Notes of Faith March 15, 2023

Notes of Faith Marh 15, 2023

What Is Your Soul Telling You?

I love a good movie soundtrack. They can bring feelings of melancholy and pain; hope and joy. I feel other-ly and myself all at the same time. I feel possibility, inspiration, and imagination at work. We also have soundtracks for our lives that instantly fill us with emotion. A time. A place. A person. Well, your soul has a soundtrack too. It could be a playlist of pain or perhaps chronic stress, like static you can’t tune out. Or the low hum of white noise akin to anxiety. Maybe there is silence where you are aching to hear something, anything. Possible your soundtrack is an ever-shifting eclectic mix of happy and sad tunes. Your soul is speaking.

No matter how loud or languid, your soul is playing a tune. Whether joyful or despondent, it’s telling a tale and offering precious information that is elemental for change. It’s time we stopped turning down the volume, skipping to the next song, or completely zoning out while a pain playlist is set to repeat. Today is the day to start truly paying attention to the soundtrack of your soul.

One cold, dark December night, I was forced to begin paying attention to my soul. Relationships in my family of origin were swiftly shifting. I experienced the loss of a loved one. I was overwhelmed with emotional pain. Looking back, I knew I was confused, scared, uncertain, exhausted, and facing chronic stress, but I couldn’t see beyond the burning emotion in the moment. I now understand that there was a lot going on in my soul — the inner life of my mind, will, and emotions where my spirit (the eternal me) as well as the Spirit of God dwells.

Scripture says that in Christ we become new creatures, meaning our spirit is instantaneously made new (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). Yet it is our soul (our mind, will, and emotions) that needs constant renewing (see Ephesians 4:23-24). The renewing is what transforms our lives (see Romans 12:2).

• Renewing requires our participation.

It requires us to pay attention to what our soul is saying, and to identify and clear out the clutter that stands in the way of change. And it starts with simply being still. Noticing what’s been neglected, what hasn’t been working, what you’ve been avoiding.

Own Your Responsibility

As I observed these things in my own life, I realized I own my choices and their outcomes. I own my actions. I own my attitudes. I own my behavior. I own the opportunity to do something about all my pain, all my clutter — this is my responsibility. To overcome, first we must own. We have to tell the truth and take responsibility. We aren’t responsible for what was done to us.

However, we are responsible for what we choose to do with our pain. It takes courage to own, because accepting truth takes courage.

God’s responsibility is to set free — which is already done by the completed work of the cross. While God has already completed the work of freedom and it is ours, we often find that there is a process and path to experiencing the fullness of freedom. God is always looking for our participation. We know that our freedom is paid for. That the great wide-open awaits us. Yet if we don’t remove the chains, if we don’t walk out of the tight spaces, we aren’t experiencing the abundant life Christ paid for. It is the child of God who understands their freedom who can slide the broken chains off.

Every God-born person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God. — 1 John 5:4-5 MSG

As our chains are removed, we can build a new story for ourselves. You can choose to use your imagination to reframe a situation and dream up new possibilities — to envision God’s promises in Technicolor. You can always tell yourself a new story. Your character can develop. Your plot can twist. The role you’ve been assigned in someone else’s story is not your assignment.

Overcome the Clutter

I start new stories by speaking. Why? Because usually there is a narrative that needs interrupting. As we know, it is important to pay attention to the soundtrack of our soul, but to overcome we need to speak to our souls — to give a new line, a new direction, to reframe. Our mind and emotions love to be the star of the show, but at some point, if we want to overcome, our will must take the lead.

Speaking to your soul is one of the most powerful ways to not only unpack your soul clutter but to get it out of the house. In unpacking my stories and I hold them up to the light of God’s unchanging Word — the truth. By doing this, I’m learning to reframe and reroute storylines so they don’t hold me back from becoming the person I want to be in Christ. It is our choice to break free from this kind of clutter and overcome.

I find that there are two ways to view overcoming. First and most importantly, we must understand that we are already overcomers. The pressure is off. It’s not on you.

If you are a child of God, then you already are an overcomer.

Second, overcoming is something that we do — it’s not an elusive arrival; it’s participation with the Spirit. It’s ongoing-ness. We can practice overcoming. We practice being who we are.

Overcome also means an overwhelm of emotion. These two words, overcome and overwhelm, seem to hold hands. Imagine overcoming your soul clutter (emotional pain, fear, anxiety, depression) by being overwhelmed with peace and joy! This is the new story we are going to tell ourselves. We are overcomers! We are overcoming! We are overwhelmed with peace and joy!

Adapted from Unclutter Your Soul: Overcome What Overwhelms You by Trina McNeilly, copyright Trina McNeilly.

The full power and glory of God lives within every believer in Christ. Why is it that we do not yield to the Holy Spirit and let Him guide our lives to be obedient and pleasing to God? We must be aware by faith that He is there and wants the very best for us. Let us continue this earthly journey wearied by sin and strive toward the mark of Jesus, our Lord and Savior! You are an overcomer in Christ!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 14, 2023

Notes of Faith March 14, 2023

For the Body

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! — Ezekiel 37:5

*

To breathe is brave.

