When is the last time you got in way over your own head? Maybe you had no clue how you were going to meet a deadline, or how you were going to pay a bill. Or maybe you just didn't have the capacity to extend any more love or encouragement to someone, because you were feeling empty yourself.
This semester at the ministry group I attend on my campus, we are studying the Old Testament. This study has come to affirm a few things I know to be true.
1. God is big.
2. God is present.
3. God is faithful.
4. God is a provider.
5. God is God.
6. We are not.
Even the people in the Bible were in over their heads. Just take a gander at the Israelites wandering through the desert not sure when their next meal or sip of water would be. They needed God to provide the manna, and to lead them to the water. And even though they grumbled and they doubted, still God showed up for them. They just couldn't do it by their own accord, and neither can we. Thankfully, we don't have to. We have a big, present, faithful, providing, and loving God who will show up for us. Every single time.
I've spent this entire semester in over my head. Drowning in assignments, commitments, decisions, and uncertainty. But still, God is God. And still, He shows up.
Let me tell you a story.
Last semester, I heard about a trip that Campus Ministry at Grand Valley was going to be taking to Israel in May. The moment that I heard this, tears sprang to my eyes and I was sure the room was spinning. Uhm, hello, God, what is happening here? Gently, He whispered to my heart. "You're going to Is . . ." Before He could even finish, I was thinking of every possible thing that could stop this.
But God . . .
My family won't let me.
I don't have the money.
I have too much else to do this summer.
I don't have a passport.
I'm not even confident that I could point out Israel on a map. (Don't judge me.)
It's not safe.
I don't have a suitcase big enough. (I'm not kidding - I thought of this.)
Did I mention I don't have the money?
I think I'm going to pass out.
As these stories tend to go, God was right. I'm going to Israel. And it has not been without stress, worry, and tears from both my family members and myself. Especially when it came down to the money. (Side note: They're not kidding around when they use the term "broke college student." I'm fairly confident that if you looked this term up in the dictionary, you'd find a picture of me eating a bowl of Ramen Noodles.)
Anytime someone would ask about my trip, and how I was going to pay for it, I would say "God will provide!" with a smile on my face. And while I hoped this to be true, and believed it in my head, I don't know that I believed it in the depths of my heart. I made it very clear to God - I was scared. But He could handle this. After all, He is God, and I am not.
Last weekend, I did my final fundraiser for my trip. It was a great success (shout out to all of you who bought chocolate covered strawberries!), but there was still a gap of around $1000 that I would need to pay for the trip. Let me tell ya: I don't have $1000 lying around. So I asked God for it. And then I repeated Matthew 7:7 until I was blue in the face.
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
The next day, I went to lunch with some friends. On my way there, a line from a worship song I have heard hundreds of times caught my attention in a new way.
"This is my prayer in my hunger and need, my God is the God who provides."
I took this as affirmation; everything was going to be okay. At the end of the lunch, these dear friends of mine handed me an envelope and told me they wanted to further support me in my trip to Israel. I had never told these friends how much I had left to raise or about my desperate prayer the night before. I went to my car and opened the envelope. Inside, there was a check for one thousand dollars.
Friends, be encouraged today that God knows our need, and God hears our prayers. He absolutely knows we're all in over our heads. This is where He wants us, because this is what allows God to be God. He is big, He is present, He is faithful, and He will provide.
Whatever you're in need of, whether it be $1000, or just enough grace and peace to make it through the day, our God is the God who provides.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
the Ultimate Life Coach
I have this neighbor. Her body is 72, but her soul is much younger. I
learned this about her when I spent some time with her over the
holidays. I was at her house, helping her to wrap Christmas gifts for
her grandchildren, when she told me she'd like to be a life coach. Well,
actually, she started by telling me about some of her crazier online
dating experiences on seniorpeoplemeet.com,
and how some of the men she met "really needed to get it together."
THEN she told me she should be a life coach. And I laughed. Not because
of her stories (although those were a hoot), but because of the
absurdity of the idea of a life coach. What does a life coach even do?
Help you plan your future? I can't even decide what to have for
breakfast . . . if someone was always popping up, asking about where I
see myself in ten years, I'd just about lose my mind.
But then, my neighbor, and new found friend, looked me in the eyes and laid down some truth. "Clare," she started, "life is what happens when you're busy making plans."
Okay, what in the world, Marsha?! We were just laughing about balding men making fools of themselves over coffee, and now you're speaking directly to my soul? And right then and there, I became her first life coaching client.
I'm kidding. Kind of. But let's get serious: she is so right.
Now, before we get too far into this discussion (okay, monologue) about making life plans, I want to tell you something that I've come to believe.
God has a sense of humor.
I mean, I was voted best sense of humor in my 8th grade mock elections, and I was created in His image . . . (Sorry, I will actually use any excuse to work that into conversation).
