Perfection

Perfection is something that can never be attained...it is something that we strive for out in the distance...something that we think is necessary, when it is, in fact, the opposite. Sometimes it is the lack of perfection that gives us fulfillment. That is one of the hardest things that this perfectionist has had to learn. Let's face it: none of us are perfect. Groundbreaking, I know. So why do we try to put up facades to make people think that we are? Why do we hide the things that are really going on by faking a smile, when we are crying out for someone to care on the inside?

I am beginning to realize how much I enjoy imperfection...not intentional imperfection, but the spontaneous kind that produces amazing laughter. Why do we think that making mistakes is such a big deal? Everyone does it...so shouldn't we just learn from our failures and the failures of others, thus applying the wisdom that the Lord has revealed to us through those situations? I guess all I am trying to say is this: take a deep breath, calm down, and trust the Lord. Surrender totally to Him. When we make Him the Master of our time, He will bless us with the time and energy we need to complete all of the tasks He has placed before us. He will even give us the ability to do the best we can, thus striving for perfection...while we are always conscious of the fact that when we do not achieve it, we are still loved and accepted and forgiven. God loves us anyway. (Sigh of contentment)

There is No One Like Our God

You're the God of this city

You're the King to these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You are

You're the Light in this darkness

You're the hope to the hopeless

You're the peace to the restless

You are

There is no one like our God

There is no one like our God

Greater things have yet to come

And greater things are still to be done in this city

No one can even consider coming close to comparing to our Lord and Savior. He not only created everything and everyone in the universe...He not only forgave us every time we turned our backs on Him and went our own way...He not only sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins...but He continues to remind us of all of those things all day every day, simply by allowing us to live. He gives us more than we could ever need, He teaches us more than we deserve to know, and He loves us more than we could ever comprehend...all we have to do is surrender to Him. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down for his friends. --John 15:13 We are called the friends of God...what an immense honor. Thank you, Lord for your abundant and incomprehensible grace.

Remembering all of this, we cannot get past the fact that our God is sovereign. He is in complete control of every single event in life...for every single person in every state in every country on every continent in this world that is a grain of sand in the scheme of the universe. So should we have any doubts that He has a plan for America? Vehemently, I will say no. It may seem like our leaders are taking control of our country without the consent of us, its constituents and citizens (the people who are paying for all of these outrageous government programs and laws)...and this may be very true...but, I will venture to say that no man has authority that has not been given to him by the Lord...you know, the God who has planned out everything that has happened, is happening, and will ever happen. We have no right to doubt that God's sovereign plan is coming to fruition even now, in the midst of some of the scariest legislation I have ever been conscious of.

And it is not our place to attempt to figure out what the Lord has for our country. We simply need to pray...a lot...and seek His will in our lives in particular and in the lives of the people leading our country. We should desire to grow closer and closer to the heart of God so that we will be receptive to what He wants us to do. Our generation needs to know God...He is our only hope.

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours

Everything I am for your Kingdom's cause

As I walk from earth into eternity

Refined

"Remove the impurities from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith." --Proverbs 25:4

As I am reading through a chapter of Proverbs a day during the month of March, I have found that there are usually one or two verses each day that just jump off the page to me. Today, Proverbs 25:4 was that verse...which is intriguing to me...I have been thinking about it all day. The truth in this verse has always been commonplace to me. It's one of those things that you hear all the time growing up in church...which presents a problem because some truths lose their effect when you hear them over and over again. This is also one of the first times that I have read this verse in the NLT translation of the Bible, so I feel like I gained a new understanding of it.

God is the Potter...or in this case, the Silversmith. We are the silver that is impure and without purpose on our own...we cannot grow or become who God has created us to be until He removes the impurities from our lives and hearts. This is not a very pleasant process...in fact, it is usually painful...but we know that we must allow the Lord to refine us and strip away the things that hold us back before we can become anything of value. I'm not quite sure why the discipline of God has been on my heart lately, but it just seems to keep popping up during accountability, reading for my quiet time, and just conversations with people. I just pray that the Lord will change me and mold me, because I have so far to go...I am truly under construction.

The Interpreter

Throughout the course of a conversation today, I vividly remembered a scene from the movie "The Interpreter." We were talking about forgiveness. Forgiveness is tough. When someone has done or said something to you that is either totally out of line or just strikes you the wrong way, there is nothing within you that makes you want to forgive them. There is some innate part of our human nature that causes us to hold a grudge and either retaliate or just flee the situation altogether. I will venture to say that neither of these are the responses demonstrated to us by Christ. Granted, sometimes the only way to deal with the situation is to run the other way and cut off whatever relationship existed, but we still must ask that God will condition our hearts so that we can forgive them...regardless of whether or not they ever admit that they were wrong.