Never underestimate the power of an exhale.

There will be some nights

where you will look up and lose track of all the stars you see,

and there will be some nights

you can’t lift your head,

but in both

of those nights

and every other

night in between,

you are strongest

when you take

the time to breathe.

It takes courage

to live through heartbreak. Breathing is no small feat.

When you find yourself falling into the pit of anxiety, remember the ladder of hope that reminds you there is no reason to be afraid. There is still a way out of this, and you are still capable — not perfect, but capable — and you have permission to try to climb again. Even if your hands shake, and your knees are weaker from the fall, you can still trade your fears of tomorrow with hope for today: the courageous decision to climb on anyway out of the pit of anxious thoughts.

There is no reason to live afraid.

*

To breathe is brave.

There will be times when the last thing you want to do

is hear

that you have

to keep going.

The last thing

you will want to do is feel

you have to keep pushing.

Let the breaths leaving your body second by second remind you

how seconds soon turn into minutes, and these minutes soon turn into hours and hours

then turn into days

and even though you once thought

you were stagnant,

you have made it

a miraculously long way through the darkness.

Excerpted from All Along You Were Blooming by Morgan Harper Nichols, copyright Morgan Harper Nichols.

Phil 3:14

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus

NASU

One day at a time!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 12, 2023

Notes of Faith March 12, 2023

In Our Hard Times

Turn My Mourning Into Dancing

If God is found in our hard times, then all of life, no matter how apparently insignificant or difficult, can open us to God’s work among us. To be grateful does not mean repressing our remembered hurts. But as we come to God with our hurts — honestly, not superficially — something life changing can begin slowly to happen. We discover how God is the One who invites us to healing. We realize that any dance of celebration must weave both the sorrows and the blessings into a joyful step.

I once saw a stonecutter remove great pieces from a huge rock on which he was working. In my imagination I thought That rock must be hurting terribly. Why does this man wound the rock so much? But as I looked longer, I saw the figure of a graceful dancer emerge gradually from the stone, looking at me in my mind’s eye and saying, “You foolish man, didn’t you know that I had to suffer and thus enter into my glory?” The mystery of the dance is that its movements are discovered in the mourning. To heal is to let the Holy Spirit call me to dance, to believe again, even amid my pain, that God will orchestrate and guide my life.

We tend, however, to divide our past into good things to remember with gratitude and painful things to accept or forget. This way of thinking, which at first glance seems quite natural, prevents us from allowing our whole past to be the source from which we live our future. It locks us into a self-involved focus on our gain or comfort. It becomes a way to categorize, and in a way, control. Such an outlook becomes another attempt to avoid facing our suffering. Once we accept this division, we develop a mentality in which we hope to collect more good memories than bad memories, more things to be glad about than things to be resentful about, more things to celebrate than to complain about.

Gratitude in its deepest sense means to live life as a gift to be received thankfully. And true gratitude embraces all of life: the good and the bad, the joyful and the painful, the holy and the not-so-holy. We do this because we become aware of God’s life, God’s presence in the middle of all that happens.

Is this possible in a society where joy and sorrow remain radically separated? Where comfort is something we not only expect, but are told to demand? Advertisements tell us that we cannot experience joy in the midst of sadness. “Buy this,” they say, “do that, go there, and you will have a moment of happiness during which you will forget your sorrow.” But is it not possible to embrace with gratitude all of our life and not just the good things we like to remember?

If mourning and dancing are part of the same movement of grace, we can be grateful for every moment we have lived.

Everything is grace.

We can claim our unique journey as God’s way to mold our hearts to greater conformity to Christ. The cross, the primary symbol of our faith, invites us to see grace where there is pain; to see resurrection where there is death. The call to be grateful is a call to trust that every moment can be claimed as the way of the cross that leads to new life. When Jesus spoke to His disciples before His death and offered them His body and blood as gifts of life, He shared with them everything He had lived — His joy as well as His pain, His suffering as well as His glory — and enabled them to move into their own mission in deep gratitude.

Day by day we find new reasons to believe that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ.

Of course, it is easy for me to push the bad memories under the rug of my consciousness and think only about the good things that please me. It seems to be the way to fulfillment. By doing so, however, I keep myself from discovering the joy beneath the sorrow, the meaning to be coaxed out of even painful memories. I miss finding the strength that becomes visible in my weakness, the grace God told Paul would be

sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. — 2 Corinthians 12:9

Gratitude helps us in this dance only if we cultivate it. For gratitude is not a simple emotion or an obvious attitude. Living gratefully requires practice. It takes sustained effort to reclaim my whole past as the concrete way God has led me to this moment. For in doing so I must face not only today’s hurts, but the past’s experiences of rejection or abandonment or failure or fear.

While Jesus told His followers that they were intimately related to Him as branches are to a vine, they still needed to be pruned to bear more fruit (see John 15:1-5). Pruning means cutting, reshaping, removing what diminishes vitality. When we look at a pruned vineyard, we can hardly believe it will bear fruit. But when harvest comes, we realize that the pruning allowed the vines to concentrate their energy and produce more grapes.

