My Crazy Faith

Learning to Praise and Trust God Anyway I think one of the hardest lessons to learn - and one of the greatest indicators of humility - is learning to praise God, to trust Him, and to cling to Him in the painful hard times.                It's easy to be thankful and to trust Him and to “sing His praises” when things are going our way and when we have more than enough (which is why I wonder about the level of spiritual maturity and commitment of those who are richly blessed on earth with success and money and power and who have not been broken by the trials and hard times).    But it is so hard to do this when we are in the “desert times” of our lives and when we feel like life is letting us down, like God is letting us down, and like we have been abandoned by Him.              Learning to praise Him and trust Him (and glorify Him) in the painful hard times is part of the journey of faith... and it can  only be learned through painful hard times .    It can only be learned ...      

Considering the condition of the world nowadays - with its loosey-goosy morals and lack of a true, stable, meaningful foundation - I think a lot of people might find some encouragement in this sermon from Willow Creek.  For being such a sensitive topic, this pastor did a great job addressing it (though I agree with him that he could've spoken a lot longer and covered a lot more about it):  "Why does God care about who I sleep with?"  

[This is similar to #1 ( "Let go" ), but a little more specific.] T hroughout our lives, we will find ourselves being pruned over and over again as God continues to weed out anything that doesn’t bring Him glory, doesn't fit His purposes for our life during the season we are in, and isn’t for our best.    And this isn’t always easy.  In fact, it seldom is.    We like things to be our way.    We like having the control, following our own wisdom, relying on ourselves and our strength, holding onto the things we want. Well, we like it until we see what a mess we've made of things... and then we cry "O God, why did You let this happen!?!" But God wants more for us.  And He's got not just the here-and-now in mind, but also eternity, the things that will last.  And in order to help us have the best - the best eternities, the best now, the best relationships, the best Christian witness - He needs to prune us of the things that get in the way, that work against

I wrote about some of the "hardest spiritual lessons" years ago on another blog of mine, but I am updating and reposting it here.   These are normal, typical (often painful) lessons that we will all eventually struggle with (it's okay to struggle) if we continue to walk with God and to chase after a deeper relationship with Him.    (And I know there are more than I've listed here.)   In no particular order (and broken up into individual posts), here are some of the hardest lessons I've learned over the years when it comes to faith and walking with God: 1.    Let Go or Hold on? Imagine you fell over the side of a cliff and are hanging onto a tiny root sticking out the side of the cliff with one hand, and God throws a rope down to save you.  But in your other hand, you're holding onto a water bottle you think you need.  You need both hands to grab the rope and climb, but you're afraid to let go of the water bottle.   After all, we need water to live, right? 

I posted these for the 2020 elections too, but here they are again for this election season... because I am so done with all the political chaos. A couple of Tim Hawkins songs as this election season gets under way, just for fun: Jimmy Buffet for President The Government Can If you can't do anything about it, may as well have some fun with it!

I just gotta share this one... I have always LOVED watching baptisms (and even more so when people share their testimonies too).  It's a special once-in-a-lifetime moment when someone vulnerably stands up in public and declares their faith in Jesus.  And it's a moment we should all celebrate and feel honored to witness. Well, today my neighbor - whom I've been doing Bible study with (along with her aunt) for the last few years after she became a believer in 2020 ( see here ) - decided (rather spontaneously) to get baptized during a church service at the beach.   And not only did I, her aunt, my husband, and my son get to go with to support her, but I got to get in the water with her (in my jeans, because I didn't know this was going to happen), pray with her, and help submerse her in the water too.   Totally cool!  And I am so honored and humbled to be a part of this amazing moment in her life! (And now we keep praying for her husband.)