A few things I have learned recently:
1) I love art. Art is amazing and beautiful
2) I can paint a wall very well, but not a piece of paper
3) God wants to be my anchor
“13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself:
14 I will indeed bless you,
and I will greatly multiply you.
15 And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. 16 For men swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. 17 Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He has become a high priest forever.”
In Hebrews 6, the author talks about how God’s atribute of faithfulness was shown in His promise to Abraham. (“I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies.” – Genesis 22:17). The Old Testament is full of stories of Abraham’s offspring, the Israelites. So obviously, God fulfilled His promise. He has shown His faithfulness.
Just as verse 18 says, how encouraging is that. God keeps His promises! Good news, this is one of my favorite promises of God,
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.
Plans for good and not for bad, to give you a hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
God has the best planned for us. It may not seem so at times. It probably will not look the way you think it will, and that’s ok. It’s impossible for us to have the “perfect plan” for our lives. I mean we are imperfect people (Romans 3:23). How in the world could imperfect people make perfect plans. It’s like trying to make apple pie with rotten apples. It just doesn’t work and leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. (Yes I do love apple pie. I think God made apples for the sole purpose of juice and pie. Momma’s got me an apple pie waiting on the day I make it home!)
God is faithful. He has shown that. He doesn’t change. He can’t change. He doesn’t move. He is a firm foundation (Matthew 7:24-27).
I want to encourage you to evaluate where you are in your life. Do you put your hope in the Father? Do you put faith in plans and ideas that only bring forth, short lived fulfillment or quickly bring devastation? Do you find yourself at a low place after finally being accepted into that college or getting that promotion that you’ve worked so hard for? Do you find yourself feeling completely crushed after not getting that career job you went to school for 4 years of your life to get? You may have placed too much of your hope and faith in a place that can’t deliver the joy and fulfillment that only God can. It is ok to feel disappointed, but when it rocks our whole world, it’s a wake up call. It’s a call to evaluate where you have placed your hope and faith. I pray that in that moment, you find the one and only place that will ever satisfy. God, His Word, and the gift of salvation He offers to all of us.
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This is just something that God has laid on my heart over the course of my time on the race. He is teaching me daily how to rely on Him and just be rooted in the Word. How to shift my old ways of placing hope in the next thing, or what seems best at the time, but to place my hope, faith, and joy in Him. Very humbling and freeing. In Christ, I am free to have my hope and faith in something that will never change, something that will never do me wrong. He is incapable of doing such.
I want to make a couple of announcements.
1) I am still short $125 of my fundraising goal of $13,805 before I return to the states in a month. I am required to have all funds upon returning home mid-May.
2) I have been accepted for the fall into Adventures in Missions discipleship program, Center for Global Action. In this program, I will be taking classes regarding spiritual identity, the Holy Spirit, evangelism, leadership, and other similar topics. I will be living in community with other like-minded believers, seeking to be discipled and to disciple others. Through this program, I desire to learn how to better be discipled, so that I can better disciple other people. I want to take that, the leadership, and the biblical knowledge to wherever God calls me in the next season of my life. I have to fundraise roughly $6,000 for this program. I am asking if you would support me in prayer first and foremost, but also if you would support me financially.
Thank you so much for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] or [email protected]. God bless!
