Have you ever found yourself in a place of uncertainty?  Literally not knowing what tomorrow holds?  And I’m not talking about little things like what you are going to eat for breakfast or what things might pop up at work.  I mean life altering unknowns.  It is in these times of unknowns where God is molding us, where our faith grows, where our relationship with Christ deepens, where we can more fully understand the words from Proverbs; “but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Being a Christ follower does not ensure you a life without troubles.  Scriptures says that we will share in Christ sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.

Take a look at Joseph; he lived a life full of uncertainty and sufferings.  From the moment his brothers sold him into slavery, to being unfairly thrown into prison and the many years that passed until he assumed the role as Pharaoh’s highest official in Eqypt.  There must have been days, weeks, months or years where Joseph questioned all of the uncertainties in his life.

I believe one of the many principles we can learn from Joseph is there is a process we must go through, many times this includes uncertainties, sufferings, pain and tears.  There may be days like David had where he cried out to God in despair and depression but then his despair turned to praise and thankfulness.

Spending time with God is what turns fear into boldness, despair into praise.  It is reading His word, talking to Him in prayer and then taking time to listen for what He has to say to us.  This is what leads us to have life and have it abundantly.  This is what leads us to the peace that passes all understanding, no matter our circumstances.

When we face the days filled with uncertainty may we fall at the feet of Jesus, lay our fears and weaknesses down and embrace the power of the Holy Spirit who is dwelling in us.

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

John14:27-28 Peace I leave with you; peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This is the beginning of Passion Week and as I sit here on this rainy Sunday at Genesis Church iCampus, I struggle to keep my heart, mind and eyes on Jesus.  Oh how I love Him and my hearts desire is to worship Him but my mind seems to be crowded with life.  Life, the stresses of life, the decisions that have to be made Monday morning, the unknown of the future, the gazillion things on my to do list and on and on, so as I sit here today, I have to make a decision to lay all of it at the feet of Jesus an keep my eyes, mind and heart focused on Him.  I don’t want life to drown out what God has to say to me today and my hearts desire is to praise Him unashamed as we celebrate His life, death and resurrection this week.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a facebook message from my Pastor asking me to share what I would do if I knew I had one month to live on this earth. And after the big gulp of processing that question, I quickly wrote out the things I would focus on and do during this time.  One of which was to quiet out the noise of life so I could hear CLEARLY what God would have me do this last month on earth.   So I then started thinking, why would I wait until then to quite the noise of life to hear from God?  Why am I not quieting the noise now, and then I rationalize all of the reasons I have to go 200 miles per hour from sun up to sun down and all of the responsibilities I have and how I must fulfill everyone one of those responsibilities to the best of my ability.  But as I sit here today, I long for quietness, I long to spend time with God, I long to hear from Him.  Yet as Paul says, I seem to do the things I don’t want to do and don’t do the things I do want to do.

So, this week, as I enter Passion Week, I choose to quiet the noise of life and to focus on Jesus.  I choose to stop focusing on the unknowns in my life, I choose to stop wallowing in guilt, insecurity, and worry, I choose to keep my eyes on Jesus despite all of the distractions.  All of this is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in me.

I still don’t know what the future holds and I still am not sure what the right decisions are for Monday morning, I still don’t know what to do on my to do list and what to re-prioritize but I do know that the Holy Spirit will lead and direct me and I don’t have to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will take care of itself.

I don’t have all the answers and I am definitely a work in progress but I do challenge you to join me to quiet the noise from “life” and focus on hearing from God.  Praise Him this week for who He is, for what He has done and for the amazing Gift He gave us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

It has been a while since I last posted, November and December were amazingly crazy busy for us (but in a really good way).  December 8th was one of my favorite days during the last couple of month; we were able to host the James 215 Event to help the homeless and less fortunate of Tallahassee.  We are already looking forward to next year’s event!  You can check out some photos from the event here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151120824871415.434491.553646414&type=1&l=2e60fe789d

Discipleship – this has been on my mind and heart for a very long time.  This is what we are called to do – our purpose in life – lead others to Jesus Christ.  I had the opportunity to speak at our church home, Genesis Church, back in November and share about our calling to go make disciples.  You can check it out here:  https://vimeo.com/54190344

Psalm 27:14 Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.

Waiting is probably one of my least favorite things to do.  I am a planner by nature.  I love to have my plan and follow it as closely as possible.  Structure and planning helps me feel like I am somewhat in control.  But guess what, I am not the one in control – God is.

When “my plan” gets off track, I am reminded that I am supposed to wait on God.  This gives me an opportunity to put Proverbs 3:5 into action.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.”  

