God's Glory Revealed

Look outside.

Isn't that incredible?  Isn't God great?  He created all of that.

I have a tendency to let my mood reflect the weather.  When it's bright, sunny, and even the sky is happy, so am I.  But when it's gloomy, misty, and threatening floods all day, my attitude dampens.  Just a few moments ago, I was standing in my dorm room, folding laundry, staring at the gloomy sky outside, but then the skies opened.  God revealed His mighty greatness and roared for the clouds to open in a mighty clap of thunder, and then it was pouring.

This didn't dampen my mood at all, though, in fact, it made me happier.  There's something about the kind of thunder that's almost loud enough to hurt your ears that just shows God's power in a new light.  The rain that follows, the heavy pouring and the subsequent steady drizzle, is no longer depressive, for it is the herald of God's power.

It's the same with every kind of weather, though I don't always recognize other types of weather for what they are.  God commands the skies, and creates the flow of rain, snow, sun, and wind that we ultimately see.  God is revealed in even the smallest things in life.  Where has He revealed Himself to you today?

I Love You More

My senior year in high school will be starting in just a few days, and it seems like all of a sudden, there is very little in life, other than trying to plan for college and summer reading. 

The pre-college process is stressful.  I am currently looking at a short list of colleges, all of which are Christian colleges, and there are so many different details and options that have to be weighed when trying to choose the one that I want to go to.  Of course, if you know me, or if you are familiar with this blog, you'll see that I have a constant desire to know the future, to have life planned.  I have this deep urge to be able to plan everything in my life, and right now, not knowing where I'll be living or going to school in a year is quite daunting.  I haven't even visited all of the schools that I'm considering yet, but already I feel like I should have a college picked out. 

I'm so worried that I'll make the wrong choice.  What if my favorite school ends up being the most expensive?  What if I can't tell which school God wants me to be at?  Even worse, what if it really doesn't matter to God which school I go to, so long as I'm still following Him?  And how am I supposed to find extra time to pray about this process with school starting in just a few days, with my most challenging schedule yet?

And then, once I've figured out where I'll go to college, how do I figure out what I'm going to do there?  How am I going to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life?  What if I do what I love, but then I can't get a job?  What if I do what will lead to a lucrative career, but end up hating it?  How do I make all of these decisions before I'm even a legal adult?

On Wednesday, after I had just gotten home from a college visit, and feeling the pressure to know where I'll be in a year, I turned on the radio in the car, and this song came on.  There was an initial peace that fell over me when the song began, and the first verse said "I am with you wherever, and where you go is where I am."  The chorus was another part that really spoke to me.  "I love you more than the sun, and the stars that I taught how to shine, you are mine, and you shine for me too, I love you.  Yesterday, and today, and tomorrow I'll say it again, and again, I love you more."  It was like God telling me to calm down.  If He can set the stars and the sun to shine each day and night, He will surely guide me through this process.  He will guide me to the right decision, whether or not it matters to Him exactly which college I'm learning to use the gifts that He gave me to use in order to shine for Him.  He will also guide me towards finding what exactly it is that He wants me to shine with.  He loves me no matter what, and I am His.

"But" Vs. "God"

A friend shared this video with another friend who posted it on Facebook, and it was like a brick to the head for me, one of those "AHA!" moments that we talked about in Confirmation class.



"God, I'm doing the best I can! But..."
"I'm doing the best I can! But..."
"The best I can! But..."
"But..."

We start with the right intentions, but a few failures will leave us with nothing but ourselves and excuses to quit. When we're left with nothing except "buts" we lose our God-focus, and see imperfection after imperfection, failure after failure.

But what happens when we go the other way?

"God, I'm doing the best I can! But..."
"God, I'm doing the best I can!"
"God, I'm doing the best!"
"God,"

And it's then, when rather than going from the beginning to the "but" that we go from the beginning to the "God" that we have reason to keep on going. No, we are never going to be perfect, that's how it is, but when we focus on the "God" part, rather than the "but" part, we find the strength to continue God's work, rather than the excuses to quit.

Three Simple Truths

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I just opened my Bible to find a small slip of paper, torn out of a devotion book on a mission trip, that has three simple, yet so true and powerful, phrases about God, and love.

God is love. Love wins. Love lasts.

First, God is love. God is love. There isn't much I can say to explain that. He loves us so, so much with this extreme, beautiful and pure love, that only God has. He sent His one and only son to earth to die for us. There is no greater love. God is love.

Second, love wins. Love always wins, no matter what. And God is love, so God always wins. The love of God will triumph over all evil, love is always coming out on top. You can't go wrong with love. Love your neighbor, love your friends, love your enemies, love everyone, and what harm can you do? Exactly. In times when you're doubting whether or not God's love is big enough to overcome what is going on in your life, remember, love wins, always.

And finally, Love lasts. Love is never-ending. Nothing can stop real love, especially God's love. God's love will never leave us, it will never fade, and He will never just quit loving us. We need not worry about losing love, pure love does not go away. God and His love will see us through all of our days. Love lasts forever.

Three simple phrases with the truth and beauty of a million worlds. God is love. Love wins. Love lasts.