Jesus Bring the Rain...

One of my favorite songs to listen to when I am going through a trial is Jesus Bring the Rain by Mercy Me. This song soothes my soul every time I listen to it. After talking to a friend going through many trials, this song cried out to me. "I am Yours regardless of the clouds that may move above, because You are much greater than the pain..."

We've all been there. Stuck in the middle of that storm and not able to see the way out. Not sure there is a way out. And just when you think it can't get any worse, the winds pick up and the rain starts to pelt even harder. Nothing seems greater than the pain when we are in the thick of it. Nothing. I remember hearing it explained like this once: Imagine someone is holding an object right against your face. You have no clue what the object really is being that close to it. It could be anything. But the further you move it away from you, the more detailed it becomes. You realize it's a pencil. You can see the colors and lines...you can see it for what it really is. Your perspective changes. It's so easy to lose focus when life is crashing down around you. It's these times during our trials that we lose our perspective and forget that the battle has already been won and victory is at hand.

James warned us that hard times would come our way. And when they come, He tells us to “consider it pure joy…because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” James 1:2-3

Perseverance? Do I have that? Do I really have a steady persistence in a purpose especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement? Not even close.

None of us likes to suffer, but suffering is an important ingredient if our lives are ever going to have any chance to mirror the life of Christ. If we want to be more like Him, then we, too, must suffer and persevere.

I don’t like the valleys that life brings my way. I haven’t yet learned to confront them with a joyful spirit. But I do know this: My walk with Christ can never be strengthened until I learn to walk through those valleys with Him, hand in hand. Life is filled with mountains and valleys. We often think of those valleys as the dark, suffering times. And most of the time they are. But what happens at the top of the mountain? Nothing grows. The growth happens way down deep into the valleys. That is where we grow. The real beauty that God has to offer is always found in the valleys.

My friend tonight asked when the pain would stop. When she would stop feeling what she was feeling. I said I didn't know. I can't presume to give that time line. But the one thing I do know is that through it, God will be glorified. Because it is through our suffering that we get a glimpse of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We serve a Savior who knows what rejection felt like...who knows what pain felt like. It's during these times that we must humble ourselves before God and admit we can't do it on our own. The answer to our trials is not to change addresses...it is to change our hearts.

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge...
Psalms 62:8

Comfort Zones

I do have an excuse for taking so long to write into the New Year. I've been deciding on a word.

A word you say? Yes. A word. Just one. To sum up this new year. One word that I want to do and become and glorify God with. So that's what I've been doing. Choosing my word. Waiting to hear from God with the green light.

This process started out a little chaotic. The thoughts in my head were consuming my heart. What word would I choose? What did I want to be in this next year? What did I want to accomplish? What was hindering me from being that person and doing those things?

My first word was forgive. Then God refined it into mercy, and finally compassionate.

com•pas•sion•ate
1. Share the suffering of
2. Showing or having compassion; humane, merciful, sympathetic

The word for me. Compassionate. It has been on my heart to be and show God's compassion to others. Yesterday morning on my way to church, I passed a homeless man sleeping under an overpass. Seeing him heaped under those blankets hit me so hard I almost wrecked the car. I don't know why this man hit me more than the others I have passed and seen. But as I drove past him, my heart cried "That could just as easily be me laying there...why do I get to have a warm place to lay my head at night? What makes me so much better?? Our hearts are the same! Dirty and ugly and sinful. But I'm the one showered and well rested...and he's the one shivering and hungry sleeping on the ground."

Though the fact that we live in a broken world is obvious, sometimes we look past it. Ok, alot of times we look past it. We too often have thoughts of intimidation towards our world that needs God's love. "That problem is too big for me. What could I give? What would it help?"

And this is where our faith in God takes a backseat to the insecurities that plague our minds. We need to remember that we are fully resourced to do everything God has called us to do.

I can do all this through Him who gives me strength...Philippians 4:13

It's time that we stop selling Christ for silver. It's time we as the church start changing the world, instead of allowing the world to change the church.

The solution?

Do what we can to minister with compassion and relevance.

Be in the Word everyday. Not when it's convenient. Not when we are exhausted at the end of a long day. Not fitting it in for thirty minutes before we spend an hour on facebook.
Be in the Word.

When we drown ourselves in the Word of God we can better understand the clear biblical vision of God and what He wants done. We need to return to the Biblical vision of righteousness, justice, love and compassion.

We need to show compassion to the victims of tragedy. To be compassionate to the victims of a selfish and materialistic society. The unlovely. The failures. The poor. The homeless. The handicapped. The unwanted children and the forgotten elderly. We need to continually be in prayer. Our hearts need to break for that which breaks His. And we can only do this with the word compassion in mind and on our hearts.

To be compassionate must come with a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. And there is something we all can do. Today.

Each one of us comes across someone each and everyday. Someone that is hurting. Someone who is alone and feeling unloved. Someone who has the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Give.
Give of your resources in some way. Time, money, whatever. It doesn't have to be alot. I think we get intimidated because we think that the something little we give is just that. Little. When in all reality, something little of yours is usually something huge to someone else.

Pray for them.
And I don't mean pray for them when you get home at night or when it is convenient. Let me challenge you...

Dig a little deeper. Approach them. Ask them how they are. How they really are. Ask if you can pray with them. The woman in front of you in line at Starbucks who just dropped her drink on the ground. The co-worker you have noticed coming into work looking exhausted and beaten down. The clerk at the gas station that looks lost. Scary? It can be. But remember, you aren't asking them to get too far out of their comfort zone. You aren't asking them to come to church. You aren't asking them for an offering. You aren't asking them to join a small group and bring a dessert.

Listen to where God is leading you today. Who does He want to reach through you? You never know what struggles that person is going through and what cross they are carrying. They may have just asked God for help...and He is trying to use you. Let Him. Surrender yourself to Him each and everyday. See where He can use you and your compassion.

So let's open our hearts, open our ears, and open our mouths to speak the Word of God to ourselves and to others.

Let's get out of our comfort zone.