Ready for Battle

I've decided that there will soon come a point when you won't believe the things I am seeing in every day life that I post about in this blog. Today might be that day, but I promise you I speak the truth. Last Saturday, Jason and I were driving home when we saw what can only be described as epic. There was a boy who had to be around the age of 13 riding a bike through our neighborhood with his friend walking beside him. Tucked into this boy's shirt, I kid you not, was a sword. I don't care if it was plastic or foam or what, it was a sword. The grip was sticking out near his neck as the guard was holding the sword in the shirt by overlapping the boy's t-shirt collar and the blade tip hung out near his waist. Amazing. Jason was prepared to offer his Kung-Fu services but all I could wonder was what this boy was preparing for. Was he headed for a fight? Or did he simply want to be prepared if one came about? Could we learn from this boy the worth of being prepared for battle?
For those that don't know, my husband, Jason, is in the Army. It definitely isn't like the movies-- he doesn't spend hours running through giant explosions or scale buildings every two seconds-- but they are constantly preparing for battle. Everything they do has a purpose to develop skills they would need to get their job done whether or not they are engaged in combat. Much of it is monotonous; it's hard to constantly prepare for a battle you don't know if or when you will be fighting. But in everyday life, we humans face constant battles of both the spiritual and physical realms.
Ever feel like doing something you know is wrong? And then either after you've done the wrong or found a way to abstain feel miserable for your weakness? Paul did in Romans 7:

"So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body subject to death?" (vs 21-24).

Perhaps not written in the most understandable language, but do you feel Paul's frustration? He seems to be talking in circles because he simply can't find a way for the desires of his mind to line up with God's law. He is at war with himself and his desires. Peter knew well enough about this same issue plaguing his audience when he writes: "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul" (1 Peter 2:11). Though we have been ransomed by Jesus, we still must fight and war against our human nature. But don't let your nature be an excuse for sin. Remember that by the sacrifice of Jesus you were set free. The struggle will still be there, but you now have power to fight back.
Hate to break this to you: it isn't just your own desires you fight against, but the very powers of darkness and evil.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:10-12).

Seems a pretty impossible battle, doesn't it? Thankfully, we are not left defenseless, but are given weapons to ward off all kinds of evil. "The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:4).
Because of these weapons and Jesus' sacrifice, we can and should 

"put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace... Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17).

So be strong and stand firm. Fight off evil with truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the word of God. That right there is enough to route the worst enemies and deepest darkness. Be like my epic friend on the bike and carry your sword. If not on your person, carry it in your mind. It's the word of God. Hide it in your heart so that you may be prepared in all situations to ward off your sinful desires and the attacks from the spiritual realm. Finally, take joy in the fact that Jesus has won the battle. I left Romans 7 as Paul asked the question: "Who will rescue me from this body subject to death?" and guess what? In the next verse he praises God through the deliverance he receives from Jesus. He understood that evil "will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings- and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers" (Revelation 17:14). We do not fight alone, we have a complete outfitting of armor and a pretty outstanding General named Jesus leading the charge.
   

