Our True Identity

Apparently today is International Women's Day . . .

It may come as strange to some since I am a woman, but I had no idea this day existed, until I was overwhelmed by it on my Facebook newsfeed today. As I watched the vast array of posts that appeared in my feed, I wrestled with a lot of thoughts and feelings.

What does it mean to be a woman in the culture I live in? In the communities I'm a part of?

Does this line up with what Scripture says a woman of God should be like? What should it look like to live as a woman of God according to Scripture?

I read things today about the intent of International Women's Day being about equality in all things for women. And I know that in many parts of the world there's a long way to go in that regard. But, I struggled with some of the militant, "women are better than men" sentiment that I saw expressed in some places today. I don't think that's helpful in any way.

I also don't think that's biblical. Everywhere I look in Scripture, I see both men and women valued, used by God, and gifted by God. It's not about one being better than the other. We may be different, but we all have value and worth before God. We're all God's children - ones He loved enough to go to the greatest of lengths to rescue and redeem.

That's what really matters. We can get confused when we seek our identity elsewhere, and we can get off track and start seeing other people as our competition. But, we need to go back to what really matters.

Yes, that means where there is injustice, we need to fight for justice. Where things aren't right, we need to work to make them right.

But, no where does that mean, we need to try to make ourselves better than others.

Learning to be Okay with Unanswered Questions

I'm one of those people who wants to know to understand everything. I don't like not knowing, or having unanswered questions.

That means there are times when I would come across a passage of Scripture that wasn't clear and I'd end up frustrated. I would spend hours reading commentaries, looking up the original language, trying to find the answer. All good things, but if I couldn't come to a clear answer to my question, I would just be frustrated.

Lately, I've been learning that sometimes I have to be okay with questions. God doesn't always reveal everything perfectly clearly in my timing. Sometimes, over time a part of Scripture I've had questions about comes clear. Sometimes the question that was frustrating me becomes less important to me over time.

And the questions usually push me to pursue God more deeply. To spend more time studying the Word. Those are good things, and even through they might not bring me the answer I'm looking for, they have good results in my journey with God.

I'm learning to be okay with the unanswered questions sometimes. Some of them I may get answered later. Some of them may not be answered while I'm walking on this earth.

The important thing is what I do with my unanswered questions. Do I allow them to drive me deeper in my study of Scripture and relationship with God? Or I do I allow the frustration of them to drive me away?

When Prayers Don't Seem Like They're Being Answered

How many times have you prayed for something only to feel it wasn't answered the way you wanted and were praying for?

If you're like me or others I've asked that question to, the answer is probably more than once.

When this happens, it can shake our belief in the power of prayer. We can begin to wonder if the time and energy we invested in the prayer was worth it.

I've been in this place a few times and I've had to wrestle with the questions that came, trying to make sense of it. In some of those instances it has seemed like it would be easiest to just give up. But, then I'm reminded of all the times I've seen prayers answered and it reminds me of who I keep praying.

During these times of questioning, I've come to realize a few things about prayer and what seems to happen in response to our prayers.

God made us with the ability to choose in every situation and He doesn't remove that just because someone is praying. God will provide the opportunity and He will use people and circumstances to point people to Him and the plan He has. But, those we pray for still have a choice to make that will decide what the situation looks like as it plays out.

Our prayers still play an important part. There is a spiritual battle we can't see, but is always going on. Even if we don't see the outcome we were praying for in a situation, our prayers were important because they are fighting that spiritual battle. They were a part of the removal of obstacles to the people we were praying for being able to hear God. Yes, that person still had a choice to make, but our prayers helped to remove the obstacles to hearing.

I don't know about you, but that reminds me that my prayers are important no matter the outcome of a situation.

The Search for What Really Satifies

"I went to the woods because I wished to live differently, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so clear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms." (Henry David Thoreau)

I've been struck by this quote every time I watch the movie Dead Poet's Society. By the desire in it to live life to the full. To get every last bit of life out of time on earth.

It makes me wonder about where we can really fulfill that desire for life to the full. Because, I don't think it's ultimately found in anything on this earth. Place, or people, or things, may have a part to play. But they're not going to help us "suck out all the marrow of life" on their own.

