So You Think You're Alone? {On Trials II}

In the beginning, God made man...and man was just man surrounded by animals and plants. God was there, yes, but man needed more. So God made woman.

It's obvious since the beginning of time that humans are in need of other human companionship. We need to fellowship and have others around. It's a fact of life.

I know some of you introverts are shaking your heads, but the truth is, as Christians, we need people. Like I said earlier, we need to fellowship with other believers in order to grow. {Proverbs 27:17}

And then there's this very human thing called loneliness. I'm sure at some point in your life you've felt this loneliness. It's not a fun feeling. In fact, it can very scary thinking you are alone.

One of the dictionary definitions of loneliness is: isolated
When I think isolated, I think of somebody who is wrapped in chains, by themselves, with nobody to hear them cry out for help. They are stuck in a deep, dark dungeon.

So...do you think you're alone?

I have news for you, dear. You're not!
Believe me, I know how incredibly easy it is to feel lonely in a world so crazy and big as this, but this loneliness that often tries to knock me down? It's a lie.

Let's start here:

1. The enemy of our souls wants to destroy us by whatever means necessary, aye? {John 10:10} He doesn't want us to flourish in our walk with God, he doesn't want us to be Lights and speak Truth. He wants to decimate us.
And one of his greatest weapons against humankind is the mirage of loneliness.
Make the Christian (son or daughter of the MOST HIGH GOD) think they're lonely (isolated)...BOOM! Easier victory for him.
But this isolation is a lie. It's a mirage.

Do you know why?

1. God told us that He would never leave or forsake us. Not only that, but He told us to be strong & have courage! Woah! He commands us of these things...so that must mean that through Him we can do it. {Joshua 1:5}

If that's not enough, here's more proof that we're never alone:
2. God gives us the Holy Spirit as a counselor, a friend, a helper...we have a part of God living in us. How crazy awesome is that? The Holy Spirit is our own connection to Abba God as his royal sons and daughters. And the Holy Spirit directs us, helping us along the path if we let Him. {John 14:15-20;26-27}

3. Not only does He never leave us, and does He give us the Holy Spirit, but God "places the lonely in families". {Psalm 68:6}
Now this doesn't mean you have to be an orphan who doesn't have a mom or dad. This means you might just be lonely, you might not have family around, you might not have friends around. Maybe you just moved off to college and you don't know what in the world you're doing. This verse is talking about anybody who is lonely.
God surrounds these people, us, with community--a church family to support, welcome, and encourage. Friends who do the same. God looks after us. We're His kids, y'all. And He loves us eternally. He knows we need human interaction to help us along the way and He provides.

There is proof all throughout God's Word that He never leaves us. We don't have to fear...because our Savior and Author of all creation and life is by our side, holding our hand.

If you are often overcome by loneliness, I'd encourage you to read the verses that I referenced in this post. I'd also encourage you to conduct your own study of God's living, powerful Word and see for yourself that He never leaves.

Know that loneliness is a lie. Whenever we feel it creeping in, turn to Jesus and talk to Him. Tell Him what you're feeling. Read His Word. Listen to worship music.

Ignoring it or occupying yourself elsewhere is not going to fix the problem.

But facing it head on and declaring victory over it in Jesus' name is a sure way to defeat that tactic of the enemy.

For Christus Victor! Christ is Victorious! He has defeated everything. So, why then, do we let ourselves live in the defeated?

Let us live in Freedom as God's Light and Truth shines upon our minds and hearts.
Amen!

God Bless!
Rachel

Work-in-Progress Wednesday {Rough Edges}

We all have our tendencies. We all have our habits.  We all have our struggles.
We all have our rough edges.

And here's a cool thing about God: He sands down our rough edges until they're smooth and pure and beautiful.

Does this mean that He nurtures our vices until they grow and fester and becoming worse and worse?
Uh, NO.

This means that He corrects us, gently as we are His children, but he shows us the Way. As we spend time with Him through prayer, worship, and study...He shows us what needs some work. Sometimes it can be a whole renovation project, but sometimes it can be just molding us a little bit in that yucky area.

"'My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lost heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.'" Hebrews 12:5-6

I mean, He's the Great Potter, right? He can form us, if we allow Him to.

"Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the Potter; we are all the work of Your hand." Isaiah 64:8

We can be going along, doing good and growing in God...when all of a sudden that disgusting rough edge rears its head. For some this means snapping at somebody, or being impatient, or maybe being defensive.
And then we go through the rest of the day wondering what in the world is wrong with us--we feel guilty and beat down because we'd broken.

But we forget some key things:

1. Christ died for the broken! "'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'" Mark 2:17

2. We live in a broken world. "There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..." 2 Timothy 3:1-4

3. We are not perfect! "'Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?'" Matthew 7:3

Now, these aren't excuses to go on sinning and letting our rough edges become rougher. This is incentive. That list is reasons why we should yearn to get better and grow closer to God!

