My son has started lying. Apparently this is normal toddler behavior, but I feel like I must already be failing as a parent. The upside is the hilarity of him not really understanding what it means yet. I’m trying to teach him what is “true.” What “telling the truth” means. So if I say something that he doesn’t like, he tells me, “That’s not true!” And I laugh and he gets even more mad. I swing from “I’m failing as a parent” to “I could have my own reality show” in about seven seconds daily.

Do you feel like the truth has gotten lost? It seems a little like we’ve created our own version of what is “true”. The world around us certainly has. But what happens when the truth we know doesn’t line up with what we see? What we feel?

My sister got a tattoo fairly recently, and is now obsessed and wants 20 more and wants me to get one, too. A few days ago we practiced writing on our arms with sharpie (this is my kinda tattoo!) and she wanted me to write on hers, “It is Well.”

She looked at the scripty markings on her arm and said, “I’d love to get this tattoo, but I feel like I’m lying. Isn’t it wrong to say, ‘it is well with my soul’ when it’s not?”

I didn’t answer, but I asked myself the question for hours. Is it fake? Is it hypocritical? Is it wrong? To say things, sing things in a moment, when you aren’t sure if you totally believe them?

There’s no creative way to say this:

No.

In fact, it’s exactly what we’re supposed to do.

It’s not wrong to speak out things we believe to be true, even if we don’t feel them.

It’s insanely important to speak the truth whether or not it resonates with our emotions or our circumstances.

The beautiful and pretty confusing reality of this life is that the character and nature of God never changes – even when our circumstances don’t seem to reflect that. Our world is so quick to blame God and question where He is in the midst of trouble and heartbreak. If I’m honest, I’ve wondered myself. When my world crashed and God didn’t seem to answer the way I thought was best, “It is Well” felt like a lie escaping my lips. Surely God thinks I’m a hypocrite too, right?

There are times we need to remind ourselves of the truth – whether it feels true or not. Moments when we need to practically sit ourselves down and ask, “What do I believe is true?” David did this in Psalms 43:5. He asked himself, “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you restless and disturbed within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him.”

We’ve got to acknowledge how we are feeling – it’s the first step of actually moving forward – but we can’t stay there. Just like anything else in life, it takes work and repetition to remind our souls of what is true when we are walking by faith. These are not light words. Walking by faith sounds cliché but is the furthest thing from it. It’s getting your hands dirty, digging deep, pushing forward, and trusting.

We choose to trust that God is actually who He says He is – and that He is all of it. We hold fast to the truth that He is good and kind when “it” does not feel very good. We believe that the Healer is also the Judge. That our Good Father; the One who disciplines, trains and tests – is the same One who comforts and frees us.

Reminding your soul of the truth is not a denial of your reality. What we go through here is real. God is not asking us to stick our head in the sand and pretend what is happening around us isn’t there. Life is a challenging, beautiful, exciting, heart-wrenching, fulfilling ride all wrapped up together. Singing “It is Well” when it doesn’t feel very well does not mean everything is fine and we will just trudge forward as if it is. Instead, our hearts will say, “My soul will be at rest because my God is good, and He is for me. I choose to believe that God knows what I need and will take care of me, even if my surroundings and emotions tell me otherwise.”

Don’t be afraid to speak what you know to be true. Say it out loud. Stick it on a post-it in your car.  Get a sharpie and scribble it on your hand, write it as a fake tattoo on your arm.

Don’t get stuck behind your own wall – wondering if your heart is too broken to claim the promises God has given you.

When your heart is broken, confused, and full of questions, God is pleading with you to cling to the truth. The truth will set us free. [John 8:32]

So we can say as boldly as our voice will allow, “It is well with my soul”… even when it isn’t. Remind your soul today that although what you see may not be good or hopeful, He is. He is good and He is hope.

Wait.

Wait expectantly, until your soul sings what your spirit already knows to be true.

Do you ever feel like you’re missing out on your life?

My son is 4 (almost 5, Mom!) and is starting to obsess over time. “How many minutes until Daddy comes home?” “How much time do I need to sleep?” “How long will you be gone?” It sounds cute in a blog post, but guys – it drives me up the wall. He doesn’t actually understand how time works yet, so my answers are never sufficient.

