Keep The Change!

“It is strange that while praying,

we seldom ask for a change of

character but always a change

of circumstance.” – Anonymous.

            Isn’t it funny how we always try to pray ourselves out of tough situations?  We tend to pray that God would change our situation or merely take us out of it.  The more I see others and myself (insert conviction here) do this, the more I realize how wrong it is and how dangerous it can be to spiritual growth.

            Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that all circumstances are NOT fun, with many being very difficult and ever hurtful at times.  It’s completely human to want a life with perfect circumstances, BUT that doesn’t make it right and it certainly doesn’t give us a right to whine to God because we’re uncomfortable.

            Personally, (yes, I’ll be honest with ya) I don’t enjoy hard situations.  I tend to moan at uneasy circumstances (i.e. times of doubt, facing the unknown, periods of waiting, forgiving and loving those who have hurt me, BIG life changes, wanting revenge NOW, etc.)  I’m sure you can relate to at least one of those (come on, be honest with yourself).  So many times I’d feed myself the deceitful lies – “I’m allowed to moan at uncomfortable things,” or “It’s normal for me to feel this way.”  Well any true Christian would know that normalcy tends to exude the opposite of Christ – meaning NOT the route to be on.

I’m learning more and more how selfish I and many Christians can be. (We’re not supposed to act as the fool in Proverbs 18:1-2, y'all).  It saddens me that many times I can dissect a situation into how it’s hurt ME, how it’s too much for ME to handle, how it’s not what I want at the moment, or heaven forbid that I have to change, or… well, you get the picture.  I can make situations become all about me and my fleshly desires.  Oh, how thankful I am that Christ didn’t live like that.

            Now onto the point and take away here:

I am so glad God is still and will always be in the teaching business, as I am continually learning and being sanctified daily.  As a Christian, I continually learn more and more how my life is NOT about me. Contradictory statement?  Not in the least bit (John 3:30).  My example, Christ, came to this world in obedience to His Father (not for Himself).  He died on a cross for the world to fulfill God’s plan (obviously, not at all for His personal gain or comfort, Luke 22:42).  Yet so many times we, ‘Christ followers’ tend to pray and ask God for any route other than the example Christ laid out for us, purposely leaving out “..not my will, but Thy will be done.”  Truth is, we’re more worried about our own comfort and selfish desires – sadly. 

I believe God asks a totally different attitude of us.  In trying and uncomfortable circumstances, we should pray that God would graciously change our hearts, making and sanctifying us to be more like Him.  When others are involved, we should be lifting them up and loving them even when it’s hard, praying that God would draw them to Himself (if not saved), bless them, use them, and use the situation to benefit their relationship with God (NOT talking about, judging, belittling them, etc. – Proverbs 19:11).  Most importantly, we’ve got to understand that every situation, whether good or bad, can either glorify or defame God.  Our goal in this life should be making much of God – meaning our purpose in EVERY situation has NOTHING to do with us, but everything to do with God’s glory.  (Psalm 115:1).

            I leave you with this:

STOP asking God to change the situations that you don’t like in your life, yet ask Him to change your heart, that you might grow to His likeness and bring glory to His name through it.

So, how are you handling and praying about your uncanny circumstances?

Poetry Love!

I love to write, as you can tell! Specifically, I have a hankering for writing poems. As a matter of fact the title of my blog came from a poem I wrote last year - As to why I haven’t shared it, I’m not sure, but here it is. Better late than never! Hope it blesses you!

In The Making..

A little girl, full of innocence and grace,

With a spirit of laughter and a smile on her face.

She looks to the future with gazing eyes,

Expecting the unknown, excited for the surprise.

Getting older, she finds a life full of change,

Learning and growing, seeing a life to rearrange.

Finding God, opening her eyes to see

That all along He’d been waiting for her patiently.

Wrapped up in His grace, lavished with His love,

It was a romance sent from up above.

His love for her proved so true and sure,

But earthly charms began to allure.

Having her heart tugged here and there

With broken pieces strewn everywhere.

Trusting words and empty promises to stay,

Little by little she gave her love away.

Being misled, torn by deceit and lies,

Trying to be strong, wearing a disguise.

With tears never ending and a shameful heart,

She longed for the young love she had at the start.

Feeling completely broken and petrified,

She thought her love again would be denied.

Searching for the romance she used to share,

To her knees she fell and met Him there.

His words to her so clearly heard that night,

“I love you and you will always be My delight!”

Such peace and freedom overflowed her life,

Enamored with His presence, He took away her strife.

Once again, Lord, she prays,

Keep her under Your wings of mercy all her days.

Solely firm in You, she chooses to be content,

Knowing that the Lover of her soul is heaven sent.