In "The Interpreter," the main character and her family lived in Africa. Her parents and younger sister were killed by a roadside bomb on the way back from school one day, leaving this girl and her brother all alone. When this girl grew up, she became an interpreter at the UN...hence the name of the movie. When she tells one of her friends about the way her parents and sister died, she tells him of a particular African custom that really hit me when I was talking about it not too long ago. In this area of Africa, if someone was killed, the villagers brought the killer to a lake (assuming that they could find the killer), tie him up, take him in a boat to the middle of the lake, and drop him in the water. It was then the family's decision if they were going to leave him to drown, thus receiving the punishment and justice he deserves for his crime, or swim out and save him, showing him abundantly more grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness than he deserves for what he has done. Sound familiar? We, every single one of us, are that man tied up in the boat. We deserve the punishment for our sins. But God does not stand on the shore and let us drown...since the beginning of time, with Jesus' infathomable sacrifice on the cross, every time we repent of a sin, God swims out to save us from the death we deserve. He shows us His unfailing love every moment of every day, just by letting us live. So how could we ever do anything but live for Him?! How unfathomable is the redemption that we have in Him.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought that his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be made whole. He was whipped so we could be healed." --Isaiah 53:4-5

A Breath or Two

"I'm tired of putting one foot in front of the other,

I'm weary of where it leads me to.

I'm tired of moving on from my Father.

Make me rest my head and take a breath or two."

If there is one thing I know, it is that trying to do anything in your own strength is exhausting. God created us each to react to circumstances differently...some instinctively take charge when there is indecision, others sit back and wait until the decision is made and then they jump on board, and still others just follow the group aimlessly. I think I am kind of in between the first two...I like to make decisions when no one else will, but I would rather someone else take the lead and then I work wholeheartedly toward that goal.

However, in my own life, I tend to plan everything compulsively and then worry that it won't work out the way I have strategized. Thus, the exhaustion. In the past year or so, the Lord has really been teaching me that His ways are higher than my ways...so much higher that I can never comprehend it. He has shown me that I do not have to work so hard planning what the coming days, weeks, months, and years will hold...all of my days were written in His book before one of them came to be. And anything He has in store for me blows my ideas out of the water...let's say the potential involved in His plans is the size of the Atlantic Ocean...mine would be like turning on the faucet in the kitchen.

The best thing we can do is to submit to God and get out of the way. I have experienced nothing more rewarding than letting the Lord lead me, knowing that what I can accomplish through Him and for Him is infinitely greater than what I could ever do on my own. And sometimes (actually quite frequently) the Lord works in mysterious ways...He uses certain people and situations to grow us in ways that we didn't know we needed to grow...He leads us in a path that seems to take us around our elbow to get to our knee. But, He is sovereign and He knows exactly what He is doing...we just need to trust.

"The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?" --Proverbs 20:24

The Dash

The point of our lives is to point to Him.

There is a distinct paradigm shift that must occur in each of our lives, which causes us to realize the true meaning and purpose of our lives here on earth. This shift must create in us a humbling effect...it should make us change from an earthly perspective to a heavenly perspective. And when we change our paradigms and perspectives, we can truly find the place in this world that God has created us to fill. A few years ago, there was a push to read The Purpose-Driven Life...I read it, or most of it anyway, but I feel that the main thing we need to do is to submit our lives to God's will...no turning back. If we die to ourselves and learn to wake up each morning seeking the ways that we can further God's Kingdom, then we can't help but follow God's path and purpose for us every step of the way.

That's another thing...all too often, we go through our days like we are owed something. Our attitude should never be "Look at all that I have done for the Lord in the past week...I deserve to have my prayers answered quickly. Why hasn't God given me what I have been praying for so fervently?" Either we haven't waited long enough to receive a reply or whatever we are praying for is not in the will of God. These problems can both be solved by applying Matthew 6:33--Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously and he will give you everything you need.

Every day is a gift that we have been given. Let us not forget the abundance of God's grace and mercy in just the very act that He lets us have a new day. We need to be faithful to the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly every day of our lives...in this time I call The Dash (the time between our birth and death dates on our headstones, which is 2 seconds long in the scheme of Eternity). We know that we will live forever in Heaven with our precious Lord, now why don't we spend all the time He gives us to help others along life's journey so that one day we will all be together...we will worship God along with the angels and those who have gone before us without ceasing!