Grateful people learn to celebrate even amid life’s hard and harrowing memories because they know that pruning is no mere punishment, but preparation.

When our gratitude for the past is only partial, our hope for the future can likewise never be full. But our submitting to God’s pruning work will not ultimately leave us sad, but hopeful for what can happen in us and through us. Harvest time will bring its own blessings. I am gradually learning that the call to gratitude asks us to say,

“Everything is grace.”

As long as we remain resentful about things we wish had not happened, about relationships that we wish had turned out differently, mistakes we wish we had not made, part of our heart remains isolated, unable to bear fruit in the new life ahead of us. It is a way we hold part of ourselves apart from God. Instead, we can learn to see our remembered experience of our past as an opportunity for ongoing conversion of the heart. We let what we remember remind us of whose we are — not our own, but God’s.

If we are to be truly ready for a new life in the service of God, truly joyful at the prospect of God’s unfolding vocation for our lives, truly free to be sent wherever God guides, our entire past, gathered into the spaciousness of a converted heart, must become the source of energy that moves us onward.

Excerpted from Turn My Mourning Into Dancing by Henri Nouwen, copyright Estate of Henri Nouwen.

God’s grace is poured out upon us even when we don’t realize it. It is all to easy to take it for granted. But the closer you are to Him, the more intimate relationship you have, the more you will praise Him for His grace. It is His will, His desire, His love that makes it possible for us to be saved, through the offering of His Son Jesus, to receive the punishment for our sin, and provide His righteousness as we by His grace, believe in the work of Jesus to redeem and forgive us. God’s grace is truly amazing!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 11, 2023

Notes of Faith March 11, 2023

A Great Idea

I praise You because You made me in an amazing and wonderful way. What You have done is wonderful. I know this very well. — Psalm 139:14

You are a great idea! I don’t mean you have great ideas — though I’m sure you do! I mean that you yourself are a great idea. How do I know that? Because you are God’s idea — and He only has great ideas.

When God sat down to create the very first man and woman, He said,

Let Us make human beings in Our image and likeness. — Genesis 1:26

God didn’t say, “Let us make oceans in our image” or “flowers in our likeness” or “giraffes in our likeness.” Nothing else in all of God’s creation is made in His likeness. Not plants, or weeds, or trees. Not elephants, anteaters, or even the cutest little puppy. Not stars, or mountains, or seas. Only people — including you and me.

You are God’s great idea!

What does it mean to be made in God’s likeness? It means you are made to look like Him. Maybe not on the outside. But on the inside, in your heart and mind and soul. Does that mean you’re perfect? Nope, nobody is. Except Jesus, of course. But it does mean that you take after Him. You get your kindness and your courage from Him. And when you love and help and forgive others, that’s when you look the most like Him.

In this world, people will sometimes see your mistakes as a reason to laugh at you. Some people might call you names. Others might decide not to be your friend because of where you live or the way you look. Don’t listen to them. Instead, remember this:

You are made in the image of God.

You’re a diamond, a precious jewel. You are so important to God, so loved by Him, that He sent His only Son to save you.

You can’t see them, but God’s fingerprints are all over you. So be sure to thank God today for His great idea of making you!

Remember

You are God’s great idea!

Excerpted from You Can Count on God by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

The only thing created in the image of God is mankind! We are created to reflect the glory of God! How God-reflective are you?

Pastor Dalale

Notes of Faith March 10, 2023

Notes of Faith March 10, 2023

Jesus, Help Me with My Problems

Merciful Jesus,

I ask You to smooth out the tangled-up places in my life, including those in my mind and heart. I come to You just as I am — with all my knotty problems and loose ends. Many of my difficulties are complicated by other people’s problems. So it’s hard to sort out how much of the mess is mine and how much is theirs. I want to take responsibility for my mistakes and sins without feeling responsible for the sinful failures of others. Please help me untangle my complex circumstances and find the best way forward.

I’m realizing that Christian growth is all about transformation — a lifelong process. Some of the knots from my past are very hard to untie, especially those that involve people who continue to hurt me. Instead of obsessing about how to fix things, I need to keep turning toward You—seeking Your Face and Your will. As I wait with You, help me to relax and trust in Your timing for smoothing out my tangled-up places. Show me how to live with unresolved problems without letting them distract me from You. I rejoice that Your abiding Presence is my portion — and my boundless blessing!

In Your magnificent Name, Amen

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV; 1 Chronicles 16:11 NASB; Lamentations 3:24 AMP

*

Sovereign God,

Help me to make friends with the problems in my life. Many things seem wrong to me, but I need to remember that You’re in control of everything. Your Word assures me that all things work together and are fitting into a plan for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. I can access this magnificent promise through trusting You.

Every problem can teach me something — transforming me little by little into the person You designed me to be. Yet the same problem can become a stumbling block if I react with distrust or defiance. I realize I’ll have to choose many times each day whether or not I will trust You.