Now looking to a plan bigger than her own,

Seeing a life better than she’s ever known.

Striving to become what God wants her to be,

A fairy tale still in the making seeing as that little girl was me.

"What Can I Do?"

You call me to come be with You

To rid myself and be made anew.

Here in Your presence, I’m in the highest place.

Lavished with Your love and enamored by Your grace.

But so unworthy and undeserving am I,

Sinful and torn so much I want to cry.

Bringing nothing, but filthy rags,

Full of brokenness; covered with bags.

Lord, You can’t just want some time with me,

A girl who is blemished, unclean, and diseased.

You must want more, perhaps a song I can sing,

What can I bring to You, tell me anything.

I am begging, I am down on my knees,

An ashamed daughter, I know Your heart sees.

I will not be worthy of Your love any day,

But then I stop and hear You say:

“Daughter, I don’t want anything from you,

Just a heart that’s love for Me is undeniably true.

All I want is some time to lavish you with My love,

Time to show you My peace from up above.

Precious is our time, let it last a little longer,

It will build you up and make you stronger.

My child, My daughter, don’t you see?

You are perfectly beautiful to Me.

Sweetly broken child of mine,

You were made for a romance that’s so divine.

Don’t make this time such a task,

Just be with me, that is all that I ask.

My beloved, You bring so much joy to me,

I’m so in love with You, so just simply be.”

"Your Daughter's Cry"

I am Your daughter, Christ is my King

You've become my everything.
I can remember the time I was saved by grace
Growing nearer to the day I will see Your face.

Life on Earth is tough at times
My sin amounting to many crimes.
Every new day is a new race to run
I can only get by with the help of Your Son.

In many other things I try to be content.
Teach me, You ONLY will bring fulfillment.
Make these doubts in my heart cease
In You alone, I find my peace.

You are my fortress, stronghold and rock.
I come to Your door, I come and knock.
I ask You to take my life, do as You will
And my cup will overflow, Lord, make it spill.

You Are Good!

            To preface this, I am reading and studying through Proverbs with some dear friends.  Before I started reading, I looked at the background and themes of this book and found that it has been predominately defined as a book of simple illustrations that expose us to the fundamental realities about life.  After only reading the first few chapters, I have been completely blown away.  One thing that continually stands out to me is the goodness of our Lord.

            Because this has caused me to fall more in love with the God I serve, I thought I’d share a few ways Proverbs has shown me that the Lord is exactly as His Word teaches, He is good!

Broadly speaking, Proverbs has a theme of wisdom – and tells the reader how to gain wisdom and apply it to their lives. That in and of itself screams of God’s goodness, that He in His infinite knowledge, has chosen to not only grant us wisdom, but also to show and teach us how to apply this God-sent gift to our lives.  I don’t know about you, but God knows I need His wisdom with every passing moment and I’m so thankful that He gives me the wisdom that I need on a daily basis.

One of my favorites – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6.  We, as Christians, tend to complicate things more than we should, me included.  God, the One who sees how everything is going to play out from beginning to end, asks us to trust Him.  He tells us that we should not lean on our own finite understanding that will eventually fail us anyway.  Why is that so hard?  Our sinful nature as humans tends to make us feel that we have the capability to do and fix everything on our own, which is far from true. We make things so much harder for ourselves than God intends them to be.  Anyway, example two of God’s goodness: He has promised to make our paths straight if we just trust Him.  Everything may not make sense all the time and many times we may wonder where we are.. But that’s the beauty of it, it doesn’t have to make sense and we don’t have to know  it all because we have such confidence in a God that loves us and wants the best for us.

“The beautiful thing about this adventure called faith is that we can count on Him never to lead us astray.” — Chuck Swindoll.

From the end of Proverbs 3 (verses 31-35), I can see more of the Lord’s goodness towards believers.  While the god of this world tries to lure us with the things of this world, God makes it clear that those things aren’t worth it.  He is actually disgusted with those who walk in those corrupt ways.  While we see God’s hatred towards wicked ways, we see His blessings for the believer.  While we are living on this corrupt planet longing for our true home, it may seem as though evil is winning and overcoming, but (here comes the Lord’s goodness toward us) we can rest in the fact that without a shadow of a doubt God is on our side and working on our behalf and in the end we will triumph! Praise the Lord.   May believers follow the ways of Christ and stick it out ‘til the end.

 “Let us not envy prosperous oppressors; far be it from the disciples of Christ to choose any of their ways.  Divine favor is shown to the humble believer.” – Matthew Henry.

Take away: God is so good! He never ceases to amaze me!

"You Are Good"

Kari Jobe