God will catch you up

You’ve heard the story….the tortoise and the hare. The tortoise — though slow — is steady, and wins the race, as the saying goes.

It is fun to run your race during the times when you feel like the hare. Contrastingly, it can be much harder to run when you feel like the tortoise — when goals are slow to come and your dreams seem far away.

Social media like Facebook doesn’t help at all. If you’re not careful, they can really drum up the symptoms of “comparisonitis”, as my Pastor puts it. As the saying goes, you find yourself comparing your daily life to everyone else’s highlight reel. Live Science has studied how social media can actually be damaging to mental health for these reasons, and Forbes lists the true costs of time spent in these outlets as low self-esteem and poor body image.

All to say, whether you use facebook or not, sometimes you can really feel behind in life if you compare yourself to anyone else. That’s why it is so important not to do so. Psalm 139:14 says that you are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’, and that includes the plan that God handcrafted for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says that God ‘knows the plans He has for you’, and that they are GOOD! ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to bring you hope and a future.’ (NIV)

I’ve always endeavored to dream big dreams, and so many have come true in my life. I have also endured seasons in life where I felt behind. In another January several years ago, I wrote down some heartfelt goals for the next few years, and began looking expectantly for them to come to pass. Yet in the year to follow, even the beginning of those goals were no where to be found. What I had written down became a reminder to me of what had not been accomplished, rather than what had. I felt behind the mark of where I wanted to be in my life. As time passed, I even forgot about the goals I had written down with such ardor the months before.

My testimony to you today is that even when we forget, God never does. Even when we are faithless, He is faithful. I forgot about my dreams, but God didn’t. Everything I wrote down that January several years ago, God has brought to pass in the last few months of 2012. I won’t take too much time sharing with you all the specific goals I had, but they culminated in the dream of being in full-time ministry, and I now enter 2013 not only in full-time ministry myself, but working alongside my husband in that role. A dream come true. The goals I wrote down that January have been fulfilled, and this new role we are stepping into is more than I could’ve hoped.

God caught me up. Then He exceeded.

He will do the same thing for you.

My encouragement to you today is to stay faithful to God in the times that seem slow. Stay encouraged in His Word, satisfied in His presence, and trusting always in His goodness, mercy, and grace. You are not behind!! As your heart stays right and you have faith in God, He will make sure you are in the exactly the right place at the right time. Maybe you had to take a detour, or something is moving slower than it should, since our lives always involve other people who have to make choices as well. Wherever you are, you should never worry. God can and will always catch you up! It is not a difficult thing. Genesis 18:14 says, ‘Is anything too hard for the Lord?’

God will do such a good job that you will never even remember you ever felt behind. The tortoise had moments that felt like defeat, but he won in the end. You will too, as you stay steady.

Rob and I have moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma to begin our new job as Senior High Youth Ministers at Rhema Bible Church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are so excited to begin this new adventure, and are looking forward to 2013 with great anticipation.

Play Your Part

In music, there are many different kind of formats and styles of pieces. In all my years of classical piano studies, there was one type of piece that was my favorite to play — the concerto. Concertos are written for 2 parts: a soloist, and an accompaniment. The accompaniment is originally meant to be an orchestra, but since most musicians don’t have an extra one of those lying around, the orchestra part is usually played by a second piano. So, to get the picture in my case, they were performed with two pianos on the stage. One played by my teacher (the orchestra), and the other by myself (the soloist).

I loved performing these concertos! It was a lot of time and work to learn them, but performing them was always thrilling experience. It was exciting to get to the ‘big’ parts of the music, where the sound of two pianists playing was a much larger sound than I could have ever created playing just by myself. As fun as those big parts were, in between them, there were also whole sections where I would not play at all — where only the orchestra would play, and the soloist would rest.

Have you ever been to an orchestra concert of any kind? Have you observed the instruments as they played in harmony? If you look closely, you will notice that not all of them play all the time. There are moments when each instrument has a break — some, for a few lines, others, for a few pages. For many instruments, playing in harmony means not playing at all in certain measures; it can mean letting another instrument take the lead, and you supporting it.

Our bodies operate a bit like an orchestra as well; there are many members, many parts. The Bible compares the Body of Christ to our bodies in that same way. Romans 12:4,5 reads “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

As members of the Body of Christ, we spend far too much time comparing ourselves to the “function” of the other members, when we should only be concentrating on our own. If I, as a pianist, were concentrating on the accompanist’s part and comparing it to mine, I would probably miss my entrance because I am distracted! I have to stay focused on my own assignment.

Why should I feel insecure if other players or musicians are doing a good job, and playing better than me? That does not make me look worse…it makes me look good! Why? Because we are a team. Together. We need each other!

Take any group sport, and you can see the analogy of a ‘body’ working together. In a team sport like baseball, they have players both on the field and in the dugout at all times. In football, there are players on the field and on the sidelines. All are needed for different functions, and no matter who is playing the most, all are equally a part of the team.

You may feel like you’ve been sitting in the dugout for awhile, waiting for your turn. Let me encourage you, you DO have a part, and as you stay faithful, God WILL get you in the game! So don’t use the time on the sidelines to feel sorry for yourself or become discouraged; instead, get yourself ready and prepared to play. Once you’re out there in the field, you’ll see the value of the time you spent recharging in the dugout.

