Brave Enough

Brave. So much meaning in one little word.

Webster’s dictionary defines brave as “feeling or showing no fear : not afraid”.

There are days I’m sure my picture is right there alongside that definition in the dictionary. Other days, not so much.

This morning was one of the latter days. I was out for an early morning run. The sun was just peaking over the horizon. The air was chilly but not uncomfortable. My dogs were all romping in the crispness of the morning. Everything was right with the world!

Well, not everything. I was praying for those held in bondage by human trafficking. Praying for their freedom and deliverance. Asking God to help make His presence very real to them and help them hold on for freedom.

Then the Holy Spirit took over and I was praying for deliverance for their captors and abusers. Those guilty of capitalizing on other people’s mistreatment. People hurting innocence.

Whoa, stop right there!

Why would I want to pray for these people? I didn’t want to. Ok, I will admit I wanted to pray for them but to get what they have coming to them. Punished for their unthinkable acts towards fellow human beings.

I just about stopped running honestly. I was confused and a little repulsed at the thought of praying for deliverance when my frail, little human heart just wanted to take revenge on them.

“Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.” Romans 12:19 (NLT)

God is still on the throne. He is in control of justice. It’s NOT my job. I have to be brave enough to trust Him with the justice of these people as well.

I don’t believe that means that they shouldn’t have to answer for their crimes in our judicial system. Not at all. It does mean that I will ask for the Lord’s help to be brave enough to pray that these perpetrators will be delivered from the hold evil has on them.

“But there is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord. Isaiah 48:22 (NLT)

It’s SO much easier to pray for those I love or those I know are being hurt by others. To pray for those doing the hurting is just plain tough. But…if we pray for those consumed by evil to be delivered from it we will be acting as true children of God.

“You have heard that the law of Moses says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. Matthew 5:43-47 (NLT)

Brave. That is what I choose today. Brave enough to pray without fear for ALL that are effected by human trafficking. Brave enough to trust God that justice will be served for everyone. Brave enough to really believe that good triumphs over evil.

Running for a Reason

Do you ever feel like a little fish in a very big pond? Like the world and its problems are so big that there isn’t anyway one person can make a difference?

The sin in our world can feel so overwhelming. It can feel defeating at times but God wants to work through us to make a difference for HIS kingdom!

I’m training for my first half marathon (13.1 miles) this coming summer. The farthest distance I’ve raced up to this point is a 5k. Needless to say this is a big jump for me. Let me explain something first. I didn’t grow up running, well unless it was on the back of a horse. I used to comment that the only way you’d ever catch me running is if I was fleeing for my life.

For some reason though I decided to give it a try a couple of years ago. It didn’t come naturally to me. To be perfectly honest, it still doesn’t. I’m not fast and it still isn’t effortless. What it is for me though is time alone with God.

I run on cow trails. I live way out in the sticks so other than watching for the occasional snake there is quite a bit of quiet time. I love it!

I’ve been praying about a way for the Lord to use my half marathon training and race for His glory. I want my running to be about more than myself.

Every mile I’m praying for the victims of human trafficking. I’m praying for their freedom and restoration. When the miles get hard and the weather is less than ideal, I will run for those who haven’t been able to yet.

I will lift up those in prayer who work to rescue and restore these victims. Prayers will be said for awareness to be raised and the oppressors to be prosecuted.  

God has put it on my heart to put my money where my mouth is as well. For every training and race mile I run I will put a dollar in a jar. When my race is over in August I will be sending that money to The A21 Campaign to help them fight the injustice of modern day slavery.

God calls us to put our faith into action! Today, in this moment, this my action.

What good is it dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? James 2:14 (NLT)

I invite you to join me in putting feet to our faith. This can look different to each of us, but I encourage you to pray about how God wants you to move.

If you’d like to “join” me on my race I encourage you to send me your email address using the contact form on the right and I will send weekly mile updates from my training and race. You can determine how much money per mile you’d like to put in your jar (or envelope, etc.). After my race you’re welcome to join me in donating to A21 or another organization of your choice.

I would really appreciate your prayers for continued health and mental strength as I train. Thank you!

I love this song Run to Jesus by Francesca Battestelli!

