Life is challenging...take the challenge!

This past week Brian and I have been on a roller coaster! We are so ready to have the children that we are adopting in our home and to begin a new "normal" of changing diapers, doing homework, running around like crazy, and enjoying the never-ending noise. There are times when I sit in my now extremely large, empty home in silence. I dream of the day that I cannot get quiet anywhere. While I know that most moms would say "enjoy it while you can", I have done my best to be content and enjoy my non-child years. My heart now beats adoption every minute.

For the last few months, I have done my best to quiet that beat. I have told myself that Christ is my portion and to want more is wrong. But God is teaching me a new truth. When He is "giving you the desires of your heart", meaning that He is placing those desires in your heart because He is the One in control of your life, He doesn't require us to put them out of our minds. People tell me to focus on what is in front of me right now and let God handle the rest. While I agree worrying is sinful, I think that God lets us dwell on things yet to come to bring us to an ever fresh awareness of just how much we need Him.

At the beginning of this week, I would have said that life is hard. It is full of opportunities that require waiting and dreams that demand focus and attention. It is a struggle to stay consistent and content with the life that God has put before us. But how can I say that life is hard when we all know that it is a precious gift of God? Life is not hard, but challenging. Our society is pushing us to continually be looking and open to challenge. "Don't back down from a punch!" "America Strong" "Push the limits" Why do we view our Christian walk any different?

I challenge you to take us that cross and walk run daily with Christ. Moms, "be all that you can be" (Army) in your homemaking this week. Dad, "Just do it" (Nike) at work and then come home and do it again, but don't just sit down on the couch and veg while your children and wife beg for your attention! Christian, "Impossible is nothing" (Adidas) because Christ is by our side!

Taking every moment and utilizing every encouragement, live for Christ, dream and strive for dreams this week. Be content with Christ, but not complacent! Work toward the calling that Christ has given you, even if you know that it is months away.

Confidence in the Caller

When I was younger, my dad would call out to me. “Jump”, he would say, and down I went. No thought of the danger. No concern for what I would encounter should I hit the ground. I wouldn't. Dad was calling, so it was safe. As I grew, I gained more and more confidence in my dad. He was strong, able, and safe. This confidence was big. I would have followed him anywhere he called and done anything he asked. We lived in an area of bluffs my first six years of life. Our family would take walks on those bluffs and dad would walk right up to the cliff’s edge. He would call, “Come here.” Then he would pick me up, turn me upside down, and hang me over the edge. (Yes, even now he thinks he was crazy for doing it!) The view was great, and the rush through your stomach, catching your breath…it was incredible! Why, though, did I know that he wouldn't drop me? Why did I have confidence in him?

     Confidence is a prior experience or knowledge of faithfulness by someone. I had confidence in my dad because he had been faithful to keep me safe in the past. However, I didn't place my confidence in the idea or path that he was calling me to. He called and, because I placed confidence in him, I was obedient to his calling.

     In life, our confidence cannot be placed in the decisions and callings that Christ directs us too.  We can, however, put our confidence in the One doing the calling. Like David said in 1 Samuel 17:34-37,

“But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!’”

     The Bible never says that David had confidence in his calling…he wasn't sure how everything would work out. It doesn't say that he wasn't nervous or scared. Maybe he had got the calling wrong and maybe he wasn't sure what the next step was. On his way down to the battlefield, he might have even second guessed the calling. BUT…he never questioned the Caller. He knew of God’s faithfulness because of his prior experience with the lion and the bear. Those were huge problems and events in his life. At that time, he might have thought that they were the hardest thing he would ever do. Looking back, while staring at Goliath, they probably didn't seem that big. They were confidence builders for his battle. David knew the calling and had confidence in the Caller. He completed his portion of the task, which was to kill Goliath, and then stepped aside as God called others to finish the battle.

     We should react no differently when we are feeling called to something. No matter who believes in the calling or who doubts our feelings, we must take that step forward. Knowing that He has been faithful in our prior experiences, we obey the calling with our confidence placed in the Caller.

Food for Thought:

What prior experience gives you confidence in the Caller? What is the Caller pushing you to do to continue building your confidence in Him for those bigger experiences that are coming?