Rollercoasters

"Place keep hands, arms & legs inside the car at all times. Keep your
lapbelt securely fashioned for the duration of the ride."

When you are getting ready to start a Rollercoaster, you always hear these warnings & instructions as to how to behave properly on the ride. Then when you get on the ride you sometimes think about testing the limits on those "rules" but that depends on how intense the ride is.

Sometimes I behave the same way with my Christian walk. Before getting on the ride, I didn't really pay much attention to the warnings.

John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
In this
world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the
world."

So now that I am on the "ride" I tend to stick my arms & even my legs (scary) out of the car trying to spruce up the enjoyment. Maybe I even do this to try to be more independent - not wanting to fully rely on the car to hold me in.

But the problem is, when the ride starts going in a direction I didn't expect, I start to panic! "What?! Why are we going this way? This isn't fun? Let's not go facedown at a 90degree angle at break-neck speed!" But the reality, who am I to tell God which direction to take this car? I keep battling with this issue. I keep hoping that He'll change His mind if I whine loud enough or cry out hard-enough.

My dear friend Habakkak had this same struggle:

2 How long, O LORD, must I call for
help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at
injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? (Hbk 1:2-3)

And similarily, God responds to me in the same way He responded to him:

"Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going
to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." (Hbk 1:5)

Yet still, I keep complaining & arguing with God. But I tend to add a little bit of manipulation attempts to get Him to change His mind:

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate
wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why
are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than
themselves? (Hbk 1:13)

And yet still, His mind can not be changed:

"Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a
herald may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed
time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for
it; it will certainly come and will not delay.
4 "See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous will live
by his faith (Hbk 2:3-4)

There is much that it seems that God is teaching me through the prophet Habakkuk. And it boils down to this:

• Life does not revolve around me
• I cannot change God's mind
• He has a GREAT plan in mind
• He has NOT forgotten me & is preparing me for great things

And

• My desires need to be aligned with His will & not be about my pride
• the Righteous will live by Faith

So I can best enjoy this ride if I keep all hands, arms & legs inside the car at all times. And keep the lapbelt securely fastened during the duration of the ride. He promises some great action - things that I wouldn't be able to imagine. But I must stay on His course. His plan. His Rollercoaster. The best coaster on the planet.

And lastly....some lyrics to a song that I really came to love today:
"What Life Would Be Like" - Big Daddy Weave
I wish I was more of a man
Have you ever felt that way
And if I had to tell you the truth I’m afraid I’d have to say
That after all I’ve done and failed to do
I feel like less than I was meant to be
And what if I could fix myself
Maybe then I could get free
I could try to be somebody else
Whose much better off than me
But I need to remember this
That it’s when I’m at my weakest
I can clearly see

He made the lame walk
And the dumb talk
He opened blinded eyes to see
That the sun rises on His time
Yet He knows our deepest desperate need
And the world waits
While His heart aches
To realize the dream
I wonder what life would be like
If we let JESUS live through you and me

Everything

Find Me Here
Speak To Me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light - That's leading me
To the place where I find peace again.
You are the strength, that keeps me walking.
You are the hope, that keeps me trusting.
You are the light to my soul.
You are my purpose...you're everything.

How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms, and you give me rest.
You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
You steal my heart, and you take my breath away. Would you take me in? Take
me deeper now?

How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

Cause you're all I want, You're all I need - You're
everything,everything

And How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this? How can I stand
here with you and not be moved by you?Would you tell me how could it be any
better than this?

Lifehouse: Everything

Junior High & Dances

Thursday night I had the pleasure of going to a training session for this place called The Powerhouse. It's a place where kids can come after school and hang out and where adults can build relationships with kids aging between 12-18 (6th grade through Senior in High School). Last year my house church volunteered here on Friday nights for their "Glo" program. Glo is basically a safe dance club for these kids. It is quite fun. There is a lot of Mt. Dew and pizza consumed. It is quite a fun time. It kind of takes me back to a time in my life of school dances & trying to figure myself out.