That Feeling

The other day, well, in all honesty about three weeks ago, I was watching Sports Center and there was a commercial on about the NBA Playoffs. Somewhere along the line I wrote down a quote from the commercial but lost it so I will paraphrase. LeBron was talking as clips of his basketball greatness were being showcased and at the end of his speech he spoke of why he worked all season. He reason: to get back to that feeling that he had during the final moments of the playoffs. It was the feeling of riding high on the clouds of winning a championship that made him work through all the two-a-days, off-season practices and time in the weight room.
We as people seem to love feelings these days. I don't think it's always a bad thing, but it can be when they are the only glue that holds us to relationships. Look at marriages today. A lot of people change the vows "Til death do us part" to "Til love leaves us." We have forgotten that, though feelings are good, commitments should be stronger. Marriage is a promise that you make to another person to commit no matter what. Your feelings have nothing to do with it. Sure, it's great to feel puppy-dog love with doe eyes and hearts a-flutter, but that fades. Always. No relationship will feel the same as it did in the very beginning seven years and hundreds of trials later, nor should it. If you stick it out, it will be stronger, but you may not get butterflies when you hold hands.
Today, my husband Jason and I have been married for two years. The years have had moments of complete bliss. But we've also have dealt with our share of stresses and I love him more because of what we've overcome together. The lows help us to appreciate the highs and the more we go through, the more I understand our fierce commitment to one another, which is way stronger than a love based on solely on feelings.
The same is true of our relationship with God. I meet and speak with a lot of women who base their relationship with God on feelings. We need, however, to base our relationship with God on his truth and promises. Most of us don't always feel like getting up and going to work everyday of our lives, but we do it anyway. We need this same perseverance with God. Please don't mistake me, God does give us wow moments to help us. We have all had our NBA Championship moments with God and we should use those as a focus during the times when we don't feel so on fire and ready to change the world. But what do we do in the valleys? What do we do during the times when we don't really feel that passionate love of God?
Well, in Revelation there is a letter to the Church in Ephesus that was helpful at the time while being prophetic. They had this problem of lost love that we have today and Jesus helped them out. "You have persevered, and endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first' (Revelation 2:3-5). These people have gone through some hardships. They have been working their tails off for God, but have forgotten why they do it. They have lost the feeling. It has become monotonous and habitual. So here, the people of today might expect Jesus to say, "Repent and feel what you did at first," but he doesn't. He says to do what you did first. 
You see, when we get back to the basics, we start to feel again. If your marriage is struggling, try acting like you're dating again, I bet it will help you to remember why you fell in love in the first place. And with God, get back into his Word. I bet when you first became a Christian, you couldn't get enough of all he had to say. You couldn't offer enough praise, pray enough prayers or smile big enough. Do what you did before and the feelings will follow. Don't wait to feel, you may spend a long time waiting. Be proactive and do.
I'll leave you with one last thought. Do you know the word Jesus uses when he speaks of our love for God? There are five different words for love in Greek, all with different meaning and the Bible uses three of them. In this, Jesus' Greek translation of the She'ma, the greatest commandment in the Old Testament, to love the lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, is the same word he uses when he tells us to love our enemies (Matthew 22:37 and Matthew 5:44). He uses the root word agape. He could have used eros, which translates into passionate, almost sexual love, all about feelings. But he uses agape, which speaks of a love of choice. We must choose to love God through all circumstances, not only when it feels good. In John 3:16, it is again this agape love of choice given as the reason why God sent his only Son to die for us. It certainly didn't feel good for God to watch his only Son die, but he chose this to ultimately show his love for us. So when you don't feel like loving God or people, do it anyway and the feelings will follow. God asks you for agape love and that is a choice. And I promise, this agape love is so much stronger and deeper than eros love could ever be. So do what you once did and return to your first love. You will have that championship moment again someday, but you will also dwell in the power knowing that love is not as fickle as a feeling, but as strong as a covenant made by choice and sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ.

Comfy Shoppers

I was grocery shopping yesterday and I had to chuckle at something I saw. Strolling down the bread aisle, I passed a mom who was pushing her five- or six-year-old in the cart. Nothing wrong with this, but then I saw that she had brought from home a cushion for this boy to lounge in while she bought her groceries. And lounge he did. I had to smile. As I walked away, the sight got me thinking about just how much we humans love comfort.
We want big la-z-boys and cozy office chairs. We've reinvented the mattress to a point where it moves and forms to our bodies. But more than anything, we want to be comfortable with our relationships. Especially our relationship with Jesus. Jesus calls us to light the dark places of the world, but most of us are still afraid of the dark. We cling to our church walls and Christian friends because "sinners" make us uncomfortable. But even in Christian relationships, we refuse to be honest. We don't want to offend someone so we fail to tell them when they misstep. I'm not saying we should jump down their back, but we need to get over our discomfort with honest, loving correction. And we need to learn to accept it too, but more on that later.
I think one of my favorite quotes by C.S. Lewis is from the Chronicles of Narnia. The children were just told about Aslan (who represents Jesus in these books) and they are pretty scared because, well, he's a lion.  

"Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

Jesus certainly isn't safe, but he's good. Just look at how he sends out his twelve closest friends in Matthew 11. He tells them that they will be flogged (vs. 17) and that everyone will hate them (22). And then he throws in that they shouldn't be afraid of death (28). I don't see this as the most comforting pep talk ever given for a first road trip.
Check out Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 for more. Stoned, flogged, shipwrecked, exhausted and more. Maybe Paul saw all this coming because his first meeting with a Christian after an encounter with Jesus forced that Christian to step way out of his comfort zone. Paul persecuted Christians until he became one and what does Jesus tell his one of his followers, Ananias, to do? He tells him to go greet Paul, the mass murderer, and heal him of blindness. Talk about uncomfortable! And Jesus doesn't just call us outside our physical comfort zone but our emotional one as well.
In Acts 10, Peter receives a vision from God that tells him to get over his racism. Jews were the Chosen People of God, they were clean while everyone else was unclean and impure. But he had a vision in which God told him that all he has made is clean and then proceeded to lead him to a group of non-Jews (or gentiles) to preach the Gospel. Peter had to step out of his comfort zone and when he did he claimed: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right" (Acts 10:34-35). Only five chapters later, he was defending preaching the Gospel to gentiles.
Jesus told a man to stop worshiping money and follow him (Luke 18), God told Abram to leave his home (Genesis 12), and Noah to build a boat in a desert (Genesis 6). It is no Divine Secret Jesus has kept that life as a Christian will get uncomfortable. He even told his disciples to count the cost before they chose to follow him. "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower, won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?" (Luke 14:28). This right after he said "And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27). Don't want to go out of your comfort zone? Don't follow Jesus. 
Trust me, this is as much for you as it is for me. It took me two years to gather up the courage to start writing this blog. I'm no theologian and certainly no writer, but after months of my excuses and nagging some from the Big Guy, I finally stepped out, and through it I have learned so much. So trust him. He is not safe, but he is good. He will not give you more than you can bear. And when you step out of your comfort zone, it's much easier to see how Paul calls him the God of all Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). When you step out of your comfort zone, he becomes your comfort and you step into his will for you. And I promise, his will and plan for you is more incredible than anything you can imagine. So give it a try, count the cost, and trust him.

Discovery-(ing) God's Character

 Youtube.com

If you haven't seen the first episode of Discovery Channel's North America, this is what you missed. I watched the first episode just tonight and was absolutely enthralled by the beauty of it all. Lately, I have felt like God has been trying to get my attention with creation. So far I've found that it is through his creation that we can begin to truly understand the character of God. Shoot, he's been using it for thousands of years as a way to reach people. And when we take time to look, and I mean really see what is surrounding us, how can we help but to fall in love with God?
For a long time, I think I considered God boring. He seemed far off and honestly a little strict. I'm all for rules, but I think I pictured God as the Dean of a prestigious school that had high standards and boring garden parties. Maybe this is just me, but I struggled with this for a long time. If you have ever felt either of this way, or ever do, please take a hike outside. The creator of the world doesn't have a boring bone in his body. I have two dogs that are beyond obnoxious and a little stupid, yet lately, my husband's and my favorite thing to do in the evenings is to sit and watch them play in the backyard. Lacey is a German Shepherd-Husky mix with all the ferocity of a newborn kitten and Chloe is some form of Terrier that is convinced she will someday catch a bird regardless of her inability to fly. We've watched them so long, we have developed voices for each of them to narrate the insane thoughts that must be going through their heads to make them act the way they do. I think we are drawn to watching them because through them we see a most creative Creator. The Creator of their personalities, has an amazing personality of his own.

Look at zebras, otters, billy goats and octopi. How silly are these animals? Don't you think God smiled when he created the anteater? And then smiled even more when Adam name it? I am not a very good painter, and of the paintings I do keep and hang, I often only see my mistakes. But God looked at all he created and said the it was good (Genesis 1:31). Wouldn't you agree? The Psalmist did. In Psalm 8:1 he exclaims: "Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" Then in another Psalm points out the power of God through creation:

"The Lord loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of his unfailing love.

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,

their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

He gathers the water of the seas into jars;

he puts the deep into storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;

let all the people of the earth revere him. 

For he spoke and it came to be;

he commanded and it stood firm" (Psalm 33:5-9).

The earth is full of his unfailing love. Look around and enjoy it. Look and see how the colors of a sunset paint the glory of God. Watch as a butterfly flies past you and know that God, in all his vastness, took the time to detail the spots on it's wings. Listen to the thunder and rain and hear God whisper, "I am here, I am good." If you truly want to see how fun, creative, exciting and hilarious God is, take a look outside. And if you want to enjoy a good read while enjoying creation, check out John Eldredge's book Beautiful Outlaw. Please, go outside and enjoy a front row seat to God's show of his love and joy. Take pleasure in all he has made. See how good it is. And remember that he also created you.

