Faith Archives - Page 20 of 28

October 3, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

When there are no words (#3)

#3 ~ TRUST

Sometimes there are no words.

Sometimes the words just will not paint the portrait I see in my mind’s eye.

I am at a loss. Nothing can frame the thoughts… answer the question… calm the soul.

The current pulls hungrily at my ankles… prying me from the Rock.

I close my eyes…

the whisper…

shhh

trust

No words.

Then, His words…

when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.

(Psalm 4:4-5)

Trust.

T ell Him all of it. All. Of. It. (even if the words won’t form out loud)

R each for His hands (know he will take yours)

U sher the doubt to the door (then, slam it… and lock it)

S eek His will ~ not yours (note to self: fit your will into His, not vice versa)

T ake the straight path ~ He has promised it

PROMISE #3 ~ Trust God.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

October 2, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Billboards and Bumper Stickers (#2)

#2 ~ PROVISION

12 hours.

1 truck.

6 kids.

2 parents.

2nd time.

1 week.

Road trip.

0 patience

1 definition of insanity.

I need some of God’s promises…

The truth… the kids did great, after much anticipation and recollection of past (painful) road trips. The kids did great. God is good.

My warrior and I had plenty of time to catch up on thoughts, laughs, concerns, memories… all of this between passing bottles, crackers, sippy cups, sandwiches, cookies, movies, reprimands, praises, scowls, smiles… to the back of the red bullet flying down the highway. (I really want to develop a pulley system… back and forth, back and forth).

During the peaceful times (thanks to Pixar), warrior husband and I were able to catch up… on all things related to worry. You know, the things of finance, war, peace, future, and on and on…

Not long into our journey back home, we were both plagued by dormant frustrations that had reared their ugly heads.

I think He uses this to test our response.

To see if we are learning… moving forward… toward Him.

My warrior nodded in agreement.

Silently we pondered, while the rain began to drizzle from the southern skies, wheels spinning, headphone adorned children mesmerized. Quiet. Peace in our hearts… missing.

My thoughts called to Him.

I want to trust You.

I want to know You are here. That You will provide for us.

I know You have time and again. I am sorry I keep asking. I want to trust You more.

My husband has this thing with God. His many commutes back and forth to and from work… he sees God speak to Him…

on billboards and bumper stickers

You know, He speaks to us any way we will hear Him. He knows where we are… heart, mind, body… every moment.

For my warrior… it’s

on billboards and bumper stickers

I don’t know why it amazes me every time… every. single. time. I am blown away. His presence. His faithfulness. His wooing. His reassurance. With Him… trust is rightfully placed.

Don’t you know… 5 minutes into this journey northbound with our six pack… He made it perfectly clear. Not once. Not twice.

At least six times. I lost count.

Just minutes after my thoughts stirred, my heart stirred… wanting so badly to battle the worries of this world…

I looked up.

Need Directions? … God

Not a small sign. On a tractor-trailer!

Then,

<><

Proverbs 3:5

(Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding)

On the same big rig.

My warrior and I grinned at each other.

5 minutes later… just a few miles down the road…

A red car sped past us… a bumper sticker…

Need directions? Ask God.

Are You kidding me? We both laughed. Ok, ok, we get it…

If there was any doubt, He was going to squelch it.

A few more miles down the road… a billboard… no, two billboards stacked upon each other…

Jesus. I trust You!

Really? We are that dense?

He knows we need Him that much. He loves so much that He relentlessly pursues us, reassures us.

But, He was not finished yet. Yet a few more miles and one more state line behind us… a sign, barely visible on a tree… on the side of the interstate…

No matter what,

Trust God.

We could barely make eye contact with each other. We, waited… for the next one…

And another. A billboard…

God loves you

Still, not enough… a family truck passed us by… a license plate

8 4Jesus

Just like us. Our road trip with 8… our journey with our six pack. All of us… for Jesus.

Just as I am pondering God’s promises. Just as my trust flickers, sparks, trembles in the wind. Just then… He, full of grace and love… He reminds me to trust. He will provide. Every time. All the time. Without fail. A promise. Never broken.

PROMISE #2 ~ God will provide.

Matthew 6:31-34

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

October 1, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

31 days of God’s promises (#1)

#1 ~ PEACE

Have you ever made a promise?

Have you ever broken a promise?

Have you ever wished you had kept your promise?

