My Refuge

"For God ALONE my soul waits in silence;

from him comes my salvation.

He ONLY is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

How long will all of you attack a man 

to batter him,

like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?

They only plan to thrust him down from

his high position.

They take pleasure in falsehood.

They bless with their mouths,

but inwardly they curse.

For God ALONE, O my soul, wait in silence,

for my hope is from him.

He ONLY is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

On God rests my salvation and my glory;

my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at ALL TIMES, O people;

pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us.

Those of low estate are but a breath;

those of high estate are a delusion;

in the balances they go up,

they are together lighter than a breath.

Put no trust in extortion;

set no vain hopes on robbery;

if riches increase, set not your heart

on them.

Once God has spoken;

twice have I heard this;

that power belongs to God,

and that to you, O Lord, belongs

steadfast love.

For you will render to a man

according to his work."

Psalm 62

At my lowest times, I tend to look to others for comfort and advice.  This is not, in and of itself, a bad thing, as God did create us as beings that desire relationships.  The problem arises when I look to other people first instead of first laying my burdens before the Lord.  I looked up the word refuge and the definition was, "a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble."  God is our refuge forever.  People will come and go throughout our lives, but God is constant, or "steadfast".  I love the word "steadfast".  It just fills me with hope and reassurance. It means "resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering".  That is the kind of love that our Father has for us!  How amazing it is that we have a God that will listen as we pour out our hearts to Him! 

If God wills

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'-- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." 

James 4:13-17

Scripture speaks, again and again, about the fleeting quality of this life.  Francis Chan, in his book, Crazy Love, explains it with the analogy that we are all like extras in a movie where God is the star. We have only tenths of a second to shine, but God is forever.  Expanding on Chan's analogy a little more, just like the extras in a movie, we all exist to bring more glory to the star, that is, the Almighty God.

Jesus give us a perfect example of submitting to the will of the One who DOES know what tomorrow will bring. As he goes to the Mount of Olives to pray he says, "Father if you are wiling, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done"(Luke 22:42). Jesus understood that although God's way would not be the easiest way, it was the best way.

God loves His children, and he wants what is best for them. This does not mean that we, as Christians, will get whatever we want. This certainly does not mean that we will not suffer. We may not understand why something is happening at the time, but later we may see that God is using it for good. Sometimes, we won't ever see the fruit of our suffering, but that doesn't mean it is pointless.  We must keep in mind that we are finite and limited in our understanding. 

"Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good." 

1 Peter 4:19 

God Can

"When you can't find the answers to 

All your doubts and fears

God Can

When you are needing someone to

Wipe away your tears

God can

God can do more than you

Could ever ask or think

He holds the power in His mighty hand

When you can't see your way

Just remember this my friend

God can"

I have been a bit discouraged these past few weeks, and today I received a card in the mail with these words from a song printed on the back. These words brought tears to my eyes because I am so grateful that God loves me enough to care what is going on in my life. In hard times, we just have to give it all to HIm and trust that He will work things out for the good of those who love him(Romans 8:28). It is so reassuring to know that in our weakness, Christ is made stronger(2 Cor 12:9-10). I am so glad that I can depend on God to take care of things that I could never handle on my own.

My way or the highway!

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

~Proverbs 16:9

Have you ever had something planned out so perfectly in your head, only to have it happen completely differently from how you had planned?

I know I have. I have found that usually when this happens, I ask God why He doesn't want me to get what I want. This is so selfish of me, but I do it anyways! Who am I to think that I can make a better plan than the God of the universe?! It is way easier to SAY that you are seeking God's will than to actually BE seeking His will. I continually find myself getting bent out of shape when something does not go my way, but I have to learn that God has bigger plans than I do. His plans are based upon his omniscience (His all-knowing nature), so there is an indicator that His plans are way better. I never know everything about a particular situation, but He knows everything there is to know about anything! Wow! That is mind-blowing and very reassuring if you ask me. I am glad that I serve a God who cares about me so much that he does what is best for me, even when I don't necessarily understand it at the time. Who knows what all would go wrong if I got my way all the time :) 

Why Do I Doubt?

So being where I am right now has been exceedingly difficult for me. I don't particularly like the school I am attending, and dorm life certainly is not for me (whether it's for anyone, I'm not sure).  I have been back at school for about a week after a nice break spent at home with the family. This week has been tough, and, I will admit, I has been a very teary one. At the beginning of the week, when I first recognized how upset being back at school makes me, I started to turn to other people for comfort and encouragement, but within the last couple of days I have realized that, while other people can bring me comfort to some degree, only Christ can bring me the comfort and contentment that I crave! So, why don't I ever turn to Him first? Because I am selfish, I convince myself that I can handle it, and I'm stubborn, and I am not trusting God with every part of my life-That is sin! 