I’ve discovered that the best way to make friends with my troubles is to thank You for them. This counterintuitive act opens my mind to the possibility of blessings emerging from my difficulties. Moreover, when I bring You my prayers with thanksgiving, my anxiety diminishes and Your Peace that transcends all understanding guards my heart and my mind.

In Your wonderful Name, Jesus, Amen.

James 1:2; Romans 8:28 AMPC; Philippians 4:6-7

*

My Lord,

Help me to thank You for everything — including my problems. As soon as my mind gets snagged on a difficulty, I need to bring the matter to You with thanksgiving. Then I can ask You to show me Your way to handle the situation. The very act of thanking You frees my mind from its negative focus. As I turn my attention to You, my difficulty fades in significance and loses its power to trip me up. You guide me to deal with the problem in the most effective way — either facing it head-on or putting it aside for later consideration.

Most of the situations that entangle my mind are not today’s concerns: I’ve borrowed them from tomorrow, next week, next month, or even next year. When this is the case, please lift the problem from my thoughts and deposit it in the future — veiling it from my eyes. Then draw my attention back to Your Presence in the present, where I can enjoy Your Peace.

In Your perfect Name, Jesus, Amen

Ephesians 5:20 NLT; Philippians 4:6; Psalm 25:4-5 NKJV; John 14:27

Excerpted from Jesus Listens by Sarah Young, copyright Sarah Young.

As true followers of Jesus, we know that He hears us when we pray, and therefore know that He will answer. Our cares and burdens are lifted. Our anxious worries and thoughts give way to His peace. By His grace our problems become useful for transformation, more and more each day into the likeness of Christ!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 9, 2023

Notes of Faith March 9, 2023

Forget Pursuing Revenge

In the classic Alexandre Dumas story The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantès lives a seemingly perfect life, which causes three of his so-called friends to become wildly jealous of him. Because of their jealousy, they hatch a plot to have Edmond unjustly accused of treason and imprisoned. Edmond spends the next two decades of his life plotting revenge against his enemies. When he is finally able to escape from prison, he sets out to carry through his plans for revenge, throwing in some kind deeds along the way.1

Can you imagine spending more than half your life focused on getting revenge on those who have wronged you? Maybe you can, because you know how it feels for that desire and drive to weigh you down until you don’t know how to get out from under it.

The desire to take revenge can be powerful, but it can also be so dangerous. It can cloud our judgment, penetrate our thoughts, and leave us bitter and miserable as we try to do something that God never intended for us to do.

Most often, revenge comes back to bite us, as psychotherapist Beverly Engel describes in an article from the Washington Post:

“When someone persists in revenge fantasies, over time they can develop anxiety and remorse, as well as feelings of shame,” says California-based psychotherapist Beverly Engel, who treats clients who have been abused and often struggle with vengeful thoughts. These feelings can also take up important cognitive resources, depleting you of time and energy that could be better spent on healthier, more constructive ways of dealing with anger, such as learning to accept the injustice, putting yourself in the other person’s shoes or acknowledging that you, too, may have hurt someone in similar ways.2

In Romans 12:17–21, the apostle Paul cautions,

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Heap burning coals on their head? That sounds like a form of revenge, doesn’t it? But that verse is from Proverbs 25:21–22. The entire proverb is a collection of sayings that deal with interactions between people. Don’t sing songs to a person in mourning (v. 20), hearing good news is like drinking cool water when you’re weary (v. 25), relying on someone who is unfaithful is like walking with a lame leg or eating with a broken tooth (v. 19). In a society that depended on fire for cooking and keeping warm, burning coals were a gift of sustenance if one’s fire had gone out. And God says to not just give them one to get it going again, but to heap burning coals on them. Go above and beyond in kindness.4

Our desire for vengeance comes from our desire to see justice done. We forget so easily that justice has already been done. The person who hurt us will pay for what he or she did, either by receiving forgiveness from God and allowing Christ to take the penalty for their sin, or by spending eternity separated from God because of their sin. Either way, justice will prevail. And when we think of justice this way, our hearts can soften toward the person who hurt us.

If you wrestle with wanting to have vengeance, remember that God has the situation under control. If you begin to feel destructive anger burning inside of you, allow Christ’s healing, life-giving water to quench those flames as you focus instead on His forgiveness, His grace, and His mercy. Remember, God loved you long before you saw your need for Him (Romans 5:8), and He loves the person who wronged you just as much.

Release Your Anger

Take a long, deep, slow breath. Hold it for a moment, and then release it very slowly. Do that again. Feel the release through the power of the Holy Spirit as you continue to breathe deeply and slowly. With each exhale, release your pain and anger to God. With each inhale, feel his healing love flow in.

How would your life change if the desire for revenge lost its grip on you?

Rather than pursuing vengeance, give that care to God and ask Him to soften and expand your heart with love for others. God’s love can bring healing and soften that grip.