I’ve always tried to give my kids time warnings on when we need to leave fun places… count it down so they aren’t shocked and don’t cause a scene (because, that totally works. LOL.) It’s no wonder he doesn’t understand time, because all parents know that five minutes never actually means five minutes, and neither does two or one or any other time I announce. It’s all relative, and I’m afraid he might be catching on.

The problem is that sometimes, when I tell him five more minutes, he just obsesses and worries about the time instead of using up the time he has left. He argues with me about having more time, and asks every thirty seconds how much more time is left. And I’m constantly telling him, “Dude, you’re gonna miss your chance. Don’t waste your last five minutes complaining – Go play!” I didn’t even realize I said this until they started saying it to each other when they want to convince the other to do something. “You’re gonna miss your chance!”

I’ve started asking myself if his obsession with time is just a kid thing, if he got it from me – or if the world just teaches us that we’re always missing out.

We all worry about how much time we have left. We spend time planning, working, obsessing over the next thing instead of enjoying where we are right now. We wish our younger years away, and then when we’re older we hold onto regret.

Is it just me?

I have a hard time sometimes just sitting down and actually enjoying where I am – because I have to think about what’s coming next. I worry and plan and schedule and before you know it, I’ve missed out. I’ve missed out on quality time with my family, or I’ve wasted an hour by myself scrolling through social media, and just like that – the time is up.

I don’t believe God holds moments in time for us, and if for some reason we “miss it”, we’re doomed. That’s not the God I know. The phrase “missing your chance” was not invented by God. He’s the God who creates moments and carries and sustains us. He’s the God who invented things like joy and sunsets and the beach and iced coffee and everything else we enjoy. His plans are far too big for us to simply drive by, as if His one major purpose for our life is like an exit off of a major highway. That is not the heart of God.

BUT – our time here is short and precious. Here today, and gone tomorrow. We do have a choice how we live it out.

It’s a wild balance – living with God. He gave us this life and wants us to enjoy it. But He also reminds us that “We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.” Psalm 39:6

So what do we do with it? As we work, take care of our families, volunteer, do the dishes, try to stay healthy, try to be kind to people, get enough sleep, make time for God and others… I don’t want to get caught up in my busyness and miss my chance to be present in my own life.

There is an actual, straight-up answer in the Bible for this dilemma. The way Paul lays it out makes it feel like I’ve been sitting down to coffee with him, spilling my guts about how I’m busy and overwhelmed and I don’t know how to be present. And he listens, and nods, and finally responds with:

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”                     Romans 12:1-2 msg

Want to be present in your own life? Want to see your life as God sees it? Miraculous, meaningful, blessed, full of purpose? Fix your attention on God.

Anxious about tonight, tomorrow, next week? Fix your attention on God.

Your world is requiring more than you can give? Fix your attention on God.

You’ve lost who you are, and feel like you’re missing it? Fix your attention on God.

People driving you crazy? Fix your attention on God.

Falling deeper into hopelessness? Fix your attention on God.

He’ll bring out the best in you. He’ll change you from the inside out. He wants you to live your life even more than you do.

Lay it down before Him as an offering. You are His to begin with. Fix your eyes on Him, listen as He speaks, and respond. It’s sure harder than this step-by-step makes it seem, but if we could lean into the truth that everything in our lives are for His glory and not our own – the pressure is off. He is faithful, and He is for you.

“I have come so that they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they have ever dreamed of.”                                                                                                     John 10:10 msg

 

Two celebrities took their lives last week.

Since then, our country has been heartbroken and spinning and sad.

And so have I.

I’d venture to guess that in some way, so have you. This may have hit way too close to home. If this topic is sensitive and raw for you, know that the following words are not without you in mind.

You’ve probably seen the gajillion posts that have been thrown around on social media. It feels like I must have read every one. They’ve said – check on your friends. Check on your strong friends, your quiet friends, every kind of friend you have.

They’ve said – reach out and ask for help. Others countered and said, “That’s not enough. YOU reach out.”

All of it’s true. All of it is the right response.

How can we be fighting about this?

I’ve felt so unsettled. It’s broken my heart that someone actually acted on the state of their heart enough to end their life. And there are people who will think they are sad because they’ll no longer be able to buy a new purse or watch a CNN special.

These people are people. Every celebrity, every addict, every bullied teenager. One is not worse than the other. One is not worth discussing over another. Each one is a daughter, a brother, a best friend, someone’s mom.

So I sit back, as probably so many of us do, and wonder – what can we do? What can I do?

