We Are All Like Job.

Who was Job? He lived in Uz, he was blameless, he had complete integrity, he feared God, he stayed away from evil, he was married with seven kids, and he was the richest person in the entire area. Ok, so we aren't exactly like him biographically or characteristically...but we are like him foundationally. 

How so? We go through varying tests and trials...not necessarily in the same quantity or variety that Job did, but with the same ultimate purposes. We have a choice about how to respond to these tests and trials. We have people around us who have opinions about what the trials mean and what we need to do in the midst of them. We have our own ideas of how we can affect our circumstances for the better...how we think something should go. We sometimes voice our opinions to God, only be humbled by the response. We have the choice to remain faithful to the end. 

Sometimes we go through something and never receive any clarity on the purpose of that particular trial...we don't get an immediate answer from The Lord or instructions on how to apply what we may have learned, but the answer could come weeks, months, or even years later. Job called out to The Lord several times (over what could have been a long span of time) before The Lord responded. And His response was not necessarily what Job expected...Job had been pleading his case to The Lord, advocating for his own righteousness and blamelessness. We were told from the outset of Job's story that he was blameless, feared God, stayed away from evil, and had complete integrity...so from our human perspective, Job had every right to remind The Lord of these things. But when God responded, He reminded Job if His sovereignty and providence over all things, since the creation of the world...He didn't condemn Job or talk about how sinful he was, but He reminded Job of His incredible power.  Just as Job did not know that his hardships began as a result of Satan's challenge to God, we do not now why our hardships begin...only that The Lord us faithful to strengthen us and herald His glory through them. 

God can be trusted. He is our ever-present help. He is our Deliverer. He works for His glory and our good. 

Growth and Movement.

I find it quite intriguing and significant that the main purpose of my now bi-weekly doctor's appointments is to monitor the growth and movement of the baby. It makes sense, of course, but it is also a compelling concept. 

The nurse asks me how I am feeling and takes my vitals, but the objective of each check-up is to find out how much the baby is moving and growing. Too little progress is concerning, and would necessitate further study and action. 

Even as children, our visits to the doctor are intended to measure and record our growth. But at some point, we stop physically growing. The doctor knows that we have reached our peak height, so they no longer need to measure and record our progress. 

May this not ever be the model of our spiritual growth! It would be so easy to fall into complacency with our spiritual maturity when we reach physical maturity, but there is so much more to learn, to ingest, to teach, and to demonstrate. Just as our doctors tracked and analyzed our physical growth while we were younger, we should seek honest evaluations of our spiritual growth through prayer, self-reflection, and accountability with other believers. Too little progress in our spiritual growth is just as concerning, and should alert us to the need for further study and action. 

Spiritual growth does not look the same for everyone, and is quite difficult to measure, as there is not a standard scale or classification system. Rather, our spiritual growth is defined by our dedication to the Lord's purposes over all else, our desire to know Him more every day, our selfless love demonstrated to others, our connection to the Lord's heart, and our complete surrender of all that we are and have to the One who created us in the first place. (This is an incomplete list, but these are the qualities that are currently relevant.) 

It is just as important (if not more so) for us to pray that our little Squirt grows big and strong spiritually as it is that he grows big and strong physically. The doctors think his physical growth is crucial enough for them to check it every other week...do we evaluate our own spiritual lives that frequently?

Ambition and Hope.

Ambition: a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.

Hope: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

I have never really thought of these two concepts as similar, but I have recently been thinking about how they have the same desired result.  The difference could be defined as "control."  When we have ambition in general or an ambition for a certain situation, we are the ones taking charge with the determination to complete the task.  When we have hope, we are relying on outside entities to bring about the resolution we want.  Most of the time, but not always, hope involves a situation that is outside our control about which we have to exercise faith.

I think that everyone has a certain measure of ambition...some people have more than others, and some people act on it more than others...some people have had great success in being ambitious, and some people are continually discouraged when their attempts at ambition do not pan out...some people put great emphasis on ambition, and some people undervalue it.  Ambition is often tied to courage, determination, vision, and commitment.  Ambition can be applied in any aspect of life: relational, professional, personal, spiritual, etc.  It is not likely that we can achieve our goals for ourselves without exhibiting at least some level of ambition.  There is no way to know what kind of world we would live in if no one had ever been ambitious, but I do not think it would be a world I would want to live in.  Ambition is inspirational. Ambition is generally good, but can also be used for selfish or malicious purposes.  We are exercising control when we exercise ambition, which means that we accept the responsibility for the outcome.

I also think that everyone has a certain measure of hope, though many people have false hope because they do not have their trust in the Lord who is the author of hope...some people have so much hope for the end result of a situation that they apply their ambition fulfilling this desire...some people give up hope on a circumstance because they feel like they have been waiting for far longer than it should take to have some resolution.  Whether we hope in ourselves, in another person, in the world, or in the Lord for a situation to turn out the right way, the root of all hope is faith in something.  I believe that the only object of our faith this is worth putting our hope in is the Lord.  Hope is not contingent on the way things appear.  It is not limited by what seems possible. We are surrendering control to the Lord when we exercise hope, which means that we submit to His sovereignty in the outcome. 

