Living God's Grace

If you own any electronic device and are at all connected to the world, you've probably heard about the extreme debates surrounding gays' right to marriage.

Facebook has been absolutely flooded with posts, symbols, and profile pictures supporting gay rights...and attacking the Bible, along with anyone who believes what the Bible has to say. Of course, the posts that I've seen attacking various verses pull meanings out of context. And unfortunately, the posters certainly seem ignorant of the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. I am frustrated, but also incredibly saddened by this. I'm also saddened by the amount of hate speech I've seen on both sides.

An article I read earlier definitely summarizes a lot of what I'm feeling at the moment about the article, and the conflict I've struggled with in my own heart. (To check out the article, click here.) No matter where we stand on the issue, one thing is incredibly clear to me. I know what scripture says, and I know how much God longs for everyone to know who he really is.

God is who he is. People's opinions and thoughts don't change that. He is the God that never changes. He desperately longs for a relationship with every individual. With Easter only a few days away, I am even more reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to allow for that relationship and for us to live under the New Covenant (1 Timothy 2:5-6). The best ways I know to do that are by sharing the Gospel, loving others, and extending them God's grace. Reacting to anything out of the anger or frustration I may feel does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:20).

So rather that react, I hope that you (and I) may be able to (by the grace of God) extend love and kindness to others, no matter the cost to ourselves. I pray you stand strong on the Word of God. May you be blessed with grace and peace and remember the ultimate sacrifice.

Happy Easter.

My SHIFT Retreat

So this weekend was one of the most interesting and out of control weekends of my entire life. That is no hyperbole, either. It was literally 100% out of my control.

Several weeks ago, some friends and I decided to volunteer for work crew on our church's upcoming SHIFT retreat for middle and high school students. So this weekend, we packed up and got on the buses to head to Buena Vista on Friday evening. One of the buses had mechanical issues, causing my ride to be 5 hours, and another group of students didn't arrive until 11:00pm. It was a rough way to start the weekend, but I let it go and moved on.

Saturday we got to serve the meals and clean pretty much all day. It was absolutely exhausting, but fun and such an amazing experience. We were supposed to leave the camp on Sunday, but a massive snow storm moved through the Buena Vista  Denver areas, making it incredibly dangerous to leave. So we prepared for another night at the camp.

When I initially found out about having to stay another night, I immediately started stressing out about school. I had so much homework to get done before Monday, and assignments to get handed in. On top of that, Satan used that stress as an inlet to start throwing everything I'd been struggling with last week at me. I was so grateful for a friend that was able to sit down and pray with me and just see God calm my heart immediately. I was able to get extensions on homework and the stress began to dissipate.

God showed me so much this weekend, and very little of it would've happened if we hadn't been forced to stay an extra 24ish hours. He taught me to trust him. The storm was no surprise for him. I was able to focus on whatever got put in front of me to do and not about what tomorrow would bring. "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious about itself." -Matthew 6:34

I was so grateful for my college group's teaching last week for one specific reminder: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." -Colossians 3:23 This reminder gave me such a peace, joy, and comfort to continue throughout the extended weekend, the exhaustion, the fears...

As God showed me all of these things on Sunday, very little was an instantaneous fix, but I could hear my Father saying "Just trust me." I had to constantly lay things before the cross and fight the urge to be anxious. But I was so grateful for his guidance and to have the opportunity to pass this encouragement on to two of my dear friends and sisters in Christ.

I cannot express how awful it is to see all of my plans that I've so carefully laid out get completely ripped out of my control. But in some ways, I almost wonder if God planned that storm just for me to learn how not in control I am and how in control he is.

"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your hand and says, Do not fear; I will help you." -Isaiah 41:13