The answer doesn’t feel like much. The answer feels generic and vague. It doesn’t take away the loss people have to process through, but it does change how they process.

The answer is love.

If this doesn’t feel like enough, then we’re missing it.

“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35

Are there actions we should be taking, too? Yes. Faith without works is dead. The world is tired of “thoughts and prayers” without action. I’m not talking about feeling an emotion.

Love is not a passive thought. Love says – I see you. You are important. You are valued. You are not defined by the things you do. You are worth my time. You are worth my sacrifice. You are worth something, even when I have nothing to gain.

I am challenged with this every single day. I have to choose to act on love – not just to strangers or people who rub me the wrong way; but to the people I actually love the most. I have to choose to show love to little people that run around my little house. I have to choose to show them love when I am burned out and running on fumes. The man that I vowed to give my heart to; I have to choose love when we are stressed and running in a million directions.

God is love, and so He gets to say what it actually looks like. And here’s what He says about it:

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

This is not just meant to be read as a spiritual tie-in on your wedding day. These words are how the world will know God. Through us. Through me. And through you.

People of all backgrounds, whether in the spotlight or living on the streets, are choosing to act on the hopelessness that they feel. And as one person, it feels helpless. Meaningless to try to help.

But oh my gosh, we are not helpless. Jesus saved us so that we would spend eternity with Him, live in freedom, and bring others in.

If you call Jesus your Savior, love is your weapon and a safety net for you to throw out. It is the rock you can stand on and the rope you lower down to those who think there’s no way out. It is the furthest thing from generic, weak, or insignificant.

Love. Love God, and love what He values. People. You. Them. Kate Spade and the elderly veteran. Anthony Bourdain and the homeless addict. Love believes and hopes and toughs it out.

I believe the world has created a stigma and has made it difficult for people to get help. But I also believe that oftentimes, we can be our own roadblock in actually stepping out for help.

So let’s do it all. Reach out to those around you. Check on people and ask the hard questions. Love the jerks you don’t know and love your family who tests you and takes advantage of you.

And if you’re the one; the one who needs someone to check on you, with as much sincerity as the internet will allow me – try.  You can. Call the hotline. Comment on this post. Text your friend and tell them you’re not okay. Take the hard, impossible step.

Reaching out for professional help was one of the wisest and healthiest things I’ve ever done. What about for you? Let’s have our own #metoo moment. Love often looks like vulnerability. Putting yourself out there in hopes that someone else might feel less alone.

If love feels generic, too vague or broad, and even if it doesn’t – ask.

Ask God how you can love in the spaces you occupy today.

Love.

Love fearlessly, recklessly, thoughtfully, intentionally.

They may not know it yet, but someone is searching for the love that has rescued and taken hold of you. So give it away.

 

 

 

Hands down, the best time of the day with little kids is the morning.

I’m totally aware that they one day hit an age where you’re wondering where your sweet baby went and how this grumpy, mini-teenager showed up in your house. I know that day is coming, so I’m trying to soak it in while I can.

My kids are still in the toddler bed and crib phase. There’s something totally magical about opening the door to see them looking, sitting, standing, whatever they can do. And barring any sickness or other complications, they’re almost always happy.

They’re just happy to see me. Happy to be seen. Happy to be awake. Happy because they know they’ll be held by me in order to get out of bed to start the day.

Olivia is almost three (what is happening?!) and she still sleeps in a crib. Mostly because she hasn’t figured out how to climb out all the way. (There was that one time she fell out…oops) But if I’m honest, I’m terrified of what a bedtime routine will look like with her once she knows she has control of whether or not her little body is in the bed. Pray for us.

Every morning is still exciting for her. She still smiles super wide and jumps up and down to be seen, held and greeted, “Good morning!”

I honestly don’t know anymore what constitutes a “morning person.” Do I wake up super chipper at 5:30 ready to take on the day? Heck to the no. My husband will tell you lots about my inability to get up with my alarm. But I’ve learned to love my mornings. To crave however many minutes I get by myself and with my morning date: Jesus and coffee. The love is real. I go to sleep dreaming about my morning coffee. If I oversleep and miss my date, I’m just not as pleasant to be around. This has been a practice that has taken a LOT of years, and I’m still inconsistent. But I’ve begun to really value it.

