by Donya Dunlap | Sep 30, 2012 | Guest Posts
Do you struggle with being afraid?
I am guest posting today at JosephIregbu.com. I hope that you will drop by his site to read the post “Do It Afraid” but also stay awhile to be encouraged by Joseph’s writings and his story of hope. (Which is pretty incredible, I might add.) Sign up to receive his posts via e-mail and you will also get his free e-book, Lines of Impact. You might also want to check out his 90-day devotional called Selah: A 90-Day Journey of Grace and Peace. It’s a great encouragement and available on Amazon. Joseph has been a personal encouragement to me and his writings have blessed my heart. I plan to have him guest post here soon, but for now, please get to know him on his home turf.
Click Here to Read “Do It Afraid”
Photo Credit: Vorakorn on freedigitalphotos.net
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by donyadunlap | Aug 25, 2012 | The Spiritual Life
Striving.
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.
by donyadunlap | Aug 16, 2012 | The Spiritual Life
“I’m overwhelmed.” “I have so much to do.” “I don’t have enough money.” “How is this ever going to work?”
Sound familiar?
There are times in my life (like today) when these questions and a dozen more crowd my mind and make it hard to breathe. If I allow myself to play these thoughts in my mind, by the end of the day I am completely overwhelmed, frustrated, discouraged and have accomplished nothing. Why? Because all of my energy was wasted on worry.
David understood this very thing. In Psalm 61 he prays to God and confesses that he is completely overwhelmed. He requests help to remember that he had a higher power, a shelter, a strength that was greater than himself and his problems. We need to do the same.
Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. – Psalm 61:1-2
We have a Rock to run to for protection from the storms and for safe haven from the rushing waters that threaten to overcome us. We can choose to stay where we are and drown in our emotions, or we can cry out for help. We can’t climb the cliff ourselves, but when we call on the Lord to rescue us, He is quick to reach out and lift us to safety.
Your circumstances may not change. You may still have a to-do list a mile long and a list of bills to equal it. What will change is your heart. You will have peace that no matter what happens, Christ has a hold on you. You aren’t going to fall to your death. You will be able to take one step at a time with a mind free of worry because you have given your fears over to the only one that can really do anything about them.
Sometimes I think we women tend to worry and fret and plan and manipulate as a way to control the situation. We feel that handing our fears to God is giving up. We think that if we let Him work out the details that things won’t happen the way we want them to. But what we fail to realize is that we aren’t in control no matter how much we try to be. The only thing we are doing when we hold on to our worries is adding sin to our already difficult situation. This pulls us away from God instead of drawing us to Him.
So the next time you are tempted to push play on the recording labeled “What am I going to do?” push pause instead. Take a moment, or several if necessary, and take your concerns to God. Let Him know what the problem is and ask for Him to intervene. Ask Him for the peace needed to think clearly, the grace to leave the problem in His hands and the wisdom to know what to do when the time is right to act.
Do you have a special verse that you turn to when you feel overwhelmed? I would love for you to share it with us in the comments section. It may be just the thing that someone needs to hear today to take courage in the trial they are facing.
by donyadunlap | Aug 3, 2012 | Guest Posts, Making a Difference
Susie Finney is a full time missionary with Youth With A Mission in Tyler, TX, working with the School of the Bible. When she’s not busy teaching or hanging out with her Bible students, she blogs, reads, and goes to as many Christian concerts as possible. I am thrilled to have her share her story of how God changed her heart and life with us today as part of our release week party for Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into Your Comfortable Life. You can follow Susie on her blog or on Twitter:
Twitter: @missionsgirl
Nepal – Photo by Karna Deshar
It was July 2009, and I was very, very far from home.
They sometimes walked for miles to come to our seminar. Men and women who had experienced the challenges of living in a predominantly Hindu country, where the Christian population was very small. I met men and women in Nepal who had done jail time for the “crime” of being Christians. People who had been beaten and exiled from their village for their faith. And here I was, an American girl in her late twenties, looking and feeling very out of place in Nepal. I’d never experienced persecution beyond maybe someone rolling their eyes at me. I’d certainly never been kicked out of town for my beliefs.
The one statement that has always stuck with me from my Nepal outreach was during the last day of our second Bible seminar, held in the city of Pokhera. They asked some of the seminar participants to share feedback from the week-long seminar. One man stood up and started to speak through an interpreter. “I became a believer five years ago, but always wondered whether or not I was following the true God, and now I know.”
The theme verse of our seminar was John 17:3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”, but his statement was significant not only for that, but because he came from a Hindu background and culture of millions of gods and goddesses. Why should someone choose to follow Jesus and Jesus alone? What made him unique and to be worshiped rather than all the other options available at the shrines we saw at virtually every corner?
The thing that cemented this man’s faith was digging in to the scriptures and seeing what they said about what God is like-His nature and character, always trustworthy and true. It wasn’t based on feelings or an arbitrary view of an unstable god who could change on a whim.
Three years have come and gone since my trip to Nepal. I haven’t been out of the U.S. since then, and have spent most of my time at the YWAM base here in Tyler, TX. But I will never forget the people I met during my month in Nepal. My perspective changed after meeting people who had suffered for their faith, and people who came from a very different perspective than my own, yet we were bound together by love of the same Lord.
