Friday, July 24, 2020

Events+Response = Outcome

I was reading in Jonah this morning and came across my notes from a series Pastor Dave, taught previously at Crossroads Church.

This note caught my eye and I felt it was SO applicable to what we're experiencing in our country right now.  Events+ Response = Outcome.  PROFOUND!   He went on to remind us that the only part of that equation we get to participate in or have control over is our Response!

God allows or creates the event because He knows what needs to happen in order to accomplish HIS outcome! 

I've seen a lot of disappointing responses to our current circumstances, so what do you says brothers and sisters, can we lay our opinions, our worries and our whining aside and trust God for the outcome?  Am I confused and disappointed in our current circumstance?  Of course! I had many  plans and projects that I had invested tons of times into that all got cancelled!

But, I believe fully that all God needs from me is a controlled - godly response.  And possibly to just be quiet!  Will you join me?

Friday, July 10, 2020

Fear and Trust are Opposites

God's given us today, July 10th.
How will I spend it?

If I'm scared, I am not trusting.

Fear and Trust are opposites and cannot exist at the same time.

I thought back to a recent conversation I had with a friend expressing that I was worried that it will be impossibly to even have an honest election.  I ended the conversation by saying, "but the Lord needs all of this to happen in order to fulfill his plan, so we just have to rest in Him".

As I walked away from that conversation I found myself not long afterward worrying this time about 'defunding the police departments'...

Did my worry honor the Lord?  Did it change tomorrow?  Did it demonstrate trust?

No, it instead supports a lack of trust.  AND wastes time the Lord gifted me with by allowing me to have today.  And over a period of time worry can actually shorten my life by ruining my health.

Matthew 6:27 & 34


27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

What I'm trying to be diligent about is going to prayer the minute I find myself slipping back into worry.  For me this means I need to avoid listening to news and anything that takes my eyes off of Jesus.  This refocuses my mind toward TODAY and the things that God has placed before me to care for, work on, and spend this day doing.  We have the opportunity right now to be the biggest witnesses we've ever been if we can demonstrate a calmness, a kindness and reliance on God, and refuse to become part of the frantic, endless search for answers the world is pursuing!

A watching world cannot deny God's power when they see us rest in Him instead of getting caught up in the worry frenzy around us!