My very favorite passage in the Bible is about mornings. You’ve probably heard it, or read it, or seen it on a pretty print somewhere. Because, well, it’s pretty. I actually just bought a sign with this scripture on it at Hobby Lobby. Guys. It was my first time at Hobby Lobby. It’s probably a good thing there isn’t one in my area, because ohhhhh man. It’s a magical place. I couldn’t say no. My favorite verse was $6.25 and I’m pretty sure it actually called out my name in the store.

On a chalkboard-like sign with a metal frame are the words,

“His mercies are new every morning.” Lamentations 3:23

Loved it. I put it on my coffee bar. And then suddenly, it was like I read it for the first time. His mercy is new. 

New. As in; it hasn’t been used up. It is complete. It is refreshed. It is original. As new as if it’s never been there before.

The problem is that we take everything about a new day for granted. Every single thing about each morning, is brand new from the Creator of the universe. Every time we open our eyes, every time the sun rises; it’s a miracle, and we glaze past it because it happened the day before. Every day is a new day. It’s not just an extension of yesterday – although it feels like that most of the time, doesn’t it?

This morning, His mercy for you has not carried over. It is not a leftover that He reaches to grab from yesterday. He Himself is mercy. It is sourced by Him, and it’s new. As if it’s never been before.

This morning, He’s not bringing up your failures from yesterday. So start new today.

This morning, He greets you with love and forgiveness. So don’t act like you’re a disappointment.

This morning, His compassion isn’t halfway used up on a failure from your past.

It’s brand new. Full. Not tired or impatient or frustrated.

Disclaimer: this is not an excuse to run from yesterday. God wants to draw you to Himself, and wants to take away anything on earth that could separate you from Him. God does call us to repentance. But how does He do it? Through His kindness. His mercy.

Our innocent toddlers don’t wake up remembering how you failed them yesterday. They wake up ready to see you, be loved, and let you lead them through the day.

I’m wondering if maybe this is how God would love to spend our mornings with us. No wonder He’s called us to come to Him like children.

What if we began our day:

Grateful. Because each day actually is a gift He’s chosen for us; and not just a cliche saying.

Joyful – not because of circumstance or lack of responsibility; but because we are settled in knowing He’s made this day for us, and He’ll carry us through.

Hopeful – because there will never be a day like today.

You –

YOU have purpose, and passion, and faith and gifts to be used today. In ways that are different than yesterday.

So let’s start the day accepting the new thing He has for us. With joy, and expectation; wide eyed and in awe.

Let’s not lessen God’s love by believing a lie that He is not enough and more for today. 

“Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” Psalms 5:3

 

Last week, a famous author I follow on Instagram liked my comment.

LIKED MY COMMENT.

I read her books and watch her videos and she’s a New York Times best selling author, and she took the time to read my little sentence and tap a tiny “heart” next to my name.

I took a picture of it, circled it, and sent it to my friends.  And do you know what they all said? “Cool! Who is she?”

And I laughed to myself and remembered that famous people are just people, too.

In all honesty, I think social media often gets blamed for too many of our world’s problems. I certainly call it out as a reason for a lot of my own. We are trapped in a world that links us up to a never-ending slew of overloaded information and hi light reels of other people’s lives. We get sucked in, and we spend our time scrolling on our phones or computers, losing the ability to be present in our own world. So it’s easy to point the finger at a little app on our phone and call it the reason why we’re all unhappy and caught up in comparison.

I won’t generalize this information for you. You may not be as bad as I am at constantly switching back and forth between Facebook and Instagram, refreshing the page until something new comes up – only to find: surprise! You were just here 15 seconds ago and nothing is new.

My biggest personal problem with social media is the silent comparison game I play with myself. In my mind, I’m aware these beautiful photos of other people’s happy kids and clutter-free homes could be reality; or they could just be a really well timed, well cropped, and well filtered picture, like I often do myself. I’d venture to guess you find yourself doing some version of this game in your own mind.

I’m totally aware that this idea of being aware of the dangers of judging or comparing other’s hi light reels to your own backstory isn’t anything new. This is not a post about the importance of showing your real self on the internet.

I’ve started to wonder if maybe social media is getting blamed for a problem that we’ve always had. It just looks different in this generation.

Human beings have always found ways to compare. To judge. To sink into jealousy. To look at someone else’s life and do their best to attempt to measure up. It wasn’t created when social media came about. It’s been happening way before tv or magazines or Snapchat were ever around. It started in the very beginning of the Bible, for crying out loud. I’ve started to wonder if maybe the world, and the people who follow me on Instagram, aren’t actually the ones holding the measuring stick on how awesome and productive and purposeful my life is. At the end of the day, it’s usually me.

