I’m not asking if you believe in God as I might ask if you believe in aliens or in Santa. But rather, do you believe that what He says is true? Do you believe that the promises of Scripture are meant for you? Do you believe that the talents He has gifted you with were meant to be a blessing to you and others? Do you believe that the dreams He has laid on your heart in the dark hours of the night will come to pass in time?
Much of my life I’ve studied God’s Word and accepted it as truth from an intellectual perspective. God says that His Word is truth and therefore it is. History and science also provide proofs to Scripture’s validity. I believed the Bible to be true on behalf of others who struggled with doubt or worried that God wouldn’t come through for them. I’ve prayed in faith that God would meet their needs. I’ve also prayed that God would meet my own and He has. I know Him to be faithful and true to His Word.
But there is one dream I have that is so dear to my heart I’ve been afraid to fully give it to God. I’ve prayed around it. I’ve worried about it. I’ve hoped it might come true. But outright believing that God placed this dream in my heart and gifted me for it that I might pursue it for my joy and the benefit of others feels scary. Like perhaps He’s set me up for failure. It’s the dream of being a successful writer.
I know that you can define “success” in many ways, one of them being to help another person with your words. Just one solitary person finding hope because of a blog post or book is a wonderful thing. So in that sense I can claim success today.
But if I’m honest, my heart wants more. I want to help hundreds, if not thousands, of people find freedom in Christ. I want my books to win awards for literary excellence. I want my name on the New York Times Bestseller List.
All of that feels so out of reach that it would definitely be a “God thing” for it to happen. It also feels prideful to admit I have these desires. It feels like I’m not a good Christian because “good Christians” are to be humble and small and those who find success are sell-outs who have turned away from God to chase the success of the world. I don’t know exactly where those feelings came from. Perhaps I’ve internalized false messages. I can’t say for sure.
What I do know is that God is leading me to take a new step in my faith—to trust Him and His goodness at a deeper level than I ever have before. The foundation of this step was laid last year as He laid the word “transformation” on my heart (read that post here) and then began to transform my mindset, body, habits, and more throughout the months of 2020. Last year felt preparatory—like I was standing at the edge of a cliff. This year feels like I’m stepping off.
I’m free falling. Some might call it going “all in.” Some might call it foolish or even sinful, but in my heart I know it’s right. I’ve decided to believe.
Luke chapter 1 records two examples of people God chose to use in extraordinary ways. Zechariah was a priest. This is how Luke introduces him:
“In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.” (Luke 1:5-7)
As you can see, Luke enjoyed conjunctions as much or more than I do. *cheeky grin*
You might think of Zechariah as a sort of “preachers’ kid” today. He was born into the tribe of Levi, otherwise known as the priestly line. By nature of birth, he was raised to serve in the Temple in Jerusalem and fulfill certain duties. He was in the process of doing these when an angel came to him and told him he would become a father in his old age. He had all the Bible knowledge to know that what God said would happen. It was just a matter of time.
But Zechariah, despite being a professional servant of God, looked at his circumstances and responded in doubt. They had prayed for years for a child and been disappointed. Now it was too late. They were too old. The timing was off. It wasn’t possible. Gabriel’s response? “…behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
Doubt stole Zechariah’s voice. He couldn’t tell his wife the good news. He couldn’t share the blessing of Elizabeth’s growing tummy with the neighbors. He couldn’t sing for joy in the shower. He was silenced because of his unbelief.
Several verses and six months later, the angel Gabriel made another visit to the Holy Land to share good news with a young woman named Mary. There would be another miraculous birth. Mary would bear the Messiah despite being a virgin and remaining in that state until after Jesus’ birth. It seemed impossible. Crazy even. She was poor, likely uneducated, certainly not a spiritual leader like Zechariah.
Mary’s response was not to doubt, but to ask a clarifying question. The birds and bees talk didn’t cover immaculate conception. But once Gabriel shared the details she was “all in.”
“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
Mary knew people would misunderstand her situation. They would judge her apparent sin. They would heap accusations and shame on her head, on her fiancé, on her family. They would accuse Jesus of being an illegitimate bastard during His ministry. But despite the rejection, shame, and reproach she was about to endure, Mary believed God and put her faith into action by rushing to visit Elizabeth.
Two promises of God. Two different responses. One doubted and lost the joy of entering into God’s plan to the fullest capacity. The other embraced God’s promise, acted in faith, and was blessed immeasurably for it.