Being a Billboard

Recently I moved to what I can only describe as Small Town USA. No chain restaurants, 2 hours to the nearest malls and people everywhere long to live out their lives like the men on Duck Dynasty. To get anywhere near civilization I have to drive down a divided highway that is filled with billboards, and one bank has about 4 filled in 20 miles. Each billboard looks similar: it has an everyday-looking person posing for a picture doing something they love. The tagline says 

"Bank with people you know." 

Yeah, the "you know" is insanely small, not to mention in cursive and light-orange so the sign looks to only read "Bank with people." The first several times I drove by, I chuckled and thought of other various creatures that would make entertaining tellers, since only this one allows you to bank with people, all because the message wasn't clear.
That started this train of thought: What do you advertise? Does your message confuse people? Do you look radically different on Sundays than you do during the week? Do your outfits advertise your body in a promiscuous way? Does your attitude at work on the worst of days advertise that Christ is your joy and peace? Or does it tell the world that your circumstances rule your responses?
 Paul drives the point home hard to the church at Colossae when he says, 

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry... and rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator" (Colossians 3:5, 8-10). 

Then continues a little later:

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another... Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity" (Colossians 3:12-14).

Let's break this down, and start with what we should do. Please notice that God first calls believers his "chosen people, holy and dearly loved." That must be and has always been the first step. Nothing you can do will earn God's favor. He cannot love you more or less depending on your actions. He loved you first and still does. It is not to earn his love that we should follow Paul's analogy and put on these clothes of compassion, kindness and love. It is because he first loved us that we are able to do anything. And that great of a love should bring a response from us.
Now for the ugly part. We need to kill off some bad habits. Christians are called to represent Christ. Take off your dirty clothes and put on new ones, but recognize that it is a process. "Being renewed" is in the present-progressive form (even in the original Greek). That means it is an ongoing process. No, you will not be completely new until you leave this life, but you can and should start the process now.
So with all your heart, be a billboard and don't confuse others with the message you're sending. Don't do it to earn God's favor, he already showed his love and favor for you when he sent his only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross. Instead, be a billboard out of gratitude for that incredible act and to show off his light and love to the world. Let's be clear and beautiful billboards for Christ. Take some time today and figure out what you're advertising and how clear your message is to the world.

To Moms and Those Who Have Them

Hey moms! Today is your day. Today is the day you get to relax, sit back and be pampered as a thank you for all you do! I hope you enjoy it. Before I get into anything else, I want to give a special thanks to my mom. She is quite a stud. I wasn't what you would call an "easy child." I had an attitude that could make a mom's head explode and a tongue as sharp as a knife, but with a whole lot of love and guidance, my mom (and dad but today isn't your day, pops) made me into a much better person. I'm pretty blessed!
As blessed as I am, I have talked to enough people and heard enough stories to know that not everyone feels this way. Not everyone was surrounded by a beautiful balance of love and discipline. Not everyone grew up with the knowledge of how special they were. So if you feel like you missed out on that special bond a mother can offer, this is for you.
Most people have heard of God being called Father. He is often compared to earthly fathers and is even called "Daddy" a few times in scripture. But did you also know that he also uses the characteristics of a great mother to show us more of who he is? In Isaiah, the chosen people of God cry out to him feeling their city has been forgotten and abandoned, and God answers, "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me" (Isaiah 49:15-16).
Yes, earthly mother's fail. Some abandon. Some neglect. Some are over-bearing and over-involved. Some may make you feel that you don't make the grade. But God, who knows your deepest faults and failures, promises that he will not forget you. He has a tattoo of you on his hand! I hope and pray you have a great relationship with your mother. And if you don't, please try to, regardless of the wounds that have been inflicted. We are all broken and full of faults, but God loves and forgives in spite of our wickedness. Don't the let bitterness from you past ruin your potential relationships of the future. Seek God's love and he will fill you with enough grace and forgiveness to offer it to others. 
So no matter your relationship with your parents know that, as humans, they will fail you. But God offers a beautiful combination of the characteristics of both a mother and a father., and he offers them freely. Go to him. Speak to him. Receive his love. He will not refuse you, instead he will put loving arms around you. Isaiah continues to write out the response of God in 66:13 and says, "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you." So go and be comforted by the greatest mother/father combination of all, and stand in awe knowing that you are not forgotten.