At the moment I don’t get out and travel much, but I am still a missionary. My time in Nepal was simply another confirmation of the power of God’s Word, and the privilege of getting to teach it and watch as people’s lives change never gets old, whether here in the States or halfway across the world. It is so vital to understand what scripture says about God, about Who He really is. I guess you could say that that trip reoriented my perspective on the world in that way.
How about you? What is one experience you’ve had that has changed the way you view the world around you and what is most important to you?
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That’s over $158.00 in free stuff for a book that retails at $13.99. So even if you don’t like it (which I can’t even imagine), you’re going to get a great deal.
by donyadunlap | Jul 21, 2012 | Making a Difference, The Spiritual Life
I’m angry. In fact, I’ve been angry so much lately that I’m beginning to worry if I’m becoming one of those old, single, angry, cat ladies minus the cats. I have an almost constant knot in my stomach, I’m having a hard time sleeping and I’ve seriously considered quitting my job and living out of my car so that I can do something profitable with all of these emotions I’m experiencing. In a word, I’m a wreck.
Telly the Wrecked Tortoise
Why am I so angry, or more appropriately, “wrecked?” Glad you asked. I’m angry that children are being abused instead of being protected. I’m angry that women are being beaten by men that claim to love them. I’m angry that a person can take something meant for good and use it to terrorize a theatre full of people trying to enjoy time with their friends and family. I’m angry at people that prey on innocent girls and force them to do unspeakable things. I’m angry at the people that spend their money to view such things and even engage in such behavior. I’m angry at the rich that use their money to withhold from the poor and I’m angry at the poor that use their situations as an excuse to manipulate and injure others.
And on top of all of that I’m angry at myself for not doing more to stop it.
For years I turned away from things that upset me, made me sad, or just bad situations that I felt I couldn’t do anything to help. I shut out news feeds that told of crime and hate. I closed my eyes during parts of the movies that I didn’t want to see. I nervously glanced in the other direction when sitting at a stop light near a person in need. I pitied, I judged, I felt a twinge of guilt, but never did I pray for them, open my heart to them, or shed a tear of compassion.
Until one day…
One day I was reading in the Gospels and was convicted by my lack of compassion. Jesus wept for the lost and gave up everything to be near to the hurting. He healed the broken and outcast. He spent time with the social rejects and ate dinner with the blue-collar guys that were doing what they could to feed their families. I didn’t do any of that, but what’s worse is that I didn’t even want to.
By this time I had become so practiced in shutting out uncomfortable thoughts and feelings that I could sit through any missionary presentation without feeling a thing. I admired those that had a desire to leave the comforts of home and closeness to their families to go to the hurting and the lost, but I had no desire to do such a thing myself. Other than occasionally giving more than a tithe to a missions fund or special offering, I never did much of anything out of my comfort zone of ministering in my church or taking part in a local outreach.
But God changed all of that.
It began with a prayer. Nothing fancy. Just a quick request before going to bed that God would give me a heart of compassion. That He would give me eyes to see the hurting as He sees them. That I would be moved by the things that move His heart.
Without even realizing what was happening, God began to answer that prayer. I see things differently now. A prostitute is no longer someone that has no morals, but a woman being forced to walk a road of sin that she never intended to travel and has no idea how to escape from even if she had the means and opportunity to try. A rebellious child in foster care is no longer just a brat in need of discipline, but a soul in need of love and care and protection. The missing posters at Walmart are no longer nameless ghosts of faces that I hurry past without a thought. They are children who, in many cases, are being pimped and beaten for the profit of one that specializes in wielding power over the weak.
Jeff Goins calls this change of heart that I have experienced being “wrecked.” I didn’t even realize the full extent of what had happened to me until I read his book this week and discovered that not only is being “wrecked” a really good thing, but that it is very much a God thing. It is something that needs to happen to a person before they can really be used by God for their full potential. The frustration, passion, anger, sorrow in the pit of my stomach and desire to do something, anything, and everything that God asks of me is exactly where I need to be right now. It is a process that God is working in my heart so that when the time is right and He is ready to ask me to make a difference in the life of someone in a situation totally foreign to me that I am ready to answer His call instead of looking the other way and pretending I didn’t hear Him.
I can’t say that this journey has been fun and I’m not entirely sure where this discomfort is going to lead me, but I wouldn’t turn back from this new direction if you paid me to. Even though it has been painful and caused me to lose more than one or two nights of sleep, I’m so thankful that God is changing my heart.
If you are like I was—wondering what your purpose in life is supposed to be, wondering why you seem empty of emotion, or simply looking to find meaning out of life and a way to make a difference— I encourage you to pick up a copy of Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into your Comfortable Life by Jeff Goins. It beautifully articulates how God has “wrecked” my life, Jeff’s life and the lives of countless others for a greater purpose. God’s purpose. God can use us to make a difference in this world, to shine a light in this dark place. It might be uncomfortable, but as Jeff says,
Ask people who have radically changed their lives, and they’ll tell you the best decisions they made were when they were uncomfortable.
Wrecked by Jeff Goins