Imagine a desert. For each painful feeling you carry inside of you because of others — mistrust, fear, anger, hate — picture a crack splitting the dry ground into deep, sharp crevices. Now, picture a gentle rain falling on the dry land, gradually softening the hard ground until the crevices fill and merge back into the earth. Feel a gentle breeze and warm sunlight as plants begin to emerge from the now-tender earth. As this image fades from your mind, pay attention to how your heart feels. How do you relate to the image of the barren desert? How do you relate to the field bursting with life?

Now picture your desire for revenge smoldering inside you. Feel the burning pain of it. And then picture your heart healing as Christ’s Spirit quenches those flames with life-giving, healing water. Then rest in the comfort of His arms. Breathe in deeply once more, reflecting on how the just God you serve knows your pain and wants to heal you and use you in the lives of those around you.

Lord, it’s hard sometimes not to let anger consume me, especially when people hurt others, including me. I know You’ve forgiven me, but sometimes I’m so angry at others I’d prefer revenge to seeing them come to know Your forgiving love. Forgive me for this. Heal and soften my heart. Thank You that new life is possible through You, that deserts can become pools of water. Thank You that no one can force fear, anger, or hate to live on in me. Each day, help me know more deeply that Your love is stronger than anything anyone can do to me. Show me what it means to walk in true love and freedom. I long for Your love, justice, and beauty to fill this earth. Until that day, help me find peace in your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

JOURNAL PROMPT: How have you seen your desire for revenge affect your relationships? What effect has it had on your health? Journal about how your heart can find the healing it needs to be free from this desire for revenge.

1.“The Count of Monte Cristo Summary,” LitCharts, accessed August 10, 2021, https://www.litcharts.com/lit /the-count-of-monte-cristo/summary.

2.Jennifer Breheny Wallace, “Why Getting Even May Make You Feel Worse in the Long Run,” Washington Post, November 11, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost .com/national/health-science/why-getting-even-may -make-you-feel-worse-in-the-long-run/2017/11/10 /a314d54e-b440-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story .html?utm_term=.14a1bc29a25e.

Excerpted from Cast Your Cares copyright Carpenter’s Code, Inc.

Thoughts of revenge make me physically ill. My body seems to react in ways that I cannot control and I become weary, in pain, and very uncomfortable. Let us seek to leave these concerns with the Lord.

Heb 10:30-31

"VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 8, 2023

Notes of Faith March 8, 2023

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace!

How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost,

But now am found

Was blind

But now I see.

What kind of music appeals to you?

My husband and I often say that we are drawn to music sung by people who lived the lyrics — for instance, Willie Nelson singing about being on the road again or Eric Clapton longing to see someone in Heaven. It’s moving and believable because they’re authentically singing about something they experienced.

John Newton knew what he was talking about when he wrote the words to “Amazing Grace.”

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound...

He knew where he had been and what he had done. Prior to becoming a Christian, Newton was the captain on a slave ship. It took a near-death experience, the faithful witness of his wife, and some literature on the life of Christ to result in his conversion. He then joined forces with William Wilberforce and became an abolitionist. His hymn shows that, like Paul before him (Romans 7:24), Newton was very much aware of his own wretchedness.

He lived his lyrics.

While Newton’s slave-trader-to-salvation story and Paul’s murderer-to-missionary testimony are exceptional, the grace given to you or me is no less amazing. It is an absolute miracle that anyone would be saved. We were all wretched, lost, and blind before Christ. There is no one worthy of salvation, and that is why “Amazing Grace” has resonated with believers for over two hundred years.

Your grace, Lord, never ceases to amaze me.

Excerpted from 100 Favorite Hymns, copyright Thomas Nelson.

If you are not amazed at the miracle working of God in your life, you do not yet understand His love for you. But if you daily are amazed at how God is working in your life, you have a special relationship that is continually growing stronger!

Aim your greatest love toward the heart of God!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 6, 2023

Notes of Faith March 6, 2023

God's Will 101

God is God. If He is God, He is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, and that will is infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to. ~ Elisabeth Elliot

One of the most difficult and frustrating realities of living with fibromyalgia is that you never know when a flare-up will rear its ugly head. On Monday I might be feeling like a million bucks with minimal pain and lots of energy to complete my to-do list for the day. But by the time the sun rises on Tuesday, a switch could flip. Unlike the day before, I might find myself in bed, unable to move for hours or even days. And when a flare-up hits, sleep, movies, heat packs for pain, and food are suddenly the only things on my to-do list — throwing my week off and resulting in a bunch of canceled plans.

Over the last eight years, this unpredictable illness has forced me to miss out on quality time with friends, numerous church services and events, dates with my boyfriend/husband, flights, work-related trips, and more. And full disclosure: as this uncertainty became more of a frequent reality in my life, I started to have some serious questions about “God’s will.” These questions weren’t exactly new, but my illness forced me to confront two things I believe everyone struggles with when it comes to God’s will: suffering and uncertainty. Suffering tempts us to question the goodness of God’s will. And uncertainty — whether about big life plans or the next step — forces us to choose between genuinely trusting God or continuing to pursue the myth of control.

