Coping with the storms of life

Rain storms can be a good thing for our environment.  They are a necessity for nature.  Lightening provides nitrogen; rain nourishes and cleanses the earth.  There's many more benefits of storms but I'm not going to get into all of that here.  But what about the storms of life and the parallels from natures storms and our own?

Some have said (myself included) that they love a good thunderstorm.  This is certainly true when I am tucked safely in my home.  But driving in such a storm can bring on deep anxiety and stress.  A thunderstorm can put a damper on outside events because it can bring unexpected dangers.  Our first response with such storms is to find safety.  Whether getting out of the water when there's lightening or pulling off the road when the rain is falling so hard your vision is limited.  Whatever the situation we all instinctly protect ourselves from natures severe thunder storms.

What about the storms of life?  How does one prepare for those?  I don't know that we can, but rather get through them and wait them out.  Many of us have encountered many storms in our lives from financial strains and losses, to death, illness, disease, accidents, crimes, etc.  Yet, more often then not, most of us tend to get through them one way or another.  Still, there are so many emotions we encounter in the meantime:  fear, frustration, anger, confusion, sorrow, grief, anxiety, discouragement, hopelessness and more I'm sure.  How do we cope?  How do we allow ourselves to "feel" without letting our feelings take over?

Lord, my prayer to You is for peace through the storms of life.  It's so easy to get so focused on the circumstances that we lose our peace and get tossed around like wild waves in an hurricane.  You are the Lighthouse on the Rock I look to in the midst of the chaos, and I pray that as You call out to me in the darkness of the storm that I can hear and turn towards Your light.  Instead of fighting and kicking the torrential waves, help me to ride them until I am safe in Your presence, standing on a firm foundation.  I pray for hope to illuminate my heart and mind so I can with confidence trust the sun will shine on me again.

Lord, we can't avoid the storms of life because they just happen.  But my heart asks of Yours to be merciful and patient towards my own when I struggle with doubt and discouragement.  My promise to You is that I will praise you through the storms and trust You work all things out for the good to those who love you.  Thank You for the seasons in our lives that cultivate faith, trust, hope and courage.  Thank You for Your promise that no matter how dark our trials are You will never leave us or forsake us.  Although we may not understand, we can have peace in knowing You see the greater picture...the finished one.

What does God look like through you?

"If you don't know God He will probably look like you."

How true could this be?  What does God look like to the world in the Western World?  I suppose it depends on who you are looking at?  Main stream picks up on a harsh, judgmental and mean God who is cruel and unforgiving.  I believe this because I see the hatred towards believers - or those who believe they are Christians  of good intent.  Reading comments on news articles online are a great place to view the hostility.  Can we fault the world for seeing the "Church" through angry eyes and tainted glasses?  Who made them that way?

What have we done as a people who are called by His name?  We have been adopted into a family that was not our own and not received our birth right through our adoption.  We received the new name but not the inheritance.  We have moved into our new Home but have not taken time to get to truly know our new Father. We are distrusting and distant;  selfish and not wanting to really change.  We read His words and miss the intent of His heart because we listen not to His Spirit.

What is God telling us in His word?  He's telling us that He loves us.  That He does not want to condemn us, but that He desires to save us and unite us in Heaven with and through His son!  BUT...we're NOT listening as a whole!  Brothers and sisters of the Kingdom, I appeal to you to look at Jesus again and again and again until you see He is LOVE personified.  He is our example.  He wants to instill His heart into ours.  WHERE did He condemn anyone when He walked the earth?  When did He throw the sins of the people in their faces and shame them?  No, no, no!  He was received by those around Him because of His Love and Compassion.

When we leave our homes each day people should see God as He is when watching us.  We should be different in our behaviors than everyone else.  When we look at others we should look through God's eyes of compassion and Love and not our own.  His eyes will always see differently than ours.  But how we do this is by having that personal and intimate relationship with Him.  We CAN come boldly to the throne of the Creator of all things through His Son.  We can be ourselves and allow Him to work Himself into our lives.  We NEED to for the sake of millions of souls missing out on the greatest gift given to mankind from God Himself....salvation...eternal life and freedom.

It is not right for one to hoard for themselves what God intended to be distributed throughout the world.  When we fail to love as He loves us we are not the light in the world, but rather are static causing shorts all around us.

Lord, please help us to draw nearer to You.  Give us courage to step away from the gates of Your Kingdom and to boldly come into Your presence to receive Your great love so that we may go out into all the world and share it to others.  Let us be the reflection of Your Son and a true bright light drawing others into Your Family!

Judging is not loving

There is a division among mankind.  We are divided by a line of judgment.  What is it we judge?  Better yet would be to ask what is it we don’t judge?  Ethnicity, color, size, shape, ability, political affiliation, familial status, religion, beliefs, etc., etc., etc.  And the list extends too far for eye to see.  Generations of children are trained to continue the traditions of isolation and contentment, adding greater layers of brick to a dividing wall of great magnitude. 

Throughout history many have come along and lead a parade of followers who attempted to tear down those walls and yet they were destroyed by those clothed in masks of judgment.  One greatest among them all was Jesus….Son of Man, Son of God…God made mere man to show us how to live to our fullest potential.  What was His message?  Love! 

What type of love did this infamous Man-God teach us?  What example did He set before us through His own life?  Have His followers destroyed any walls with the mighty hammer of Love He passed on to us? 

Jesus taught us to Love our God and to Love our neighbor as ourselves.  Yet we say we Love God but then curse those made in His image.  We love those who make us feel good or meet our approval.  We are creatures of conditional love and magnificent individual judge and juries.  We condemn without forethought and critique what we do not understand and fear.  This is just “our way”.  “Our sins are not as bad as their sins!”  Yet, where is Jesus in all of this?  In Christianity we use God’s Word like a hammer to crush “sin” out of people, yet in reality we are crushing them with blows of judgment and condemnation.  Isn’t there “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus?” Aren’t we only to judge in the same manner we ourselves wish to be judged?  Let’s rephrase this:  Aren’t we to love in the same manner we ourselves wish to be loved and HAVE been loved?   

Sadly we as followers of “The Way” have lost our way.  We have segregated ourselves in walled towers all the while peering out of little windows and throwing rocks at all who pass by.  If Jesus were to return today would He find us about our Father’s business, or look at our thick walled towers and wonder who lives within such prison walls? 

What is our Father’s business we are to be about?  Well, if we look closely at Jesus’ life we can see it right in front of us.  We’re to be about loving others.  He did not discriminate whom He loved.  He loved the whole world – even those who persecuted Him and killed Him.  He told us to do the same…to love our enemies…to do good to those who persecute us….to show compassion, kindness, gentleness, patience, meekness, grace and mercy towards all.  Aren’t all men made in God’s image?  If we are to love God then aren’t we to love men as well?  Not just those who are kind to us, but even those who aren’t so kind?  Then we can transform the world as Jesus intended us to do.  If the world is to hate us for being like Jesus then that’s on them.  But, if they hate us for being hypocrites than that’s on us. 

Lord, please open our eyes to see our hearts and our behaviors.  Forgive us for being so blind to our judgmental attitudes towards those You have fashioned in Your image.  Soften our hearts with Your love so that we can share that love with others, especially those who are not so easy to love.  Let us remember that we were once just as unlovely and yet You shared Your love with us.  Help us to remember our mission and to step out of our comfort zones…stepping out of those towers of isolation and into the fields of humanity.  May we be a people about our Father’s business…a people of Light, Love and Truth towards all we come in contact with on a daily basis.  Make us courageous lovers just as You were courageous to love us when we were not willing to love You in return.