eternal hope and patient endurance

1. Be gentle

2. Don't be anxious

3. Present requests thankfully in prayer

4. Experience peace and a guarded minded

These are what I've claimed as my steps to peace. Sometimes 'life' interrupts your plans-not always in a bad way, but life has a way of catching up to you... and I think what I call 'life' is really a time of God taking what I've made into my own plans and merging that back into realignment with His.

Yesterday I had one of these 'life catching up' days. Today, after going over and over my four steps from Philippians 4:5-7 something new stood out. In verse 5 when Paul commands us to make our 'gentleness known to all' his reasoning is because 'the Lord is near'.

If Paul would have said 'be gentle because life is meeting your expectations now' over half of us would have a good reason to not be gentle. Yet, if our hope, joy, compassion, gentleness, and emotions were contingent on the hope of That Day, surely that is an unwavering hope.

So today, I must be fixed on eternity. The next plans (phase of life) that I have outlined for myself cannot be be my goal. I must make sure that these plans line up with God's final plan.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God 'has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end'.

This stage in life may not make sense to me- nevertheless what is required of me is a 'patient endurance and faithfulness' (Revelation 13:10). It's a form of the saying: 'when you can't trace His hand- trust His heart'.

When day-to-day circumstances confuse me, by not following the plan that I expected, I must realign my heart once again to eternity- the unfathomable eternity placed in my heart.

It is a difficult task because I would like to make my own plans and ideas, and to prepare, expecting the next phase to happen. Yet, every good and perfect gift I have received comes from a Father who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17).

I am, as His child, promised eternity. Holding on to the hope of That Day, I will not be moved away from gentleness and the patient endurance that is required of me when my temporary plans seem to have fallen through. The hope of eternity is much to great for that!

wisdom and the heart

'Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.'

-Proverbs 3:7

It's terrible that the thought synonymous with the phrase 'guard and protect your heart' is the voice of Kasey from Ali's season of the Bachelorette, complete with tattoo, claiming that all he wants to do is 'guard and protect her heart'.

Thankfully, beyond hearing Kasey's voice, I am also reminded of Proverbs 4:23.

In the first chapter of Proverbs wisdom is personified as a woman crying aloud in the streets; from there the writer of Proverbs continues to show us the specific actions of wisdom.

Chapter 2, verse 10 in Proverbs says: 'Wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul'.

In verse 12 of the same chapter wisdom becomes what will protect us 'from the ways of wicked men'. The promise of protection by wisdom is restated in verse 6 of chapter 4: 'Do not forsake wisdom and she will protect you'. And then in the midst of reading about the protection of wisdom it just seems natural that we would find 'Above all else, guard your heart' in Proverbs 4:23.

Wisdom enables me to guard my heart, not Kasey ;), and this wisdom is not from me, it is wisdom that comes from 'fearing the Lord and shunning evil'- that is the secret to a guarded heart, our wellspring of life.

Wisdom is key. It is to be 'looked for as silver and searched for as hidden treasure' Proverbs 2:4.

My heart will be protected and guarded by the wisdom of God! What a blessing!

such a strange way

"Why me, I’m just a simple man of trade
Why Him with all the rulers in the world
Why here inside this stable filled with hay
Why her, she’s just an ordinary girl
Now I’m not one to second guess
What angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the World"

I'm amazed at how God uses me. The words to this song seem so perfect with my thoughts today.

This morning I officially completed an internship in a position where I was able to serve high school students at my local church. The past year would best be summed up by saying that God graciously kept me out of the way. Words cannot describe my love and appreciation for what I experienced and was able to do.

This afternoon I received an offer to work in Louisville this summer after graduation. The job? Event planning =)

Why me?

God has caused His face to shine upon me. Never in a million years would I have thought myself to be worthy of such tasks or of such a calling.

I know that life isn't always easy. Today God has proven faithful in opening my eyes to His timing and providence, among other things.

It's funny that I never want to wait and that I tend to worry about my future, and yet God is always patient and always confident in His ways. His plan is so strange to me.

I'm off to a birthday dinner for a friend that I have now known for over half of my life. Today, I found a picture of us from high school. It was taken 6 years ago when we were on a church trip to Knoxville, now we are here together in college- incredible!

I am thankful for, and humbled by, days when God presents His plans before me in ways that I can't ignore; opening my eyes and taking back the layers on my calloused heart.

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my Great Redeemer's praise!