But Even If Not...

A few weeks ago in church, we had a message on this phrase and it's seemed to play and replay in my mind since.
In Daniel chapter three the king, Nebuchadnezzar, decides to build this towering statue that is to be worshiped by pretty much everyone in his realm. Earlier in the book, he had brought in these four Jewish boys to work for him. At the time of this worship ceremony, three of them were noted to be in attendance: Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. The ceremonial music began and everyone bowed down to the kings statue....except those three. The king was baffled, why wouldn't everyone want to fall at his command?! So, he tried again and this time he gave them an ultimatum, "But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazon fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?" (Daniel 3:15, emphasis mine)
Now, given those options, what would you choose? But before you answer that, here is their response:
"O Nebuchadnezzar we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." (Daniel 3:16-18)

Three things we can take away from Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego in their response to the king:

1. "He is able..." and "He will"-They knew the God whom they served (the LIVING God) was mighty to save them. Do we trust the same to be true in our own lives? I don't know about any of you, but I've never had my life threatened with the ultimatum of being thrown into a fiery furnace. If these three could have a firm faith in God as both rescuer and deliverer when faced with that kind of threat, then I am without excuse.

2. Their minds were on eternity- These guys knew their lives had an expiration date. They also knew the One who set it. For these men, there was no compromising. Live or die, they knew they answered to the Lord on High and NO MATTER THE THREAT only He can give live and ONLY He can take it away. They trusted and knew that if they were to die, it wouldn't be at the hands of a human king, but at the appointment of the Almighty.

3. "But even if not"- It would be easy for us to look at this phrase and say "Oh see, they don't have that much faith. They're clearly doubting that God can actually save them". It would be easy, but we would probably only be trying to justify our own lack of faith. This is not an example of doubt at all, but more proof of their faith . What these men show us in saying this is a recognition in knowing that God owes them nothing. He can choose to save them or He can choose to let them burn. And if He chooses the latter and it changes the way they perceive Him (as having less power and ability), then their witness and faith in God would be futile.

 You know, I find it interesting that this is the last time we read of these men for the entire rest of the book. They do survive the fiery furnace in a miraculous way (I encourage you to read Daniel chapter three to see how), but they are never heard from again in the book. What an example they leave behind.

Lately, God's brought some challenging situations into my life and I've had to make a choice will I bow and compromise and let my faith and knowledge of who God is just disintegrate? Or will I say, "even if not"?

When everyone else chooses to bow, I want to be the one standing.

Even if not,

He is still faithful

He is still good

I WILL still serve Him.

The Truth about the Lies

"You would never be good at that." "don't even waste your time, you'll just fail anyway." "you're too fat." "you're too skinny." 'you could never pull that off." "that's not your place." "you don't fit in here." "this is not where you belong." We've all heard it before....no? Okay, let's make it more personal then...

YOU fill in the blank,
"If you're not ______________, you're just not enough." 

Ouch.

When did life become about keeping up with the Joneses (or would it be more relevant for me to say Kardashians...or other people's Facebook statuses)?
Trust me, in this aspect of life, I can say I am the greatest of sinners. I've believed more lies than I could or care to count (boy, aren't you glad Love keeps NO record of wrongs?! phew). I understand the appeal to chase after them in hopes of conquering their abuse in our lives, but at the end of the day...WHY are we chasing them? These lies stand as scores in the comparison tournament. Sometimes the competitors in that tournament are just ourselves and other times we have several visiting opponents. Regardless of who the face-off is against, this battle for comparison is never ending. And it will always end in defeat for both present parties.
They're enticing, I know. They're believable, I understand. Sometimes we just aren't strong enough to recognize them, been there. They hold a lot of power over us, yes, but we need to recognize the ultimate source of our weakness here. It is not in falling for the deception or sinking in defeat of it. The real issue is that we have forgotten THE truth.

I'm not talking about the simple truths that are the antithesis of these lies, no, we have forgotten the Ultimate Source of Truth. Christ Jesus. The real problem here is not that the lies come, that fact does not display our weakness but rather, is a result of living in this flesh. The real problem is that when they come we so easily fall prey to them rather than seeking our King Jesus to see what He has to say, to remember His power and might, and to know how He defines us. The only comparison game we should really be playing here is comparing ourselves to becoming more like Christ. Will we fail? Oh, absolutely! But He gives grace in that. The definition of our life does not come through titles, occupations, dress sizes, or style. The definition of our life comes from the Lord God, and the fact that He has loved us enough to give us this breath makes us enough. If you're tired of trying to beat the lies...good! If you're sick of falling for the deception....good! The power of God and His love for us is greater than the power of the lies, it is more empowering than the deception, and it is the only way to defeat the falsities.

