Stay with You

I've had this song stuck in my head the past couple days. It's "Stay with You" by John Legend. I kept hearing and singing the chorus in my head then this morning I was thinking that this might be a good song to share at church. So I decided to look up the lyrics and here it is:



I've been getting in a lot of different ways from God that I need to develop my relationship with Him more so that I can in times of trouble rely on him. I've been learning that I need to learn how to rely on the Lord for provision so that i can truly enjoy and experience rest. The last couple of days in particular God has really been stressing the need for me to trust in the wisdom and goodness of the Lord. Specifically through my devotion...

The picture that came to mind illustrating this principle of obedience and absolute trust was the movie A team. Near the end of the movie "Face" talks to "Murdock" about how they have always gotten through difficult and seemingly impossible situations because of "Hannibal." No one else ever had to worry about the details or things going wrong because Hannibal always had a plan to get everyone out.

Another illustration for me was my life in the Army. Sometimes in field environments you'll be operating all by yourself with little or incomplete information of where enemy and friendly forces are. But if you have a good leader and you trust him implicitly, you can be free of worry. The leader assigns you a job and all you have to do is the task assigned to you.

In the same way in real life God is the master tactician. He's the guy that has his eye on the whole picture. His mind is the one that worries about the things that could go wrong and considers all the minute factors that could affect things that probably dont even affect me. The thing is God is a good leader who cares for each of his soldiers. He wants the best for each of them and doesn't want harm to come to them. He has a contingency plan for every situation. He has a out for every seemingly impossible situation( 1 Corinthians 10:13).

God has a plan and task for me, and rather than worrying about all the things that could possibly go wrong, or the seemingly huge and impossible tasks I should focus on the task that is on hand. God has given me simple tasks for me to be found faithful in now. What i need to recognize is that my faithfulness in these small things plays into God's game plan to win the war.

Fajita Fiesta!

So this past Tuesday was Christian Challenge's big kick off with the annual Fajita Fiesta. It turned out great with over 110 kids in attendance. God is so good and really blessed us. However, 3 hours prior to the start i had some serious reservations about the success of opening night when the hailstorm from no where showed up!

That's right! I said hail! Just 40min before 2:30pm the weather was over 107 degrees! In under an hour the hot arid campus of the University of Arizona turned into a network of islands seperated by fast flowing streams grimy asphalt colored water! There's seriously some places you could probably go kayaking :) (which is something i intend to try!)

This was definitely a memorable experience and a great lesson in the faithfulness of God. After seeing the deluge outside some people would be tempted to just fold and cancel when things seem to be heading toward disaster. We've planned to do things a certain way and dont think its possible for things to go any other way. I think the great temptation I've experienced in my life is to plan so well(or think i have) that sometimes I count out the wisdom and power of God. Rather than trusting in Him I trust in myself and my plan. However, in the past that hasnt always worked out. Several times in the past I've fallen flat on my face in very public ways, which is why I appreciate the director at Christian Challenge who was probably mindful of the Word of the Lord:

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed"

Proverbs 16:3

"In his heart a man plans his course , but the Lord determines his steps."

Proverbs 16:9

Now I'm not saying that I can plan anything for anything and as long as I pray and ask God to bless it the thing will get done. I have to recognize that first this is God's show and He just gives me the opportunity to play a part in it. God's show has a purpose and direction to effectively communicate His message. So when it comes to making decisions about activities related to Christian activity and proclaiming the glory of God, I need to keep the focus on the character of God and strive my best to ensure that the way I present is consistent with the nature of God. The activities that take place at event serve to build Christian community and serve as a witness to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in the community of believers.

If I have peace w/ God and have prayerfully submitted my will to His plan according to His purpose for His glory then I have nothing to fear the pressure for me to be "sucessful" in coporeal standards is off. I've committed all that I have to the incoporeal one and He will see His plan to completion.