I think God laughs. And I think God laughs at us and at our plans. The same way we chuckle at a movie character who is positive she will end up with the guy, even though we know he's in love with someone else. And we laugh in the "bless her heart" or "keep trying, Sister" kind of way because we can see the bigger picture, and we know the ending, and man, oh, man, is she off.
If you've never watched a movie with me, first of all, you're one of the lucky ones. You should probably keep it that way forever. I'm a movie talker. And a yeller, and a screamer, and a crier. Because WHY DON'T THEY KNOW THAT IF THEY LEAVE THE PARTY ALONE AT NIGHT WHILE THERE IS A SERIAL KILLER AT LARGE, THEY GON' DIE TODAY?
I imagine this is how God sees us sometimes: as these silly little characters in this movie called Life who just really don't have a clue. Profound, I know.
There are different kinds of plans, of course. If we never made any plans, we'd all be elusive, mysterious, non-committal weirdos. If we didn't plan to meet with friends, we just wouldn't have them. If we didn't plan to budget our money, well, we'd probably be broke (although some of us are already there, thank you very much). If we didn't plan a wedding, we wouldn't have pictures to look back on, and a group of people we love surrounding us to celebrate a special day.
But these aren't the plans I'm talking about. I'm talking about the kinds of plans that we hold so tightly, we don't have a free hand to grab the better plan God has put RIGHT in front of us. Like when we plan to live in the same town we grew up in forever, because it feels safe and familiar, but God is calling us somewhere new. Or when we plan to graduate in four years flat, no excuse, but God has revealed a new passion causing a change of major during our third year. Or when we plan for a future with someone who doesn't better us for His cause, because we're afraid to be alone. These are the plans that are hardest to let go of, because doesn't God know it's too scary for us to trust Him with these things?!
Each day, we get a choice. We can hold tightly to the plans we've made for ourselves, or we can believe that our God is worthy of our trust and that His plan is BETTER. Let's empty our hands of the plans that no longer serve to grow us or further His Kingdom.
Choose to let go with me today, friends.
But then, my neighbor, and new found friend, looked me in the eyes and laid down some truth. "Clare," she started, "life is what happens when you're busy making plans."
Okay, what in the world, Marsha?! We were just laughing about balding men making fools of themselves over coffee, and now you're speaking directly to my soul? And right then and there, I became her first life coaching client.
I'm kidding. Kind of. But let's get serious: she is so right.
Now, before we get too far into this discussion (okay, monologue) about making life plans, I want to tell you something that I've come to believe.
God has a sense of humor.
I mean, I was voted best sense of humor in my 8th grade mock elections, and I was created in His image . . . (Sorry, I will actually use any excuse to work that into conversation).
I think God laughs. And I think God laughs at us and at our plans. The same way we chuckle at a movie character who is positive she will end up with the guy, even though we know he's in love with someone else. And we laugh in the "bless her heart" or "keep trying, Sister" kind of way because we can see the bigger picture, and we know the ending, and man, oh, man, is she off.
If you've never watched a movie with me, first of all, you're one of the lucky ones. You should probably keep it that way forever. I'm a movie talker. And a yeller, and a screamer, and a crier. Because WHY DON'T THEY KNOW THAT IF THEY LEAVE THE PARTY ALONE AT NIGHT WHILE THERE IS A SERIAL KILLER AT LARGE, THEY GON' DIE TODAY?
I imagine this is how God sees us sometimes: as these silly little characters in this movie called Life who just really don't have a clue. Profound, I know.
There are different kinds of plans, of course. If we never made any plans, we'd all be elusive, mysterious, non-committal weirdos. If we didn't plan to meet with friends, we just wouldn't have them. If we didn't plan to budget our money, well, we'd probably be broke (although some of us are already there, thank you very much). If we didn't plan a wedding, we wouldn't have pictures to look back on, and a group of people we love surrounding us to celebrate a special day.
But these aren't the plans I'm talking about. I'm talking about the kinds of plans that we hold so tightly, we don't have a free hand to grab the better plan God has put RIGHT in front of us. Like when we plan to live in the same town we grew up in forever, because it feels safe and familiar, but God is calling us somewhere new. Or when we plan to graduate in four years flat, no excuse, but God has revealed a new passion causing a change of major during our third year. Or when we plan for a future with someone who doesn't better us for His cause, because we're afraid to be alone. These are the plans that are hardest to let go of, because doesn't God know it's too scary for us to trust Him with these things?!
Each day, we get a choice. We can hold tightly to the plans we've made for ourselves, or we can believe that our God is worthy of our trust and that His plan is BETTER. Let's empty our hands of the plans that no longer serve to grow us or further His Kingdom.
Choose to let go with me today, friends.
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