What if I had the attitude of 1 Corinthians 12:16-18? It says “…If the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye , I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”

It goes on to say in verse 21, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’” This is “so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:25-27).

I will add this analogy — What if you are the ring finger on the hand, and you get jealous of the thumb? You may think, ‘if only the thumb were gone, then I would look better!’ No,  once the thumb is gone, it doesn’t make the ring finger look any bigger or better! All it does is cause the whole hand to look incomplete. This analogy sounds is obvious and silly to think of in a literal sense, but there are many Christians acting this out in their lives every week in churches around the world. May this not be our heart!

There is a symphony that God has written for us to play together as a body. There is also a solo that has been written just for you from the foundations of the earth, that is a part of that symphony. There is a tune that can only be sung by the voice of your life. God is the writer. You are the instrument. He has given you all you need, but you have to be the one to pick up your instrument and play it. You also have to learn how to play together with the group, knowing when to wait on the other instruments to finish their parts, and how to value everyone’s contribution together.

There may be times when you lose your place in the music. There may be times when you feel like your entrance into the music will never come. There may be times when your fingers get tired from playing the notes. There may be times when you forget about the importance of your part. (If you feel this way, take some moments to read and think on this passage about the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.)

Prepare to win! Play to win! Play your game the best you can play it today, and don’t worry about tomorrow. Don’t consider the other people around you, except to pray for them and help them play their part too. We trust God with our future, we trust Him with tomorrow! He, our master conductor — the Author of our souls —, knows the sheet music from start to finish. He is directing the notes we play with our every step, and won’t let us miss our cue. He will show us where we are, who we are, and how to play our part. He gives us the rhythm, the beat, and the dynamics to play it like a masterpiece. Play your part, and together, we’ll win this race!

Home is where your heart is

Scriptures for your home

God cares about everything that is important to you. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. Even the things you might think are trivial, or inconsequential — if it is important to you, it’s important to God.

One thing that is important to a lot of people is their home. God must have already known that it would be important to you, because the Bible has a lot to say about it! For the person that fears the Lord, God has even given many promises on the subject.

It is good to read these scriptures, and think on them. It is good to talk to God about them, and use them as a basis for your faith. Anything that God promises to you in His word, not only can you bring it back up to Him — He wants you to do so. He wants us all to believe His word, and trust Him to bring it to pass.

There are desires I have for my home, and, on the basis of these scriptures, I am believing God for them all to come to pass. Proverbs 14:1 says “a wise woman builds her house”, so I am building. What better foundation to build it on than the rock of the Word!

Here’s a list of several scriptures in the Word about house and home; it is by no means an exhaustive list! There are many others in the Bible. Check them out for yourself, and use these as a starting point. Many of the following references I received from Gloria Copeland’s message on believing God for a home. (It is a fabulous message, by the way. You can read an excerpt from it here.)

For many of the scriptures, I have included a few different versions, to give even greater understanding of what each is saying. Keep these scriptures close; remember them for yourself, and share them with a friend who may need the encouragement of God’s promises. I want to hear your testimonies!

• Proverbs 24:3-4

“Through skillful and Godly wisdom is a house, a life, a home, and a family built, and by understanding it is established on a sound and good foundation, and by knowledge shall its chambers of every area be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” AMP

v 3 “A house…becomes strong through good sense…” NLT

v 4 “By knowledge the rooms are filled…” ESV

v 4 “It takes knowledge to furnish its rooms with fine furniture and beautiful draperies.” MSG

v 4 “…its rooms are filled with every kind riches…” GWT

v 4 “…valuable, beautiful things…” GNT

• 2 Corinthians 9:8

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” ESV

“And God is able to make all grace–every favor and earthly blessing–come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need, be self-sufficient (possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation.)” AMP

• Isaiah 54:2-3

“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, for you will spread abroad to the right hand and to the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” AMP

“Make the tent you live in larger; lengthen its ropes and strengthen the pegs! You will extend your boundaries on all sides…GNT

v 3 “You’re going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family…” MSG

• Proverbs 14:1

“Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.” AMP

“Homes are made by the wisdom of women…” GNT

“The wisest of women builds up her home, but a stupid one tears it down with her own hands.” GWT

• Psalm 68:6

“He gives the lonely a home to live in…” GNT

“…and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” AMP

“God settles the solitary in a home…” ESV

• Psalm 112:1-3

“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. His offspring shall be mighty upon the earth; the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Prosperity and welfare are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.” AMP

“Blessed man, blessed woman, who fear God, who cherish and relish His commandments, their children will be robust on the earth, and the homes of the upright — how blessed! Their houses brim with wealth and a generosity that never runs dry.” MSG

v 3 “Wealth and riches are in his house…” ESV

• Proverbs 14:11

“The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.” ESV

“…Holy living builds soaring cathedrals.” MSG

These scriptures, while not mentioning house and home directly, also certainly give ground to any desires you may have on the subject:

• Philippians 4:19

“This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” NLT

“My God will liberally supply, fill to the full, your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” AMP

“You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need; His generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.” MSG

• Ephesians 3:20

“to Him who…is able to…do superabundantly far over and above all that we dare ask or think — infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams…” AMP

• Psalm 37:4

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.” AMP

There are many ways you can ‘build’ your house; there are even more ways you can tear it down. Let’s do the former, not the latter. Build up your house today, by believing the promises of God!