Still struggling to believe it's true? Here's just a glimpse of what God thinks of you:

-He calls you His child [John 1:12]

-He calls you redeemed [Romans 3:24]

- He calls you His friend [John 15:15]

-He promises to take care of you [Matthew 6:26]

-He will meet our needs [Philippians 4:19]

-He opens His arms for refuge [Deuteronomy 33:27]

- He has made you His heir [Romans 8:17]

-He accepts you [Romans 15:7]

-He has set you free from sin and death [Romans 8:2]

Paddling Together

My husband and I just got back from our honeymoon to Kauai! It was amazing, the island was beautiful, and our first traveling experience as Mr. and Mrs. was full of so many adventures! One of the things we were able to do while we were there was take a kayak trip that led us to a hiking trail through the jungle to a beautiful waterfall. It was so incredible and such a fun way to tour different parts of the island!

When you’re kayaking with another person you’ve really got to be in sink, paddling on the same side at the same time and keeping the same tempo. It sounds simple enough but it can get pretty tricky as you navigate against the flow of the river and into some very narrow and shallow channels. And If you do get out of rhythm you end up splashing each other, slowing down, and potentially tipping the boat. Thankfully, that last one didn’t happen to us but the other things did. It was really frustrating at the start of the trip. I was in the front thinking selfishly of my husband, “he can see what I’m doing, he should just be keeping pace with me! All he has to do is look ahead!”

I know what you’re thinking….and I already admitted…I SELFISHLY thought these things….

Well my little fit over the whole paddling situation didn’t ruin the whole day and the rest of the trip ended up being great!

But it really got me thinking, and in that thinking the Lord has shown me some awesome things that I want to share with you all…

In life, it’s really like we are in that kayak with Jesus. Paddling together down the river of life to destinations that hold hidden beauty. In our kayak Jesus is sitting in the front- leading and guiding, charting the route to our next destination. All we have to do is look ahead- to Jesus- and keep pace with him. It sounds simple enough right? And yet somehow, we can still manage to mess things up. We try to paddle too fast…to get ahead of God and His plans, to try to walk in OUR ways as if WE know best. Other times, we go too slow…we stay stagnant when God has told us to move. In both cases we lack faith and trust in God, oh how foolish our little hearts can be!

The beautiful thing about paddling with Jesus is that He doesn’t throw a fit (unlike myself) when we are lacking the common sense to look ahead or simply can’t keep up with Him. Instead, He is constantly looking back to us to encourage us, to grab hold of us, to steady our boats when we are near the tipping point. Even when we try to paddle our own way God’s gentle hand continues to guide, His loving arms hold us, He showers us with grace, and He will never jump ship and leave us to navigate the waters of life alone. He has called us his OWN and He is just waiting for us to paddle WITH Him.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. -Jeremiah 29:11

Spring Cleaning and The Potter's Hand

Yep, it's getting to be that time again...spring is on its way!!! Spring is my favorite season. The air warms up, the smell of freshly cut grass fills the air, and everything seems to be new again. Maybe that's the part I love the most, everything that was dead in the winter comes to life with the freshness of spring.              It's a lot like the condition of our hearts.

We've all been there.

The seasons of life that just seem more like a dreary winter than a crisp warm spring day. We've all walked through them, the days that are dry, cold, filled with striving and harsh conditions. It's not fun, and yet those seasons are often necessary to bring about a change and newness in our lives.

I've been walking through a season like this myself lately. I am finding lately, that everyday seems like a confrontation with my sin and brokenness. I have been carrying a lot of stress about so many different things.
I could try to justify this condition away, however, the fact of the matter is, that I have CHOSEN to carry stress about these silly little things, rather than CHOOSING joy about the beautiful blessings the Lord has and is bringing into my life. What has been coming out of the abundance of my heart lately has not been pretty, what I am seeing in myself is that I am just as broken and sin-filled as anybody out there. It is not easy to look into your heart and see what a mess it is, but what the Lord can do to clean things up is really miraculous and beautiful...and that's something I'm learning about lately.

"But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him."- Jeremiah 18:4

We sure can do a lot to mess things up. We are always fighting a battle between our flesh and spirit and all too often, our flesh is the victor. Because of our sinful and wicked hearts, we come to the Father as the marred clay. The clay that is useless, lifeless, has nothing good to offer. But God, the skillful Potter, rebuilds us, redeems us, gives us a new name and shape. God, the Potter, crafts us into a beautiful vessel that can be used to serve, that has life, that is pleasing to Him.

Friends, only God can see our potential amidst all of our broken and spoiled pieces, and He has the skillful hands to not simply put us back together, but to make us completely new. Praise Him, and let Him do some spring cleaning in your heart today. It may not be pretty and probably won't feel so good, but it is only by clearing away what is the dead of winter, that spring time can come.

always,
Kaity