I am a conspiracy theorist. But not just your run of the mill tinfoil-wearing someone's watching me paranoid crazy! I am beyond a theorist... because a thoeory has yet to be proven.
Most people like me have a particular 'pet' subject they purport- either we didn't actually land on the moon, or the matrix IS real..... I don't care a lot about those other "theories". My conspiracy of choice is the belief that God is Conspiring to bring about HIS glory in the world, and HIS destiny in our lives!
Call me crazy, but I have PROOF! First of all the Bible says so... and just like the sunday school song implies... when the Bible says so, it must be true! But beyond that... I have first hand accounts of moments in time when God seems to reach through the cosmos, and puts something in my path time and again until I realize that it is a subject I need to pay attention to.
Recently it has been what it means to have good character. Everywhere I turn there are moments that challenge my desire to live a life of character. And then many times throughout the day there are reminders that the standard is high. Everything from shows on TV, or themes of movies, to just now a favourite quote buried in a long string of emails that I JUST HAPPEN to recieve on something completely unrelated.
And so it seems like every conspiracy theorist out there... I choose to attach deeper meanings to mundane things. Except when it comes to God we KNOW that He never does anything without deeper meaning. Every step of His life was miraculous just on the surface, and then when you plumb the deepest depths of understanding you realize that every thing right down to His name, His place of birth and the response of people to His death holds layers and layers of moving and remarkable meaning. Since God is the same, yesterday, today and forever, I choose to believe that every moment of the day can be steeped in the miraculous move of God.
Is it a coincidence that, when staying in a new city for a month, just when I was getting desperate for company, I decided to opo unexpectedly into a store and as I did, a friend from home "happened" to be there? I doubt it.
What keeps popping up in your life like a strange obsession? What do you feel bombarded by? take a good look at the themes that recur... it could be a key to what God is doing in you and through you.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Rejected? Not- Chosen? with a side of Stop Helping Me!
Have you ever seen 2 year old stumble and fall? There is always that split second of shock followed EVERYTIME by a glance at the parental unit closest to gauge their response. As an adult in their lives, they look to us to decide whether to be upset or not. IF we respond with treipdation or angst..... the floodgates open, BUT... if you look with surprise that matches theirs and make light, they will get up and go about their way. Keep that picture in your mind and walk with me on a journey.
Tonight I went to a prayer meeting I had never attended before. We began to lift up the leaders of our nations, the soldiers who fight for those nations and who are in battle. We lifted up our families and those who we are praying for. Then we moved onto the next topic. The lady leading the prayer meeting began a heartfelt prayer intercession for "THE SINGLES" She began.... "Lord, we pray for the singles, we pray that you would heal their hurts and rejections." She continued in a very sincere and heartfelt manner. (As an aside: Know that if you are single and not sure if anyone cares... there are genuinely people who care and who want you to fulfill your destiny in God, and who earnestly lift up to God your desire to be married).
After a time, she moved on to the next group of afflicted personnel requiring our prayers... the prisoners!
I began to wonder..... why does the church continue to approach singleness as a dread affliction that we need to be redeemed from all the while telling us to enjoy the season that we are in?
I am not of the mind that people can make you feel a certain way, however, is it possible that the words the church uses and the approach that often is taken contributes to this idea in our heads that we are more hurt, more rejected, and more pathetic than we already feel just because we are single?
Like that child who, in a moment of uncertainty after a stumble, isn't sure whether this is a bump, or something more.... we look around and reflect the reactions that we see around us. If people didn't speak of my singleness with pity, would I feel quite so pitiful? If those I love, didn't try to "encourage" me so much would I feel so discouraged? And if those around didn't try to HELP so much..... might I just feel a little more like there was nothing really wrong with me??
Maybe???
Just because no one has CHOSEN me to be thier spouse, does that mean I have been REJECTED? Are those the corrollery of one another?? I think not. They are not equal opposites. I am waiting to be chosen. Some have chosen others instead of me... but all have NOT rejected me.
Thank you kind lady for your heartfelt prayers tonight. I understand your heart cry. I appreciate the care. And yet...... you can stop building the ladder to help me out of the pit that I haven't fallen into just yet.
Please.... stop HELPING ME!!!
Tonight I went to a prayer meeting I had never attended before. We began to lift up the leaders of our nations, the soldiers who fight for those nations and who are in battle. We lifted up our families and those who we are praying for. Then we moved onto the next topic. The lady leading the prayer meeting began a heartfelt prayer intercession for "THE SINGLES" She began.... "Lord, we pray for the singles, we pray that you would heal their hurts and rejections." She continued in a very sincere and heartfelt manner. (As an aside: Know that if you are single and not sure if anyone cares... there are genuinely people who care and who want you to fulfill your destiny in God, and who earnestly lift up to God your desire to be married).
After a time, she moved on to the next group of afflicted personnel requiring our prayers... the prisoners!
I began to wonder..... why does the church continue to approach singleness as a dread affliction that we need to be redeemed from all the while telling us to enjoy the season that we are in?
I am not of the mind that people can make you feel a certain way, however, is it possible that the words the church uses and the approach that often is taken contributes to this idea in our heads that we are more hurt, more rejected, and more pathetic than we already feel just because we are single?
Like that child who, in a moment of uncertainty after a stumble, isn't sure whether this is a bump, or something more.... we look around and reflect the reactions that we see around us. If people didn't speak of my singleness with pity, would I feel quite so pitiful? If those I love, didn't try to "encourage" me so much would I feel so discouraged? And if those around didn't try to HELP so much..... might I just feel a little more like there was nothing really wrong with me??
Maybe???