Well, more accurately, it’s the enemy of my soul who tricks me into believing that his voice is my own. He cons me into blaming a virtual world with people I’ve never even met with my unhappiness and my need to be enough. He tells me that everyone I know is holding up a never-ending measuring stick that I will never reach the top of. He wants me to feel that I must have my stuff together, just like “she” obviously does. His goal is to turn me against other people, to shut off pieces of the body of Christ and to turn inward, to constantly feel unworthy and not good enough.

God didn’t create us this way. He created us unique, holy, blameless, and already content with everything we would ever need.

“Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God.” 2 Peter 1:3 msg

The funny thing about this verse? God didn’t just give everything you needed to you alone. He also gave it all to the famous author who liked my post. The same God who invites me in wants to personally know that perfect woman at your job; the who makes balancing 50 things look easy and you wonder what on earth you’re doing with your life.

This is a call and a challenge. To stop blaming our lack of self-worth on actresses and models and famous authors on Instagram. To join up with the people who live in your world instead of finding cause for divide: the ones who live across the street, work in the office next to yours, or call the same church “home.”

There is One who has already accepted you, not simply as He found you – but as He intended you to be. He has chosen you. Appointed you. He is One who doesn’t hold any measuring stick at all. Instead, His hands hold holes where He bled for you, for me, and for them.

Before the creation of the world, He knit you together and planned out your purpose, and did so with love.

You have nothing to measure up to you because in the eyes of eternity, we’ve all been given the same amount.

Everything.

I’ll see you on Instagram.

“So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others.” 2 Peter 1:5-9 msg

 

My son has no idea how to look for things.

I used to wonder if this was just a “kid” thing – and then Olivia happened. If I tell her to find her cup, she’s got it in 15 seconds. I think all kids can be a little spacey when it comes to locking their eyes on whatever they’re supposed to be looking for – but Brady takes it to a whole new level. I’ve basically given up on asking him to go get me anything. It can literally be at his feet and he’s looking up on the ceiling for it. Sometimes it’s funny, and sometimes I want to pull my hair out. IT’S RIGHT THERE, MAN.

I have heard the love of God related to how we love our kids here on earth. I totally get that this is our closest representation of love. My children grew in my body and are a part of me, so that’s a pretty deep connection. But the more I keep thinking about this, the more I just feel like we are downplaying the depth of God’s love by relating it to our own. Because if I’m honest, I have bad days. And I lose my patience. And sometimes I take things out on my little people that aren’t their fault.

And thanks be to God, He doesn’t operate that way. Because just as I watch Brady aimlessly search for the thing that’s right in front of his face, I believe we do the same thing. I wander so often throughout my day acting as if the things that God has given me aren’t already in my hands.

In my head, I started relating how Brady aimlessly searches for the toy, the diaper, the snack, that is in obviously plain sight, and began wondering how often I do this in my own life. I wake up, start my day, and more times than I’d like to admit, I am acting as if I have to work for and search for His love and approval. For peace and strength. The amount of gifts that God has given us to keep in our possession is actually a little insane. And yet we still search. We wander through our day, our week, our month, working to chase down the thing He’s given us so freely.

Our enemy’s job is to steal, kill, and destroy. And he works dang hard at it. God’s given him space over some things in this world, and as hard as I try, I can’t always understand why.

BUT. There are some things that he just doesn’t get any right to. He tricks us into thinking that there are gifts he can sneak around and snag out from behind our backs – but it’s all a facade.

“…For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” Romans 11:29

Irrevocable: Not able to be changed or reversed; FINAL.

What has God given you, or called you to?

I was listening to “Belong to You” by Iron Bell Music. The chorus says, “The enemy can’t take what I have, change who I am, I belong to You.”

And I wondered, “What do I have?” What do I have that the enemy can’t steal from me? I started making a list. A list of things that God has freely given; gifts that I couldn’t earn or work hard enough for. They cannot be stolen from me. They cannot be changed. They are final, in my hands – mine.

I have:

Strength in my weakness.

Salvation for my soul and my eternity.

Acceptance in the family of God.

Forgiveness for my every sin.

Citizenship in heaven.

Calling.

Purpose.

