Something Better

People are the worst sometimes. People disappoint. They have broken their promises. And at times I tend to put God in that same basket as another person that would let me down.

For example: the story of Lazarus.

It goes like this: Lazarus was a good mate of Jesus, and he was sick and dying. Jesus knew this, but he did not go to him immediately. All powerful, healing, life-giving Jesus let his friend die. What is that?! Imagine how shocked, disappointed, upset Mary and Martha [sisters of Lazarus and also friends of Jesus] must have been.

Mary even called Jesus out on it: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Other people around were also in shock: “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Fair point! Pretty good reason to throw your faith out the window and walk away.

But what Mary and the people didn't know is that the story was not yet over.

Despite what it seemed like, despite the people's doubt, Jesus was not through with Lazarus and his loved ones. Jesus had not abandoned them in their time of need. He was just planning something so much bigger and better than a healing.

Jesus was planning resurrection, new life.

Lazarus was dead, all wrapped up in a tomb. It was hopeless, his life was over and the only one with the power to save him knew but didn't come in time.

Except that he actually did. He came in HIS time, his perfect time. In his time, death was brought to life. In his time, people saw the incredible power of God. In his time, a crazy, beautiful redemption story was written that has spanned all of time.

Maybe you're sitting, waiting, wishing like Lazarus and co. Maybe it feels like people and hopes and dreams are dying around you and Jesus isn't coming. But maybe he’s not settling to slap a a little plaster over your pain. Maybe he’s refusing to let you settle for anything less than complete resurrection. A new life. A new attitude. A new, strengthened faith.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Problems are guaranteed. Frustrations will come. There will be times when all we want to do is scream at God as we drown in our pain. But our disbelief does not nullify who he is and what he does.

He is still God.

In the midst of your struggles and doubts, Jesus will not walk out. When the broken people of this broken world have left you disappointed, he remains. And he will not disappoint. He is not ignoring you. He is not indifferent. 

My friends, I plead with you, please, please, please do not give up on Jesus. He’s not giving up on you. Although you don't see it now, behind the scenes he is writing an incredible redemption story for you.

"You don't understand now what I am doing, but someday you will."  John 13:7

Don't stop believing!

Little By Little

A couple months ago, I wrote about doing hard things. 

Here are some things that I have learnt in that process: 

• The little hard things are laying the foundations for the big. 
• Pebbles lead to landslides.
• Little by little we travel far.
• Doing hard things is an attitude, not a one-off event.
• Our hard things change over time as our comfort zone is stretched and grown.
• Consistency is key.

Something I have learnt from running this year: When I don’t exercise, I get lazy. If I want to get fit, I have to run often. And if I want to stay fit, I have to keep running. There are no shortcuts to fitness. The longer you go without doing hard things, the harder they become. There are no shortcuts to doing hard things. But the end reward is so worth it!

All About Redemption

Nehemiah 13:2 

"Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing." 

God can take the darkest of dark and make light. He can take your biggest hurt and bring healing and hope. He can take your greatest failure and make something beautiful. God makes the most cursed the most blessed.

Wherever you are, whatever you dealing with right now, please do not despair. Jesus is all about redemption. Ask him to redeem the sad parts of your story, and be amazed at what he does.

For Food's Sake

Romans 14:20

"Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food."

No one wants to be 'that guy', the one that destroys what God is doing in the world. Yet in some ways, we all are that guy. We tend to get so caught up in our own desires, in our own challenges, in our arguments and even just in ourselves. In doing so we delay and weaken the work God is doing in and through us. It damages the beautiful work of God in your life and the lives of those around you.

...for the sake of food. ...for the sake of fame. ...for the sake of being right or being liked.

Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of [the thing that has you caught up right now].

What Jesus is doing is infinitely better than food, fame, failures, fears, and anything else the world has to offer. Get caught up in Him.

Encouragement

Deuteronomy 1:37-38

"You shall not enter it. But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it."

40 years before Joshua would lead the people of Israel, God called Moses to encourage him. Joshua probably had little idea of the huge plan that God was working out in his life at that time. Yet he needed encouragement then for the call he would live out in the future.

Who knows what great and marvelous things people in your life will be doing in forty years or days from now. Strengthen and encourage them now in all they do. Before the hard times, before the fame, put courage in them now.

Encourage, even if like Moses you feel that person is replacing you, or getting what you wanted. Encourage them to go beyond you, to fly God's flag higher, to lead His people further.