Yesterday morning, I was beginning to feel down again, but this time I did turn to God first. I prayed that He would bring me encouragement, and guess what?! He definitely did! After my classes, one of my best friends called me and we decided to go to the rec center and get some exercise. We had a great talk while we were there, and I realized that she is struggling with many of the same things I am. We decided to become "accountability partners," and also that we would be having these "exercise talks" more often :)

It was a Thurs. night, so that meant that it was time for Campus Crusade- our first meeting of the semester. I went, just expecting it to be a normal meeting I guess. We got there and sang a few worship songs, and then one of the leaders announced that we would be watching a Louie(?) Giglio video in which Louie would tell the story of a girl named Ashley. I don't really have time to tell the whole story for you, but you should definitely check it out on youtube or something. Basically, a non-believer, Ashley, who is going through a hard time, is writing in her journal about her new roommate who is a Christian. At first, Ashley is making fun of her roommate constantly, but she begins to wonder why this girl is so different than most people her age. Eventually, Ashley asks her roommate about the difference in her life, and the roommate shares the Gospel with her. Over the course of about two weeks, Ashley goes from hating Christians, hating church, and hating God, to accepting Christ into her own life. Ashley is killed in a car crash a few months after this.  When he was done telling Ashley's story, Louie said something that really stuck with me. He said that if you are like Ashley's roommate, don't give up hope because you never know how close someone is.

Wow. God is good. Those are exactly the words that I needed to hear. You see, all this past semester, I have been struggling with sharing the Gospel with my lost roommate. I pray for her, try to show her God's love, and try to seize opportunities to speak with her about what I believe. I hope that she sees something different in me, but I know that, ultimately, it is God who will draw her to himself.  It's the same for all the other students on campus who I come in contact with each and every day. Even if I don't see any fruit, I won't give up because I never know how God is working in someone's heart. 

Trust God because He can do great and mighty things! He is working in the ways that we least expect, and it is so worth it to wait for Him. He hears our prayers and is faithful to answer them. Don't be discouraged and don't worry! How Great is Our God!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

~Philippians 4:6-7

"I will remember the deeds of the Lord; 

yes, I will remember your wonders of old. 

I will ponder all your work, 

and meditate on your mighty deeds. 

Your way, O God, is holy. 

What God is great like our God?

 You are the God who works wonders; 

you have made known your might 

among the peoples."

~Psalm 77:11-14

~Lindsey 

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions."

2 Timothy 4:3

Is this not so true of our society today?  If we are offended by something that a teacher says, we block them out right away.  We do not want to listen to someone challenging our opinions! We have become so selfish and prideful! We think that we are always right, and when someone tells us we are wrong, we are offended, and, instead of seeking the truth and determining if what the words of the person challenging us have merit, we run to another teacher who will tell us exactly what we want to hear.  In this sense we have become unteachable! We need to be running towards truth, not away from it!  In the book Taste and See by John Piper there is a chapter where he addresses 10 reasons to love the truth, and one of the things he mentions is that Biblical truth will be rejected by some.  We need to make sure that we are firmly grounded in the truth and that we are not rejecting sound teaching but clinging to it.

Unmovable!

Unmovable. Unshakeable. 

Let my roots grow down deep. 

Unmovable. Unshakeable in You.

And I wanna be like a tree

Planted by the streams 

Of living waters.

I know. I know. enough with the rooted theme right? But I couldn't help but post the words of this song.  These words were stuck in my head as soon as I heard them! I mean, this is my greatest desire and a constant prayer of my heart.  When I heard this song the first picture that came to my mind was a strong, plush tree growing by a beautiful rushing stream with clear, fresh water.  I want to be that tree!  As a student at a public university, lies are constantly being thrown at me, and in order to reveal theses as lies I have to be founded in Jesus Christ!  For me, this means staying in God's word, praying continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and having faith in my God!  A tree that is planted far from a water source is not as strong.  So we must make sure that we are surrounded by the living water (aka Jesus!) that will help us dig deep roots.  In my own life, I have consistently seen that when I neglect getting into God's Word and spending time in conversation with my Heavenly Father, I get discouraged and find it easier to be swayed by some of the world's lies.