I find myself overwhelmed with things to share…. So overwhelmed that I thought it was the 1st of January again. And I was all ready to pump out a post heralding the Glory of Our God in making things new, but now I realize that God has done so much in the past couple weeks, especially the last couple of days, that I needed an entire day to recover from it, and my January 1st was passed with minimal amounts of conscious awareness.
Praise God!!!
I just got back from IndyCC, a Christian Christmas Conference through Campus Crusade, that last year brought me to Christ and this year once again radically changed my relationship with the Lord. It has just become so clear how intentional God is at putting us through things so that the magnitude of His glory can most perfectly be revealed. I just very quickly want to express my gratitude for His Sovereignty, His greatness, His timing, His comfort, His provision, and the family of believers He has adopted me into, as well as all the new brothers and sisters we got (literally 154 explicitly new believers!!!), and the ones I had the opportunity to meet.
I wish I could recount to you every word of the messages that were shared, every revelation God systematically led me through, every single way God touched every single person, every burden He lifted, all the guilt He ended, everything that was added as fuel to the flame for the passion of the Lord in every heart, and the conversations and relationships that God used to just build Himself into the 2200 Midwestern college students … because without all THAT, I’m afraid I’m not going to adequately convey how awesome our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is.
But ifffffff I had to condense all this into one single blog post [of which I’ve already rambled through half of, DANGIT I always do that!!!] I want to focus on the consummation of everything – that everything in my life and in my faith is being drawn forward, in one direction, by Him and through Him and towards Him. I find myself overwhelmed by the unidirectional nature of walking with the Lord, how everything only moves forward, whether we recognize it or not.
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When the Lord drew me entirely to Himself exactly a year ago, I saw firsthand the incredible power of sanctification, and it was wonderful. But over the course of 2011, I have been unable to ignore the fact that some things have not been as good as they were in that honeymoon period of new faith. Throughout all the wonderful work God has been doing, and the ways He’s been revealing Himself to me, I still find myself struggling with lust, with experiencing joy, and with slipping back into brief periods of depression. Things felt muddled and confused – and while I was still sure God was working, I just had no idea how. And I was finding myself plagued with questions and doubts – if God is truly at work sanctifying me, then why are these old problems and habits creeping back into my life??
And for those of you struggling with the inconsistency and imperfection of your own lives in the midst of the Life-giving promises of hope and joy and the present Kingdom, I soooo badly want to encourage you!!
The truth spoken to me this weekend was this – God allows sin and brokenness and struggles to frustrate our lives SO THAT we are lovingly driven back to Him OUT OF our own self-interest.
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!! Have you been struggling with the fact that life hasn’t lived up to what you hoped it would be? Have you been struggling with a Lord that would allow you to go through such painful circumstances? Have you been in any way disappointed that God hasn’t rained down perfect happiness and peace, despite your faith? IT’S BECAUSE YOU SHOULD BE!!
Because of sin, because of our brokenness, because we were made for perfection in righteous union with the Lord of the Universe, we have every right to be disappointed that things don’t live up to the way we think they should be. They won’t. Because God, in His own overwhelming love and faithfulness, MEETS US HERE IN THAT GAP, so that in simple acknowledgment that life is painful, confusing, and impossible on our own strength, there is Hope for a beautiful and glorious Kingdom.
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To be honest, there are times, especially in the last few months, where the joy of the Lord has not been my strength, and where I’ve had trouble seeing how my response was properly gratifying to God. But He works through my frustrations, so that in simple acknowledgment that I can’t work through those inconsistencies on my own, He has met me here and revealed to me so much more clearly the plan, direction, and focus of my life.
I am so excited to fight temptation and to combat the struggles and hardships of this earth, knowing that through faith the Glory of the Lord is manifested and made perfect in our weakness. And even when, no, ESPECIALLY when we can’t see it, Peter said it best when he responded “Lord, where else will we go, You have the words of eternal life.”
Where else can I go, what else can I do?
I will rejoice in my struggles because God’s glory is made known through them. There is one way my life can go from here, and it’s towards Jesus, by Jesus, for Jesus, and through Jesus. I will continue walking forward, by faith, because there is nowhere else I can go.
And though I struggle and stumble I will feel no guilt, because my debt has been paid.
And though the darkness of the world surrounds me I will fear no evil because my God has never left me and never will.
And though my feet are tired and the road is rough and the distance is long, I will continue walking in one direction and one direction only.
For by His strength and by His love I know there is no condemnation for what I leave behind, in living towards His Kingdom.
Love,
Danny
