Let's be honest

Considering how much we tell our kids the importance of honesty and how the Bible teaches that we shouldn't lie, the body of Christ doesn't always do the best job of being honest. I don't believe that it's an intentional thing, but also not terribly surprising considering the Bible also tells us that our hearts are deceitful (Jer 17:9). However, we gotta get honest if we want God's power fully working in us.

I've always thought the concept of lying to God is stupid since He already knows everything. Problem is, I don't always realize what I'm doing. I have a strong conviction about the power of our words. There are things that I absolutely refuse to declare over myself. For example, I will not say, "I always get sick," (which I honestly don't), but if I have a cold, I'm lying to say, I'm perfectly healthy right now. Gotta admit I have a problem I need the Lord's power to overcome.

There are things I want to do and want to be. I want to be bold, I want to care more about other people than my own comfort, but I can't force myself to become those things if they aren't what I already am. If I could, I wouldn't need God. All I have to offer God is who I am at this very second, and praise God, He says that's enough through Jesus' blood. What kind of fool am I to come before God and say, Lord here I am strong and ready to take on the world and bring Your kingdom, if the truth is, I am weak and desperately want to win the world for Jesus, but don't know how to muster up the courage and strength to do it. If I won't admit I'm weak, I don't leave room for God to pour out His strength on me. He tells me His strength is made perfect in weakness, but how often am I willing to actually offer my weakness to Him?

I was listening to a message, or maybe reading my Bible, I don't remember...something about Jesus, and God put this phrase in my spirit, "Let God have your foolish things." I don't like to be foolish, or admit that I'm foolish, but God says He'll use the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. Problem is, it takes humility, and humans just have a hard time with that. Paul says, "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom." (1 Cor 2:1). If I were Paul and God told me to go preach to these people and I knew I didn't have eloquent speech, I would probably want to go get some lessons or something before tackling the task. But God doesn't need prepared, super wise or skilled people, He needs willing people cause all that stuff He already has to offer us and can do it much better than we can. (That is not to say we shouldn't do things to be prepared etc., but we should not depend on our ability to do those things, we should depend on God to use our willing selves.)

So I've been working on being honest with God. I've been working on offer God my foolish things so He can take them and shame the wise. Quite simply I have nothing I am able to offer God other than who I am right now, with all the weaknesses I have, and all the strengths and skills He's given me. Offering God a fake me, that I think is more desirable, is dumb.

Here's me God. Here's my half compassionate self that I wish were more compassionate  take it, transform it, use it. Here's my partly bold unafraid self, take it, transform it, fill it with your never-ending love make it more courageous, use it. Here's my mostly selfish self that wants to be Godish, transform it, use it....the list goes on. I can only offer him what I have and what I have is not yet complete, but He promised he'd continue the work to completion :)

Right Perspective

This morning I woke up to be with the Lord. I cozied myself into a blanket in a our chilly sun room and was singing. I don't know about you, but I often come across things in my life where there's nothing I can do to change a situation or address a problem and in that regard I started singing "Jesus, I call on Jesus, name above all names, holiest one. Emanuel, God is with us, blessed redeemer, holiest one." God often speaks to me in song, but this one I was declaring. I was recognizing who my God is and the power in His name. Then He spoke. I started singing another song that I haven't heard or sang in a long time. "God is bigger than the air I breath, the world we'll leave. God will save save the day, and all will say my glorious, my glorious. And all You ever do is change the old to new..." He interrupted my cry to Him and said, "Sara, do you really know who you are calling on?"

I know I have a good God. I'm confident of His love. I'm confident of His care for me, and I see miracles on a regular basis, but even so I call out to Him with this thought of, I know this is hard God (this situation etc.), but you're God so you can figure something out. He's GOD. My situation may look challenging and it may seem like a solution will be hard to come up with, but He's GOD. For Him it is EASY. I am calling on the God that created the world. Out of a void, He made not only a something, He made a perfectly designed world complete with a vast variety of living creatures on it. Out of the DUST he formed a HUMAN. Regardless of what my situation, issue, feeling, brokenness, relational issue, financial state...He is GOD. For Him it's easy. He doesn't have to labor over plans and strategies, to God it is simple. He knows exactly what to do. "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Rom 8:31