No More Excuses - Just Obey

Obedience can be tough! I know in my head what God calls me to is what is truly best, but it still doesn’t always make it easy.

A couple of years ago, God called me into youth ministry. You want to talk about feeling unqualified. Yikes! I knew there was no way humanly possible I could handle it. The great part was I discovered He never intended for me to handle it on my own. It was amazing to watch his plan unfold and because of my obedience I got to be a part of all of it. Super cool honestly, but still not always easy.

God has also called me to write. I wish that meant it was always easy for me. It’s NOT! Sometimes I feel like a fish floundering out of water.

Then to top it off, I really felt led to sign up for the She Speaks Conference this coming summer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited. I’m also scared to death and feeling pretty overwhelmed. I’ve signed up but spent many days coming up with excuses on how next year would be a better option.

As Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray after the Last Supper, he knew what was about to happen to him. Mark 14:33-34 says Jesus “began to be deeply distressed and troubled.” He shared with his disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death”.

It doesn’t say he was a little put out by the inconvenience of what God was asking him to do. No, he was deeply distressed and overwhelmed with sorrow. There is no way to humanly grasp the sacrifice Jesus was about to make for mankind. Many of whom were still sinners. Still more that would choose to turn their back on what Jesus did for them.

Yet he did it! In that garden he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “Everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Matthew 14:35-36 

Jesus knew God was capable of taking the cup of suffering from him. There was never any doubt of that, but Jesus was quick to put his own will in submission to God’s.

In Matthew 14:38 Jesus reminds the disciples, and therefore us, we need to watch and pray so that we won’t fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

My spirit wants to be obedient to the Lord, but my body is continually weak. So what does that mean for us? It means no more excuses!

We must deny our bodies. The only way to do that is to stay in God’s word and continually let the Spirit lead us. We have to make an effort to get quiet and tune into what God is saying to us. God wants to meet us there..

Lord, thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to die on the cross for us. Help me to deny my own will and seek out your will for my life. No more excuses for me Father. Less of me and more of you. In Jesus Name, amen.

Mercy Triumphs Over Justice

The crown of thorns doesn’t fit him. It just doesn’t belong. How could they not see? He was and is the one TRUE king.

Beaten, bruised and bloody. That was Jesus on that hill at Golgotha. He had been mocked, insulted, and falsely accused.

The human flesh he was in had to be crying out for justice against these people who were tearing him apart. Instead what do we hear from him? “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  Luke 23:34

There is a huge lump in my throat as I read those words. Letting them seep down into my heart. Trying to grasp the reality of what Jesus was living through at that moment.

How could he possibly extend mercy to these people? They were casting lots for his very garments as he hung there on that wooden tree. The tree that was meant for the guilty. A means of serving justice.

Yet there he hung full of mercy even still. I honestly struggle to wrap my mind around it.

My own human flesh wants to deal out justice on a daily basis. Most often for those I love that I feel have been hurt, but just as often for myself and offenses that come against my pride.

Didn’t those people on Calvary Hill deserve justice? Don’t the people who hurt me and mine deserve it? My spirit longs to be able to cry out to my Father and say “forgive them” but my flesh is often so weak.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 (NIV)

Jesus’ life on earth was an example for us of how to live our lives here on earth. He experienced the temptations, struggles and injustices we will face and then some! He has given us the Holy Spirit to dwell in and help fight back our flesh.

Plain and simple, we can't show true mercy on our own. It's only possible because of the gift of the Holy Spirit in us. 

The reality is that we have all been shown so much mercy by our Savior. Let's share that mercy with others.

Today, let mercy triumph over justice!


Linking up with #livefreeThursday, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesday, 

The Worry Pit

In a recent post we talked about how sports are great for helping us learn how to deal with winning as well as losing and doing both with dignity.

Wow, God’s timing (or maybe it was His sense of humor) is amazing. It was less than an hour after I finished that piece that I got a pretty good kick to the gut. My son didn’t get the full ride scholarship we’d been claiming in prayer for him.

I had claimed every scripture I could find on our authority in Christ. My son and I asked the Lord if this was the right school for him. We felt the Holy Spirit leading him there.