For many years, I’ve lived like Zechariah—working for God as expected but gripped with doubts, fear, worry about what people thought of me—always waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. This year, I’ve committed to acknowledge the fear, the unknown, the misunderstandings, the bad reviews, and all the rest, but putting my mustard-seed size faith to work anyway. I may never hit a best seller list, but I for sure won’t if I don’t work hard to make my novels the very best they can be. I may never reach 10,000 email subscribers, but it’s a guarantee that I won’t even reach one if I keep my words to myself and my blog posts unwritten.
God won’t bless a person who is unwilling to partner with Him.
So for the next 11+ months of 2021 I have committed to believe that there will be a fulfillment of the dreams God has laid on my heart in His time. I will work towards making them come true and I will praise Him when they do. And at every turn I will thank Him for choosing me to take part in the work He is doing in the world.
“Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” – Luke 1:45
So what about you?
Have you made a commitment to believe God and pursue the dreams He has placed in your heart? Have you shared your dream with a trusted friend and prayer partner? If not, I’d love to dream with you. Feel free to message me and together we will believe that what God has promised will come to pass.
From the moment I first heard about the Coronavirus sweeping the world I’ve maintained the same stance. It sounds cruel, but it’s true. We all have a terminal sentence. From the moment we are conceived the clock begins ticking on our time on earth. At some point, we will all take a final breath here and enter into eternity. The vehicle for that passing could be a disease, a disaster, or simply old age. But death is a certainty we all must face.
Facing death is easier when your hope for eternity is rooted in Jesus. Knowing that He paid the ultimate price so that I might live with Him forever gives me peace. I don’t look forward to the struggles that I may endure before seeing His face, including the struggle of dying, but I know He will be with me through the pain and lead me as the Good Shepherd He is.
However, this peace doesn’t always reign in my heart. I don’t fear death, but I do fear pain. I fear the unknown. And I greatly fear the changes to our current world order that Jesus foretold would take place before His return to establish His kingdom.
In fact, last week, I confessed to a friend that I was terrified. I look at how quickly our lives went from a normal rhythm to panic to isolation and it scares me. I think of the freedom of religion we have had the blessing of worshipping under in this nation and I realize that could one day be taken away. I recognize the full kitchen cupboards I’ve enjoyed and the steady paycheck I’ve come to count on and I know it could all be gone in an instant.
Essentially, what God has revealed to me through the Coronavirus is that I’ve been pulling levers and turning wheels like the great Wizard of Oz and believing my own lies. I’ve acted as if I have control over my life, my health, and my future. I’ve told myself that if I work hard enough, God will give me the dream life I’ve always wanted. I’ve believed that if I hold tight enough, the privilege I’ve enjoyed will be mine forever.
When the economy started to crumble and the safety precautions sent everyone home, I saw the truth. Much of my faith is simply smoke and mirrors. I trust Jesus to usher me into His presence when I die, but I don’t always rest in the fullness of His presence in daily life. I claim to want to help others, but I’m far more concerned about myself.
Jesus said,
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
When I look to the future, I want friends, family, financial security, and a house by the beach in a sunny, warm city. But Jesus didn’t promise us sandy toes and 401Ks. He promised tribulation and even persecution for His name’s sake.
Though this may all sound bleak, He also promised that He would never leave or forsake us. I’ve been reminded that when this life is over, all that will matter is Jesus. There is no inconvenience, no trial, no pain that we won’t be thankful for because these things show us the truth of who we are so we can align ourselves better with Him.
Listen to these last words Jesus prayed on behalf of His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane before being arrested and crucified:
“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, (that’s us!)that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” – John 17:15-23
Four things give me courage in these words from our Savior apart from the mind-blowing truth that JESUS PRAYED FOR US. In His last moments, He wasn’t worried about Himself. He prayed that God would keep us from the evil one. Incredible.
We are not of this world. We were created with eternity in our hearts. This world is not our final destination. As the old song says, we’re just “passin’ through.”
Jesus died so that we might be washed clean in the truth of His saving grace. He did that for you and me. And He did it so that God would be glorified.
Jesus died so that we might enter into relationship with God and each other. That we could share in the unity of His life.
In us becoming one with the Father and in unity with each other, we will show the world that God loves them too—just as much as God loves Jesus.
If that doesn’t just make your heart want to explode right out of your chest I don’t know what will.
