Altar for the Unknown god...

I'm reading in Acts about Paul's missionary Journey to Athens. At the time, Athens was a place where people dedicated their days to discussing the latest philosophies. The city was full of idols and differing approaches to religion. I would equate the dialog to a modern day college coffee house, where the philosophy majors and deep thinkers go to debate the merits of different worldviews and religions.

So here comes Paul.... He begins to preach the exclusive message of Jesus at the synagogue. The philosophers hear of his message which has been preached just to the Jews. They have a few choice words for Paul...

"...Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods..." (Acts 17:18)

Can you imagine what these guys were thinking!? How dare the "out of towner" show up with a new message about a new God and not have courage to discuss with those most educated about these kinds of things beforehand. I'm sure it was a mix of curiosity, shock, frustration. Imagine Paul's response when he stumbled across the ultimate display of righteous confusion...

"Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. " Acts 17:22-23

Imagine these well meaning philosophers who were seeking righteousness through an intellectual path. To make sure they were fully covered, they created an altar to the Miscellaneous! How can there be any fulfillment or redemption in worshipping an unknown God, but many of us do this every day.

- We seek to be righteous without acknowledging the role of the redeemer.

- We work to do the right thing to look upright and perform in compliance with the expectations of others.

Even more so than worshiping the "unknown", I have chosen my own idols. I thought that if I were more popular and had more fun experiences, I would be joyful. The reality is was that I was worshipping the wrong things and it left me more empty as I gave myself over to a cause not worthy of my calling by God. Bit by bit and piece by piece, I gave parts of my soul away in a quest for happiness and fulfillment.

The good news my friends is that OUR REDEEMER LIVES. He is here not to be unknown, but to KNOWN to us. What a glorious picture of humility is the fact that the Almighty God has a passionate concern for each of us individually. Don't take for granted the love that the Father has for you. Bare your soul to Him and He will answer when you call out to Him.

In the face of difficulty... YOU CAN OVERCOME!

All of us have situations which have profoundly shaped the course of our lives, whether we admit it or not. In observing how people weather the storms of life, I’ve seen that people have 1 of 3 different reactions to difficulty:

1. Define - They let the difficulty define them
2. Deny – Pretend it didn’t happen and push aside the impact
3. Overcome – Address the situation head on with the knowledge of the grace of God

I want to walk through these reactions, to help you evaluate your own responses to situations which you have experienced.

Define

Those who chose to allow their difficulty to define them, chose to live under the shadow of what happened to them. By living in the shadow of tragedy, they are unable to embrace the restoration which can be found in Christ. Many times those who chose this approach may not be doing it overtly, but negative thought patterns will sneak in and keep us from living free of that hurt.

"If X didn't happen, I would be happy"
"I can't do X because of what happened to me"
"If they knew X, they wouldn't want me serve anyway"
"I'm not worthy of this because of X"

To shift mindset, it's important to realize that every negative situation provides an positive opportunity for growth. One of my favorite verses is from Romans:

"...We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us" - Romans 5:3-5a

If you can wrap your mind around the fact that our sufferings produce character in us, it helps you get past the hurdle of being defined by your tragedy. I would much rather be defined by the character, perseverance and hope that is built up in me through difficulty. One of my personal redirects in difficulty is to take a step back from the situation and thank God for the investment he's making in my character. It's as if my heart is getting an Extreme Makeover - Heart Edition when God allows me to walk through difficulty.

Deny

Those who deny tend to remove themselves emotionally from the difficulty. They seem to disengage and become an observer in the situation and not a participant. At times the brain may be processing, but the heart is left behind. I think this happens more with men, as we've built an image of masculinity equivalent to toughness.

Denial may seem like an adequate coping mechanism to "get through it", but doesn't give any opportunity for us to grow through the situation. Denial promotes self-reliance instead of God reliance during the situation.

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4:12

In order to get through difficulty it's important to reach out to God and your support network to work through the tragedy. Your friends, family and others in your life are there for good times and bad. By denying the situation and not working through it, you may be cheating others who would grow from the situation out of their own opportunity for growth. There have been many times that I've watched someone else struggle through a situation and be restored, only to be confronted with a similar struggle later in my life. The fact that I walked through it with someone else gave me hope and encouragement.

Overcome

The ultimate example of working through tragedy are those who have overcome. When I think of people who have overcome tragedy, they become spiritual superheros in the lives of others. Is observing someone has overcome, they are able to share that encouragement with others in a way that only they can. Paul was grateful for this when he addressed the Corinthian church:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Cor 1:3-4

There is nothing more joyous than seeing a difficult time of your life encourage others as they walk the journey God has allowed them to walk through. Each and every one of us has a unique imprint to leave on the lives of others but we can only leave the divine imprint intended if we have renewed our mind with the Word of God and can view our situation from His perspective.

The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. - Romans 8:6

If you've realized that you aren't handling your own tragedies well, there are some key steps to take to become an overcomer.

Commit to Prayer
First of all, relinquish control of the situation and ask God to open your eyes to where you need to grow. Commit to prayer on the situation and ask God align your heart to his. If there is another person involved that has caused the hurt, pray for that person. This was very transformational for me in getting through a big situation in my own life. God can soften your heart as you pray for that person who caused your pain or conversely who you have caused pain.