Thunderstorms

I have always liked thunderstorms...I can't even remember a time when I was little and I was scared of the thunder and lightning...they have just always been intriguing. There is something humbling in watching and listening to them...they have always caused me to be still and experience all of the different elements.

Someone once told me that they view thunder as the demonstration of God's power and might...this is the auditory reminder of God's omnipresence and sovereignty. It reminds me of the way that Jesus calmed the storm with just a few words. He is almighty...and He is more than capable of calming all storms, literal and figurative.

When I think of lightning, it seems to represent Christ's role as the Light of the World. Especially if the storm is occurring at night, the lightning illuminates the sky so it looks almost like the daytime. "I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night--but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you." --Psalm 139:11-12 So lightning reminds me that the Lord is the Lord of all.

Then there is the rain...the lovely pouring rain. Rain is so soothing...cleansing...calming...comforting. There are many symbols associated with rain, but what sticks out to me is the way that it reminds me of the glory of the Lord and His presence raining down on us. If someone could bottle the smell of rain, they would be a millionaire. As ironic as it sounds (considering the way that rain is ever-changing) rain seems to give stability to life. And when it is pouring down rain, no one wants to go anywhere...so I like it when we have no control over something, we just have to stay where we are with the people we are with...experiencing God's presence.

So, there you go. Thank you, Lord, for thunderstorms. :)

Respect

Everybody has something going on in their lives. Some people are open about it, some people don't ever talk to anyone about what they are dealing with...but everyone has something. God made us each different, meaning that we process things in different ways...we make decisions and come to conclusions in various fashions.

When I was thinking about that the other day, I came to the realization that people have particular expectations about life in general, relationships, God, and themselves. One of the hardest things to learn is that not everyone wants the same things out of a friendship...when in doubt, always let the other person take the lead until you know what they want out of it....I'm not saying that this is the law, just what I've learned in this little journey called life.

There are times when a friendship progresses from having fun together 24/7 to being there for each other when times are rough...this is what I'll call a support/encouragement system. It is through this process that we really bond together and get to know how the other people think...this is when trust is formed. One of the best things about this level of friendship is that we know one another so well, sometimes better than we know ourselves, that we gain this intangible respect for each other...it is amazing when we know what the others are struggling with and then see how they look at the world in spite of those struggles. It is so true that you never know what a person is going through, just by looking at them.

A tangible example of this perspective that different people have on life occurred tonight at church. I was surrounded by people that I am blessed to call my friends...as we were worshiping our Creator, I started thinking about how awesome it is that we all have this common ground on which we stand before the Lord...we are unworthy and weak, but we are unashamed because of His redemption. This wonderful sense of respect for the Lord and for each of those people welled up inside me...thankfulness to God as well as the recognition that He is leading each one of us through our particular trials combined to create this environment conducive to worship. Then to think that we have been adopted into His family (there is an I Am Second video about that by the way: Priscilla's video) I was just in awe of His sovereignty in all things.

I Am Second

I can't believe that I have not written about this yet! When I was working with Rock the River over the summer, we used a few videos from the organization/website iamsecond.com. The whole premise behind it is that God is first in our lives, and we are second.

When I came across this organization and its mission, I saw it as an awesome tool for ministry and outreach to people who can relate to the struggles of the people in the videos. Then, I really started to think about it and I realized that the concept was something that I needed to learn. The funny thing about pride is that you don't realize how prevalent it is in your life until it has partially consumed your life. The main thing that the Lord was working on in me over the summer was breaking my pride...my prayer every day for months and months was that the Lord would humble me, knowing full well that praying that prayer could possibly rock my world...in fact, hoping that this would be the case. I despise complacency, so when I feel like the Lord is not changing or molding something in me to His likeness, I become so uncomfortable...that is right where I need to be. It is dangerous to be content with where you are, because that means that you don't want to grow or fulfill the potential that God has for you.

Anyway, back on topic...it is amazing to see the way that God has brought the people in the videos out of whatever circumstances described their past...to see how He revealed Himself to them and changed them. It was never easy, and it took a lot of work...but God is faithful and patient. He never leaves or forsakes us. He is unfailing. By the way, if you haven't seen any of the I Am Second videos, you should really watch a few. Also, if you ever see me with a "2" written on my hand, that's why.

I am Kelsey Willis, and I Am Second.