Listen, friends. Listen to what Jesus said. By growing in our relationship with God and others we will show the world His love. By sharing our toilet paper with our neighbors and checking on the elderly, we show God’s love. We prefer others over ourselves when we stay home when we’d rather be anywhere else. And when we speak words of faith and hope instead of fear, we glorify Jesus, who has conquered death and promises new life, eternal life for all who place their trust in Him.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I’m not guaranteed another breath. Despite what I like to believe, I’m not in control. I can be a good steward of this life I’ve been given, but only God knows the length of the dash on my tombstone.
What I do know is that God is good and I can trust Him. I can rest knowing that whatever I face, I will never be alone. He is always with me, giving me strength, wisdom, and courage when I have none within myself. Even in suffering, He has promised good. I can stop trying to fool myself into believing I’ve got everything under control because I know that He does and He has a good plan for my life even if it ends up looking different than the one I have imagined. A plan to prosper me, not to harm me—to give me hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Today at Citylight, Pastor Brian talked in part about the faith of Stephen. Stephen was one of the first deacons of the early church and from what is mentioned in the Bible, the first to be murdered for his faith after the crucifixion of Jesus. Luke records for us this description of Stephen in Acts 6:5 and 8:
And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit…And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
In the span of four verses, Stephen is referred to twice as being a man “full of faith” or faithful. That’s quite a reputation.
But what does it really mean to be faithful? Some would say dependable, trustworthy, a believer. Those things are all true. But while I was listening this morning, the Lord reminded me of something my high school Bible teacher drilled into our heads over and over again:
Faith is the bridge between knowing and doing.
(Yes, Mr. Swain. I really was listening.) I didn’t fully understand what he meant by that at the time, but now I realize what he was trying to communicate. I can be full of knowledge about something or someone, but until I act on that knowledge, I don’t really have faith.
For example, I can know that losing weight requires diet and exercise, but no matter how badly I want to lose weight, nothing is going to happen until I actually do the work of eating right and sweatin’ to the oldies. Doing the work is proof of my faith in how God created the human body to function.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, said it this way:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. – James 1:22-25
This is something God has really been speaking to me about lately. I have been blessed with a solid foundation in knowledge of God and the Bible. I consider that such a huge privilege and I am very thankful for it. But knowing about the Bible isn’t enough. I must have faith. I must cross the bridge from the land of knowing into the land of doing.
I have to pray, and then act upon my prayers as God directs, believing that He is going to do what He promised. I have to choose to stop believing self-deceit and other lies of Satan and renew my mind with truths of who God says that I am in Jesus…and then act accordingly. I am a child of God. What princess do you know that walks around in shame, guilt and fear? As God’s child who has been cleansed and set free through the blood of my big brother, Jesus, I should be in a continual state of rejoicing, grace-filled living, excited to share what I have with others. To not live that way is to not be faith-ful.
I want to go out like Stephen. No, not in a storm of rocks being thrown at my head by an angry mob—with a smile on my face, looking up at Jesus standing in Heaven to welcome me home. I want to hear Him say, “well done my good, and faithful servant.” But I know, that in order for that to be true of me, I have some things to change in my life.
How about you?
I’m choosing this week to add one new thing to my schedule to take a step across the bridge of faith. Feel free to ask me how I’m doing! Accountability is a good thing. If you would like to join me, leave a comment below. We can pray for each other as we move forward in becoming “full of faith.”
Let me guess, you’re not a “worrier” necessarily, but you’re a “planner.” Am I right?
How did I know? Because that’s what I say too. “Worrying” is wrong and there are a number of “fret not” verses in Scripture to remind us of this, but there’s nothing in there about “planning” is there? Or if it is, it’s a good thing, right? Jesus has gone to heaven to “prepare” a place for us, and that has to take some planning. Are you with me?
So you whip out your calendar, your day-planner, your iCal, your Evernote lists and you “plan” for the worst and hope for the best. You think of every possible scenario and what you would do about it if it happens. How are you going to pay for it? How are you going to pack for it? What are you going to do if this-and-such happens?
I’m a planner and I have to say that being organized and thinking ahead are good things. They really are. The trouble comes in when we substitute our preparedness for worry.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:34 to,
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
This doesn’t mean that we are supposed to live life flying by the seat of our pants. (Which is a really odd expression by the way. How does one fly by the seat of his pants exactly? Anyway…) What Jesus is saying is that we aren’t supposed to worry about things in the future, but trust Him to take care of them. The verse before this one gives us a very important caveat.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
If we are “planning” our schedules, our budgets, and our futures without any concern for what God would have us do, what would best benefit His kingdom, what will bring Him the most glory, and what will help to advance His gospel, then we are in a heap of trouble.
