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12 February 2019

why I blog "too much" about Jesus

There is this big social media/blogger push lately to be REAL, to really tell it like it is, to just lay out those truth bombs.  This has been quite amusing in a lot of circumstances, and often times a little depressing.  It's important to be transparent, and for better or worse, I've always been a little ahead of the game on that transparency fad and have always just shared how it is, anyway.

Maybe I'm not tough enough to act like things are awesome when they're not, or maybe it's that from the start, I wanted this blog to be more than informational. I wanted my LIFE to be more than informational.

I wanted my life to be devotional and in a constant state of growing in Him...not just about my own experiences, but about where God is in them...not just about my own understanding, but about seeking His. And so I write the way I try to live and I hope at some point God's used something in my life or experiences or spiritual walk to sharpen yours.

Someone suggested the other day that I actually talk about Jesus too much, and that instead of just saying that things are ugly (like a good transparent truth blogger), I'm always trying to talk about how with Christ there is hope.

Well, I will take those compliments and carry on.

My perspective VOID of Jesus's perspective is worthless and not what anyone needs, including ME.  My words apart from His Word's are NOTHING. Nothing for anyone, nor for me.  When it's hard, I say it is.  But if you don't see me despairing, it's because there is absolutely no room for bitterness or despair in the life of a Christ-Follower.  

When He speaks into our hard, AND HE DOES, I'm gonna share that, and I hope that any truths I've shared over the years that are apart from His truths or have strayed from His perspectives have been totally lost and washed away.

All that said, this is hard!  There is no sugar-coating what a desperate and dark place Haiti is in.  We've talked, we've listened, we've read, we've heard, we've seen, we're here, and It's. BAD. and getting worse.  No one knows what needs done, no one knows what can help, pressure is climbing and so are the prices and there is still no fuel and the number of police vs. angry people is absurd.  The UN left six months ago, and things are become more and more fear-led.  Some villages are ok one hour and not the next, and when they clear up, other areas are smoldering.  Some students could come yesterday and can't today, some staff were absent yesterday and here today. Some come and can't go...some went and can't come.

Apart from Christ, there. truly. is. no. hope. for the situation or for the people of Haiti. Apart from Christ, there is all kinds of scary, awful stuff I could tell you about. Apart from Christ, we would be passing sleepless nights and encouraging others on in their fear.

But There IS NO apart from Christ, is there.  

Very simply, Lily, Sofie and Nora chanted through their catechisms this morning over dippy eggs and crescent rolls.

How old is God?
     He is eternal, he always has been and he always will be.
Where is God?
     God is everywhere He wants to be.
What can God do?
     God can do everything He wants to do.

There is no apart from Christ, and THAT is the truth bomb.  That IS the real perspective.

The real perspective is that He is HERE and can DO whatever He wants.  And I don't have to know what that is, as long as I know WHO He is.  Don't have to see a solution as long as I see Him.

As unsettling as all of this is for our little family, it is six dozen times MORESO for all of our Haitian brothers and sisters. This is their country, their reality, the future of their children, the vanishing gourdes in their pockets, the rice in their bellies, the empty tanks on their motorcycles, the burning tires on the streets they grew up on.

What an awesome privilege to truth bomb this day, not with our fears and helplessness, but with His strength and ability.  To let all things be done for the building up of the men and women of Haiti (1 Cor. 14:26). To pursue alongside of them what makes for peace (Romans 14:19). To let the Word of Christ dwell richly, teaching each other and singing together and carrying thankfulness in our hearts and lives and words (Col. 3:16). To remember that all things are lawful, but that not all things are helpful! (1 Cor. 10:23)  To openly let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and be thankful (Col. 3:15)

What an awesome privilege to say to those with fearful hearts, Be strong, do not fear. Our God will come!  He is with us! (Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 35:4)

It is challenging to genuinely not know what tomorrow holds. To see all the children of Haiti huddled at home and not in school. To watch gallons of fuel used and watch mouths to feed and watch rice double and watch smokey skies. To listen and see and try to lead in a day where the line between carrying on and being prudent is very fine indeed.

As I've written these posts--every other day since 2006--it hasn't really been for you, whoever you are, at least not in their writing.  For it is in their articulation that I search for God in all these moments, in the fears, in the struggles, in the confusion, and it is in the articulation of the truth that I find Him again and again and again.

It's in answering the question over and over "what do I really truly believe in this situation?" that He has been found.  Every. Single. Time.

As long as I continue to dump all the questions and concerns and hard edges of my life and world at His feet and continue to find Him there, every single time, on the throne--alive and well, mighty and powerful, holy and active, asking me to trust Him...

Then I will. With His help. I will.

And I will encourage you to do the same.

Pray for the burdens of the day. Pray for Haiti. Pray for His kingdom come.  Pray without ceasing and encourage each other on in The Truth.

As Belony so simply and powerfully prayed this prayer service yesterday, Annou kitè volonte Bondye pase pito.  
Let's ask the desires of God to come to pass, instead.


1 comment:

  1. Praying with you. My faith is strengthened and I am encouraged when the people of God cling to His hope and His provision and His presence in the midst of the chaos of this world. I know He is with us. And He is with Haiti.

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