So why did he not get the scholarship? I wish I knew. Weren’t expecting that, huh? I really don’t know. I’m still wrestling with the answer. I wish I could say I handled the loss with as much dignity as my son did but it took me a little bit to get back to that point. My son actually handled it SO much better than I did. He kept reminding me that this was the direction he felt led and it would all work out.

The mama worry started to creep in big time though. I wanted to figure out a way to force the pieces of the puzzle together. Even though I couldn’t see all of the puzzle.

My mind was swirling with the fact that my son had decided on a private, Christian school that is very expensive. How could we possibly make it all happen?

Wow! I can’t believe I was right back in that very familiar pit of worry. That slimy, nasty pit had become like a second home for me as my boys grew into men. The sickening feeling in my stomach and the never ending swirling in my head were all too familiar.

      Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Leaning on my ways is what led me back to that pit. I wish I could say I fought the slide down a little harder but unfortunately I just jumped right in with both feet! The brokenness of my understanding of God’s ways caused me to fall yet again.

Thankfully the Lord is making me much more sensitive to worry as I mature in my walk with Him. He’s helped me see the worry pit for what it truly is, separation from Him.

Reach up out of that nasty mire of the worry pit and grab a hold of God’s hand. He’s ready and willing to take our worries.

     Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:27 & 34 (NIV)

I know I can trust God with my son’s future. He’ll handle it. I’m not sure what His plan is when it comes to the finances for college, but I will trust Him with it. When the enemy creeps in and tries to stir up worry in me about my son’s future; I will remind him that God is in control.

God sees the big picture and knows what is best for us. Today, I’m going to choose to kick worry to the curb and trust God!

Linking up with Live Free Thursday and Tell His Story.

Free From Shame

Why is it whenever we try to work on teaching someone else, we usually end up being the one doing most of the learning?

I work with our church’s youth group. It is mostly junior high and high school students. I love it! I really didn’t feel equipped to teach these kids when God called me and to be honest I still don’t.

I have been known to procrastinate from time to time and this last week was no different. It would be really wise to prepare my youth group lesson a week or so ahead of time, but alas that seldom happens.

So this past Wednesday I found myself in a bit of a pickle. I had blocked off the time to work on the lesson but so many things kept creeping into that block of time. Distractions! Mostly of my own doing but a couple of other people were bumping into my schedule as well.

The final straw was when my husband came in and asked me to get lunch ready for a fencing crew I didn’t know anything about. By the way, could I have it ready in 30 minutes too?

Wow, that ran smack into me at my breaking point. You guessed it, I didn’t handle it well at all.

I snapped at my husband and told him how busy I was and not in words but that it was far more important than him. I stewed and fumed for quite a while over it to boot.

Then a funny feeling snuck in. I felt bad for my actions. I was convicted of my sin right there in the middle of my youth group lesson planning.

So I walked to the freezer to get some meat out and come up with something that I could put together on short notice. Right there, with my head in the freezer, guilt turned to shame. I started to beat myself up and even out loud said what a horrible person I am.

Notice an important part here. I had moved past the fact that the sin I had committed was bad and very quickly turned it to myself and how bad I was.

In the past I would have wallowed in that pit of shame for days. Letting that wound fester and grow and maybe even scab over to try and cover up my shame.

You see, when you’re in a relationship with God, shame has a tendency to cause you to hide from the Lord. A good example is Adam and Eve after they ate the fruit from the forbidden tree. They heard God coming and hid from him.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8

I don’t want to hide my sin from God. I want to bring it to Him and we can work it out together.

God wants an abundant life for us. The John 10:10 life. He doesn’t want us to walk around with our head hanging down ashamed.

Our sins will make us feel guilty because of our righteousness in God. As we mature in our walk with the Lord we will come to feel that more quickly. We’re reminded that guilt says “My sin is bad” and shame says, “I am bad”.

Shame causes us to hide from God. Guilt causes us to run back to God.

So when shame tries to grab a hold of you and pull you away from Christ, stand firm in God’s truth. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 (NLT)

Lord, help us to recognize quickly when we have sinned. Make us sensitive to the prick of guilt so we will turn back to you quickly. Please help us to see shame for what it is and never try to hide from You. In Jesus mighty name, Amen.