Just because no one has CHOSEN me to be thier spouse, does that mean I have been REJECTED? Are those the corrollery of one another?? I think not. They are not equal opposites. I am waiting to be chosen. Some have chosen others instead of me... but all have NOT rejected me.
Thank you kind lady for your heartfelt prayers tonight. I understand your heart cry. I appreciate the care. And yet...... you can stop building the ladder to help me out of the pit that I haven't fallen into just yet.
Please.... stop HELPING ME!!!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Is that even the right question
2 Years and 1000 stories since my last post. Lately, though I have been feeling as though I need to get back to this. Sharing some of what God is doing in my life, and the things I am learning daily.
It is important to have a record of the progress.
Recently, I have been bombarded from every side by the questions of what it means to be a woman in the church. What it means to be a wife (some day!) and how my female gender impacts my calling in God.
One of the biggest things that single women face daily is the question of dating/hanging out with/ making out with/ seeing/ (insert title or justification here) non-Christian men. We all know that the ideal is for us to marry a wonderful Christian man who will lead our homes with wisdom, grace, and the occasional delivery of flowers or chocolate! But somehow in the walking out of that, I see all around me wise women of faith settling for something less than God's best. For the sake of full disclosure, I am referring to others' actions around me, not because I am blameless, rather the opportunity hasn't presented itself. For the most part, the Godly women around me are not completely falling off the bandwagon, we are all still hoping for a Christian man to sweep us off our feet.... and YET.... WHERE ARE THEY!
This desire was so succinctly expressed by a good friend late one night when she lamented: :WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT??? IF CHRISTIAN MEN ASKED ME OUT I WOULD GO OUT WITH THEM!!!! But in the meantime.....
For a while I took up that battle cry (let's be honest, I am open to any loopholes!) and decided it was all God's fault. Again.... without the "opportunity" to put my new-found conviction to the test.... it sat for a while. But it didn't quite sit right.... it seemed to still fall short of the best that God says HE has for me. And truth be told... I KNOW what God "expects of me!"
A podcast of a sermon by Andy Stanley entitled "Character Under Construction" touched briefly on this topic. And to sum it up..... as I listened, the lament of my good friend of "God, what do you expect of me" was answered by the words "ABIDE IN ME".
I got to thinking about that. When did we decide that it was our "right" to get physical affection from the opposite sex? When did we decide that there was a lifetime quota that we are "owed" and if God doesn't bring along someone who fits His standard... then we are free to "get some"(not ALL) from whoever stands in front of us (and is asking... and is interesting!).
The world would tell us that we are not in control of our thoughts, or actions. That when it comes to the full spectrum of sex... it is a physiological necessity for us to "git me some!"
I have found in 3 years of travelling for work and being away from my family for long periods of time, that I struggle MOST with physical purity when there are not people in my vicinity who "KNOW" me. Those people who fill up my love tank with their very presence. Those intimate friendships where you have seen one another at your lowest point. Those people who you are happy to have in your house in the midst of the Saturday morning chaos!
So... today I stand in the promises of God and remind myself of what GOD expects of me... that in ALL things... I would ABIDE in Him.
Now if you will excuse me.... gotta freshen up my makeup.... off to lunch!
It is important to have a record of the progress.
Recently, I have been bombarded from every side by the questions of what it means to be a woman in the church. What it means to be a wife (some day!) and how my female gender impacts my calling in God.
One of the biggest things that single women face daily is the question of dating/hanging out with/ making out with/ seeing/ (insert title or justification here) non-Christian men. We all know that the ideal is for us to marry a wonderful Christian man who will lead our homes with wisdom, grace, and the occasional delivery of flowers or chocolate! But somehow in the walking out of that, I see all around me wise women of faith settling for something less than God's best. For the sake of full disclosure, I am referring to others' actions around me, not because I am blameless, rather the opportunity hasn't presented itself. For the most part, the Godly women around me are not completely falling off the bandwagon, we are all still hoping for a Christian man to sweep us off our feet.... and YET.... WHERE ARE THEY!
This desire was so succinctly expressed by a good friend late one night when she lamented: :WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT??? IF CHRISTIAN MEN ASKED ME OUT I WOULD GO OUT WITH THEM!!!! But in the meantime.....
For a while I took up that battle cry (let's be honest, I am open to any loopholes!) and decided it was all God's fault. Again.... without the "opportunity" to put my new-found conviction to the test.... it sat for a while. But it didn't quite sit right.... it seemed to still fall short of the best that God says HE has for me. And truth be told... I KNOW what God "expects of me!"
A podcast of a sermon by Andy Stanley entitled "Character Under Construction" touched briefly on this topic. And to sum it up..... as I listened, the lament of my good friend of "God, what do you expect of me" was answered by the words "ABIDE IN ME".
I got to thinking about that. When did we decide that it was our "right" to get physical affection from the opposite sex? When did we decide that there was a lifetime quota that we are "owed" and if God doesn't bring along someone who fits His standard... then we are free to "get some"(not ALL) from whoever stands in front of us (and is asking... and is interesting!).
The world would tell us that we are not in control of our thoughts, or actions. That when it comes to the full spectrum of sex... it is a physiological necessity for us to "git me some!"
I have found in 3 years of travelling for work and being away from my family for long periods of time, that I struggle MOST with physical purity when there are not people in my vicinity who "KNOW" me. Those people who fill up my love tank with their very presence. Those intimate friendships where you have seen one another at your lowest point. Those people who you are happy to have in your house in the midst of the Saturday morning chaos!
So... today I stand in the promises of God and remind myself of what GOD expects of me... that in ALL things... I would ABIDE in Him.
Now if you will excuse me.... gotta freshen up my makeup.... off to lunch!
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