Grace.

Peace.

 

The list may not be endless, but it’s a heck of a lot more than the words above.

Unlike the frustration I feel with Brady, God isn’t impatient with me. He isn’t rolling His eyes that I’m coming back to Him again for acceptance. That I’m asking again to be reminded that peace is available to me. He doesn’t run out of patience or gentle reminders of what His sacrifice paid to give me.

What are you searching for today that God has already placed in your hands?

Stop looking around you, and look up.

Look at what’s already been given to you.

You may be holding onto something else that wasn’t intended to be yours.

Let go.

Ask Him to remind you of the gifts He’s freely placed in your hands, that can never be stolen or taken away.

 

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:33-36

 

I hope that just the title of this makes you sing the song – belt it out in your little head or even out loud.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sorry. For you. If you haven’t seen The Greatest Showman and don’t know all of the songs by heart, we definitely have a problem. At this point, it’s almost un-American. Just stop reading this and go watch it! It’s at Redbox. You’re welcome.

In all honesty, this song has nothing to do with anything. I just want to talk about this darn movie all the time. Here’s where I make this giant segue leap. Ready?

I’ve been really chewing on the word and the idea of overflow for the past few weeks.

I don’t know what type of things you’re involved in. Maybe it’s ministry, maybe you’re a parent, a student, working hard on your career, just getting through every day… But I would hope I’m not alone in wishing that I would have enough of myself to give to all of the things that I do. But I don’t want to just give “enough”. I want to be great at all of the things that I do. I want to excel.

I want to be the best wife, the best mom, cook the best food, have the cleanest house, work out super hard and have it show, give great advice, lead inspiring groups, sing, talk, write… and on and on and on.

If you find that you have enough hours in your day to give 100% of yourself to everything you see in front of you; please, let’s get coffee, and tell me all of your secrets!

I hear (and say) the term “living in the overflow” pretty frequently. It’s an accurate and biblical concept to seek. We want to be filled up so much with God that everything we do is out of the overflow of what’s already in our hearts.

We want things like hope, love, patience, wisdom, and joy to be so much a part of us that people can’t help but be touched and changed by it simply by being around us.

But what I’ve found in my own life, and see often in yours, is that sometimes we’re reaching into that overflow bucket first. We bypass being filled and jump ahead to where the extra should be. Things can’t overflow if they aren’t filled up first.

They can, however, be spilled.

If I knock over my cup of coffee, (which, let’s be honest, is probably a weekly occurrence for me) it’s gonna spill. Good thing we got hardwood floors, right? But my coffee cup doesn’t have to be full in order to spill. There can be just an inch or so of that fantastic stuff in the bottom of my cup, and without paying attention, it’ll be all over my couch in seconds. Accidentally. Without intention.

Filling up all of the way to overflowing is rarely an accident. We choose to continue to pour in and pour out. Maybe we can scratch the coffee analogy here, because that stuff is liquid gold and should never be poured out anywhere but your mug and then sipped with happiness.

I’ve found in my life that far too often, I’m manufacturing some of these character traits of God in my life. I’m not actually going to the true Source of what I’m hoping people will see overflowing from me.

I want to have wisdom and knowledge and great advice that leads people to Jesus. But if I’m not filled up with His word, I’m tapping into my own opinions and just throwing in some good ideas that sound like they probably came from Him.

I want to love others when they don’t deserve it so they wonder what’s different. Let the difference be Jesus. But if my love isn’t sourced by the One who is love, then I’m spilling my emotions and good intentions haphazardly and I don’t have enough to get through my day. I turn into a hypocrite with the people who live in my house, because I’ve run out, reaching into my overflow bucket first.

All of the things we aspire to have, be, show, and give to others are not just words God throws at us as rules to be a nice person. He never runs out of every good thing because He is every good thing. He is goodness.

Living a life of overflow isn’t really a choice or something we can work for. It’s a result. A result of choosing what we will fill ourselves with in the first place.

What are you hoping to give others? What do you want to overflow out of your life?

Seek to find the truest form of whatever it is from the truest Source.

Stand back and watch as God pours into you living water, and without work or stress, you’re suddenly immersed in it and others are joining in.

“May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father.” 1 Thessalonians 3:11-12 MSG

Our incredible church (http://myfreedom.org) put on our first ever women’s event yesterday! It was a Priscilla Shirer simulcast, and if you don’t know who she is, go watch something of hers on Youtube and you’ll get a glimpse of the amazing day we had.

