“God is not just our Provider, He is our Provision.”
-A reminder today from my friend Grant Jenkins.
Provision
February 26, 2010Leave a CommentWhen The Credits Role
February 1, 2010Leave a Comment
Unless you missed the news entirely this weekend you know about the enormous storm that blew across the southern half of the United States and finally up the Eastern seaboard. For areas like my home in Tennessee it was a “once a decade” happening. We ended up with 6-10 inches of snow capped with a solid sheet of ice. The Governor called a state of emergency by 12:00 on Friday afternoon and everyone was basically stuck indoors until Sunday afternoon when the ice started to recede. For some folks this induces a state of panic but Betsy and I chose to look at it as an opportunity. We took several looooong walks with the pups, caught up with neighbors we hadn’t seen in quite a while and implemented a “state of emergency movie marathon.” It was awesome!
For quite some time Betsy has been telling me that I just have to watch “Gone With The Wind” especially now that I’m an official southerner (Michigan transplant). Since it’s four hours long and not exactly a movie you can watch on a whim, this weekend was the perfect opportunity. If you’ve never seen it before I highly recommend you put it on your entertainment to-do list. It’s not only a literary classic but it’s also considered historically accurate by scholars for my fellow history buffs.
The twitter version of the plot is that the story follows the life of Scarlett O’Hara, a southern bell from Georgia, throughout the Civil War and the changes that ensue as a result of the choices she makes. Scarlett’s whole life is wrapped up in chasing what she can’t have. I think it incredibly ironic that the title is “Gone With the Wind” when the plot so closely resembles the words of King Solomon when he says the vanities of life are like “chasing after the wind”. This is the sum of the movie; Scarlett’s life is marked by chasing after the wind.
So my question is this, if someone were to make a movie about our lives what would be the overarching theme or plot? When the credits role what would people walk away with, what would they say we spent most of our time chasing? Relationships, money, the approval of others, power, security? What steps can I take to make sure the message I want to communicate with my life is actually the message others are hearing by my actions?
Let It Snow!
January 29, 2010Leave a Comment
I grew up in Michigan where you had to have blizzard like conditions, 10 feet of snow and wear ice skates to check the mail before they’d close school. Here in Tennessee they are so scared of snow that they close school if snow is even in the forecast! Everyone then immediately panics and cleans out the grocery store of bread and milk. It’s hysterical! Hey, I’m not complaining. I hope you have as much fun this weekend as I will!
Let it snow, let it snow, let is snow!!!
Smile
January 27, 20103 Comments
Do you have a memory, say from camp, school or vacation that when you remember it it acts like a key that unlocks all kinds of other memories? I do. Sometimes they are heavy and serious but most of the time for me they are comical. I was blessed to lead worship this past week in Clifton, TX with an incredible group of young people, the Lord did a great work in all of us. My memory key for this past weekend is going to be getting two of my fingernails painted by the 6th grade girls! They were hysterical! They had a blast but I think I had more fun than they did!
Weaknesses
January 25, 20102 Comments
Change. Some of us like it, most of us try to grin and bear it and yet others despise it. However you feel about change it’s woven into the fabric of God’s design for His creation.
Things are always changing.
As God would have it there is some major remodeling going on for Betsy and I right now. Obviously with our first child due in May that necessitates change on the home front but there are also some changes ahead for our ministry. Some of them we only sense are coming, others we will be making announcements about in the next few days.
I would love to tell you my initial reaction to these changes has always been unwavering faith but lately my first reaction has been fear. Fears of inadequacy, fears of failure (read inadequacy), fear of letting those around me down (read inadequacy) and the list goes on. When I boil it all down I find my greatest fear is my own inadequacy. My lack of faith is not in God strength to accomplish His purpose but rather in His choice to use me to do it.
I believe God, I just have a hard time believing in myself.
Do you ever feel that way? I think we all feel that way a lot more often than we’d like to admit. It’s important to realize that we’re not alone in the way we feel and that it’s normal to feel that way. In fact it’s not only normal to feel that way, it’s critical that we reach that point.
It is only in truly understanding our deepest inadequacy that we can fully rest in Christ’s all-sufficiency.
The apostle Paul said it like this in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am made strong.”
It’s a hard pill to swallow, but if we want to see the power of Christ most prominently displayed in our lives it means moving closer to openly embracing our weaknesses in spite of the fear and shame that want us to hide them so badly. It means the end of fearing I might be inadequate and actually realizing that I am inadequate apart from Christ for the task He’s called me to. It is then we will learn that His strength really is perfect in our weakness.
What are some of the weaknesses you wrestle with? What are the areas of life where you are most needing God to show Himself strong on your behalf? Are there some practical steps you can take towards trusting God with your struggle?
