My Story

Photo Credit: Joanna 

It began before the foundations of the world were laid. God in eternity past chose to create me. He chose this time and place for me to be born. He wrote my story. He is working to see it all come to completion.

I've shared my testimony hundreds of times. Each time I do I'm amazed at all that God and I have walked through together. 

I can't remember the exact day I was saved, but I know that God has welcomed me into His kingdom. He has ransomed and redeemed me. He is making me more like Him. He is at work in me. 

As I look back on all that God has done and the amazing adventures we have been on, I'm so thankful for how He has walked with me every step of the way. Through all the ups and downs, mountains and valleys, excitement and boredom, adventures and daily life, He has been my Constant and Faithful God. He keeps pursuing and and loving me through all of life. I've never walked alone. 

What's your story? What roads have you and God walked together? Where have you seen Him at work? I'd love to hear about it. Feel free to write out your story in the Comments. 

The Desert

Photo Credit: Joanna S

In July I got to Joshua Tree National Park. I enjoyed climbing rocks, spending time with friends, and see some amazing views. 

God reminded me of Hosea 2. This chapter has become very dear to me because it is a reflection of my own story. 

The first part shares in graphic detail how Isreal has prostituted themselves to idols and how God responds. It's a sad tale of God's chosen people exchanging the glory of God for a false god. I too at one time had traded glory for an idol. I had let my dream of marriage grow into an ugly idol that consumed me. 

Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. 

This is what the Lord did for me. He blocked my way with a thornbush that I couldn't get around. I had chased my idol, but it wasn't what God wanted for me. In His kindness my engagement was broken. My heart shattered. 

Then she will say, `I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.'

When what you trusted in falls arart you reach back to what is worthy of trust. And this is what I did. While I lay shattered I purposed to go back to what was true and real. 

What follows in the next verses is a graphic and hard description of what God did to punish His wayward people for their idolatry and prostitution. Coming back to God is always what we should do. Yet He doesn't leave our sins unpunished. Yes He covered on the offense on the cross, but I still had to be corrected. I had to realize how wrong I had been so that I could appropriate the grace that God had for me. It was a hard time. The only way I made it through was God's sustaining hand. He stayed with me through the process and restored me. 

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

After the break up, I went through a rough time. So much pain and brokenness. Yet in the middle of all of it, I heard the tender voice of God. He kept calling out to me. He was calling me to come away from the noise and distractions. He allured me into the desert. Where we could rekindle our relationship. Where He could restore my soul. Where He could show me that He was my Source and Hope. 

There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. 

Indeed, the Lord made my Valley of Achor (trouble) into a door of hope. What looked like a dry desert became a passageway to green meadows. It took a few years, but God healed my heart. He made me sing again. He was so good and gracious. He renewed and restored me. Now because of His goodness I live in so much freedom and grace. 

There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

"In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me `my husband'; you will no longer call me `my master.' I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.

I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.

I will show my love to the one I called `Not my loved one.' I will say to those called `Not my people,' `You are my people'; and they will say, `You are my God.'"

Is This What I Look Like?

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I was at work playing with the kids. One of them brings me a toy. Is that what I look like to God when I bring Him an offering? He doesn't laugh though He needs nothing. He sees the earnest heart that it came from and accepts it with a smile. 

I am holding a screaming child. She didn't get her way and she's mad. Is this how I look to God when I don't get my way? He sees the best not just for me but those around me and yet I can be so stubborn. I scream and demand my way. Yet He waits with patient and loving arms. He loves me too much to give me my every whim. He waits for me to see it the way He does.

A group of five year olds try to one up each other. I laugh at their "boasts". But is that the way that I look to God when I boast about what I have or have done? I long to be someone of distinction and value. Yet when I boast, I disconnect from the way of my Savior. He sought to lift others up even if it meant pushing Himself down. Oh, let my heart be the same as His.

I see her cute little smile as she inches closer to me. She wants to be close for a hug or a tickle. I give her both, relishing her smile. Is this how I look to God when I come close? In those times when I'm not driven by need, but drawn into His presence by an overwhelming desire to be with my loving King. I wonder if it warms His heart. 

I see him climbing on the cabinet and tell him to get down. He doesn't know the danger, but I do and it scares me because I care about him. Is that how I look to God when I start going down a sinful path? He cries out for me to come back. I don't know the full danger, but He does. And in love He forbids what would destroy the life inside me.

He slips his hand into mine. We start walking. My heart skips a beat. I love this kid so much. Does God's heart warm when I slip my hand into His? I reach up for the Eternal God and invite Him along. Do His eyes shine as He takes my hand?

Their eyes light up when they spot a bird. They stand mesmerized by the sight. Oh, Lord this is how I want to be with You. I want to be blown away by any little glimpse of You. I want to grow up in You, but maintain a childlike faith. So let me look to You for all my needs and trust Your timing. Let me enjoy this life You have given. Let me seek You and be found by You. Let these kids teach me how You see me.

Resurrection

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What if death is merely a doorway? 

What if an end opens the way for a beginning? 

What if when it looks like the darkness has won is really an opportunity for the light to shine? 

What if the gaping hole left by someone becomes the means by greater love is poured into your life?

What if when things look the most hopeless is when the greatest power can be displayed? 

What if real life can only be birthed when our fake life dies? 

What if death is just the way that we get to the place where God can resurrect us? 

Death is not pleasant. 

Death often is accompanied by pain. 

Death is hard. 

Death of someone or something you love is inevitable. 

But there is good news. 

Our God is the Lord of Life. 

He is the King of the living. 

He is God Everlasting. 

He has the power of life in His hands. 

He is strong enough to bring resurrection to anything no matter how dead things appear. 

And He longs to bring resurrection into our lives. 

He longs for life abundant to flourish. 

This is who He is. 

This is the power of our God. 

Oh let us come to Him in faith with the dead parts of our lives and ask for a resurrection greater than anything we could imagine.