We had donuts, sandwiches, coffee, and then a spread of candy/chocolate/snacks like you’ve never seen before. Oh, and dark chocolate espresso beans. You know those are from the Lord. It was a blast. There were 100,000 women tuning in across the world hearing the same message, praying and trusting in God for the same needs. It was a powerful, humbling experience.

Priscilla mentioned a phrase yesterday in the middle of her seamless preaching that honestly wasn’t related. She spoke the words, “sacrifice of praise.” And since that moment, I’ve had the old song stuck in my head. Did you grow up in old school church? Do you know the song? It involved a lot of clapping. If you don’t know it, you don’t need to… you don’t want it stuck in your head for the next 24 hours like it’s been in mine. I’ll spare you. If you do know the song… you’re welcome.

The phrase comes from Hebrews 13:15.

“Through Him, therefore, let us at all times offer up a to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess His name.” (AMP)

I started thinking back on times, seasons, specific moments where praising God felt like a real sacrifice for me. Nothing in my life visibly looked like it lined up with a God who should be praised. The words that I would sing or say about Him weren’t adding up to things like pain, loss, doubt, and hurt. I would have to choose to lift up heavy hands to tell God that He is good, even in dark moments when I felt a little unsure if it was actually true.

What does it truly mean for our praise to be a sacrifice? I don’t believe sacrificial praise is seasonal. As if it comes and goes. Like we’re only giving up something to lift up God when our life is really hard.

Sacrifice is constant, continual and absolutely necessary for God to be glorified in the way He deserves. Every single time we praise God, like Hebrews says, it’s the fruit, or result, of lips that thankfully acknowledge His name.

In order to lift His name high, we choose to go low.

We have to let go of some things in our hands that we are holding too closely. We have to sacrifice our stuff, our ambitions, our image, our selves to the One who makes us who we are anyway.

We choose to open up our hands, drop the heavy things we’re carrying, and then turn them around toward heaven, as an open space to glorify and receive Him.

Are you heading to a church you call home this morning? Are you nervous to be surrounded by people during worship because it just feels too hard to really praise God for anything? Maybe you’re just having a slow morning at home in your pajamas with no church family right now.

In this moment, right now, that doesn’t matter. This isn’t just about being in a group of people singing songs. It’s a 24/7 lifestyle.

Offer God your sacrifice of praise.

Our hands, our hearts, our lips can’t acknowledge Him and lift Him up if they are full of other things.

Relationships, drama, ambition, unforgiveness, hurt, confusion, doubt, pain… As you carry them around with you, they weigh you down. And the weight of of His glory has nowhere to rest because your hands and your heart are already full of things that aren’t yours to hold.

So sacrifice them.

Lay down something, everything before Him in order to create space to thankfully acknowledge and praise the goodness of His name. Of His kindness and love and mercy and never ending faithfulness. Simply because He is worthy.

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness is unsearchable.”

Psalm 145:3

Sometimes, life is hard.

And sometimes, it’s way more than hard.

God is so big and glorious and wonderful – and still, just so confusing. And through all of the questions that come with the hardships of life, He somehow makes beautiful things out of the ashes, and out of us.

The person of Jesus has become so near to me lately. The phrase, “Jesus wept” has always felt like the answer to a trivia question to me. The shortest sentence in the Bible. Two little words. It’s in John 11, and it tells the story of Jesus resurrecting a very dead Lazarus. Jesus shows up to the place where Lazarus had already been dead for 4 days. Talk about hope being gone. He shows up and this section of the chapter is entitled, “Jesus comforts the sisters.”

This was His response to Lazarus’ sister:

“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” He asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.” (John 11:33-35)

Earlier this summer, I was sharing with a friend some hard things that were going on in my life. I was explaining it matter-of-factly, without any emotion (which, if you know me is pretty rare). While we were talking, she started crying. She actually apologized because she was crying and I wasn’t! But in that moment, I felt so understood. She wasn’t crying out sympathy or or pity. Her heart was broken for me and she was feeling what I was feeling. I felt like I could breathe. Like someone got a glimpse into the unspeakable hurt, and I wasn’t alone.

