Christians use a lot of funny cliches. One of my favorites and probably the most popular is "God never gives you more than you can handle."
But I don't think that's true.
I think that God always gives you more than you can handle.
If we were only given what we are able to handle, we wouldn't need to turn to God for anything. We wouldn't need His help because we'd be able to do things by ourselves.
But that's not what God intends for us.
I've found that the times I'm the closest to God are the times that I'm struggling the most. I turn to God when I'm most desperate, and I seek Him more because I need Him more. But when things are going fine and I don't need God to help me with big things, I don't think of Him as much.
Since God loves to have relationships with us, wouldn't it make sense that He put challenges in our lives to make us depend on Him? God wants us to know Him, so I think He allows trials bigger than we can handle so that we would ask Him for help.
God wants us to rely in Him. That's why Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He wants us to trust in Him because He cares so much for us.
He knows us and He understands our weaknesses: "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:13). So why do we try to hold onto cliches like "God doesn't give your more than you can handle" instead of just admitting that we don't have it all together?
Because we don't like admitting that we can't handle it. We want to be strong, independent, and capable of handling any challenge that is thrown at us. We don't like to appear weak, or worse, admitting we are weak.
But that's the paradox about God. I think that God gives us more than we can handle because that's the
only way He gets our attention. When we have too much on our plate, we
have to pass it on to someone else. God wants to be that help!
Paul got it right when he said "I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
He wants us to come running to Him, admitting we are weak, and that we don't have it all together. He doesn't want us to rely on ourselves to handle it all. That's why He gives us more than we can handle - we weren't meant to handle our troubles without Him. And He loves when we let Him take care of it all.
He gives us more than we can handle, so we can let Him handle it.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
a not-so-new year's resolution
Its never too late for a New Year's Resolution post, is it? Well, this is about 2 weeks too late, but I've been trying to wrap my head around it and I didn't want to post this lightly.
So, drumroll please....I'm starting 2013 by not shopping for the entire year. This means clothing, shoes, accessories, and jewelry.
I'm pretty embarrassed about writing this because its hard for me to admit that I have a problem with shopping...but before I start, I also have some specific reasons why I wanted to share this on my blog.
Let me start from the beginning.
Last summer I read a book called "7" by Jen Hatmaker (Read more about her here). Jen writes about her experiment to get rid of the excess in her life. She fasts from 7 different categories for one month each, and writes about what the Lord taught her through her "deeply reduced life." She only ate seven foods, wore seven articles of clothing, spent money in seven places, eliminated the use of seven media types, gave away seven things a day, adopted seven "green" habits, and prayed seven times a day (summarized from the back cover of Seven by Jen Hatmaker). She did all of this in order to make more room for Christ in her life.
This book ruined me. As I read about Jen's fight against the excess and materialism in her life, I felt SO convicted about all of the excess in my own. I realized through her fiery passion to help the poor, needy, and broken that I was ignoring the needs of others around me and letting myself remain comfortable in my plethora of money, clothing, food, and media.
But all of these convictions about my "stuff" and how many "things" I had quickly came and left in about 7 days. When I wasn't filling my mind with the biblical truth coming from her book, I quickly returned to my love of indulging...or specifically my love of shopping. I didn't allow the things that I read change me, and I most definitely didn't put any of it into action. I just thought that I would do something radical like that when I had more time, or a real job, or another lame excuse.
So as the end of 2012 approached, I started thinking about making New Year's Resolutions. And immediately, this crazy idea popped in my head of not shopping for a year. And this crazy thought would not leave not matter how hard I tried.
I tried to make it seem as if this was just something crazy in my head and not something from the Lord. It didn't really work. These are some of the things that God was revealing to me about my shopping habits as I prayed:
I also am really interested to see how God provides for me. One of my "guidelines" for this fast is that I will accept something as a gift, but only if its meant for that reason. I'm not just going to let me parents take me on a shopping spree - that defeats the purpose. The point is that I'm not obtaining clothing or shoes for myself this year so that I can fill that void with more of Jesus.
However, there are some events going on in 2013 that I really do probably need to buy something for. Instead of breaking the fast to buy those things, I'm going to pray that God moves in the hearts of others to give me something as a gift. If a person wants to give me something as a blessing, and not because I'm asking for it, then I will accept. And if God doesn't provide the things that I truly need, I'm going to have to learn to be thankful for what I have.
I'm going to learn self control, gratitude, and that its okay to wear the same outfit twice in a short time span. Not to mention I'm definitely going to use my money in much wiser ways.
This is my "7" challenge and resolution for the year (Thanks for the inspiration, Jen ;) ). This is my personal fight against materialism and consumerism in my life. And praise God, I'm finally getting excited about it and not suffering through it (yet!). I'm hoping and praying for more of God and much less of me.
