Just...Say So

I have been involved with student ministry for a long time. I love it. I love the questions that students are working through on spiritual, emotional, and social levels. I love that middle and high school kids still enjoy playing and being silly. I love that they have their whole lives ahead of them and are excited about their future. I love that they are still developing who they are and who they want to be.

There is a freshness in their approach to life that I love to experience alongside of them. Since moving to Greensboro I’ve been working with Young Life a little bit and was able to go to Northwest YL Club for the first time last week. Everything about it was awesome, but I was particularly glad that I was there that night because they were doing a “Say So”. This is taken from...

 Psalm 107:2 “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble”

Basically is was a chance for students to get up in front of their peers, recognize what God has done in their lives and SAY SO!

Listening students talk about their walk with Jesus is a beautiful experience that I have been blessed with often. But this club was even more powerful because of the way they talked about God. They were not caught up in using big “holy” words or quoting scripture. They did not reference any famous Christian pastors or best-selling books. They just said what was on their heart. It was so refreshing for me to hear their raw thoughts and emotions about what God was doing in their lives. It convicted me to not get so caught up in articulating myself perfectly or having fully formed thoughts on what God is doing in my own life. These petty things should not hinder me, but they do. The Lord has redeemed me, plain and simple, all I need to do is Say So.

Count Your Blessings

It’s funny how when things are hard we seem to be keenly aware of the bad things happening to us, but we ignore the everyday blessings. Well I guess I can’t speak for all of you, but I definitely complain (whether it be internal or external) when I don’t like something in my life or when I feel like something isn’t fair… etc. However, I tend to take the good things in life for granted. I usually sort of assume that I “deserve” that things should go well in my life, and if they don’t then that is what I dwell on.

Recently though, the Lord has made me especially aware of the blessings. If you look at my life its ridiculous that I have ever complained about anything because I have been so blessed, but in the past few months I have literally felt overwhelmed by God’s outpouring of love on me through other people. First and foremost, I have felt so thankful for my family. I have the most supportive family. My parents love me more than I could have ever hoped to be loved by anyone and clearly demonstrate God’s unconditional love for me. Since living in Greensboro I’ve been even more aware of this. I go way too long without calling them and haven’t been home to see them a single time even though they are only 30 minutes away, but they love me just the same. I am so thankful for you mom and dad, I’m sorry that I don’t tell you enough.

I have also been blessed by being the recipient of generosity of people around me this year. The financial support that people have given to me to make it possible for me to be a part of the fellows has completely blown me away. I have been brought to tears by the overwhelming generosity that people have shown toward me on multiple occasions. The Lord timed receiving those gifts right in the midst of being stressed about finances as a beautiful reminder that He is sovereign and in control. People have also been generous to me relationally and with their time. This struck me a few weeks ago over my birthday weekend. I was so touched by everyone who went out of their way to make me feel loved.

The internship that I have for the Fellows program this year is another blessing straight from God. The Lord divinely orchestrated my resume getting into the right hands at the right time… I literally did not even apply nor did anyone apply on my behalf… and I am working at an amazing office that I love. It is a dramatically different work environment from medical positions that I have had in the past, and it has been really cool to realize that I had nothing to do with getting this job at all. Honestly I probably would not have picked this office because I wanted to diversify my work experience from something other than Orthopedics, but clearly the Lord had other plans in mind and I am reaping the benefits of having my own efforts to find a position fail.

These are just a few general examples, but the list could go one forever. The bottom line is that these types of blessings are not new in my life. They have all been there in different capacities; I just was not choosing to be aware of them. So like the old adage says, “count your blessings”… it can transform the way you experience everyday life.

"that your joy may be complete"

“Joy is not dependent on circumstances”... 

My best friend told me that when we were juniors in high school (she’s a pretty smart cookie huh?). It impacted me deeply immediately, but I have continually gone back to that statement over the past 7 years to help me gain perspective on where I am placing my priorities. Where am I really getting my joy from? Am I living my life in a way that aligns with that? 

This post is really just about how the Lord is reminding me to find my joy in Him this week,instead of looking to other things. It started a few days ago during discipleship when our pastor was leading us through John 15…

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

Alan (my pastor)’s main discussion was about the trinity and how it is the perfect example of satisfaction in relationships… that’s a blog post for another time… but I really camped out on this concept of having my joy made complete in Christ. Jesus experienced complete and perfect intimacy with Christ; He was constantly immersed in His Father’s love. He offers us the SAME THING: v9“As the Father has loved me, SO HAVE I LOVED YOU” He later says that the reason that he has told us this is so that His v11“JOY may be in us, and that our JOY may be complete”. Our joy is complete in Jesus if we love Him, and if we remain in His love.

 

The thing is we have to choose to remain in His love. We have to choose to obey His commands and “love each other as He loved us”. Think about what that is really asking of us. Jesus lived a perfect life, was tortured, took on the burden of every sin from the world, and died a criminal’s death at the very hands of those that He was saving. WHY!? Because He LOVED us that much. Even as I write that, tears come my eyes. I am so unworthy of that love, and He did it anyway. 

I am called to love others in the way that Jesus loved me: sacrificially, graciously, and humbly. But let’s be honest, I don’t always do that. In fact I hardly ever do that because I forget the incredible display of love that Jesus had for me, and when I forget my focus slips from Him and I find my joy in other things. That temporary joy always fails me and leads me back to the foot of the cross where I am once again reminded of what my life should really be about.

This is the background of my phone ^… because I need this reminder daily. All of the things listed and crossed off are sources that I can look to for temporary fulfillment that I may think is joy. But time and time again I learn that seeking these things leads me in the opposite direction of where true joy is found.    Jesus.

Dear Lord thank you for reminding me that true joy is made complete in You. And You are the only thing in my life that does not change. You are completely independent of circumstances. Your love for me overwhelms my soul and brings me to my knees. Help me to choose to remain in Your love more and more every day. I want to live my life in such a way that clearly indicates that my joy is found in you alone, not the fleeting pursuits of this world. I love you, amen.