Stay Focused

"And I--in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness." --Psalm 17:15

No matter how good or bad (in our eyes) our lives are going, no matter what perspective we have on our lives...we must remain focused on the Lord and satisfied with seeing His likeness. This may seem relatively difficult when things are rough and we don't see what good could possibly come from our current situation, but God has promised us that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. On the other hand, it is also problematic to stay focused on the Lord when things are going well...when we feel like we are being blessed as we go throughout our days and weeks...when our cups are overflowing.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me...forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." --Philippians 4:12-14

This passage applies to a vast array of situations, but the way I view it in light of the current necessity of focus provides me with substantial encouragement. We do not deserve anything that God gives us...nothing...we are of no value or worth apart from our Lord and Creator. We owe Him our lives in exchange for the immeasurable grace that He gave us when He bore our sins on the cross. How humbling is it to think that He created and saved us, knowing full well all of the times that we would turn away and stray to our own crooked paths, and He still chooses to use us to be lights in this dark world?! And as well as things appear to go during certain seasons of our lives when we are striving solely for God's purposes, nothing on this earth will ever compare to heaven, where we will fully experience the glory of God.

So...in a nutshell, whether things are going well or terribly, we must praise the Lord...not that it is an obligation...it is an inexplicable privilege that we should all feel honored to have.

This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be empited again
The seed I've received I will sow

Our Great Country

As I prepare to go to the gym today, where my Monday/Wednesday/Friday date with Liberty & Tyranny has developed, I am thinking about how convenient it is that I read it while I am working out. I've told Tanya and Rose this several times, but some of the facts that I read in that book just make me so frustrated that I appreciate the convenience of the situation...I am already going full force on the elliptical (aka: Ellie), therefore working off the burst of rage that consequently ensues from some of the points Levin makes.

It is appalling to me the decisions and laws that the President and Congress pass without the uninformed American knowing anything at all has happened. Hence, the importance of American citizens working hard to remain informed and up to date on the world around us. I cannot even tell you how much my Economics and Government classes have tied in to what is currently going on in the world (even if Professor Light is hard to understand and tells too many stories about Taiwan)...all I can do is sit there and soak up this essential information, which makes me feel somewhat accomplished, even though I haven't done anything other than listen. Which is another point...listening, I have found, is the most beneficial thing that we can do in life. It is amazing what you will learn, whether it is in class or just listening to the people around you, if you just are quiet. It's one of those forgotten past-times...or something like that.

Well, I suppose the point of this is...read the news, learn about the world around you, and just listen. The end.

Various Thoughts

Time is of the essence right now...it is important all throughout life, but right now is one of those busy seasons where God tests our patience, endurance, determination, and management skills...conveniently enough, this helps us develop the same values that it is testing in us. So, here comes the ironic statement: spend time doing the things that you don't have time to do. My dad always says "Don't let school get in the way of your education"...which I interpret to mean: don't get so caught up in perfection in all aspects of classwork and studying, because (even though it is critical that we learn what it is we were brought here to learn) our classes are not the main reason that we are in college. At least in my life, I have come to realize that relationships are the guiding forces of life, not knowledge...relationships with God, family, and friends are what really get you through and allow you to succeed in life...they are a blessing from God.

As much as we don't want to admit it, Liberty is it's own little world. Until we get off campus and away from LU's sphere of influence, we don't realize how different is really is from the great big world out there. I think of it like this (just go with it): when we come to Liberty, we are all on different levels...we are lightbulbs with different wattages (some 20, some 40, some 75...)...then we learn and grow over a period of time and realize that our lights are brighter than when we first started (the 20s may now be up to 40...)...throughout our careers at LU, our lights just keep on getting brighter (given that we submit ourselves to what we are hearing and soak up all of the wisdom and knowledge we are being taught)...Liberty becomes this gigantic room full of bright lights (I'm thinking the lamp section at Lowes times 10,000!)...then we go out into the world, where not everyone is shining as brightly as we are. We have two options at this point: continue to shine brightly and have an impact on the world around us, encouraging them to become brighter as well; or be influenced by the world and become progressively more dim (from 75 back down to 20).

"For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true." --Ephesians 5:8

I Never Knew Surrender Could Feel So Free...

Have you ever noticed that the more we try to control our lives, the more they seem to spin out of control? It's true...it's like we feel the pressure and responsibility for whatever happens, so we worry incessantly about everything. We spend way too much time planning out our own lives so that we end up in the place we want to be...in doing that, we miss the whole point. The point of our lives is to point to Him. We are not our own...we have been bought with a price...and in return, we must give Christ our lives, to do what He will. This may seem like some form of bondage or restriction, like we are settling for something less than our potential, because WE are not controlling the outcome...but it is quite the opposite. Surrender is the best thing we can ever do because from that, God can do whatever He has planned for us and use us to achieve bigger things for His Kingdom than we could ever have done on our own.

