Wednesday Wisdom No. 14

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.  Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell - and great was its fall." ~ Matthew 7:24-27

Baby Steps

Goodbye, April!  Hello, May?  Didn't we just say "see ya later" March?!  Spring is just one of those seasons.  When all you want is rest, warm weather and the outdoors.  And all you seem to get is pull-your-hair-out craziness, frigid temps and allergies.  By now, I imagine you've gathered that my March-April project...got axed.  Too much homework and too few clever ideas. *Sigh.* 

In the span of my relatively short life, I've realized that things only get crazier as you age.  Pressures increase.  So do opportunities.  But pressures certainly stick around longer than opportunities.  Growing up is hard.  And pining for the freedom of childhood doesn't change circumstances.  Only your outlook.

For younger readers in particular: Do you ever feel like a little kid trying desperately to fill big shoes? You know. The ones you waited to fit into for as long as you can remember. Yeah those. Unfortunately they're not quite as nice as you once thought. From a 3-foot tall perspective those fancy, patent leather shoes were ever so shiny and eye-catching. Now you realize maybe it was just the angle. Not so shiny anymore. A little more tattered. A little more smelly.  A little more uncomfortable. Not so cushy.

Your gaze soon shifts to your old pair...with a hint of longing. The shoes you took your first steps in. Maybe worn red leather boots with soft laces like mine. Memory joggers to be sure. And you find that those shoes start to look a little more appealing.

Then suddenly, something clicks. Like a tiny off-kilter gear snapping into place. You'll never fit into those sweet little shoes again. No matter how much you might wish it. Your feet are far too large. Thing is...there are places you need to walk. Places you need to run. And you can't get there in shoes that are too small. So stop trying. But you say, "Well I don't think I'm ready for them. My feet kind of slip around..."  But who says you can't take baby steps in big shoes?  God didn't say the transition would be easy.

But...He's graciously promised to sustain us when the road seems overwhelming.  
He will carry us through to the end.

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." ~ Hebrews 12:1-2

And as the hymn goes,"Take my feet and let them be, swift and beautiful for Thee."

Wednesday Wisdom No. 10

“So Jesus said to them again, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’” 

~ John 10:7-10

Sorry for the long absence...The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind.  Have a lovely rest of your week. :)

Happy Heart Day...

If I could wait here for you,
Without hope or knowing what to do…
Watch the light fade away,
Without fear or knowing what to say…

If I should hold all my dreams,
Through the night of the way life sometimes seems…
And if I can't see which way to go,
I'll stay lost in silence 'til I know.
Cry the tears from my eyes.
And leave me here long enough to realize.

Where is love now?
Where is love now,
Out here in the dark?

~ Excerpt from Where is Love Now? by Nickel Creek

Reader: "Wait...what kind of a Valentine's Day greeting is this?!  This is downright depressing!"
*Goes to close tab.*

Hold on.  If those words seems depressing, it's because they are.  Don't get me wrong, Nickel Creek is an amazingly talented group, and I am a huge fan of their music.  And the tune of this song is just lovely...

BUT...the point is that the lyrics are depressing.  The real question is...why?

Well, it has something to do with the apparent definition of love.  Rather an oft-considered, multi-faceted subject, no?  Although I've never been in any kind of romantic relationship, I've lived with my family and been around my friends long enough to know that their love isn't perfect.  More importantly, my love isn't perfect.  Because quite frankly, I'm not perfect.  Far from it. 

BUT...God is.  Which means His love is as well.  Quite dissimilar from our worldly encounters with the phenomenon, in fact...  I've recently been mulling over a section I read in New Morning Mercies that speaks to this very thing:

"You always begin to understand anything that is new to you from the vantage point of your own experience.  All the human love we’ve experienced has been flawed in some way.  But not God’s; His love is perfect and perfectly steadfast forever.  It is the single most stunning reality in the life of a believer.  God has placed his love on us and he will never again remove it.  There’s a reason to continue, no matter how hard life seems and how weak you feel." ~ Paul David Tripp

Wow.  As much as idealistic ideas of romance often infiltrate my thinking, over the years I've realized something.  This "stunning reality" can't possibly be emphasized enough... My hope of one day discovering true love cannot be in any human person.  Just recently I heard a wonderful sermon on the subject of HOPE.  In it, the pastor said something that really stood out to me: "Even human relations can't provide hope.  Sometimes they dash it more than anything else."  In reality, I've already discovered true love and hope.  That is, in CHRIST.  The perfect love of my God will never fail, as much as others fail me.  As much as I fail others.  As much as I fail myself.  And as much as I fail Him.  Far too quick am I to forget that precious thought and go on dreaming.  His is the only love that can truly satisfy and never disappoints. 

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. ~ 1 John 4:8-12

Have a blessed day, friends!