course it would be nice if the ride wasn't so rough! Blessings.