Dr. Seuss, Soul Doctor

 I have always loved Dr. Seuss. And now that my husband and I are expecting our first child, it is exciting to revisit all the old childhood stories we used to love. There is a new book that wasn't around when I was a kid, but is absolutely fantastic called "Oh the Places You'll Go." I think someone even read it at my high school graduation. For those of you who haven't read it, find one on Amazon or read this quick summary.
The plot follows a boy who is off to conquer the world and can do anything he sets his mind to. In a beautiful glimmer of truth, the boy faces disappointments that leave him lost and lonely. Dr. Seuss then goes on to speak of how life often ends up at one time or another in the Waiting Place.
 The Waiting Place is a place we have all been. And it is certainly a place we often hope to avoid. Dr. Seuss describes it like this:

...headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...
...for people just waiting. / Waiting for a train to go / or a bus to come, or a plane to go / or the mail to come, or the rain to go / or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow / or waiting around for a Yes or a No / or waiting for their hair to grow. / Everyone is just waiting. / Waiting for the fish to bite / or waiting for wind to fly a kite / or waiting around for Friday night / or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake / or a pot to boil, or a Better Break / or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants / or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. / Everyone is just waiting.

 Sound familiar? Maybe you're waiting for an answer on a job. Perhaps you're waiting to hear medical news. Or maybe you're waiting for depression to lift or pain to end. I'd like to say as a Christian that my time in the waiting place has been far shorter and much easier than it has been for non-Christians. Yes and no. Yes, because I know God will never leave me, no because rather than making my own decisions or waiting only for a human answer, I have had to learn to also wait on God. And let me be honest, sometimes it seems I wait the longest on Him.
 Why does this happen? Certainly God has better timing than us, but what if it is more than that?  What if God ushers us into the Waiting Place to develop our patience and our pray-tience? All I know is that during times of waiting in my life, I have spent more time on my knees and in His word trying to figure out where He is leading me or what he wants me to learn in my time of waiting. Waiting has never been fun for me. But I know without a doubt that I would not have learned as many lessons as I have or drawn as close to God had my life unfolded in my perfect timing and at my pace. Think of it like school. Most people hated school growing up (I was the nerd who loved it, so other nerds, discard this analogy). They hate it because they have to learn and be tested. Tests are often hard and learning something new forces us to think and look at situations in different ways. God does the same thing with our waiting.
 Sadly, I don't have an answer for how long you'll wait or what the result of your waiting will be. But I do know that you are not alone among humans. We have all spent time in the Waiting Place. And you are certainly not left alone by your Creator. Submit to Him; allow him to shape and mold you in this time of waiting. Take a look at King David. He was anointed King over Israel by Samuel when he was a young boy (1 Sam 16:3), probably an adolescent, and didn't actually take his place as King until he was 30 years old (2 Sam 5:4). Yet it was through the 15 or 20 odd years of waiting and hiding in deserts while on the run for his life that David learned the lessons he would need to use as King. One of his greatest lessons learned was to trust in God. 
 The same is true of the Israelites. Led from slavery to a desert for 40 years. But God used this time to teach them what it truly meant to be His people. Until their time in the desert, they had spent their lives surrounded by idol worship. God needed to teach them that He alone was God the provider and conqueror, and their mighty right hand.
 We all need to be molded and taught. The Waiting Place is neither fun nor easy, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Your time for a Promised Land or kingship will come. But do not waste the waiting period. Allow God to train you and build you up. Only He knows what lessons you will need to have mastered when you leave the Waiting Place. And once you have learned the particular lesson He wants to teach you, "you'll escape / all that waiting and staying. / You'll find the bright places / where Boom Bands are playing."

Enjoy your Boom Bands and never forget to try with all your heart to learn while waiting.

