Just Keep Going

2 Corinthians 5 says that “as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God…”  You get the point.  No matter what we are going through in life, we need to commend ourselves to God.  The word “commend” means to represent as worthy, qualified, or desirable or to express approval of, praise.  No matter what we go through in life, we need to praise God and represent him as worthy.

We all go through good times and bad.  I’m sure that the “bad” times in my 23 years are nothing compared to the “bad” times of people around the world.  I’ve been fed, clothed, cared for, loved, and educated.  And that’s just the beginning of my blessings.

We were going through 2 Corinthians 5 in bible study a few weeks ago, and we were talking about how so many people just coast through the good times in life; a good time comes and we relax.  God is taking care of us, life is good, and we forget (or choose not to) read our bible and get lost in prayer.  I know that when I’m going through a tough time, I turn to God.  I pray to be comforted.  I pray to be loved, and held, and I pray for God to take the hurt away.  When life is comfortable I don’t think about God half as much and just go about my daily life.

Now obviously this isn’t the way it should be.  We should look to God everyday, no matter the circumstances.  I was thinking about this hill by my parent’s home that I rode my bike on everyday one summer in high school.  We live back in a little neighborhood that there is only one way out of, so that’s the way I rode everyday.  But this route out of the neighborhood, requires you to go down one hill and then immediately up another.  At the beginning of the summer I would coast down the hill and then struggle up the other side.  The hill was big enough that sometimes I had to get off my bike and walk it up to the top.  After a few days or weeks though I realized that if I pedaled while I was going down the hill, if I built up enough speed, then I could make it to the top of the next hill and stay on my bike.  It was exhilarating pedaling myself faster down the hill, and I could make it to the top, but it still wasn’t easy.

That’s the way our faith should be.  We can’t just sit back and enjoy the ride when life is good.  Instead, we need to read our bible and continue to pray.  This way when the tough times come we have our sword ready.  We continue to work through the good times and even though the bad times are still a struggle, they become doable, bearable.  Making it a habit to seek God in the good, means we’ll be that much more likely to do it in the bad.

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” ~Ephesians 6:13-17

The Little Things

How do you enjoy God?  Is it through music?  Is it through nature?  Is it through the job you do?  Is it gardening, reading, building something?  There are a million ways to enjoy God.  For some people it’s in a group of people, for others it’s when they can go off by themselves and just sit.  No matter how you enjoy God, alone or in a group, we all need community.  We’re made for fellowship.  We’re not made to do things by ourselves.  Sometimes it takes me a lot of effort to get off the couch and go do things.  Now, I might be lazy, but that’s not what I mean.  I mean the effort to leave the house, the effort it takes to be around people for me is enormous.  I go to church, I go hang out with friends, and I come back exhausted.  Being around people just takes a huge effort.  And yet I do it…and often come back encouraged.

Believers are meant to get together with other believers.  We are meant to get together in church, and when one person is missing, it is noticeable to someone in some way.  Some people are discipled; others do the discipling.  I think we need both in our life-we need to both teach and be taught.  One-on-one time is something that is dear to my heart.  This is the way I’m encouraged the most-to get close enough to someone older who can give advice that you are willing to share almost anything.  In the same way, I want someone younger (at least younger in faith) to look up to me.  I want them to feel comfortable enough to open up to me and listen to any advice I can give.

Enjoying God is one way that Christians live in light of the gospel.  Another way that we live in light of the gospel is living to show Christ to others.  There is song that’s a few years old called “Live Like That.”  There is a line in that song that says “If others pass and they don’t know my name, will they know that I’ve been changed?”  This line has been on my heart a lot lately.  Do the people around me know that there is something different about me, even if they don’t know me that well?  Do they see and wonder what I have in my life that gives me joy and hope?  I hope so.  One of my prayers for the past few months is that either make a difference in peoples’ lives (doing something little like listening when they need it, picking up something they dropped, etc) or if I’m already doing that, that God would show me those times that I make a difference.

I want to live in light of the Gospel.  I want my life to be a testimony to what I believe.  I want people to know that I’ve been changed.  I want to enjoy God in so many different ways, and live my life for him.