Here’s how that played out in my own life.

In Suffering

The idea of God’s will was something “nice and churchy” that I heard about regularly when I was growing up. Those two words were casually mentioned in the lyrics of my favorite worship songs or during conversations with loved ones.

“Just follow God’s will for your life.”

“God’s will over mine.”

But at the peak of my illness, when it was the hardest and most painful, when all my body could do was lie at home and miss out on life, those kinds of phrases tormented me.

Why would God allow me to suffer? Why would God’s will include saddling me with a chronic illness? Why would God’s plan involve me missing out on the life a typical teenage girl should be living? Beyond those specific questions, I was really wrestling with a pretty fundamental question about God: If God loves His children, why doesn’t He make life easy and light for us?

Chances are, you have your own set of “Why would God” questions.

Why would God not fulfill my desire to have a boyfriend or be married?

Why would God let mental illness plague my life, day in and day out?

Why would God allow my parents to finalize their divorce? Why would God put me in such a hard job and work environment?

Why would God not grant my good desire to have children of my own?

Why would God let my loved one get sick or die?

Why would God allow a pandemic to shut down the world and affect millions?

Sweet friend, I wish I could spend this entire chapter answering every single one of your “Why would God” questions. But as much as I wish that for us, it’s not possible. Nor would it be good for us!

If our willingness to trust and follow God is based on demanding that He explain and justify all the parts of life that we don’t like, that wouldn’t be faith at all.

Before I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, it seemed easy to say I was trusting God and surrendered to His will. Life had been smooth sailing for as long as I could remember. Academics, athletics, friendships, and day-to-day life just came so effortlessly to me. It sure seemed like God had lined up all the cards in my favor. But when life began to do what it does best — throw us for a loop — the idea of “God’s will over my own will” suddenly wasn’t so easy to embrace.

If God loves His children, why doesn’t He make life easy and light for us?

In Uncertainty

If you were to do a quick Google search for “Bible verses about God’s will,” you might be surprised at the results. As you first type those words into the search bar, you may be hopeful — surely the Bible will have a lot of obvious things to say about God’s will. Well, after scanning through a few blog posts and articles, you may find yourself stumped, with a once-hopeful smile quickly turning into a furrowed brow and confused sigh.

That’s how I felt a few years ago. When — thanks to my mentor confirming the Holy Spirit’s rumblings in my heart to pursue ministry — I decided to enroll online at a Bible college, and I felt like I finally had some semblance of direction. Heading back to college made me feel like I was finally getting my life back on track. I was finally doing something “serious” with my life.

But even with this newfound sense of direction, there were plenty of question marks. For example, I chose biblical counseling as my major — but truthfully, I wasn’t quite sure where a counseling degree would take me or even why I felt the tug to pursue counseling rather than one of the other options. In my younger years, there was this air of shame associated with counseling and therapy. It felt like a taboo topic because going to counseling made it seem like you were a messed-up person in need of help. And that was just not a good look to the world around you.

(News flash: We’re all messed up people in need of help. We’re all sinners in need of a Savior.)

But after I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, my family and I couldn’t help but notice that the traumatic effects extended to every aspect of my life. That was when my parents and pastor recommended I meet with a counselor. At first I shut the idea down, insisting that I had it figured out. That I just needed time. But it wasn’t only my body that had been affected — I was feeling emotional, spiritual, and mental fatigue.

When I started my biblical counseling classes, I was reminded of all the beautiful fruit that God brought from my own personal time in biblical counseling, a type of counseling that emphasizes that genuine and lasting change, healing, and hope are found in God’s sufficient Word. Biblical counseling also prioritizes discipleship as an integral part of the Christian life. Because of what God had done in my life through counseling, I was excited to study it in school.

It sounds like the story could pretty much write itself from there — all wrapped up in a nice bow. And Tara went on to study biblical counseling without any further doubts or questions, and began a long, successful career in her new calling. The end.

But that’s not how it played out. It’s true — I did feel as if God had opened the door to online Bible school with a bright neon sign that said YES! However, I would be lying if I said I never questioned God or His will along the way.

You see, it doesn’t matter if life is going well or if life is going poorly. Every now and again, we all stop, pause, and wonder, “Am I really supposed to be here? Is this God’s will for my life? Am I making decisions that God would approve of?” That’s where that pesky Google search comes in. I can’t tell you how many times I paused during those first few semesters of biblical counseling school, combing through the internet and the Bible for any hints about God’s will.

Was I on the right track? Was I really doing what God wanted, or was I messing up my life by following my own will? The lines were beginning to blur. Uncertainty was everywhere. After each Google search and scavenger hunt through the Bible, hoping to discover specifics about God’s will for my life, I felt more defeated.

Why was God’s will so ridiculously hard to figure out? If it’s so important to our lives, then why didn’t He make it more obvious?

Just in case no one has told you before — it’s okay to admit that you’ve had those same thoughts. Whether suffering has made you question whether you really want to follow God’s will or uncertainty has you feeling as if there’s no hope of even knowing what God’s will is, much less following His will, this is for you. It’s time to grab our shovels and dig deep into what the Bible says about God’s will. It’s time to get our hopes up when it comes to God’s will. It’s not the time to shrink back in fear.