Shine vs Shiny

 The other day I was driving to the grocery store and the route takes me by an elementary school. The school is off the main highway through town and next to the road is a fenced-in playground. On this fence, the school uses plastic cups to spell out words that form encouragement. For the past few weeks their makeshift sign has been the same and I really wanted to take a picture. The first problem is that there is always a lot of traffic on the road. And second, I didn't really feel like being questioned by the Police for taking shady pictures of a playground outside an elementary school. So bear with me! The past few weeks, the fence has read "RES... IT'S TIME TO SHINE." Picture that in plastic red cups and you'll save me from the slammer.
RES stands for the name of the school, but if I felt like vandalism and had enough cups I would change that to "Christians." Christians have forgotten how to shine in the world. We know the secret to eternal life, we hold the key to victory over death, we get to personally know the Creator of the universe, but we mope around and look just as miserable as all those who don't share in our wonderful knowledge. No wonder people don't want to be Christians.
 Now let me pause right here and clear something up. I almost didn't write this post because I think it's overdone and often misunderstood. A lot of Christians and non-Christians alike think Christians are always supposed to be happy, shiny people. I would disagree. Christians are supposed to be joyful throughout their circumstances, yes, but I would argue that is different from being the world's understanding of happy. I am sure throughout your life you've met those people who are always happy, happy, happy. And rarely when you see their happiness does it ever seem real. It seems like a fake bubbliness so that others will think their life is perfect when they're struggling like everyone else. This is not the kind of shine I'm talking about. I would call this person shiny. They give off an air of polish but they're rusting inside. 
The Bible doesn't expect us to be that type of shiny person. Check out Ecclesiastes 3 and learn that there is a time for everything: "a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance" (3:4). So Christians everywhere, take a deep breath and relax. You can feel emotions. You can have bad days. You can cry when you feel like crying. Doesn't that feel good?
The difference between shining and being shiny is not throwing a fake mask so no one will see your struggle. To shine is to take your problems and requests to God. And when you do that, he offers a "peace that transcends all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). It is because of this peace that Christians are able to truly shine. Because in the midst of any circumstance, they know that God has never left them nor forsaken them. Christians can roll with the punches life throws because they have a lasting hope and an eternal glory. My favorite verses in the Bible (ones that I will probably quote again and again if you read consistently) talk of this hope. 

"Therefore we do not lost heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving in us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). 

You see, Christians should take joy knowing that this world isn't all there is to offer. One bad day, week, month or year doesn't seem so bad in the light of eternity, does it? So rather than dwelling on the issues and problems of the world, fix your eyes on the author of life and light. When you look to him, when you remember that this life is the short one, you will gain a peace and hope you have never known. You will begin to shine. There will be no need to fake happiness because you will have a joy that is rooted in the knowledge that you are loved and cherished by the God of all creation.
 Jesus said, 

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither does a man light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, he puts it on a stand and it gives light to everyone inside the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see you good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16).

Don't be shiny and fake. There is certainly a time for all things, but in all things, look to the promises of God and truly shine. Shine because Jesus called you to it. Shine because you have peace and hope. Shine because, in light of all He's done for you, you can't help it.

Leaves, Bread and Fish

The other day I was hanging out with my neighbor, Kim, and her daughter, Emma. Emma is about 19 months old and always ready to explore. We were outside enjoying the spring and Emma walked up to her mom and gave her a leaf. Kim was ecstatic. She oozed thanks and excitement at this little leaf. Our other neighbor and I chuckled and told her she was a great actress. She turned and said one of the most beautiful representations of Christ's love that I ever heard. She said, "Hey, my baby girl doesn't have much that she can give me, but what she has she gives to me. For that, I will always be excited and honored." Don't you just love those God moments that come in the middle of a simple spring day?
We resemble Emma so much. How little do we have to give to God? A lot of days, I feel so overwhelmed by all He is and how small I am. I often struggle thinking I don't have much to offer Him. Especially right now. I don't work and spend my days with only a few people. I volunteer here and there, but spend a lot of time in solitude and I feel pretty ineffective in the world. In this phase of life, sometimes I think I don't have much to offer, yet He asks me to bring what I have.  In John 6, the disciples wonder how they could possibly manage to feed five thousand hungry people. Suddenly, a little boy with a heart like Emma steps forward and offers five loaves of bread and two fish. Most would laugh. Few, if any, would be thankful. But Jesus responds like Kim did. He gives thanks. He takes the bread and fish and feeds the people.
Maybe you're like me. Stay-at-home moms often feel forgotten. So do some who work dead-end jobs. Maybe you have a great career with people around you to influence, but they don't seem to listen or care about what you have to say. Whatever the reason, you don't feel like you have much to offer the Creator of all things. Some days I don't even feel like I have five loaves and two fish. Some days it's more like a fish eye and a crusty slice of bread. But please know that it never matters. God knows what you have each day. He knows where your talents lie and how many you've been given. Don't look at others and be disheartened. Look to what you have and offer it to God. Take Paul's advice in Romans 12:1, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your true and proper worship."
All he wants is all you have. All he desires is your desire and action to do his will. And guess what? When he gets it, He makes a banquet from it to feed thousands. Don't think your talents and stinky fish eye could do much for him? I challenge you to offer it to him. Give Him all you have and look and see. See the banquet He will make from what you have given.