God alone is our strength.

"We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken." 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Whether it's a spiritual hardship you're facing, or just a really hard test, I was reminded today that God is our strength. At the beginning of my senior year, I started writing Bible verses, quotes and small thoughts in a notebook. I did this for a while, but stopped as the summer got crazy. I recently found this notebook, however, and I was so encouraged by what I had scribbled down a year earlier. One of the main themes that I seemed to be writing about at the time was the strength God can give us. I was reminded this afternoon that God is the source for my spiritual, physical, emotional and mental strength.

At the beginning of Joshua, the Lord encouraged Joshua with some powerful yet comforting words: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

I love the book of Joshua. It may be because it was my first Bible Bowl text, or maybe I would like it anyway, but I love it, especially this verse. God tells Joshua not to be afraid, because He will always be with him. Always. And when an all-powerful God is with us at all times, why would we be afraid? A similar promise was a part of my last Bible Bowl text: "They will fight against you, but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord." God is with us, and he promises to rescue us from all harm. Over and over, God assures us that He is perfectly capable of taking care of His children. Psalm 27:1 says, "So with God on my side I'm fearless, afraid of no one and nothing."

So we know God is always with us, but the amazing part of that truth is what that means for us. When God is always with us, He is our strength. God empowers us to do our best and beyond. Psalm 121 is one of my favorite psalms because it reminds me of God's amazingness lol. "My strength comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth." God, who made everything in the whole wide world, is the one who takes care of us and helps us to do His will.

With God at our side we shouldn't be afraid, and we can be empowered to do amazing things in the name of Christ. Now of course, neither of these things are natural for us or easy for us to do. Fear is such a natural response, but with God, there's no need to fear anything, whether its a thing or just the future. Isaiah 12:22 says, "God is my salvation. I trust, I won't be afraid." We really can trust in our Almighty God to protect us from everything, to keep us safe and to carry out His plan in our lives. In one of my favorite books, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus tells his children, "Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." The only thing Atticus is missing in this encouraging phrase is the God factor. When you know you're licked, God is the one who helps you see it through no matter what. It's a lot easier to be strong and courageous when God is the one backing you up, rather than just yourself.

Once we trust God and get rid of our fear, God can empower us to do incredible things for Him! We can trust Him to take care of everything in our lives. Philippians 4:6 says, "Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, PRAY!" We know that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, but do we really really really believe it? God cares about the sparrows and the lilies, why wouldn't he care about our everyday problems? Why would we think "that problem is too small for God to care about"? God desperately wants us to trust him in the big things, but also in the little things. Jeremiah 32:27 says, "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" Of course nothing is too hard for God. It is so vital that we remember that.

One time Al, my youth pastor, said to me, "Sometimes I think you're the only one who doesn't believe you can." How often I fall into this harmful thinking. In order to trust God to do something, you must believe that God can do it through you. Without Him you can't, but with Him, you absolutely can. God is a fighter, and with Him behind us, we too can leave fear behind, be a fighter, and do His will.

The message translation of Psalm 119:32 says, "God, don't let me down! I'll run the course you lay out for me if you just show me how." God wants to show us how. He wants us to ask Him anything and everything. Over and over in the Bible we see how, when someone lets God work through them, incredible things take place. But this pattern is not only limited to famous Bible characters. God can and will do incredible things through you. Don't you dare think you're insignificant to God's plan. Before we were formed in the womb, God knew us, and he set each of us apart for a special purpose in his plan. He knows the plans that He has for us, and He promises that they are plans to prosper us and to give us a future! (Jeremiah 1:5, 29:11)

God doesn't always make things clear for us, and often, that's where fear comes from. Other times, fear can come in when we do know what God wants us to do. That can be scary sometimes, a lot of the time, actually I think. But like he promised Joshua, God promises to be with us wherever we go. God guards us now, he guards us always (Psalm 121). Most important to remember, He isn't going anywhere. Through thick and thin, God is with us and wants to help us through. And when we choose to trust God and draw our strength from Him, He will be there for us always, no matter who you are, or what it is that God has called you to do. Isaiah 37:26 says, "Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it! In days of old I planned it!" God knows what He's doing, never doubt that.

As Romans 8:17 says, "If we go through the hard times with Him, we're certainly going to go through the good times with Him!" Praise Jesus for that. We can study all we want or be determined to do well, but frankly, we are nothing without God. While it's good to be prepared and determination is helpful, God alone is the source of our true strength. And if we trust Him to be our power and strength, to give us wisdom and intelligence, or to protect us, He will most certainly take care of His children. "Do not be anxious about anything.." Instead, pray; ask God to help you out. God is the only one who will never fall short, and He will never let you down.

