Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Psalms 107:2 KJV
One of the things I have been asking the Father for this year has been joy. Not that I do not experience it, but I know it’s a fruit that is lacking in my walk. Lately, God has been showing me one more step on my way to produce the fruit of joy in my life. God has shown me that I struggle with the concept of celebration. I realized that I give thanks for events in my life, but I rarely, if ever, do I truly celebrate.
This is how God started this realization in my heart. In Cambodia we sat down as a team and had a devotion. We were supposed to write down three ways that God has shown us His love this past week. Easy right? Wow. I was blown away at how much I had forgotten or had already stopped celebrating HUGE things that God had done in my life.
The Father immediately put this image in my head of what I had done. I would thank God for this incredible thing He had done, and then almost immediately toss it to the side and open up my hands for Him to give me more. Ouch… That truth hurt. But here’s something I’ve come to learn more about the Father this year, He isn’t afraid to tell me the hard things in love. I’m so glad God is honest with me. How could I grow without that!? That’s not what this blog is about, that one is free. But God challenged me in that time to learn what it is to celebrate Him and the things that He blesses us with.
So on that note, I want to share and celebrate with you something that happened this past month. Here’s a story about God being such a provider and friend. I shared this with my squadmates on my birthday last month and now I’m sharing it with you all.
So my parents are struggling with coming to PVT (Parent Vision Trip, it’s a time where parents are able to come out into the field to visit and do ministry with their racer). Mostly because of finances, both of them about to retire and so on. They have been stressing because they think that PVT will cost them a chunk of savings. When I told my parents about PVT and when we talked about finances, I told them “With God all things are possible.” I just talked to my parents today over a facebook call and they told me a story about what God did this morning.
My mom was finalizing their taxes when something showed up that said they received some money that my mom knew nothing about. They never received a check for this amount. It had something to do with a job that my dad had back in 1995. So my dad called the company and they informed him that he had paid into some sort of retirement deal when he was working for the company and now it was time for him to receive that money. The company tried to send the check back in November (those funds would have been used for something else if they had received it then) but it got lost in the mail (insert irony here because my dad is a postal worker). They informed my parents that they re-sent the check and it should be there tomorrow. The amount of that check will cover BOTH of their ways and back to PVT with some extra, but wait, there’s more.
As most of you know, yesterday was my birthday (and it still is technically in the US), we ended the day of traveling sitting at Famous Rays in Thailand eating great burgers and hanging out. I had a random conversation with someone at the table about PVT and they asked if my parents will make it. I told them about the stress of finances and that I wanted BOTH my parents to make it because I felt like the Lord wanted both of them there. That very time that conversation happened was the same time my mom came across this unseen provision from 1995. I believe that the Father gave me such an incredible birthday present this year. Come on!!
Am I truly giving God the celebration He deserves? Am I living in continual thankfulness? Is my heart seeking the next gift from God while I am still holding what He has given me now? When I choose to celebrate and live in thankfulness, I find joy, I find that I am secure in His love, I find that those other thoughts have no ground to stand on anymore.
I want to challenge anyone who is reading this to take a moment. Write down three ways that God has loved you this week. Now don’t stop there, but live in celebration for those things. It has already started to plant seeds of joy in my life, and I have a hunch God will do the same in your life as well.
