"Everything Else"

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” -C. S. Lewis

I love this quote as it says so much with so few words.  It summarizes exactly how I feel.  I have no questions about my Lord and Savior and His existence.  I have no questions about our current path or our future.  I can see and feel Christ around me.  And through Him, I have been given a new vision of our world and all that is around us.  There is so much love to be given.  I pray God's love would shine brightly through us to all those we come in contact with.  Grant us the patience, endurance, and compassion to allow You to shine through us so others may see You in the "everything else".   

HOPE

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him."
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him.
-Lamentations 3:21-25

I have been so stressed lately with everything going on in our life.  Today I was reminded I must have hope in our Lord, and I must rely on our Lord.  He loves us so much.  Beyond anything I could ever imagine.  Greater than my love for my own child.  He waits for our asking, so Lord, I ask for your strength and your sense of peace in our life...

Worry much?

Last week, I was informed my personal email had been hacked and was sending unusual messages.  Being who I am, this was an instant stress and worry in my life.  I didn't want people to be bothered by this and I didn't know what to do about it and I had to fix it as soon as possible and ... (you get the idea).  So upon calling the Microsoft people, I was informed our whole computer was hacked.  Even better!  After several hours on the phone, some raised blood pressure and a small fee, our computer was up and running again thanks to the hard work of those IT people.  However, I learned a very important lesson that night.

First, we can try all we want to do everything by ourselves, but if we would simply give it to God, He will answer and lead us.  It may not always be the way we want it to go or the way we intended, but He will lead you nonetheless.  When the Microsoft people explained everything going on to me and J. and explained what they needed to do to fix it, they soon asked for a fee for this "fix".  My gut reaction was simply, "You just told me my computer was hacked and now you want money.  How do I trust you?" whereas my amazing husband turned immediately to God and started praying.  As I stared at J. with wide eyes and mouthing the words "I don't know what to do," he calmly took a second, closed his eyes and kept at his prayer.  Then, as if God has whispered in his ear, J. opened his eyes, took the phone and delved into the process to repair the computer.  J. looked at me, smiled, and mouthed "It's going to be ok."  Immediately I was humbled and ashamed that I didn't even think about asking God for His help or His direction throughout the entire process.  I was so focused on the here and now and not realizing that like always, God wants to help us even with the "small" or "unimportant" things.  He is our Daddy God, our Savior.  He loves us with an all encompassing love that knows no bounds.  Of course He wanted to help me throughout this stressful situation, but I didn't allow Him. 

I'm sure if you are a worrier like me, you have Philippians 4:6-7 memorized: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." or Matthew 6:28-34 or Luke 12:22-34.  There are so many verses in the Bible about not worrying and yet it seems I often do just the opposite of that.  I am a work in process in a million ways, but definitely in regards to my worrying.

After it was all said and done and our computer was "clean", I remember thinking I was prepared for Satan's attack in many ways but not this one.  I never thought about Satan reaching us through a computer hacking, but as I have continued to think about it, I realize God was in charge not Satan.  God allowed this to happen so I would have to turn to Him for the answer.  How can I go into the mission field without the faith and trust that God will provide EVERYTHING we need?  God knows my struggles and used something that would get my attention immediately.  As it says in 1 Peter 1:7:

"These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 

I am grateful for these trials from God because they build my trust in Him and force me to rely on Him rather than myself.