"Be strong and courageous. Don't be terrified, don't be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

God alone is our strength.

For the Lord, not for men

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" Colossians 3:23

I ran across this verse about a year ago, and at the time it particularly struck a chord with me as I worked on conqering my senioritis in school and Bible Bowl. Now, almost a year later, I am again reminded of the importance of, as the message puts it, doing your best. Now I don't mean doing my best for me, so that I look good or prove something to myself and others, but rather doing my best, and then letting God take care of the outcome.

I have found it hard over the past year or so, to understand the confusing concept of "doing my best." I have always been a perfectionist, and I stand firmly by that aspect of my personality. I have come to realize, however, that while there may be a place for perfectionism when editing a paper or organizing my closet, perfection is not always an achievable, realistic, or sensible goal to strive toward. There simply are not enough hours in the day, or rather in a lifetime, to work at something so much that it is perfect. And frankly, let's be realistic, we are human. Though we know this, let me reiterate it: no one is perfect.

So how do I bridge the gap between the perfectionist mindset where nothing or no one could ever be quite right, and the concept of doing my best and being content and leaving it at that? The first concept I have to wrap my mind around is that of being content with my best. As a person who loves to excel, and expects to do so, how can I be ok with it if my best isn't the best? What if my best isn't good enough?

Me and my youth pastor have had extensive conversations about this concept. He always asks me, "Did you do your best?" And I say, "Well yea, I always do my best, but--" But he always cuts in right there with, "Then that's all that matters." While I know intellectually that he is correct, that is insanely hard to accept when I have just, in my mind, failed hardcore. The world tells us that second place is the first loser. And while we laugh at that prase, I have totally been guilty of that thinking. But I have to remember that I am called, not to win or excel at everything I attempt, but rather to do my best, and most importantly, to do my best for God's glory.

So now, I get that I am supposed to do my best. I am supposed to give it my all, not give up, prepare, etc. But for what? Colossians says for the Lord, not for men. Ok, so don't do it for me, do it for God. But how can I play a game or take a test for God's glory? It's a weird thing to try to understand, how simple tasks such as studying or doing drills could be done for God, when they seemingly have nothing to do with "Christian stuff."

I've found that doing something for the Lord does not mean you are running around saying praise Jesus every five seconds or that you work God into your math homework, but rather that you do that task in a manner worthy of God(Phil. 1:27), and that you trust God to take care of that task. Over and over in Psalms we are admonished to put our trust and hope in God. Psalm 146:3-5 says, "Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God." Or, as the Message puts it, "Don't put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Mere humans don't have what it takes; when they die, their projects die with them. Instead, get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in God and know real blessing!" God is our Almighty Creator, why would we let anyone else handle the things in our lives?

Also, Psalm 147:10-11 says, "His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love." God doesn't care about how strong we are or how smart we are, he wants us to put our faith in him, not in our brain or our muscles. He wants us to do our best in everything, and trust Him to take care of the rest. He is more than capable. If we give him our firstfruits, our very best effort, will he not take that and make it even better than we could have hoped for? We have no control of how life happens anyway; why not leave it up to God?

And once I realize that all I have to do is my best, I get that peace that passes all understanding. I know that all I can do is my best, and that for God, that is enough. It may not be enough to get the promotion, make the team, win the trophy or be the best, but to God, my best is really the best. He delights when I do my best and let him take care of the outcome. Because it seems to me that God loves to save us. He loves taking care of us and making us successful. Most of all though, he loves it when we give him credit for doing so. I firmly believe that if I do my best, and trust God to carry out his will in that situation, that he will bless me for that faith. It may not be by giving me the outcome I hoped for, but he will bless me for that faith in his plan. And since God knows better than anyone what's going on, why would I want it any other way?

Psalm 127:1 says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." My Bible says that the theme of this chapter is "Life without God is senseless." How very true. Whatever I do, if I don't do it for God, it doesn't matter. All I can do is my best, and when my very best is done for God, he will undoubtedly take care of the rest.

"I'm never out of your sight..."

God is all powerful and all knowing. Psalm 139 gives praise for God's awe-inspiring love and power. The message translation particularly captures the awesomeness of our wonderful Creator.

A David Psalm

1-6 God, investigate my life;
get all the facts firsthand.
I'm an open book to you;
even from a distance,
you know what I'm thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I'm never out of your sight.
You know everything I'm going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you're there,
then up ahead and you're there, too—
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
I can't take it all in!