In John 10:10, Jesus says that He came to bring life to the full. Jesus is the Source of the full life we're looking for. Without Him, we'll never truly find it.

We may have moments that seem like it. We may have a fleeting feeling that this is the best of life. But it's not going to last. We'll end up searching for the next thing. An endless cycle of thinking we found it and the searching for it again when that one fades.

When we choose to seek Christ with everything in us, we find the satisfaction of life that we are all searching for. Matthew 6:33 tells us to, "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you."

We can live this life to the full, a life that we don't find lacking in anything at the end, when we seek God first. We may not do it perfectly. We may not get it right all the time. But, we can be assured that in doing so, we find the only way to live the life we are really longing for.

What We're Really Looking For

“We may desire deep friendships, ironclad marriages, thriving children, a secure economy, healthy bodies, a trip to Europe – but what we really want is an encounter with the living God. To be loved known, and seen by Him. We pursue all the other stuff because it’s the stuff that tastes, but Jesus is the One who nourishes.” (Kelly Minter, Wherever the River Runs)

 

Since I first read those words, they’ve been running through my head. Specifically, the short sentence in the middle: “To be loved, known, and seen by Him.” Those words ring true in my life, and in the lives of many people I talk to.

 

We purse all sorts of things in life, as we seek to fill our deepest longings and desires. And ultimately we find that nothing satisfies them for long, if at all.

 

Friends, family, vacations, money, possessions . . . they make us feel happy in the short term. And most of the time, they can be good things in our lives. There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of them. How we use them may be a problem, but that doesn’t make the thing itself a bad thing.

 

The problem is when those things no longer satisfy, when they no longer make us happy, we’re left looking for more. And that is when we can turn to the wrong things, or things that were good to begin with can become a problem.

 

When you get to the core of what we’re looking for – what  we desire – it comes down to wanting to be known, loved, and seen. We want to be known for who we really are – the part of us that we often keep locked deep inside for fear of how other people will see us. We can to be really loved – unconditionally, sacrificially, deeply. We don’t want to go through life feeling invisible – we want our presence to be noticed, to be missed.

 

We seek to find all of these things in so many places that don’t satisfy, when what we really need to do is seek to meet with God. The one place we can be really known, loved, and seen is when we enter into relationship with Jesus. He is the only One who can satisfy those needs.

 

The psalmist put it this way, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8). The psalmist knew and had experienced that God was what would satisfy and he calls us to try.

 

What are you seeking to satisfy your desires?

 

Is what you’re seeking truly satisfying your desires?

 

Have you allowed Jesus to meet you and be the One who knows you, loves you, and sees you?

Wait Expectantly

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait expectantly.

-Psalm 5:3

 

When I read this verse a couple of days ago, one question immediately came to mind. And has stayed with me since.

 

What does it mean to wait expectantly?

 

I mean that doesn't sound like what I normally think of when I think of waiting for something. Waiting is usually thought of as something passive. Something that requires nothing of us. We just sit there and do nothing until we get the answer we're waiting for.

 

But that doesn't seem to be the kind of waiting the psalmist is speaking of here. Waiting expectantly for something says more than we're just sitting around doing nothing.

 

Waiting expectantly speaks of being ready. We have to be ready to act on whatever the answer is when it comes. To be ready to do this, we have to be doing something.

 

The psalmist here was saying the he was waiting expectantly for God's answer to his prayers. The psalmist laid his requests before God, and then he waited for God to answer. But this answer was something he was ready for. When the answer came, the psalmist was ready.

 

So, what does it look like to wait expectantly in our lives?

 

It looks like taking our requests and our questions before God. And then waiting for His answer. But not waiting by just sitting there. Waiting that looks like doing what we already know to do as we listen for God's voice.

 

It's not about running ahead trying to make what we want happen. That defeats the waiting part of it.

 

But it's not about sitting around and doing nothing either. That defeats the expectant part of it.

 

Waiting expectantly is doing what we already know God has told us to do - even if that's just following Him in everyday life - while we listen for God to provide an answer to our request that brought before Him.

 

I don't always do this waiting expectantly thing well. But, it's something I want to learn to do better.

 

How are you doing at waiting expectantly?

 

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait expectantly.

-Psalm 5:3