God wants to be known. He wants His will for us to be known. He’s given us His Word to give us insight into His will. And when we understand the beauty of God’s will, we’re able to take another step toward surrender — even in the face of suffering or uncertainty.

Excerpted from Surrender Your Story by Tara Sun, copyright Tara Sun Snyder.

Wouldn’t you love to hear a voice from heaven saying, “this is my will for you, take this path, this job, marry this person . . . God’s will is working in us through His Spirit and does speak but we must listen and respond to stay on the path He has laid out before us. Suffering, whether an illness, loss of relationship, loss of employment or promotion, make us feel that we are not in God’s will. But God uses all circumstances in our lives to glorify Himself and even suffering for our good. May we consider God’s use of our suffering to draw us closer to His heart and know His love for us and be blessed in and through our suffering.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 7, 2023

Notes of Faith March 7, 2023

Spoiler Alert… Heaven Can Be Yours

Our views of the afterlife often make God an afterthought. We imagine reunions with loved ones, no disease, no pain, no sin, no suffering, no tears — all gloriously true! But Heaven is Heaven because God is there. ~ Dr. Luke Stamps, Tweet, February 13, 2022

Even though the title of this book connotes a physical activity, a race with beginning and an end, you and I know that we’re a lot more tired at the end than we were at the start. Given the rigors of his work and the persecution he endured, the apostle Paul knew something about this. And so he wrote about a physical place that will house a resting place for those who know Christ as Savior. A forever dwelling.

“For we know,” wrote Paul, “that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in Heaven, not built by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Heaven is a place. A specific, someday visible reality. In the last chapter, I quoted Jesus’ promise to His disciples about the mansions He was preparing for them. In Heaven:

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? — John 14:2

My favorite feature of Jesus’ statement is the double down of His message. First, Heaven is better than those mansions you and I see when our computers invite us to “visit” some famous person’s home.1 Or just like in those home makeover shows where we watch the faces of the unsuspecting recipients of the complete refurbishing of their ordinary places into spectacular ones, Heaven’s mansion is glorious. Amazing.

Second, Jesus sort of tweaks them with His follow-up. “If that were not so . . .” It was like He was saying, “Hey, guys. If this weren’t true, why would I have gone to the effort to tell you about it?”

Don’t you just love that?

Earthly death is real. From the experience of losing people we have loved, you and I know it. And so, according to the creation account and God’s only Son’s affirmation, is Heaven. Perhaps nothing alerts us to the reality of this more poignantly than an actual first-person account from a friend.

The woman who wrote the following is a close friend of my wife, Nancy. The account is about this friend’s dad, Del Fehsenfeld, Jr.:

January 7 at 11:55 p.m. my father was escorted to Heaven. What a beautiful illustration God gave us of how exciting it is to be there. Dad’s eyes got so big all of a sudden. He had tears in his eyes that trickled down his face; he began to show excitement. His mouth moved, and then there was a smile. He was trying to talk and say something. That was the most movement we had seen in days. Within the last thirty minutes, he had numerous times showed excitement and peace. The last time, though, was the most dramatic. It was so obvious he was being escorted to Heaven.

Mary, my sister, and I were able to sing songs and talk to him during this time. What a peace was on his face as God took him to Heaven. We are so grateful that God allowed us to see his entrance to Heaven. I told a nurse standing nearby, “This is the day he has lived for all his life.”

You have read — maybe have seen or experienced — accounts like this. People who knew the wonder of God’s grace in their own lives, standing on the threshold of eternity, seeing Heaven for themselves. It’s quite amazing, isn’t it?

Crossing the finish line is going to be a celebration like you cannot imagine. Even better. It’s Christmas morning when you were a kid. It’s your honeymoon. It’s the birth of your first child. Or grandchild. Or great-grandchild. It’s your favorite team winning the championship. The word is way overused, but this time it fits: one day your finish line is going to be awesome.

Perhaps no Christian writer and thinker has done more to help us grasp something of the wonder of Heaven than Randy Alcorn. First published in 2004, Alcorn’s book titled Heaven has sold way more than a million copies.2 He writes, “If you’re a child of God, you do not just ‘go around once’ on Earth. You don’t get just one earthly life. You get another — one far better and without end. You’ll inhabit the New Earth! You’ll live with the God you cherish and the people you love as an undying person on an undying Earth.”3

Another Christian “expert” on longing for Heaven is our precious friend Joni Eareckson Tada. In her own book, Heaven: Your Real Home, she writes, “Every Christian who keeps looking up stretches his or her heart’s capacity for Heaven.”4

And with the sound of wonder in her voice and twinkle in her eye, we can hear and see her say this:

If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn’t surprise me. It would be just like Him. It would be totally in keeping with His generous character... Exorbitant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy — utterly joyfully, surprisingly superfluous... Heaven is going to be a place that would refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness and joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on His children.5

When people like Randy Alcorn and Joni Eareckson Tada, contemporary writers and wise thinkers, go on and on about the wonder and reality of Heaven, it should convince us, then make us like ebullient kids on their birthdays.