In my plan certain things need to happen at certain times in order for everything to be okay – and when they do not, I must trust God – it doesn’t make sense in my planning but it does to Him.

As much as I love to plan months out (and I don’t think that is a bad thing), if I seek Him everyday, He will guide my DAY.  I don’t have to worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will take care of itself.  My focus should be on Him and what He has for me today.  He will guide me on what to do today, which inherently will effect tomorrow and hereafter; but it is not my responsibility to worry about tomorrow.

My challenge for myself is to wait patiently on the Lord, be strong and courageous and trust in Him and not my own understanding.

I mysteriously received a book in the mail titled “40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life” by Tommy Newberry.  I’m not sure how I ended up with it; I have no idea who sent it.  I put it off to the side since I am currently in the middle of 4-5 different books already.  I love reading; but I have to be strategic in order to find a lot of reading time.  I love my kindle books because anytime I have a few extra minutes (Doctor’s office, waiting for appointments, etc) I can pull out my ipad and read.

Well, I got curious what the book was about and chapters were short, so I decided, why not make it six.  I’m not recommending the book at this point; because I haven’t read it but I was inspired by the 4:8 principle referred to in the book.  The 4:8 principle is based on Philippians 4:8  Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praise worthy- meditate on theses things.  

Quoting from the book “While trials and tribulations are permanent fixtures of this world, our attitudes toward them can help soothe the wounds and bring about solutions while glorifying our heavenly Father in the process.”

Proverbs 23:7 “As a person thinks in his heart, so is he.” 

Today I choose to think about my many blessings, not the few problems, I choose to be thankful to my gracious heavenly Father for His abundant grace and mercy on my life.  I am so thankful for the joy in my life that comes from Him!  I’m reminded today what the Holy Spirit reminded me of earlier this week – keep my eyes on Him.  Hebrews 12:2  “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”

Compassion….This is a word that you hear a lot, but what does it truly look like?  In Matthew 9:36 it says Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.  In James 1:27 James says Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress…  Generally speaking, the neediest people in the early church were orphans and widows, the principle James is expressing in this passage is our responsibility to care for those in need.  As believers, we are striving to be like Jesus, with His character and filled with His attributes.  But lets get past the “religious” lingo and really examine what compassion looks like for us in today’s world?  

Decisions, everyday, everyone of us have decisions to make.  Some small and some seem insurmountable when trying to determine the right move to make and when.  We have work decisions, family decisions, financial decisions, personal decisions and God wants us to bring those questions to Him.  Not just once, but every time we are presented with a decision to make.  Do you ask God before you make a decision?

In 2 Samuel we see the Philistines chasing after King David and David ask God “What should I do?”  2 Samuel 5:18-19 Now the Philistines had arrived and spread out in the valley of Rephaim.  19 So David asked the Lord, “Should I march up against the Philistines?  Will you hand them over to me?”  The Lord said to David, “March up, for I will indeed hand the Philistines over to you.”  We see the first thing King David did when he needed to make a decision – go to God for the answer.

How many decisions do you have to make this week?  As I sit here this evening, I find myself with a multitude of decisions to make.  Some I have asked God to guide me to make the right decisions, others I have not.  2 Chronicles 16:9 says God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.  You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God’s help.  Now you’re in trouble-one round of war after another.  So why don’t we go to Him for every decision?

Now let’s look just a little further in 2 Samuel 5 and see that David did what God told him to do and he defeated the Philistine army.  2 Samuel 5:20 So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there.  Then he said, “The Lord has burst out against my enemies like waters burst out.”  So he called the name of that place Baal Perzim.  Then we will see David confronted with the same situation again, starting in verse 22 The Philistines again came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim.  23 So David asked the Lord what he should do.  This time the Lord said to him, “Don’t march straight up.  Instead, circle behind them and come against them opposite the trees.  24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, act decisively.  For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.  25 David did just as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Gibeon all the way to Gezar.  

David was faced with the same decision to make.  How many times are we faced with the same decision and we merely make the assumption, God told us to handle it this way before so let’s do it again.  If David had made that assumption, he would have gone up straight at the Philistines and may have been defeated.  But instead, He asked God, “what should I do?”

So how long do you wait for God to give you an answer before you just handle it yourself?  Do you wait on Him, or give Him a deadline to give you an answer?  Those were hard questions for me to ask myself!!  If you are a follower of Christ, you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you to guide you in making decisions.  How many times do you find yourself on your knees asking God, “what should I do?”  In James, scripture says But if any of you lack wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt.  For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  God will give you wisdom, He will show you what to do, but you must ask believing that He will give you His answer.  It might not be your answer on your timeline, but He will answer.