Seek A Support Network
Make sure you don't walk this road alone. As mentioned in Ecclesiastes 4:12, a cord of 3 strands cannot be easily broken. You, a trusted friend and the holy spirit are a fantastic team to work through issues and grow stronger. To work through some tragedies, professional help may be needed. There is nothing to be ashamed of if this is the case. Keep in mind that the goal is to be an overcomer so you can live a life of freedom and help others along the way!

Easy to Sow & Grow?

As an amateur Texan, I've tried to beautify my home with plants and flowers but the ground here in Fort Worth is hard to work. Because of the rocks and clay, I've had to struggle to get the plants to survive through one season, much less to come back for the next season.

Last night I was working in my huge planter boxes. When we built the boxes, I was so excited to have soft, easy to work with soil to plant in. I thought we'd be on easy street and the plants would just take off...and they did! Whew. Relief. Some section of my yard that I can control! Fast forward to last night. As I'm trying to clear the weeds I realize the downfall of my plan for "simple growth". Not only was it easy for my plants to grow, it was easy for the weeds to take the soft, loose soil hostage!

I begun to think about my relationship with God and when I've had the weeds of life take root. It's been in the periods of less struggle. When I've had the tough situations come up and had to struggle through them, my tendency is to seek God diligently until I find resolution. When things are easier, it's very natural to become complacent and less vigilant to make sure I'm firmly rooted and keeping the weeds out of my own garden. In those times, the weeds slowly take over, losing the fruit which we were all intended to bear. We have to remain focused on God in good times and bad. I've realized I'm good with the big stuff and have a harder time giving up control on the day to day. The good news is that each day is a new day where I can chose to grow.

So check this out from Psalms 92: 12-15.... be righteous and bear the fruit my friends...

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, "The LORD is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

My Rainy Day

So I've been in the middle of a personal rainy day. Not a thunderstorm, tornado or some other trauma, but just a rainy day where everything looks a little gray. While I can remember what the sun looks like, I can't get past the clouds and dreariness that are affecting me in this moment. Maybe others around me can see the sun, but for some reason it can't seem to break through for me.

As I think about this feeling of gray, I'm reminded of a flight I took recently. The sky was overcast and dark. As we took off it was hard to see anything other than the fog that overtook our plane. Within moments we broke through the clouds and there is was, the beautiful and radiant sun. In the moment of takeoff, the environment felt so far removed from the warmth of the sun. The reality was that the sun was always there to provide light and warmth, it was just beyond what I could physically see when surrounded by the clouds of the day.

Now back to my personal rainy day. God is still ever present for me, even though my emotions and attitude may prevent me from seeing His glory in my circumstances. My spirits can be lifted, if I can just push past those clouds and reach for God's warm embrace. In your rainy days I pray that you will find the strength to find the sun.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Rise above the herd!

As we drove through the country on Sunday, I was wondering if I could recognize a prize winning steer in a herd of cattle. If I picked the best specimen I could find, how would I know if it were championship quality? The reality is, I know nothing about cattle or the attributes which make one better than another. I would be lost to chose one based on not knowing the standard of excellence.

I began to think about my own character and how I would be recognized against a standard of excellence. My first thought was that many people would recognize me as a good, moral, encouraging person. When judging myself against the standards of this world, I would guess that I'm above average. So here I am feeling pretty confident....but that's when God reminded me of the true standard of excellence, Jesus Christ. WHOA.

I find myself compartmentalizing my faith into certain aspects of my life and forget that I am called to live a life with the standards God has set for me. When I re-evaluate where I am in comparison to God's standard, I have SO far to go. This is both humbling and grounding.

It's easy to look around and feel like you are living life decently. It's hard to look God in the eye and be convinced that I am living in the fullness of who He has called me to be. After taking a look at ourselves in comparison to the ultimate standard it would be easy to get stuck in how short we fall, but that's where grace steps in...

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" - Romans 3:23 -24

How encouraging, both to have a high standard for us to strive for and to have grace to catch us when we fall. Go ahead and STRIVE for what God has called you to be. Be strong and courageous! I'll end with the words of Paul to the Philippians. For my friends reading this, you will be in my prayers.

³I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy⁵because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. - Philippians 1:3-6

Release your limitations!

I've been asked to sing again after a three year break. I kept thinking "before I need to do this, I need to make sure they understand my limitations". As I continued to think about this over the past few weeks, I started to evaluate why that was important to me. In the past, I've tried to be a vocal "generalist" rather than to focus on the center of my natural style and range. Rather than embrace my strengths, I focused on my weaknesses and resented what I could not do as well as others. I've found this same theme to be true in other aspects of my life.

While evaluating my heart on this issue I realized that my perspective was completely backwards. God has gifted us all with "specialties" which we are able to excel at. This may mean that our abilities don't match what others are doing. That fact alone means you were created to meet a need that others are not able to fit into. Rather than looking at your skills as a misfit, look at them as a perfect fit.

So, I will still have a conversation before I sing but it will be a different lens. Now the conversation will not be my limitations, but it will be to emphasize my unique strengths. If the strengths I have fit the need, I will know that I'm walking into the situation that God has designed for my unique abilities.

Is there a situation where you are compromising your unique abilities? My friend, you are FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made for a purpose you can fulfill. Don't undermine that calling by trying to fit in.