Centuries ago, the apostle Paul also weighed in on this issue about death and Heaven. First, the promise of glory gave him perspective on life when he wrote at the beginning of his letter to the folks living in Philippi:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. — Philippians 1:21

Later in the same letter, Paul penned,

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus... Our citizenship is in Heaven. — Philippians 3:13–14, 20

The night before Bobbie died, our daughters, Missy and Julie, were with her as she rested on the rented hospital bed in the living room. After several weeks of caring for my wife, I had slipped off to bed. As her primary caregiver for months, I was more exhausted than I ever remembered being. I wasn’t there when she repeated over and over again,

Be still, and know that I am God. — Psalm 46:10,

each time emphasizing a different word. She also reported to our daughters that she “saw children playing and white twinkle lights.”

It must have really been something special for her. Like it will be for you and me. So wonderful.

1. I have been tempted to check these out. Along with their private jets and amazing cars. I’ve even succumbed to this nudge.

2. Randy C. Alcorn, Heaven (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2004). You see this once in a while. “Sold a million copies.” If the claims are true, this is a big deal. Thin air for a book. The average book sells around five thousand copies.

3. Alcorn, Heaven, 415.

4. Joni Eareckson Tada, Heaven: Your Real Home (1995; repr., Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2018), 280.

5. Joni Eareckson Tada, Holiness in Hidden Places (Nashville: Countryman, 1999), 133

Excerpted from Finish Line by Robert Wolgemuth, copyright Robert Wolgemuth.

Heaven . . . a place some think about, dream about, are sure they are going there … I have been with people as they have breathed their last on this walk of faith and it proved to be a glorious experience. A body, that should not have been able to, sat up and looked toward the ceiling intently focused on something. Eyes that had been cloudy were clear, more beautiful than they had ever been. Then seemingly prepared for this journey, they laid back down in be and stopped breathing. They journey did not end, it was just transported to an eternal home. We cannot praise God enough for the love he showers on us and provides His glory to those that believe in and follow Jesus! Are you homeward bound?

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 5, 2023

Notes of Faith March 5, 2023

A Prayer for When You Need Encouragement

This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

— Lamenations 3:21-23

Father, I feel discouraged. Sorrow wells up in me because of disappointments, losses, deep needs, and unmet expectations. Of course, You understand my sadness even more than I do. You see what is truly causing this deep hurt and making me feel hopeless. But, Lord, I realize that when I focus on what I don’t have, my problems, or my regrets, they will always overwhelm me. They will always be bigger than they really are. So, Jesus, I will set my focus on You. Encourage and comfort me, my Lord and Savior.

I call Your faithfulness to mind, and therefore have hope. Thank You, Father, that You will always fulfill what You’ve promised. You have vowed to give me hope and a future. You have guaranteed that You will never leave or forsake me. You have assured me that You will walk with me on the mountains and in the valleys of life. I praise You because You are reliable, steadfast, unfailing, unwavering, constant, and trustworthy. You never forget, never falter, and You never fail.

You are always unswervingly faithful in all things.

This is because You, Lord God, are omniscient — You know everything and, therefore, understand how to prepare, mature, and lead me in every changing season of life. You are omnipotent — You have the power to do anything and aren’t hindered by any force on earth or in Heaven. You are omnipresent — I am always within the reach of Your strong and loving hand. And You are unchanging — Your faithfulness endures forever. You can be trusted to keep Your promises in all things and at all times.

Surely, knowing You are with me encourages my heart and helps me to continue forward. You work all things together for my edification, and even the trials I experience are for my good and Your glory. Your precious Word gives me assurance, directs me through the changing seasons of life, and reminds me that no matter what I face, I can do so with absolute confidence. You have delivered me through many trials and will continue to do so. You have set me free from bondage and persistently work in me so I can walk in Your liberty. Your loving, faithful presence will be with me today and will accompany me in all my tomorrows.

There is no reason for my soul to be downcast, because I can put my hope in You — the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, my Great High Priest, Redeemer, Defender, and Provider. I praise You for how awesome, loving, and encouraging You are.

Thank You for encouraging me and comforting me, Father. Thank You for forgiving my sins and teaching me to walk in Your truth. Thank You that nothing is impossible for You. Thank You for the precious promises You bring to mind and Your presence, Your power, Your compassion, and Your loving-kindness toward me. I will put all my hope in You.

In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.

Excerpted from When You Don’t Know What to Pray by Charles F. Stanley, copyright Charles F. Stanley.

Read God’s Word and His Spirit within you will bring to mind Scriptures that you need to recall at specific moments. His desire and will is for us to be like Jesus and He will make it happen. We must strive to trust and obey to live a life pleasing to God, as Jesus did. May we, in our struggle with sin, strive toward the holiness of God, and be encouraged because He is doing a great work within us!

Pastor Dale