Wednesday, April 18, 2012

We always have a choice

It is 3:30 am, and I am blogging because I sure can't go back to sleep. Spiritual warfare? Vanilla coffee from the machine this afternoon? A combination of the two? I don't really know. But I drafted this blog in my head earlier, and now I am putting it to paper (metaphorically speaking.)

"We always have a choice." That phrase has been rolling around in my head the last week or so. Like a lot of fundamental truths, it seems like an easy concept but actually has the potential to change lives if we truly embrace it.

And I get it, I'm 25, young and optimistic maybe. But I've seen enough to know know a lie from Satan when I see one.The hopelessness that I hear in peoples' voices when they talk about their lack of options seems to be a common denominator. That sentiment of  "I have no choice." Satan keeps using the same lie because we keep believing it. That's what he does- there's a reason he's called the father of lies.
To cite a few examples:
The kids I talked to who told me they just can't stop being violent. Lie- they aren't lying-they actually believe the lie that Satan is telling them
The girls who told  me cutting themselves was the only way to feel better Lie-"
The old people at the nursing home who are mean and cranky because life has no hope anymore Lie-"

The circumstances in all three of those examples were such that many people would lose hope. The kids and the girls often had been abused in some form or another; and I think we all can understand the hopelessness of life in a nursing home.

But the simple, profound, liberating, beautiful truth is that God always lets us choose how we will respond to our circumstances. I am not saying the alternatives won't be  messy, or scary,or just plain hard; but I have gotten the closest I have ever been to God through the hard, messy, scary times.
I mean if we want to talk lack of options and hope, check out these folks Corrie Ten BoomJoni Eareckson Tada, or Horatio Spafford- these guys stopped falling for the lie of hopelessness, even in the face of seemingly hopeless lives.
And this goes for every hardship out there: bad day, alcoholism, porn addiction, really bad day, sickness, money troubles, etc.- We can't always control our circumstances, but we always control our reactions.
 We always have a choice.
We always have a choice.










Tuesday, April 3, 2012

I am a Christian, people should like to be around me.

So, here in France a lot  of the people I come in contact throughout my days are not in a relationship with Jesus. It has been a change from OK/AR/TX culture that I have grown up in, stretching, but only confirming my faith and trust in God.

Its crazy how people are different but really the same at the heart of it all. People are hurting, lonely, and scared. Depressing, but true- it has been this way since the Fall. I don't know how people without Jesus make it sometimes, life can be so hard. And when I hear my friends who don't trust in God say things like " yoga says everything will pass" or " I just have to be strong" I want to cry, I really do. I don't know how that could possibly ease the pain or satisfy their obvious search for deeper meaning; I don't think it does.

Which brings me to the point of this post: as a Christian, I have the source of  love, joy, and peace as my Savior and friend. I should act like it. Seems simple, but I don't think we really get it right all the time. Right now at French school, there are lots of people here from around the world, many not believers. There is a great temptation for me not to invest my time or energy into getting to know them or developing relationships- I know we won't know each other long, and will probably never see each other again. Plus, I am here to learn French, not hang out with other people who make the same mistakes in French that I make.

But, then I remember a magnet my friend has on his fridge in Inola, OK, it says "Bloom Where You Are Planted" and it has a smiling flower on it. I am learning French so I can go tell people about Jesus in Africa, so I am too busy to tell people about Jesus here? Something isn't right with that picture.

So, I try to show that unselfish, irresistible love that Jesus showed me to those around me. I find out what their passions are, their hopes, their fears, and troubles- and we talk about them. If I am brave I pray with them. If the Spirit leads I talk about my experiences with Jesus. It isn't rocket science; its much more important.