During the meeting, one of the directors reminded us about some of these times of our lives. She asked us to think back to that time. I can remember that middle school dance. A slow song starts up and you are talking with a boy that you really like. He is a good friend and you have several classes together and he seems to be such a nice guy. Deep inside, your stomach turns with anticipation. Is he going to ask me to dance? This is such a great song! It is one of my favorites. Oh I hope he asks me to dance... You keep talking with him, and the song gets closer to the middle. Oh the anxiety you feel. It's almost more than you can take! So as an akward 12 year old, do take matters into your own hands and risk rejection and just ask him to dance? Or do you just wait to let him make the move?

Even now, at 30, I'm waiting for an answer to that same question. What is answer? Is it really just as simple as feeling comfortable with the answer you may or may not receive? Or is it resting patiently in the response that God has in store? I'm sure there are so many differing opinions out there.

Before, I really make a decision on this, I want say something in regards to respect. This week I have really been struggling with this idea of respect. At times I have little (if any) respsect for my leaders. This can even include the One who created me. Why is this? I suppose they question isn't "Why" as I can certainly give you the easy answer of sin...I guess my question is, if I understand that this is not honoring to God or the people the lack of respect is directed at, then why can't I shake my attitude?

So this goes back to the Jr. High dance...I could ask the guy to dance, and just take matters into my own hands, but I'm not sure that is going to express any sort of respect to him. Certainly the ages of the players are different and the circumstances are more serious than just a simple dance - but if I can ever learn to fully give over control & repsect him maybe it is just as simple as waiting patiently for him to get the courage, or learning that I am the one he wants to dance with - then the wait would all be worth it. If he misses this song, there will be more if he is meant to dance with me through this life.

Suffering

This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting my 91 year old grandpa. I hadn’t seen him for over 2 years since he lived 10hours away. I didn’t have too much of an opportunity to really talk with him as he wanted to sleep all day, and didn’t have much interest on staying awake to chat. So while Grandpa was sleeping, it provided me an opportunity to meet some other people who are living at the same care facility that he is staying at.

So, God introduced me to Louie. Louie is in his early 80’s and his wife Adelaide is also at the same facility and she is suffering from severe Dementia and doesn’t remember him. When I first started talking to him, he asked me “Why do you care about me? Why do people have to suffer? Why can’t they just die?” We started talking about how his wife is dying, but she’s been in this same state-of-being for about 3years now. They had just moved from another care facility where they didn’t have enough medical help to properly care for his wife.

With tears in his eyes, he asked me why they have to keep living, when he is just somewhere awaiting his time to die. Why pay the money? Why do we (meaning me) pay for him to wait to die? These questions really hit me hard.

On my drive to Wisconsin, I had listened to this great sermon on 1 Samuel 19 & suffering. Basically, the ultimate question was: Is God only at work when things are going well? Sometimes it certainly seems that way. When things don’t seem to be going well, or when I am in the midst of a terrible struggle, it seems that God must not be working in my life. While I was listening to this sermon, this whole thought process was blown out of the water. Jesus suffered. He suffered in ways that seem so unbearable. So the question is, if God only works when things are going well, does that mean that God was not at work when Christ was crucified? Of course not! Talk about the greatest display of God working! It brought me to a new perspective on verses such as:

· Romans 8:17 - Now if we are
children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we
share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his
glory.
· Luke 24:26 - Did not
the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his
glory?"
· Philippians 1:29 -
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him,
but also to suffer for him,
·
James 1:2 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many
kinds,

These verses talk about the fact that it is necessary to suffer here on earth, just as Christ did, so that we can share Christ’s glory in heaven, too. Many times I’ve thought that suffering is really experiencing pain on behalf of Christ, and that true suffering is really only what happens to people who are proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in some other country. But the reality is that we all suffer, and that God is working through those times.

So as Louie was talking to me about his pain, this concept of suffering came to mind. I was able to share with Him the message of hope of Jesus despite the struggle of his situation & his wife’s situation. He struggled also with knowing what the right message to believe in is. It was truly humbling to see.

Friends, I am not sure what struggles you all endure in, whether they seem big or small in your eyes. But know that God is working to establish HIS kingdom through this suffering, so that we can direct our eyes to Jesus. If you think of it, please pray for Louie. Pray that God’s truth will be clear and evident in his heart & that healing would come quickly for Adelaide.