17 days down!
So, drumroll please....I'm starting 2013 by not shopping for the entire year. This means clothing, shoes, accessories, and jewelry.
I'm pretty embarrassed about writing this because its hard for me to admit that I have a problem with shopping...but before I start, I also have some specific reasons why I wanted to share this on my blog.
- I need accountability for this. I know myself, and so I know that if other people don't know, I will really quickly back out on this. I want other people to read this and know what I'm doing so that I don't find a way out of it myself.
- I know this is an area that God has convicted me in, and I'm trying to do as much as I can to get more of him in my life. This is not at ALL trying to boast about what a great resolution I have and blah blah blah because this is totally from the Lord and not from me. Please know that I am saying all of this out of a place of humility.
Last summer I read a book called "7" by Jen Hatmaker (Read more about her here). Jen writes about her experiment to get rid of the excess in her life. She fasts from 7 different categories for one month each, and writes about what the Lord taught her through her "deeply reduced life." She only ate seven foods, wore seven articles of clothing, spent money in seven places, eliminated the use of seven media types, gave away seven things a day, adopted seven "green" habits, and prayed seven times a day (summarized from the back cover of Seven by Jen Hatmaker). She did all of this in order to make more room for Christ in her life.
This book ruined me. As I read about Jen's fight against the excess and materialism in her life, I felt SO convicted about all of the excess in my own. I realized through her fiery passion to help the poor, needy, and broken that I was ignoring the needs of others around me and letting myself remain comfortable in my plethora of money, clothing, food, and media.
But all of these convictions about my "stuff" and how many "things" I had quickly came and left in about 7 days. When I wasn't filling my mind with the biblical truth coming from her book, I quickly returned to my love of indulging...or specifically my love of shopping. I didn't allow the things that I read change me, and I most definitely didn't put any of it into action. I just thought that I would do something radical like that when I had more time, or a real job, or another lame excuse.
So as the end of 2012 approached, I started thinking about making New Year's Resolutions. And immediately, this crazy idea popped in my head of not shopping for a year. And this crazy thought would not leave not matter how hard I tried.
I tried to make it seem as if this was just something crazy in my head and not something from the Lord. It didn't really work. These are some of the things that God was revealing to me about my shopping habits as I prayed:
- Over the past six months I have quickly spiraled into a cycle of "more" - always trying to obtain something new whenever I pleased. When I saw something that I wanted, I bought it. If I couldn't find it in a store, I ordered it online. And yeah, I am a pretty good bargain hunter, but that didn't matter when I just bought more to make up for all that I was "saving." It also didn't help me that I worked at The Gap all summer and enjoyed a 50% discount on everything. Yikes.
- I started to notice that shopping has become something that I find security in, rather than putting it in the Lord. When I felt sad or didn't feel pretty I would buy something new to make up for it. When I wanted to reward myself for working hard, I bought a new shirt. When I wanted to relax, I shopped. When I was bored, I went to the mall for fun. I'm sick of justifying my lack of self control with those excuses.
- Sadly enough, I really think that I have enough clothes to last me a year. I have so much more than I need, and I think I need to prove that to myself by not getting any more.
- Lastly, the more that I prayed about not shopping for a year, the more I didn't want to do it, and the more I didn't want to do it, the more I knew that I needed to. If that's not a sign of an idol, then I don't know what is.
I also am really interested to see how God provides for me. One of my "guidelines" for this fast is that I will accept something as a gift, but only if its meant for that reason. I'm not just going to let me parents take me on a shopping spree - that defeats the purpose. The point is that I'm not obtaining clothing or shoes for myself this year so that I can fill that void with more of Jesus.
However, there are some events going on in 2013 that I really do probably need to buy something for. Instead of breaking the fast to buy those things, I'm going to pray that God moves in the hearts of others to give me something as a gift. If a person wants to give me something as a blessing, and not because I'm asking for it, then I will accept. And if God doesn't provide the things that I truly need, I'm going to have to learn to be thankful for what I have.
I'm going to learn self control, gratitude, and that its okay to wear the same outfit twice in a short time span. Not to mention I'm definitely going to use my money in much wiser ways.
This is my "7" challenge and resolution for the year (Thanks for the inspiration, Jen ;) ). This is my personal fight against materialism and consumerism in my life. And praise God, I'm finally getting excited about it and not suffering through it (yet!). I'm hoping and praying for more of God and much less of me.
17 days down!
Saturday, January 5, 2013
DO something.
Well, I watched Hotel Rwanda for the first time tonight.
My heart hurts.
Its not just that it's a sad movie. Its because its a REAL movie. There were ACTUALLY one million people MURDERED. Innocent people. Children. Parents. Neighbors. Friends. Gone. People killed simply because some years back, they were given a race by random choice and without a say.
