You are blessed to be a blessing.

I love my job.  I truly do.  It is in no way an easy job.  Today was pretty much a nightmare with politics and tempers and a lot of basic crap to put up with…however, at the end of the day…I look at our mission and the hearts of my colleagues…and I thank God for the opportunity to do what it is I do.

All day today I heard such amazing stories of service…people sold out to promoting God’s kingdom and helping people find light in what can be a horribly dark, bleak world.  I heard stories from people completely convinced that a Kingdom is at stake and we are at war with terrifying, real Satanic forces.  I heard first hand testimonies from people who have faced machette attacks from wild men who hate the name of Christ and brave souls who move their families half way around the world to places others would never go just to reach a brother or sister for Christ.  I heard stories of near starvation when food supplies are cut off or war breaks out and escape routes are closed.  I heard stories of complete dependence on prayer and God’s utter faithfulness to change incredibly dire situations.  I heard stories of radically transformed lives, changes that impacted whole communities and moved an entire people from violence to peace.  These are the stories of my colleagues and friends.  These are first hand accounts of what they have seen and lived.  These are the stories shared over dinner with tears and laughs and joy and pain.  These are the stories of real life.

We’re given one shot on this planet.  We have a choice in how to spend that time.  God gives us His guide and free will.  The rest is up to us.  What are we going to do with the blessings God has given us?  I am humbled to be around folks who have asked themselves the question:  why am I blessed?  and confidantly and fully concluded…to be a blessing.

 

Everlasting Love

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving-kindness have I drawn you” (Jeremiah 31:3).

It’s amazing to me how God’s Word is active and alive.  It blows my mind that you can read the same verse at different points in your life and receive a fresh application and new meaning each time.  God’s Words as captured here through His prophet Jeremiah have always struck me as some of the most beautiful in all of literature.  Out of all the books I’ve read in my Master’s in Literature, never have I heard something so romantic, so pure, so utterly tender as these:  “I have loved you with an everlasting love”–what human heart does not long to hear such words?  What incredible poetry is this!

Lately, I’ve been feeling alone–not lonely, just alone.  I had some terrible news recently that’s made me want to pull back, pull inside myself, reflect, and enjoy solititude for awhile.  I’ve needed rest.  This news has made me realize how much my body aches for rest.  This news is potentially life altering and hard to face–but like some amazing romantic gentleman, I hear God’s Words whisper in my ear–”with loving kindness have I drawn you.”  How easy it is when we receive bad news that affects us personally and deeply to question God’s motives, to throw tantrums at His timing, to deem Him unloving and unfair.  How often we fall into the trap of thinking God is unjust, unmerciful and unwilling to hear our pleas…and yet, when we are still and give him a place…He whispers what our hearts long to hear…He has loved us with an everlasting love–with loving kindness He has drawn us.

This next week will be an intense, busy week for me as I head out to Seattle for work.  However, I am looking forward to connecting with colleagues and making progress on our project.  At the tale end of the trip though, I am planning time to get lost alone along the Washington coast…to spend time to reflect and just be…no schedule, no agenda…just time to rest and truly appreciate the deep reality of His everlasting love.