Don't be superficial or soppy. Be genuine and true. But be so generous in your encouragement, for it may shape that person's life, and they in turn may shape a country as Joshua did. 

Satan will use everything in our lives to bring us down. God calls us to give everything in our lives to raise each other up. "Encourage one another daily, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." (Hebrews 3:13)

God has a plan that requires people of courage and God wants to use you to put His courage within His people.

Jesus has put His courage in your heart. Share it!

Encourage. 

The Hope of the Bigger Picture

Ever feel like your life is just a random puzzle piece with a few splotches of colour that makes no sense and you don't know where you're supposed to fit in? Or maybe you feel like you've been given the wrong pieces for your puzzle, like you've been given the wrong story to live. Or perhaps you feel like pieces of your puzzle have been stolen from you, leaving you with gaps that will never be filled.

I know I have. But I've also discovered this:

God designed the picture that your life would paint, and he made every piece of life that you go through to fit perfectly into that picture and create something beautiful. When life makes no sense and nothing seems to fit, know that God sees the cover of the box, he sees the end result, what he's making you to be. He knows how it all fits together. Let him place the pieces of your life together.

God holds the puzzle box of your life in his strong hands; not a single piece is ever missing. No one can take that box out of his grip. Not your parents or colleagues, not friends or enemies, not your bully or your ex. Absolutely nothing can take away from what God is building with you. Ask Jesus to fill your gaps. Trust Him to give you the perfect piece when the time is right.

Your pieces are different to my pieces. I can't put my pieces into your puzzle, they wouldn't fit. Don't try and be a puzzle that you're not, it will just turn out a mess. Build your life into the plan and picture that God has designed for you, because that's the perfect picture.

Sometimes we need another perspective. When you've been looking at a piece for too long it becomes distorted and you need someone else to give you a fresh clear view of it. Chat with someone, tell them about the piece of your life that won't fit. Not saying that they'll fix it, but they can encourage you, broaden your perspective, pray with you and help you through.

Maybe you think no one will understand. And to be honest it is possible that we won't. But in Psalm 44:21 it says that Jesus knows the secrets of your heart. He understands fully. Not only does he understand, but he also sees the end. So you can trust him with everything, even the darkest pieces of your life.

There's also more to life than just building your own puzzle. In God's huge universal puzzle there is a place reserved just for you If you don't join us, connecting in and bringing everything you have to give, we're left with holes. We end up holey, not holy. No one can fill the gap that you leave because no one else is the exact shape and size and colour that God created you to be. So bring and come and watch God create something incredible with you!

Psalm 18:20-24

"God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him.

When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start.

Now I’m alert to God’s ways; I don’t take God for granted.

Every day I review the ways he works; I try not to miss a trick.

I feel put back together, and I’m watching my step.

God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes."

Do Hard Things

At the end of last year, a friend challenged me with words that have stuck with me ever since she jokingly said: "Not everything in life can just be easy for you, Kelsey."

I love easy. Easy is easy. It doesn't require anything of me. And for the majority of my life, I've been able to get by with only doing easy things. But for 2016, I made it a goal to do hard things.

Why? One, because Jesus did the hardest thing for me, and I want to live in honour of that.

Two, because when I'm 42 I want to have achieved and experienced a whole lot more than now at 22, and easy won't get me there.

Three, because I don't live in a vacuum, and my actions have an impact on the people around me. Perhaps by doing hard things I can challenge and encourage and strengthen and inspire.

And four, because I know that we all have so much more potential than we even dare to dream about. I want to grow into all I was made to be, not just what the world says is acceptable for me to be.

I've been inspired by some winner quotes in a book by Brett and Alex Harris called Do Hard Things:

• We aren't called to be successful all the time. We're called to be faithful, to take those first difficult steps— and leave the results up to God. 
• All effort—even failed effort—builds muscle.
• If you measure success only by other people's standards of what is acceptable, you will never reach your true potential. 
• Do what's hard for YOU. 
• We fall short of our true potential because we aimed only to be bigger than the next fish in our small pond. 
• Sometimes you have to take a stand for the sake of someone else. 
• The attitude with which you take a stand says just as much as the stand itself. 

The hard things I do this year will be different to the hard things you have to do this year. But I encourage you, let's do whatever we do to the best of our abilities and with smiles on our faces. Let's put ourselves in situations where we can grow and learn and become stronger and more like Jesus. Let's do hard things!