The point is: ambition and hope are both inherently good and necessary.  That being said, I have seen more incredible things spring from situations in which I put my hope in the Lord to deliver the result in His sovereignty than could ever have occurred out of my own ambition.  He is worth our devotion and faith.  He is worth the feeling of uncertainty.  He is worth our hope.

"Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.  Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous." -- Romans 4:18-22. 

So...Motherhood.

A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9 NKJV)

This verse is the story of my life. If I could, I would add a sentence at the end that says "And The Lord is always faithful and sovereign." 

When I was in middle school, I started planning out my life. In my finite wisdom, I determined that it would be best for me to graduate high school, finish college early, and somehow work my way into being the Press Secretary for the President, or at least start my own events business. And maybe along the way, I would catch some guy's eye and I would be married by the time I was 30, but that was a secondary goal to my career aspirations. Maybe my 12 year old self was a victim of the American Dream mentality that many live and die by. 

Let me just tell you...the American Dream has nothing on the plans that God has for each and every one of us. The alterations to "my plan" that The Lord directed were not drastic from the outside, but they were like an avalanche on the inside. I had such a hard time believing that The Lord would really want me to stay in school longer than I had to, get married 3 weeks after graduation, move back to the place I never thought I would live again, buy a house, and prepare to raise a family...all in the time that I had set aside for myself to be a success in the eyes of the world, to make a name for myself, unattached. This might seem like the perfect scenario to most people, and I couldn't be more thankful for these undeserved blessings. But all of these changes and shifts in my thinking have taken me on quite the excursion of soul-searching and readjustment. I have had to continually learn to surrender what I think would be best, in exchange for the Lord's sovereign will. 

I've been learning how to apply this surrender to the lives of the people that I pray for as well, because I can often think of multiple ways that certain situations could be changed for (what appears to be) the better. But I can only see the Lord's current brushstroke of the painting will someday be a completed masterpiece. 

I do not yet have this perspective, but I can imagine that this complete surrender will be a minute-by-minute occurrence come September. When we finally get to meet and take care of our little guy, I know that we will have ideas and dreams for what we want for his immediate and far-off future. And when he encounters failures, disappointments, bumps, and bruises, all we will be able to do is remind him of God's sovereignty and faithfulness, of the unfathomable depths of His love for us, of the masterpiece that He is creating through every circumstance. We will pray for him, as we already are, and tell him of the Kingdom that is to come...and how glad we are to be able to embark on this adventure of spending our lives seeking Christ with him. 

Group Mentality.

All people (regardless of their demographics) want to fit in somewhere. Whether that "somewhere" is a group of close friends, a group of strangers, or a mixture of both...one of the main goals that everyone has in interaction is to feel connected. 

One place that I observed this recently was at an MLB game. People from all walks of life and various backgrounds meet at the same location at the same time, wearing the same team apparel, to eat the same hot dogs and drink the same drinks, to cheer when their team succeeds and join together in the agony of defeat when they fail. These people might cheer for that team because they know one of the players or because they just grew up that way, they might feel a sense of pride in their city and want to express it through applauding the domination of the city's team over another city's...but the overall motivation (whether they recognize it or not) for each of the fans paying to watch a game is so that they can feel that they are a part of something bigger than themselves. 

I think that the league and its sponsors realize this. They play songs and beats that will encourage unity among the fans, they sell more of the apparel that the fans already have, they encourage audience participation, and they promote products as "the official ______ of the team" because they know that brand loyalty is the ultimate success of any endeavor. If people feel that they are being included and wanted, they will continue to spend money to be a part of the bigger "game experience."

As I was considering this, I couldn't help but think about how the same theories should be able to apply to the church, but on a continuous cycle. It should be the case that we all go about our separate day to day lives, cheering for the same team, talking about its successes and failures, strategizing how the teammates could work better together for the good of the program, and growing together for God's ultimate glory. It's amazing to me that we often lose sight of the primary goal of shining the Light to the dark world that is so severely lacking hope, but we can join with unbelievers for a 3 hour baseball game and feel that we are finally a part of something. 

When we were saved, we became a part of the Ultimate Something, which is only partly known and revealed on this earth. After knowing Christ and making Him known, all other goals are penultimate. Good things can sometimes become the enemies of the best things. When we forget this, we can easily get caught up in trying to belong to a community that is temporary, rather than one that is eternal. Let us keep our eyes on the prize until the end of the race. Until then, we must remember that we have been adopted into God's family, meaning we are co-heirs to Christ's inheritance. We, as a community. This is comprised of infinitely higher comraderie than anything the world can offer.