Christ died for our broken souls...and because of that...He makes us whole through Him.
We live in a broken world...but we aren't of this world.
We are not perfect...but Jesus is perfect and He will help you if you let Him.

We always have two choices in front of us, guys.
1. We can choose to follow Jesus--shedding ourselves of the sin that entangles.
or
2. We can choose to follow the world--allowing our sin to take control. 

"Therefore...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross...Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

Don't know about you, but I'd much rather let the Author of Life be in control...
When we make mistakes and break, letting our rough edges scratch, we can choose to let it get worse and worse...or we can choose to turn it over to Jesus and let Him change our hearts yet again (this is a daily and sometimes more than one time a day thing).

And you'll be amazed at how much He can do when you relinquish control and let Him soften your hard, rough edges into gentleness, patience, love, joy, and so much more.

God Bless the rest of your week as you seek after Him!

Life {On Trials I}

"...there was given me a thorn in my flesh...to torment me. I pleaded with the Lord to take it from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

Life is hard. We go through so much. There's happy times, there's sad times. We're excited, then we're depressed. We're lonely, we're hurt, we're bitter because of what's happened to us. There's tribulations, heartbreak, suffering, and trials of so many types. How do we continue living in the Fullness God has ordained for us...when we're drowning in these trials?

Let's look at Paul for a moment. If you go to the second part of 2 Corinthians 11, he lists everything hard he's suffered for the sake of Jesus. It's a painful list. Shipwrecks, beatings, insults--Paul went through it all. He had a crazy ride.

Okay, okay. It's weird to try and imagine somebody who's gone through so much pain but still chugging on, loving God with all their heart. Do you know anybody like that?

As humans, it's so natural for us to want to give up.

But...after you've tasted the pure sweetness of the Love of God...how could you give up?

Everything God allows for us to go through...crafts us further and further into who we're supposed to be. For God to use us effectively, we have to allow Him to change us. Sometimes change comes through trials.

Emotional...
Physical...
Financial...
Spiritual...
Mental...

There are many kinds of trials.

We are used to instant gratification. When everything's good, we're good. When something goes wrong, we tend to forget the whole long ride of GOOD that we've had. All we can see is the darkness in front of us. It makes us want to run away--to turn back and put as much space between us and the suffering that we can. It's uncomfortable. We want to be safe and sure of our life. If God won't fix our problem right away, there's no use following Him for the rest of our life.

But the thing is...if you'd gone a little further...you would've seen the dazzling Light on the path. It was just a little further.

If you'd gone a little further...you would've seen the Light was there the whole time. There were only clouds blocking it.

Storms blow away. They don't stay forever. Darkness seems to drag on, but it's only a moment in time.

If we press on to the end and realize the Light's always been right here, we're able to rejoice!
We can look back at the storm and see the people behind us--those who are struggling through the same blinding darkness. And we can encourage them. We can spur them along towards the Light we know is waiting just up ahead. We can remind them of the Goodness of God and the Love He has for them.

Or we can keep on going our merry way, forgetting what God just brought us through.

That's when others perish.

If God puts something hard in our life, there's a reason.

There's always a reason.

And it's usually so we're able to minister to others. Paul used his weaknesses and trials to be a light. He could relate to others, encourage them, minister to them, love them--because he knew what it was like to suffer.

It's our choice how we use our trials. But I pray we use them for God's Glory.

Live in the Fullness of God! When there's darkness, don't forget the Light.

I know this verse is prophecy about Jesus, but I believe it can be great Hope for us as well:
"After the suffering of His soul, He will see the Light and be satisfied." Isaiah 53:11

"Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the Light of the Lord." Isaiah 2:5

The Beginning {A Testimony in Progress}

Wow, okay. God has done so much in my life already. And that's crazy amazing. He's so Awesome!

I know sometimes reading other people's testimonies can be boring and seem like a waste of time. But testimonies can change lives. They can connect people. They can bring people to God's Love and Identity.

And, seeing as it's my first post here at No Longer Stone, it kind of seems fitting to give my Testimony in Progress (TiP). (My life isn't over yet! Our whole life is a testimony)

So I've grown up in a Christian home. My dad is a Chaplain in the Army, so I've been under the label: PK my whole life (Pastor's kid!). There's so many expectations of PK's. Some are good, some are bad. We're expected to be perfect. Everybody knows who we are...and we're (like it or not) a representation of our parents. And then you hear about the rebellious PK's who go against everything they ever grew up learning.

I'm going to tell you that I'm neither. I've never been perfect. But I've also never been extraordinarily rebellious.