Surrender takes a lot of work. It involves total trust and transparency with the Lord...but He knows us better than we know ourselves anyway...this comes with humility. And surrender is something that we have to do every day of our lives...we can't surrender something and then come back and dwell on it the very next day...that means that we never really trusted the Lord to take care of it in the first place. True and complete surrender is the most liberating thing we can ever experience...it is the point where we are able to say "Here am I, send me"...the place where we say "yes" before we even know the question.

Now I sing freedom for all of my days.

It's only by the power of the cross I'm raised.

The King of Glory rescued me.

Gratitude

As everyone knows, but I am only beginning to comprehend, God created everyone different...for a reason. I've already written about how amazing it is that everyone has specific desires and dreams for their lives, different interests and passions...so I won't spend much time on that...but something that goes along with that is so intriguing to me.

God is the God of us all...He sent His Son to die on the cross for each one of us...He offers the same grace, the same unfailing love, the same everlasting faithfulness, and the same incomprehensible mercy to all those who He created. In that, we are all on the same playing field when it comes to God's salvation and continued presence in our lives...granted, everyone has different backgrounds, different struggles, different temptations, and different hang-ups...but that is what makes God's universality so unfathomable.

Through the situations that each of us have gone through, are going through, and will go through, God has brought the Body of Christ together in a unity that only can be orchestrated by God Himself. There is no other explanation for the way that people who seem to be total opposites can relate to each other so easily. The Body of Christ is one of the most complicated simple things I have encountered...the interconnectedness of it all is comforting and confusing at the same time. I just think it is amazing how God created us the way we are for specific reasons...we each have a God-given purpose and position for ministry within the worldwide church.

The thing that amazes me the most about all of this, though, is God's sovereignty in giving to us according to our needs. We know that He takes us through certain circumstances for a reason...and through that process, He provides us with whatever it is that we need the most during that time (wisdom, patience, love, encouragement, etc.)...then, once the situation is resolved, more or less, the principles that He taught us remain with us throughout the rest of our lives, if we make an effort to apply them. I simply cannot comprehend the fact that people who have been through the most tragic and traumatic situations in their lives are still grateful to God for all the He has done for them...sometimes more than I am. I know it is probably dumb to tie in a quote from a movie in this instance, but it parallels so well...in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, it talks about how people who have lost everything can still be open to love, while people who have lost nothing can not.

It makes my heart smile to see how everyone around me is grateful for the things that God has given them and has done, no matter what they have been through in the storms of this life. How, then, can I have the audacity to complain about the little things such as having too much work to do or my perfect plan for the day being obstructed? Each day is a new day that the Lord has made...it's time for me to thank God for the gift of today and then spend the rest of the day in an attitude of prayer and praise...thanking Him for the good and the bad, because I know that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him.

Drinking From a Fire Hydrant

I think that title summarizes the week that is coming up. This is probably what is understood to be the busiest week of the semester...two weeks before spring break. Despite what people may think, the professors do not all plot to overload us with projects and assignments...it just kind of works out that way. I must say, however, that group projects are a little much...3 at a time is close to exhausting. My schedule would be full of group meetings for those classes alone, but there are two other classes and numerous responsibilities that pile up along the way to add up to this oversaturation I have called "drinking from a fire hydrant."

As I think about how busy my life is...how busy my friends' lives are...how much the world seems to be literally crumbling down as a result of more earthquakes than I want to think about...how much we need a revival in America and in the world, so that we can follow God's lead in all situations, rather than the imperfect plans of people...all I can conclude is that God is absolutely astonishing. He is in control of all of the things that are going on in my world and in the world...nothing surprises Him. He is constant...the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He leads us through these times of our lives to develop our character and to grow our dependence on Him. Oddly enough, it is in the most turbulent times that I feel God's presence closest to me...the most important thing is to learn what He is teaching us in the midst of the storms of life, when everything seems to be spinning out of control...that is when He proves His sovereignty.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest in me." --2 Corinthians 12:9

We all have heard this verse for as long as we can remember, which is one of the reasons that it is so important not to overlook it. The things we are most familiar with can sometimes become the things that we forget...but that is for another post. One thing I know...I am weak. BUT my God is strong! He is more than enough for me...He provides me with all that I need...notice I did not say all that I want...God knows both and He gives us only what is in our best interests. His grace is sufficient...this could employ the use of the fire hydrant analogy again...God's grace is like the water bursting out of the fire hydrant, while I try to understand the implications of His grace in my life and the lives of those around me...His grace is so abundant that we cannot help but be filled with it! My cup overflows!

The love of the Lord endures.