Three Word Wednesday: Be Only You

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." ~ John 10:10

I love this Christian blogosphere. I've been so blessed and encouraged by the community of online friends. If I'm not careful though, it can steal my joy. There are many other writers who are far better than me. I let comparing myself to them lead me to believe I am not good enough. It's been a week of feeling ready to throw in the towel.

The writers I associate with also have amazing hearts. They have hearts that give and give. They give both their time and money to places like Compassion International, World Help and most recently I've seen posts for Mercy House Kenya.

I bounce from blog to blog and see writers I admire taking the leap to support these worthy causes. Soon I'm questioning where my heart is. Where is my heart if I don't choose to sponsor a child through Compassion International or World Help? Where is my heart if I cannot contribute even a small amount of money to Mercy House Kenya to help purchase a van?

Before long, it's as though I've forgotten where God has called me to be. I forget about the ten days I spent in Guatemala serving alongside four different missionaries bringing God's hope to the Guatemalan men, women and children. I'm all too quick to minimize the work I do daily to support our military and their families.

God calls us to be world changers.

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." ~ Eph. 2:10

It's about doing what God has called you to do. Maybe He's called you to be a world changer in your child's school. Maybe it's within your church. Maybe it's serving the homeless in your community. Maybe it's caring for an elderly parent. Maybe it's being a mother. Maybe, for a time such as this, it's sponsoring a child through Compassion International or World Help.

Ultimately, isn't it about doing what you can do right where you are to share God's love to those around you?

Paul tells us in Romans 12:6, "we each have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us." Instead of getting caught in the comparison trap we need to discover and embrace the individual strengths and traits God has given each of us.

Together are individual strengths and traits form one body in Christ.

"For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all others." ~ Romans 12:4-5

Together we fulfill an important purpose. As members of the body of Christ, we need to encourage each other. The writers I admire do this for me; they encourage me in my walk with God. Anything else is the voice of the enemy.

I've spent many years trying to be someone else so who I am can feel lost under many layers of masks. God is my hope. The more time I spend in His presence and in His word, the more I discover who I am. He is transforming me in to the new creation I am in Him.

Be who God created you to be. Be only you.

Three Word Wednesday: I Surrender All

Three Word Wednesday

I Surrender All

On Sunday our worship team closed our time together singing the chorus from the song, "I Surrender All," by Judson W. Van DeVenter.

"I surrender all,

I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all."

We stood and sang these few lyrics together after a member of our church, who will soon be leaving us, shared her story. She is not someone I've previously met but she is someone I will not forget. She is the inspiration behind my three words: I Surrender All.

She sat in front of the congregation and told of the day when a "bomb" went off in her life. The "bomb" hit when she received devastating news; news containing the dreaded "C" word. However, the "bomb" also led to something which she described as "really cool." Within hours of receiving the news she knew the only next right choice was to surrender it all to Christ. It was in the moment of surrender when she realized everything was going to be okay. Because of her faith in Him she trusted His promise in Romans 8:28,

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

What could have been the worst year of her life ended up being one of the most exciting years for her and her family. There is so much more to her story. Maybe she'd accept a request to one day share with us here. 

Before closing the service our pastor returned to his spot next to her. He looked at the congregation and asked, "What does it take for us to get to the point of complete surrender?" Will it take hitting rock bottom or will we make the choice sooner to "let go and let God?"

As many of you may know, my family is preparing for a season of change with my husband soon leaving for his first deployment. I know I've been telling you this for months and you must be wondering when this will actually happen. For his safety, and the safety of his fellow soldiers, all I will say is he leaves before the end of the year. Up until his departure he will spend little time at home due to training requirements.

I do try to refrain from continually talking about this deployment. It's what occupies my mind though so it's hard to write about anything else.

When I think about the months we will spend apart tears easily come. I also have fears which lead to sleepless nights. I don't necessarily fear he won't return home to me; I fear how different he may be when he does return home and how the time apart may impact our marriage.

This may not make sense to you but as much as I pray for plans to change, I also know how much it means to my husband to serve his country in this way. Honestly, there is also a prayer for plans to move forward out of respect for him.

My pastor's question stayed with me as I left church on Sunday walking a little closer to my husband. What would it take for me to completely surrender to God's will?

I could look at this upcoming year anticipated to be spent without my husband as one that will be the worst year of my life. I also have the choice to surrender it all to Him and trust He will be up to something good. He has already done so much good in our life.

I knew the next right choice so before sharing a meal together (going out for lunch after church has become a tradition), I took my husband's hand in mine and lifted up a prayer similar to the words we sang together that morning in church. 

"I surrender all,

I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all."

Friends, we need to trust Him completely and whatever comes our way make the choice to give it to Him with complete surrender. We live in a fallen world so unfortunately bad things do happen. Our God though--he does only good things.

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good things does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." ~ Psalm 84:11

Many people tell me I just need to be strong. Thank goodness I don't need to rely on my own strength as I know I can't do this by myself. I can trust God though to be my strength. We can do all things through the One who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13).