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Savoring Your Season: Be Not Afraid

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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.

 

Be Not Afraid

You whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:9-10

tuesdayWhen I tell people that I’m moving to Thailand, one of the first questions they ask is, “Are you scared?” The truth is, I’ve asked the same question of myself almost as often as others have. My life and my relationships used to be ruled by fear – the fear of rejection, the fear of getting hurt, the fear of failure. In the past few years, I’ve decided there’s another choice I can make.

The world teaches us to fear. Fear people, especially the ones who are different from you. Fear the ocean for the sharks. Fear the government, public education, money, the world – you can fill in the blank with any number of things when you turn the news on in the evening.

Too often we live out of our worst fears instead of our best hopes. We let fear become our motivator and our address, yet we are not called to be a people of fear. We are a people of faith, hope, and love. We are a people of Scripture that tells us “Do not fear” 365 times, Scripture that tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:17 “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” This includes freedom from our fears, our worries, and ourselves. When we reject fear and choose to stand firm in the freedom of Christ’s perfect love, our lives become more open, more generous, more loving and more patient.

Fear can rob us of passions and dreams given to us by God if we choose not to fight them. Every person I know that has struggled with specific fears has a calling on their lives that fear keeps them from fulfilling. Isn’t that all of us? My fear of rejection and being alone has had the potential to steal away the opportunities and distract me from the path that the Lord has laid out before me. When we listen to our fears over listening to our God, we risk missing something beautiful.

On earth, in our imperfect states, we will never completely remove fear from our lives, but we can choose to change our focus. We can choose to stop living from a place of fear and instead live out of a place of security in the power of Christ, whose perfect love casts out all fear. It won’t always be easy and it certainly won’t always be safe, but our lives are secured in the love of a Father who created the universe with a simple word.

Amy Carmichael was a missionary to India who once said, “If my attitude be one of fear, not faith, then I know nothing of Calvary love.” Be brave with your life and your faith – the God who created you and knows every hair on your head will never leave you. Your identity and your eternity are already secured in the God who conquered evil for you. What can man do to change that?

Chelsey

NANA’S MEMORIES: BACKWARDS & FORWARDS & UPSIDE DOWN

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I’m in a new season of life now. Gone are the days wrestling with three little boys. Almost gone are the days of wrestling with six fantastic little grandkids. How sad. However, the memories of stories and time spent – and the lessons learned – will last a lifetime. Join me this week as I share meaningful lessons learned from the children in my life…one of those children was even me.

 

BACKWARDS & FORWARDS & UPSIDE DOWN

poolRiding along in the car on a family trip, we could hear our two-year-old, David, and five-year-old, Tommy, arguing in the back seat. As I turned around to see what all the fuss was about, the tone between them suddenly changed as Tommy said, “My funger scratches”. David quipped right back, “Well, itch it then.”

It’s kind of cool the way children understand each other even when they get the words backwards. By the way, I didn’t misspell finger. “Funger” was Tommy’s pronunciation of the extremity until he was eight years old.

Misunderstandings are often a way of life for a precious toddler. Like the day David was sitting in the hallway trying to put on his shoes. Tom walked by and said, “Let me help you David. You’ve got your shoes on the wrong feet.” Tearfully David sputtered, “But Daddy, it’s the only feet I’ve got!” By the way, that really happened. I didn’t read the same story in Readers Digest until years later!

As we’ve discussed this week, sometimes we get confused and find ourselves lost from the truth. We accept the cold biscuits – the substitutes for truth instead of the meat of Truth found in His Word.

So, as we close this week, how can we know what the truth is and where to find it? John 8:31-32 gives us the answer…straight from Jesus’ lips to our ears.

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, 

“You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.

 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

That is His promise my friend. Claim it as yours today!

Until Next Time,

Your Traveling Partner,

Brenda

My Identity: What does God say about me?: Loved

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In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the Bible reads that we are “new creations” if we are followers of Christ. Have you ever wondered about the way God feels about you? We can be very hard on ourselves at times. We often struggle with our identity. This week, we’ll turn to God’s Word to find out how He views us and how we can find our identity in Him.

 

Loved

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

1 John 4:9-10, NLT

1_Loved_MONDAYDo you struggle with believing that God loves you just because you are, not because of what you do? This has been a lifelong struggle for me. I grew up thinking God loved me more on the days  I was a good girl, attended church, put a quarter in the offering plate, and didn’t torment my little sister. However, on those days when I was mean to my sister and that Sunday I told my mother that I didn’t want to go to church because it was boring, I envisioned God crossing His arms and shaking His head at me.

He must have been disappointed in me, right? Of course He loved me less on my bad days, right? Wrong! I’m a rule follower, so it’s easier for me to understand the concept of conditional love. Being good equals being loved. That was my understanding for a very long time. Finally, I started comprehending God’s matchless, unconditional love for me. God doesn’t love me because I do. He loves me just because I am.

God’s amazing and unending love for you is already at maximum capacity. He couldn’t possibly love you more (or less) than He does in this very moment. His love doesn’t waver based on your actions or even your attitude toward Him.

We can get stuck in a vicious cycle of attempting to earn God’s love, respect, and forgiveness. The good news is that God doesn’t need us to earn anything. He sent Jesus to earn it for us. Today’s verse in 1 John defines real love as God sending “his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” Even before we loved Him, God made a way for us to be accepted as His loving children.

Learning to receive the love of God is a lifelong journey. Let’s allow God to lavish His affection on us. Another of my favorite verses is Isaiah 62:3 (NIV), which reads: “You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.”

Today, remember that your identity is held by God. You are a royal jewel in His hand.

Seeking Him,

Allison