7-12 Is there anyplace
I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you're there!
If I go underground, you're there!
If I flew on morning's wings
to the far western horizon,
You'd find me in a minute—
you're already there waiting!
Then I said to myself,
"Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I'm immersed in the light!"
It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light,
they're all the same to you.

13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.

17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I'll never comprehend them!
I couldn't even begin to count them—
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
all the men and women who belittle you, God,
infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Your enemies are my enemies!

23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I'm about;
See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Blindfolds aren't thaaaat bad...

They say you never know what you got till it's gone. I never really had a personal experience with that phrase until recently. From labor day, the first time I went home, I have been at school for a month until my next trip home (this weekend). During this month, I had the opportunity to go on two weekend trips to peoples' homes. I stayed with the Currans one weekend, and my friend Lissa's family last weekend. Each time I was in these homes, I was incredibly reminded of how I miss my own home as I'm living in a cold dorm room in Ohio. In highschool, when I would travel on bible bowl trips, I was never that excited to go home. Now, though, that I don't have it anymore, I realize how much I loved my home: my parents, my own room, my dog, my garage space even!

Point being, God showed me something very important this weekend while I was in Lissa's warm and welcoming home: I may not like Ohio, and I may not stay here forever, but I know that if nothing else, God works everything together for good for those that love God and are called according to his purpose. If God brought me to Ohio for nothing more than to teach me to trust Him, then I am absolutely glad that He did. Ohio may not give me the original degree I set out to get, all my classes may not transfer, I may not miss it at all when I'm gone, but I know that God is teaching me during this time to trust Him more than I ever was able to when I was in my awesome home that I completely took for granted.

I am beginning to figure out what I think God wants me to do in the next few years, and I am totally excited about that. I don't know exactly how all this is going to work out, but all I can think is how awesome it is that God's got me covered. I know that I am here for a purpose right now, and when that time is up, He has a whole other set of cool stuff for me to do. The career plan I am currently stuck on is an awesome one. It is where my passions and skills are, and everytime I mention it to someone, I get excited talking about it. Sometimes though, I think of all the hard parts of that career, the scary parts that I think I wouldn't be so good at. I start to second guess myself and where I feel God is calling me, thinking that maybe that really isn't for me. I realized this weekend, though, that I should not be afraid. God isn't going to call me to do something I can't do. I want to use my skills and talents to glorify God and to touch the lives of poeple. That part excites me. But like everything, there are always parts of life or a job that don't necessarily cater to my strengths. This weekend, though, I remembered that in my weakness, God is strong. If I have a passion for something, there is no need to be afraid of the hard parts, because God will take care of me. When I'm not up to a task, Jesus shines through when I rely on Him to help me do His will. I really can do everything through Jesus Christ who makes me strong. Whether it's a new job, a difficult task, a struggle to overcome an addiction, whatever. God empowers us to do things we never think we could do if we let Him work through us. That is waaay more reasuring than a good grade in a class or a diploma in my hand. Because if I have realized anything in Ohio, it is that I haven't got a chance of living a rich life without God. Only He can give a full, real life, and it is only through Him that I am able to do what I do. I realized that in regard to Bible Bowl this summer. I knew I couldn't possibly do well on my own, I just had to do my best for God, and He would take care of it. Now, on a whole new level, I'm learning to apply that trust to not just one part of my life, like Bible Bowl, but to every single part of it.

Today, for the first time in a long time, my status was "ILML" (I love my life). I've had a hard time lately, but today I find myself content with where God has me now. I want Him to guide my life, and I absolutely know He will. It's hard letting go, and it's completely a daily thing. It seems like everytime I wake up, my natural instinct is to take control myself. That hasn't got me anywhere, though. But I try to remember that God has planned out all the days that will come for me. He knows all of my days before one of them comes to be, and He knows all my thoughts even before I think them. That's insane. But totally awesome. I still can't figure out why it's so hard to trust a God who has everything that under control. It is though, and some days are tougher than others. But God doesn't change, and He promised that He would be with us always, even to the end of the age. He knows what's going on, and He has a specific purpose for me everyday of my life. That's exciting to me. It's a little scary not knowing, but so much better knowing that He knows exactly. I just want to help people, and I can't wait to see where He takes me.

"I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]." -Philippians 4:13, Amplified Bible

"I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am."-Philippians 4:12-13, The Message Translation

"Christ gives me the strength to face anything." -Philippians 4:13, Comtemporary English Version