Promises

"If you'll go get me a cookie I'll love you forever and be your best friend!"

This is how we think of promises. Empty words that are only used to gain some sort of end goal. In today's world, promises can seem to be a tactic people use just to get what they want. I mean lets be serious, when its a cookie you want, you'll promise just about anything (especially if it's a Thin Mint...or an Oreo). We have lost trust in what people say and we refuse to believe people until they finally live up to their word. And who could blame us!? We are promised tons of things all our lives that simply never come to fruition. But here's the thing, human promises aren't perfect and therefore we see them fail. When our parents tell us "you can grow up to be anything you want if you set your mind to it" or "I promise it'll all be ok in the end" it's not that they don't truly mean it, it's just that they aren't omniscient. They just do not know what the future holds for us.

But here's the good part. There is one who really does know what the future holds. And not only that, but is in control of it. His promises are perfect and don't ever fail. His name is God. He's pretty cool.

In the midst of this world where words have lost their meaning, God's Word lives and carries so much truth! His promises are real and they are always fulfilled. God promises us love and peace (Isaiah 54:10). He promises to be with us (Isaiah 41:10, Deut 31:8). He promises to guide us (John 16:13). He promises wisdom (James 1:5). He promises us adoption as sons (John 1:12-13). He promises these and so much to His people, whom He loves.

You see, if these things have been promised to us by God, who knows everything and has the power to bring it about, why should we question Him? So often we treat God as if He were human, as if His promises aren't worthy. But He is the Lord God, the Holy One, and the Creator! Why do we question Him? Why don't we believe His Word? How much more could He change us and love us and show us His glory if we truly trusted in His Word!?

So rejoice my friends! Because He is real and His promises are true. What are you waiting for!? Claim the things He has promised to you and let Him give you life!

Strength That is Not Our Own

Have you ever had a moment while listening to a sermon, or some other talk, where you feel like the speaker is speaking directly to you? Like they must have been told everything about your life before you got there? Like you are somehow, suddenly, the only person in the room and what they are saying was meant only for you? I have. One of those times was this past Sunday. FYI, I'm about to get a bit honest here. I mean, not too intense so don't go crazy, but honest enough to freak me out a little. So there you go.

Here at school I go to a church called Vineyard Christian Fellowship (known to some as "the barn"). The Sunday before last, one of the pastors taught about Nehemiah and how to recognize what God wants you to do, seeing where He wants to use you, and then how to take initiative. This past Sunday was a follow-up, but rather than focusing on the external, this week was about the hearts of the people of Jerusalem. You see, after the wall was finally rebuilt, Ezra read the law of Moses out loud to the people. After hearing it, they began weeping.

I'll come back to what happened with Nehemiah later, but first let me get back to the beginning. Have you ever tried to hide behind a "mask of perfection"? In other words, do you try to pretend your doing great and you've got everything together because you are terrified people will see that you aren't? I have. It's a huge part of my personal story and something I constantly have to fight. Somewhere along the way I got it into my head that I had to be strong. That if I had everything together, if I could take care of myself, it was one less thing other people had to worry about. It didn't matter how I was actually doing because as long as I seemed fine to everyone else, I could convince myself I was fine too. But here's the thing, this doesn't do any good at all. Hiding behind that facade leads to isolation, forgetting how to express (or even feel) emotions, lack of joy, bitterness, and never wanting to take risks. This is how the pastor described the effects of his own "mask of perfection" last Sunday and I don't think they could be any more true. It was one of those moments where you're a little confused as to why they are up there telling your story before you realize they aren't. I've experienced all of those things because of my own mask that I put up. My own "mask of perfection" fueled by the desire to be strong. Doing this for so long, even though I don't even think I realized I was doing it most of the time, has made it hard, even still, to reach out to people. And it's made it incredibly hard to figure out the depth of my own emotions in any situation. So, this mask that was supposed to make me strong has actually turned out to be rather crippling.

That said, back to Nehemiah, because this is that part that actually matters. You see, the peoples' response to hearing the law was weeping and sadness because they realized how they didn't measure up, that they hadn't kept the laws perfectly. And if they're anything like us, I would bet they were starting to think up how they could be better from then on, ready to rely on their own strength to do it. But Nehemiah responds in a way that I never really understood until now. He says, "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." What the heck does that mean? They're sad because they feel inadequate right? What does joy have to do with strength? And how can joy possibly bring strength? Because they are His.

The reality is we are all broken. We are all struggling with things and none of us are strong enough to deal with those things on our own. But the truth is that we don't have to. God doesn't expect us to be perfect and He already knows we aren't. And if we are all broken and struggling, why do we feel like we can't be? Our own strength is futile and doesn't last. It's not even real most of the time because it's just a mask we hide our weakness behind. His joy is the only thing that keeps us going through the brokenness. His joy is our strength. He doesn't want perfection, He wants us.

When the people finally realize this, they rejoice and celebrate! They are free from the need to be strong on their own because the joy of the Lord is their strength! Truly knowing this frees us to be honest about our brokenness, to pull down the mask that hides us from the world and from the people (and the God) that love us. I am learning this slowly as the Lord is tearing down the massive wall I've spent my life building and I have seen Him work in some incredible (and I truly do mean incredible) ways. His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9), which means we don't have to be strong on our own. And that, my friends, calls for rejoicing!