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Articles from May 2015

Watching and Waiting

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Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray. In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

Psalm 5:2-3 NASB

sorrow_bwThe same prayers had been muttered day after day, week after week. In search of guidance, my heart was heavy, and my prayers had become routine. A spiritual blind spot that had taken residence in my heart was revealed through conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Was I praying just for the sake of praying or did I pray like I believed? Did I believe that the Creator of the universe was hearing my prayers and was going to answer? I soon realized that I hadn’t heard His guidance, in part, because I wasn’t expecting it.

Praying-it’s what we do. Christians pray. We most certainly pray in church. Many of us pray before meals and say bedtime prayers with our kids. We pray for healing for those who are sick and for comfort for those who are grieving. The list goes on, but do we pray expectantly? Do we pray like God is not only going to hear our prayers but that He is willing to answer our prayers with the same power that created this world and everything in it? Often times, my answer is no.

I find myself believing the lie that my problem is just too big … or too little to even pray about. I listen to the enemy when he tells me that someone is too lost and can never change. Oh, the lies we listen to.

What if we changed how we pray? What if we prayed like we believed God and that He was going to hear our prayers and answer them? Not according to our will but to His. For us to believe that God is going to answer our prayers in the manner that we desire is faulty theology.

How wonderful it is that the God that we pray to is the same God who created the heaven and the earth and raised Jesus from the dead?! Praise Him!

There is no need too big that our God cannot meet. There is no financial situation too desperate or a marriage too broken. No child has run too far from the Lord that He cannot bring back to Himself.

Friend, as we enter the throne room of God, laying requests for the salvation of loved ones, the healing of diseases, and comfort for the grieving, let us leave those requests with Him and wait expectantly for His answer.

Waiting expectantly,

Traci

Savoring Your Season: Even In Waiting

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Life is full of seasons other than spring, summer, fall and winter. Childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; single, dating, engaged and married. We have healthy and unhealthy seasons, ones of flourishing and of pruning, and every high and low in between. I’ve been one to say I’m in a season of waiting just as often as I say I’m in a season of going. Too often, we lose sight of the present season for looking too much on the seasons past or future. Let’s take some time this week to be honest about our seasons – mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally – and learn to savor and soak in where we are now.

 

Even In Waiting

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart…

fridayEcclesiastes 3:11

Waiting is one of my least favorite things in the world, yet I feel like I am always waiting on something. Whether it’s a vanilla latte or a visa in my passport, a Prince Charming or a new job, waiting seems to be a constant in my life.

Too often we have the wrong perspective on waiting. We get stuck in the mentality that “Life will finally start when _____:” I get promoted. I get married. I buy a house. You fill in the blank with whatever it is that you’re waiting on. I’m so guilty of functioning under the belief that happiness and ability to serve the Lord only comes when all of my ducks are in a row, but that’s just not the case.

Every season is deliberate and infused with God’s presence, and it’s ours for the taking. We can choose to be present in our seasons of waiting, but too often we catch glimpses of what’s ahead or think we know what we want to happen and then lose sight of what is here and now. We push and barrel forward, praying for a change in seasons, and miss what is right in front of us.

We were created with an ache for a different season because God has put eternity in our hearts. The desire we feel for what’s next is rooted in God’s desire for us, that we would seek first the Kingdom and chase after the home awaiting us.

Our mortal lives will always be marked by waiting for what’s next, but we can learn to be present in the waiting. We can learn to seek and praise God in each season of waiting, to take what His hands have dealt and to worship in the in-betweens of life.

We will find the most fulfillment when we are living out God’s will for us in the seasons He has placed us in. Choosing to seek His higher perspective on our current circumstances and taking His view on our seasons rather than our own makes all the difference.

Chelsey

Savoring Your Season: The Art of Simplicity

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Life is full of seasons other than spring, summer, fall and winter. Childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; single, dating, engaged and married. We have healthy and unhealthy seasons, ones of flourishing and of pruning, and every high and low in between. I’ve been one to say I’m in a season of waiting just as often as I say I’m in a season of going. Too often, we lose sight of the present season for looking too much on the seasons past or future. Let’s take some time this week to be honest about our seasons – mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally – and learn to savor and soak in where we are now.

 

The Art of Simplicity

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

John 15:2

thursdayIf you search the phrase “simplify life” on Google or Pinterest, there will be no shortage of websites and blog posts that give you a list of things to do to find the simplicity in whatever area of life you’re in. It’s pretty obvious that simplicity is something that everyone is looking for, and as believers, we should actually consider joining the crowd for this one.

I remember listening to a sermon at some point in my life where the speaker showed a picture of what looked like an overgrown bush. It looked as if it was dying – the branches looked dry and the leaves were yellowed and quickly turning brown, and the few fruits hanging on looked like they would shrivel up at any second. Then he showed us a different picture of a vineyard. The leaves were green and the grapes were beautiful. I was shocked to find out that those pictures were from the same exact place. The difference was in the way they came to life: the first was allowed to live overwhelmed by buds and branches and new growth, someone never choosing what was most important and cutting back the rest. The second was intentionally cut away in order to allow the best to grow more.

Too often, our lives look like the overgrown mess. We feel like we have to do so many things and we have so many different branches and buds of obligations and service demanding our attention that they all suffer. We want to volunteer, we want to be a part of this Bible study and lead that small group. We commit to taking on another project at work, we want to go on this mission trip and that service project – all because these things are good. They are good, but oftentimes, the “good” is the enemy of the “best.”

Just like a plant with too many buds and branches cannot possibly sustain all of them, so are our lives if we’re overloaded with commitments. Some buds have to die and some have to be intentionally cut away or pruned in order for the most important ones to flourish. Simplification may look at first like death, but it brings greater and healthier growth than any other option.

I’ve had to learn to declutter my life, and I’ll continue having to learn to declutter my life as seasons change. All that a cluttered, overloaded life does is distract me from what should be most important and central: Jesus Christ.

We are called to much, yes, but we are not called to everything. Remembering this frees us to live fully where God places us.

It may look like simplifying your closet, your expenses, your appointment book or your list of ministry commitments, but I encourage you to spend some time asking the Lord what simplification looks like for you in this season.

Chelsey