Have you ever wondered why you made that promise?

Have you ever met anyone who keeps all promises?

Same here.

I have heard the words…

God’s promises

… too many times to count.

I know a few of them. My kids ask me what they are. I don’t have the answer. I want to know the answer.

I know God has made many promises to us.

I know God never breaks a promise.

I know God will always keep His promises.

I don’t know what they are.

I want to know. My little ones want to know.

I am going to spend the next 31 days looking for them…

PROMISE #1 ~ God promises peace to his people. (a comfort to this warrior’s wife)

Psalm 85:7-9

Show us your unfailing love, Lord, and grant us your salvation. I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—but let them not turn to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.

September 28, 2012 by Karin 8 Comments

grasping at straws (for five minutes this Friday)

Grasp

Grasping at straws. Don’t you sometimes feel like you are grasping at straws?

Grasping at straws… it is trying to find reasons to be hopeful about a bad situation… it is to make a desperate and almost certainly futile effort to save oneself. This is grasping at straws defined.

I read that it comes from an analogy of someone floating… drowning… in a river… and reaching… with desperation for the reeds growing on the river bank. Grasping for something… anything… to hold on to.

I look into my aging mother’s eyes. I see her confusion flicker. My father’s frustration. I… grasp at straws… try to bless. Grasping with desperation to save. Them. Me.

Then the voice… a whisper

I have this

you don’t have to save them… or yourself…

I have already done that.

Let the water… the water of life… let it carry all of you.

Stop grasping.

Let go.

Grasp for Him…

G o to Him for the saving

R emember that He has already finished the battle

A cknowledge that He has taken the straws and built a bridge right to Himself… for all of us

S top. Listen. He is whispering to you right now.

P raise Him that you are free… free to breathe.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

September 25, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Through the eyes of a child

I open my eyes. This new day cracked through the sky to reveal the glorious sunlight. I hear my mother, my father… they are speaking to someone outside these mud walls. I hear my mother… joyous tears. My father… with a voice… different. I have not heard this sound from him before. Hope?

I hear the animals. We have two. The bleating goats… a milk provision. My brother and sister like to walk with them. I hear the stirring of the land. This land of ours used again and again, by my father and his friends… in hopes that it will yield… something… anything to give us a meal. I hear the gathering of my friends. It is time to walk for the gathering of our water.

The night is done. I am relieved. I am afraid in the night. The darkness smothers our two room hut. The sounds of the night here pierce my skin and frighten me. I pray for morning. I pray for the sun. This morning… different. I hear the voices. I sense… this change. Joy?

I smell the waste. Our village has no good place for waste. The smell of it rises with the sun. The heat burns the odors into the air. I have always known this smell. I wish I could wash it clean. My mother runs to wake me. I smell the salt of the tears on her cheeks.

Wake up

Wake up

She whispers in my ear. I smell her warmth… the dirt driven deep into skin by years of labor. Working to keep us alive… fed… sheltered… clothed. We can not pay for school. I wish I could read. I have heard of others… a few… who have this chance. I have heard them speak of Jesus. I want to know this Jesus that they speak of.

someone has come!

someone sees us!

someone sees you!

They have come to tell my parents of a sponsor. Someone has seen me. Someone has chosen me. Someone has brought a new sound of hope to our life. Someone has brought a smell of joy to this home. Someone has seen us.

I follow my mother. To see this visitor. I see. I see the smile. The joy in my parents. I feel a hope. I have not known this hope before. I look into the eyes of our visitor. I see love. I see compassion.

C atch the ones who have fallen aside, unnoticed, alone, forgotten, afraid, hopeless

O ffer a hand, a heart, a hope

M ove the despair from the eyes… replace it with joy

P repare a new heart for a new faith… a new birth into a great Kingdom… the only Kingdom

A ccept the prompting from Him… a nudge… a beckoning to open hands… fully

S ee the person… the child… behind the suffering

S hare the love of Christ

I gnore the lies that it will not make a difference… every. one. matters. every. single. one.

O ffer a chance to learn… to leave the poverty behind

N urture a desperate soul… in desperate need… of love.

(photo credit – Compassion International)

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

When there are no words (#3)

Billboards and Bumper Stickers (#2)

31 days of God’s promises (#1)

grasping at straws (for five minutes this Friday)

Through the eyes of a child

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