I was prepared to see shocking images of corpses, and desperate fleeing people. I've already seen them because I've done research. I've read articles, looked at pictures, and watched videos about this. But the thing that shocked me the most that I didn't know before was the response from other countries in reaction to the genocide. Or should I say, lack of response. Hotel Rwanda showed the way that Rwanda really was left alone, to fend for themselves.
I read an old article from The New York Times that was written in 1994 during the genocide. On June 10, 1994, right in the middle of it all, American leaders instructed our spokesmen not to call what was happening a 'genocide.' They announced that "acts of genocide may have occurred," implying that there wasn't enough to label it with such a weighty title. At the time that was said, there were already up to 400,000 dead. Since there isn't anything "in it" for America, we turned our heads, and allowed this massacre to happen. The article's exact words said, "Without oil or other resources as a rationale, the case for military intervention would have to be based on whether ending the killing is worth the cost in American lives and dollars." Read the rest of the NY Times article here.
As I cried after the movie ended (yes, I bawled my eyes out), I was crying because no one came to save the helpless. It hurts so much to know that people would rather let innocent people die than lift their finger to help them. Almost 20 years ago, NO ONE did anything. No one was courageous enough to send help. And because no one did anything, another Holocaust occurred in Rwanda. The Rwanda Genocide ACTUALLY happened, and so many people STILL don't know about it.
Things like this are hard to talk about because its sensitive and it hurts. We love to stay in our little comfortable spaces, and to push anything away that comes too close to our safety zones. This is not okay. We HAVE to stop turning our heads at injustices happening around the world. It is our responsibility, ESPECIALLY as Christians, to fight for the people who are helpless.
It scares me to think about all of the things that I've turned my head at too. I definitely can't say I've totally looked out for the needs of others. But I'm learning to stop turning my head at the things that hurt. I need to experience the pain of others because sometimes, that's the only thing that moves me to do something. And now, I'm done. I'm done pushing aside the hard things. And I'm ready to DO SOMETHING about injustice, brokenness, and pain happening around me.
A good friend told me about my hurting heart for Rwanda, "Let it hurt. It hurts God's heart too." So I'm gonna let my heart hurt, and I'm gonna let myself cry over this country, because its better than ignoring the pain around me. I'm so thankful to have a God of hope that is also broken over the hurt in our world. I'm going to pray for Rwanda, and the one million orphans and widows left in that country every single day. I'm so privileged to be going to go to Rwanda to do something about this.
I'm reminding myself of this calling in Isaiah 61 that God gives us. And I'm getting ready to do these things in Rwanda.
My heart hurts.
Its not just that it's a sad movie. Its because its a REAL movie. There were ACTUALLY one million people MURDERED. Innocent people. Children. Parents. Neighbors. Friends. Gone. People killed simply because some years back, they were given a race by random choice and without a say.
I was prepared to see shocking images of corpses, and desperate fleeing people. I've already seen them because I've done research. I've read articles, looked at pictures, and watched videos about this. But the thing that shocked me the most that I didn't know before was the response from other countries in reaction to the genocide. Or should I say, lack of response. Hotel Rwanda showed the way that Rwanda really was left alone, to fend for themselves.
I read an old article from The New York Times that was written in 1994 during the genocide. On June 10, 1994, right in the middle of it all, American leaders instructed our spokesmen not to call what was happening a 'genocide.' They announced that "acts of genocide may have occurred," implying that there wasn't enough to label it with such a weighty title. At the time that was said, there were already up to 400,000 dead. Since there isn't anything "in it" for America, we turned our heads, and allowed this massacre to happen. The article's exact words said, "Without oil or other resources as a rationale, the case for military intervention would have to be based on whether ending the killing is worth the cost in American lives and dollars." Read the rest of the NY Times article here.
As I cried after the movie ended (yes, I bawled my eyes out), I was crying because no one came to save the helpless. It hurts so much to know that people would rather let innocent people die than lift their finger to help them. Almost 20 years ago, NO ONE did anything. No one was courageous enough to send help. And because no one did anything, another Holocaust occurred in Rwanda. The Rwanda Genocide ACTUALLY happened, and so many people STILL don't know about it.
Things like this are hard to talk about because its sensitive and it hurts. We love to stay in our little comfortable spaces, and to push anything away that comes too close to our safety zones. This is not okay. We HAVE to stop turning our heads at injustices happening around the world. It is our responsibility, ESPECIALLY as Christians, to fight for the people who are helpless.