Have you ever experienced anything like that? The understanding eyes of someone who feels your pain; someone who cries with you because it hurts them to see you hurting. That moment where no one is talking and you simply lock eyes in understanding heartbreak. You show up feeling like a big fat mess. Maybe you use lots of words, maybe none at all. But suddenly they join you in your mess, and it feels like you can breathe knowing someone else feels what you feel. That it’s okay to be a big fat mess. That your pain is in a safe place to be released.

Jesus has always known the beginning from the end. He knew He would be raising Lazarus up, literally that same day! In possibly moments, he would be alive and reunited with his sisters. And yet, Jesus felt the speechless hurt of another and cried with her.

And He cries with me. Even though He still knows the beginning from the end. He knows the joy that awaits the chaos that feels so heavy. He sees the purpose behind every heartbreak. And although He urges us to hold onto hope; and reminds us that His strength is made perfect when we are weak, His heart breaks when ours is broken.

He sits next to me on the couch, holds my hand and feels everything I feel. And is even willing to go to God on my behalf.

“Who then will condemn us? No one – for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.” (Romans 8:34)

He sits beside you in the car, or at your desk at work. He cries with you, and He pleads with your Heavenly Father when you are struggling. He sees the beauty that will come from whatever is breaking you. But He doesn’t expect you to always see it.

Your pain is safe. Your doubts don’t discourage Him. He’s praying over you when you aren’t able to pray yourself. Your heart is safe with the One who loves you, and died with your name in mind. You are understood, and you are not alone.

What a friend. What a Savior.

 

Do you ever feel like there are some things that only mean something because they look pretty written out on Pinterest?

We may not even truly understand the meaning… but because it’s on a coffee mug, or on the front of a journal, or on a pretty sign at TJ Maxx – we buy it, we hang it on our wall, or put it in some place where we can see it all the time. Maybe it makes us feel better?

Someone recently printed out a beautiful photo for me that said, “Your grace is sufficient.” 2 Corinthians 12:9. It’s pretty. I put it in my kitchen.

The Amplified version puts the whole verse this way:

“But He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are always more than enough — always available — regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Okay, stop.

If those words didn’t take your breath away, please, go back and read again – slower.

I have said for probably a year now that this is my most favorite promise from God. That His power works best when I am weak. I fight so hard to be strong. I have been told this my whole life; that I’m strong. And I cling to it. I put it up in front of me, very often fooling myself and fooling others. Sometimes it pushes people away. Sometimes it works.

I didn’t realize what God was wanting to show me about my weakness. That on my “strongest” day – it is nothing compared to the strength He wants to give me when I just succumb to my weakness and submit to Him that I’m really not enough.

He says that His grace is sufficient.

What is grace? Grace is the free and unmerited favor of God.

And what does it mean for this grace to be sufficient? It means it is enough to meet the need. 

To meet YOUR need.

The free and unmerited favor of God is enough to meet my needs.

There are times where God gives above and beyond. And then there are times where He gives just enough. Why? Because if we always had more than enough – we would be comfortable. We wouldn’t need. We wouldn’t have any reason to be weak, and therefore no need or want to let Him be strong.

Just like the Israelites received just enough manna (Exodus 16) for each day, there are times God gives just enough grace.

Mark Batterson said it this way in The Circle Maker, “One of our fundamental misunderstandings of spiritual maturity is thinking that it should result in self-sufficiency. It’s the exact opposite. The goal isn’t independence; the goal is codependence on God… We want a one-week or one-month or one-year supply of God’s provision, but God wants us to drop to our knees every day in raw dependence on Him.”

The free and unmerited favor of God is enough to meet my needs.

There are times where God gives us that “just enough” manna… for today, for the next hour, for the next 10 minutes.

And just like the Israelites were showered with quail that stretched beyond what their eyes could see, (Exodus 16) there are times where He pours out His love beyond measure. To the point of overflow, where we can hardly contain Him, and He’s spilling on every thing and every one around us.

He knows the time for each. He knows the times that we would get comfortable and be content with yesterday’s portion of grace, so we’ll skip our portion for today. He knows the days where we are so desperate, we can hardly get from one moment to another; and He makes it known that His lovingkindness and mercies will exceed our expectation of our need.

I pray you would allow the free and unmerited favor of God to be enough to meet your deepest, most desperate need. 

Today. In 3 minutes. In 10 minutes. In 4 hours. Tomorrow. Next week. Next year. 40 years from now.

Grace… not just a pretty word to be hung.

The free and unmerited favor of God is enough to meet my needs.