We can’t just cross our fingers and hope for the best and pay God no attention. We must seek first His kingdom and His righteousness AND THEN all these things shall be added unto us. (All these things referring to verse 31 in which it lists worrying about what we will eat, drink and wear, NOT “all these things” meaning the fabulous new pair of stilettos you just found at T.J. Maxx.)
Psalm 147:11 tells us that,
The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
He takes pleasure in those that choose not to worry about what might happen. He takes pleasure in those that look to Him to be with them no matter what comes because they know that He is a good and merciful God that has our best in mind. Just like the picture above, sometimes we only see part of the whole. But God sees the end from the beginning and everything in between. Even the things that don’t look good to us now, He has promised will work out in the end. Trust Him to take care of both the every day and the “ever after” and you can enjoy a life of peace, even in times of uncertainty.
Do you sometimes have a hard time believing in your heart of hearts that God has good planned for you? What character of God or verse of Scripture helps you to remember that God is worthy of our trust? Please click comment to share your thoughts.
A single word that continues to float to the top of my consciousness over and over again these past few months.
Photo Credit: Janusz Gawron
Dictionary.com defines the word “strive” as
1) to exert oneself vigorously; try hard,
2) to make strenuous efforts toward any goal,
3) to contend in opposition, battle, or any conflict,
4) to struggle vigorously, as in opposition or resistance,
5) to rival.
Striving can be a very good thing. The Olympics are a wonderful example of striving for excellence. We rejoice with those who stand on the podium as the champion sings along with their country’s anthem. It is a well deserved time of recognition and praise for their years of effort and determination. We see in those athletes something that we all desire for ourselves. Greatness. The courage to rise above mediocrity—to stand above the crowd.
Striving can be a good thing, but striving can also be a bad thing.
There are times when we need to strive, to work through the pain, to oppose the difficulty, to fight for what is right. But there are also times when God calls us to rest. For example, God desires for us to enjoy a time of sabbath–a break from the hectic pace of life to rest and reflect on His goodness to us and His ability to run the world without us. We can get so attached to our schedules that we feel it is impossible for us to take a break or the whole thing will fall apart. The truth is that a failure to come apart to rest and reflect is nothing more than a manifestation of our pride. We think that the world revolves around us and our ability to keep it in motion. To continue in that mindset guarantees that not only will our schedules fall apart, but eventually we will too.
God intends for us to rest in Him physically by taking an actual space of time to rest, but He also desires us to rest in Him spiritually. Taking time to rest physically is something that I am better at than taking time to rest spiritually. I often feel that it is up to me to make God’s plans come to pass. It is true that He expects us to work hard and do our best, but there are times that He wants us to step back and let Him do the work. Sometimes things will be going smoothly and falling into place when all of a sudden all of my plans and efforts seem to be thwarted at every turn. Answers to prayers cease and circumstances turn dark. My natural response to these times is usually to work harder and to worry. To strive. This is when striving goes from good to bad to ugly.
I think God brings these seasons of quiet into our lives to remind us that it isn’t about us. God invites us into His plan, but He doesn’t need us. His plan isn’t going to go south because of anything we do or fail to do. He’s bigger than that.
There is a song called “Holy Spirit” written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. It is a prayer to the Holy Spirit seeking His reviving work, His presence and His power. The end of verse two says, “Turn my striving into works of grace; Breath of God, show Christ in all I do.” Those words speak right to the core of my soul. We can do nothing for Christ apart from His grace. Even when I stand to sing a song of praise to Him, I need His power and grace and strength to form the words, to support the breath, to vocalize the notes, and to do it all without seeking the praise of man and stealing His glory for myself. We can truly do NOTHING without the Holy Spirit. If we try–if we strive when God desires us to rest in Him–all that will be shown in our works is ourselves. But that isn’t what our goal should be. As the song says, it should be our prayer that Christ be glorified in all we do.
And so I close, begging the Holy Spirit to please “turn my strivings into works of grace.” Spirit, help me to surrender my will to yours in every thought and deed and attitude, so that He may increase and I may decrease. “Breath of God, show Christ in all I do.”
Listen to Kristyn Getty beautifully sing “Holy Spirit” by clicking here. If this resonates with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