It scares me to think about all of the things that I've turned my head at too. I definitely can't say I've totally looked out for the needs of others. But I'm learning to stop turning my head at the things that hurt. I need to experience the pain of others because sometimes, that's the only thing that moves me to do something. And now, I'm done. I'm done pushing aside the hard things. And I'm ready to DO SOMETHING about injustice, brokenness, and pain happening around me.
A good friend told me about my hurting heart for Rwanda, "Let it hurt. It hurts God's heart too." So I'm gonna let my heart hurt, and I'm gonna let myself cry over this country, because its better than ignoring the pain around me. I'm so thankful to have a God of hope that is also broken over the hurt in our world. I'm going to pray for Rwanda, and the one million orphans and widows left in that country every single day. I'm so privileged to be going to go to Rwanda to do something about this.
I'm reminding myself of this calling in Isaiah 61 that God gives us. And I'm getting ready to do these things in Rwanda.
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison
to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord,
that he may be glorified."
- Isaiah 61:1-3
Will you do something with me for Rwanda? Will you help me raise the funds that I need to go?
Will you pray for me as I prepare to go to Rwanda and minister to the
orphans and widows directly affected by the genocide? Will you pray for
my team and I to have courage while we are there? Will you pray for the healing of the wounded hearts of the Rwandan orphans and widows? Leave a comment if you'd like to find out how to donate to my missions trip, and if you'll commit to praying to me.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
new year.
I already know that 2013 is going to be a big year.
There is so much that I have already planned for 2013 that I know will leave major marks in my life. But I also know that there is SO much more that the Lord wants to do.
"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing..." - Isaiah 43:18-19
So, as I look ahead to this year, I am inviting God in to do the new things that He wants to. I know His ways are more than I can imagine, and I want to see the amazing and unbelievable things that He is able to do in 2013. I want Him to do more than I can ask or imagine. I want His power to stun me and leave me in awe. And most of all, I want to get deeper into His presence and grow closer to Him than I ever have before.
Its gonna be a good year.
- Rwanda. First time in Africa.
- Running my first half marathon. Eeek!
- Being a bridesmaid for the first time.
- Dating my best friend Tanner for four years. Where has the time gone?
- Starting my Senior year of college.
- Multiple friends getting married this summer.
There is so much that I have already planned for 2013 that I know will leave major marks in my life. But I also know that there is SO much more that the Lord wants to do.
"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing..." - Isaiah 43:18-19
So, as I look ahead to this year, I am inviting God in to do the new things that He wants to. I know His ways are more than I can imagine, and I want to see the amazing and unbelievable things that He is able to do in 2013. I want Him to do more than I can ask or imagine. I want His power to stun me and leave me in awe. And most of all, I want to get deeper into His presence and grow closer to Him than I ever have before.
Its gonna be a good year.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
restoration
On the last day of 2012, I spent time reflecting on my year. I hadn't realized what a hard year it had been. I had completed two semesters of the hardest school work I had ever faced in my life. I had experienced real spiritual drought, apathy, exhaustion, and burnout. I had been tested and trialled in areas that are too rough to even type out.
But in the midst of all that hardship, I knew what it had made me become at the end of the year. I see 2012 as a year of restoration.
At the end of 2012, I see how much restoration I've received from God. He has restored me to a place of passion and delight that I had somehow lost. He restored my purity. He restored relationships with friends and family members. He healed areas of my heart that I didn't even know were broekn. He restored my weary soul and gave me such sweet rest. God saw me broken and tired, and He renewed me and gave me strength. He is still giving me freedom in areas that used to hold me captive. He has shown SO much compassion and grace on me.
I've also seen restoration in the lives of the people around me. I've had multiple best friends go through bad break ups, and have seen the healing hand of God help them through it. I've seen big and lofty dreams come true. I've seen opportunities come that could have only been given from the Lord. I've seen financial provision come when its been most needed.
Psalm 23:2-3, "He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul..."
I'm thankful for the restoration in my life that only comes from the Lord.
But in the midst of all that hardship, I knew what it had made me become at the end of the year. I see 2012 as a year of restoration.
At the end of 2012, I see how much restoration I've received from God. He has restored me to a place of passion and delight that I had somehow lost. He restored my purity. He restored relationships with friends and family members. He healed areas of my heart that I didn't even know were broekn. He restored my weary soul and gave me such sweet rest. God saw me broken and tired, and He renewed me and gave me strength. He is still giving me freedom in areas that used to hold me captive. He has shown SO much compassion and grace on me.
I've also seen restoration in the lives of the people around me. I've had multiple best friends go through bad break ups, and have seen the healing hand of God help them through it. I've seen big and lofty dreams come true. I've seen opportunities come that could have only been given from the Lord. I've seen financial provision come when its been most needed.
Psalm 23:2-3, "He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul..."
I'm thankful for the restoration in my life that only comes from the Lord.
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