Tag: melodie quotes

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Finding Me Truth #6: Keep Moving

What I’ve found to be true: Sometimes life can bite your butt. It hurts, it sucks, it definitely is not fair but it happens and will continue to happen this side of heaven. Some wrestle with why God allows tragedy and struggle to come into our lives. Others feel God sits on a throne with a shiny thunderbolt just ready and aiming to impart destruction and pain into our lives. Some think he’s dead or powerless and not able to do anything to help anyway so why even bother to bring him into the conversation.

Bite Your Butt

I think the butt bites in life are a reflection of a world that’s in a pretty awful tailspin because of the evil, death and human brokenness that permeates everything around us. They bring with them effects that have consequences greater than we can imagine. God enters this tailspin to give us hope, freedom and eyes to see that the bites won’t always be with us. If we are willing to look closely, we’ll see him actively rescuing, redeeming, healing and restoring.

What I’ve also found to be true: We need to keep moving forward. In the midst of all the struggle, even if you have to crawl your way through it, keep moving. At least you are moving a few steps away from the butt bites that feel like they’ve taken the very breath out of you. Sometimes you may not feel like you have anything in your tank to make one foot or knee move ahead of the other. When you lack the energy, God will carry you. I know this to be true because he’s carried me more times than I can count.

Keep moving forward.

The bite marks will wear off eventually.

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Finding Me Truth # 5: In The Crazy

 

If we didn’t experience eventful things, we often wouldn’t be aware of God’s protection and peace in the middle of the crazy, right?

Flat tires happen. I got one on Monday. Pulled over to check the damage and it sounded like a hurricane wanted to blow through the punctured hole. That tire got slayed by something beasty in the road I never saw. I was en route to check out a friend’s for sale bookcase to see if it would be a good fit in my bedroom. Once I finished there, planned to meet up with another friend and cook dinner together.

My annihilated left rear tire changed all of that.

But God is good in the middle of it all.

An auto shop was less than a minute away. I pulled into a parking spot, went inside and met J.P., a friendly mechanic full of jokes and easy to speak with. In the time it took to explain what happened to my tire and walk back outside with him, the tire had sunk flat to the ground.

Mercy.

J.P. got one of his mechanics to put my spare tire on. I made plans to get the damaged tire replaced. Though slightly frazzled, I let J.P. know he made what could have been a really stressful situation for me not stressful at all. I was able to still make my evening engagements and the night ended well.

Life can be hectic. I’ve been traveling almost back to back the last four weeks for my job. First Illinois, then Indiana, followed by Georgia and lastly Pennsylvania. Lots of flying and driving, with an allergy cold thrown in there, two leadership conferences I served with, a staff work conference, visits to college campuses to meet with students leading chapters with my organization, several meetings AND trying to eat well and stay on track with nutrition goals.

It’s been a lot.

But God is good in the middle of it all. 

I made it through the travels, through the airports, through the allergies and I gained the beautiful gift of memories with some amazing people. Plus, an authentic Philly cheesesteak thrown in for good measure. You can’t just be in Philly people and NOT have one. I’m just saying.

What I’m finding to be true: In the crazy it seems like I find a little bit more of me. Sometimes crazy helps us to see who we are in the flurry of activity that surrounds us.

I don’t always like the crazy but it reminds me God is good in the middle of it all. He’s in the midst of my crazy and he’s in the middle of it. Calming fears, giving strength and reminding me he’s near. Sometimes that’s all we really need – that reminder that he’s near, even if we don’t always feel like he is. Our feelings don’t change the truth of his nearness.

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Finding Me Truth #4 : I Want To Win

The excitement and joy of living in relationship with God is the gift of believing in him.

Being in relationship with him. Trusting him. Hoping in him. Having confidence in him. Knowing that he has made me, he loves me and he has my back no matter what.

If I try to foolishly and feebly control, run and bulldoze over him to run my life I always lose.

I lose the joy of seeing him meet my needs in his timing, in his way.

I lose the joy of sharing those moments of dependence with him.

I lose the excitement in beautifully believing in him.

I lose relationship with him.

I lose.

I don’t want to lose. I want to win. With God.

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Finding Me Truth #2

The questions of pain: They come. There are many. The places they can take us run wildly like an out of control roller coaster while digging deeper than the roots of a 100-year old tree.

If faith enters the conversation, pain now has someone to direct our feelings toward. For me the someone is God and my conversation moves into two worlds:

World #1: Do I say he’s a mean God because for whatever reason he permits though does not inflict upon us suffering and violence along with brokenness and traumas that seem to make our hearts break, our souls ache and cause our minds to shatter?

World #2: Or do I say he’s a gracious Father and a loving Creator who in the midst of all this hell breaking loose also permits and gladly offers us the celebrations, the gift to live and the choice to love, to hold close those we embrace and let go those we’ve lost but will never forget?

What questions do you ask in the midst of pain?