Darkness Before the Treasure

In a world of time-lines, we often forget that it is God that defines our legacy. Success is equated by measuring accomplisments in comparison to those around us. Highschool, College, Dating, Engagements, Weddings, Children, possessions. We are so used to measuring qualifications by status-quo. You do all the right things, you follow the expectations of those around you, you achieve success by the world's standards and yet deep inside it never feels enough--you constantly feel in waiting for something more.

We are all free spirits designed to fly in a big open world and yet we close ourselves in, wings touching, so scared to fly alone, to be distanced from what seems acceptable. Loneliness, independence, freedom, individuality, passion have all become words that though sound strong, are very rarely ever acceptable. In a world of networks, marketing methods, and an ever changing technology era, contentment is not money making, uniqueness is hard to target. We live for a feeling of pride, accomplishment, and acceptance that we sacrifice our own feelings, our own desires, and our own self-confidence. So much resentment, bitterness, and anger grow in our hearts because we resent this world that keeps our souls from flying free.

We are all exhausted, desperate for a break but have to keep going for fear of being passed up and passed by. "Make time for the quiet moments as God whispers and the world is loud."
There is peace and rest in this moment. It doesn't take an escape or an adventure, its quite simple--it takes the trust of being able to let go of all the world's expectations and to hold on to God when the world distances itself from this unknown concept.

There is often independence in loneliness, passion along the unbeaten path, and joy in that which doesn't always result in happiness. We weren't created to follow a status-quo, we weren't born to live lives defined by someone else's definition of success. We were created as individuals, with a unique purpose, a deep seeded passion for the things that define us through God and not by this world.

I will always live a failed life if I live for the approval of others or by another individual's standards. Their story is not my own. The closer I come to paralleling the status-quo, the further I go from being who I was uniquely created to be. Have we ever stopped to think that maybe those who suffer from depression or anxiety aren't the ones with problems in this world? Maybe they actually understand that there is more to this life than that which graces the cover of a magazine. They fight the battle within to search, long, and desire to be more, to fight the world's standards, and to find an inner peace that is unique to them. We try to cure this by a common pill but the only cure is to find self acceptance in dropping the expectations, fight, and constant need for the world's acceptance.

Slipping away into silence, falling into the shadows does not represent darkness and emptiness. Explorers first encounter darkness before they find their treasure. The dark signifies the unknown, the uncharted territory that others haven't dared to find. There can be fear but that is part of the adventure of life. Depression and anxiety sink in when we keep ourselves from discovering what is beyond the darkness, when we hold ourselves back with fear. God calls us to live boldly and with confidence. He is our light in this world of darkness.
There is freedom in Christ.
This world holds us back from our place by Christ's side--it is His journey we are to follow and not the path that history tells us to follow.
History is defined by those bold enough to create change. Be the change you hope to see tomorrow.

More than a Word

Patience is having hope that the faith you profess will be evident in God's time and not your own.

When I think of hope, faith, trust and love, they may just be words to some, but to me they define my existence and my being.

Hope is being a dreamer whose eyes are as wide as one's faith in God. Hope holds our hand in the midst of the loneliest time, it inspires in a room of critics, and it keeps one foot in front of the other when I don't know where I'm going.

Faith is strength in a deep rooted belief that what you may not see does in fact travel like a gentle wind all around. Faith is what keeps you waking up, what keeps you from fear in closing your eyes, it brings purpose to our days and meaning to our moments. Whether one has faith or not, their life is still a reflection of that mindset--life happens and moves by that which one allows to move them.

Trust is standing in a world of darkness and sin and knowing that there is nothing in this world that can take from you what God has given through grace. It is being confident that God promises that you will not endure what you can not handle. You have the resources, the strength, the courage to conquer and persevere.

Love is the greatest gift of all--a word that has become equivalent to red hearts and vases of flowers, but true love is freedom. True love inspires, exalts, produces confidence and does not require anything in return.

Our lives are a series of years, days, moments of joys and sorrows, happiness and struggles. You see photo albums that define your presence but what defines your existence?
Beyond the scenery, looking past the faces, who are you in this moment?
God has purpose for your patience. We are all waiting for His return, but there is reason for today. He could bring His kingdom down to earth at any time, but He chooses to wait. Your existence here on earth matters.
We are not creatures of waiting, we are a creation with purpose.
We put our hope in a God who holds our tomorrows and gives His children enough love and faith to pursue His purpose and plan for us. A Journey has a beginning and an end but it is defined by all that is in between. The story happens between the pages. Your character is not defined, it is cultivated and allowed to grow in order to leave a lasting legacy. Your legacy defines your existence.

Though we may be patient, we live our lives out in confidence that the faith we profess, the hope we hold on to, is trusted in hands that are the ultimate reflection of what defines love.

I Find Myself In You

Isaiah 32:17
The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.


I find Myself In You

How often do we end relationships, quit jobs, change cities, update our wardrobes, all for the sake of trying to find ourselves.
I don't believe that we were ever lost but instead I believe that we lost focus of God. We followed our own selfish desires--dated for the sake of loneliness, took a job for the status and esteem, moved to a city because we craved newness, or thought a new outfit would somehow restore our heart and inward feelings.

All those reasons and escapes are from trying to find and hold onto control of our own doing and not of Christs.

How can we ever feel lost when we are found in God?
There is no fear in Christ, No Condemnation.
Perfect love drives out fear. It is only Christ's love that is perfect and complete.
If he is our focus, if he is our confidence, our security, our trust-- then we are in His will and
our lives have purpose, passion, and peace. He created us each uniquely with spiritual gifts, talents, and passions. He knew who you were before you were even born--
He had a purpose and a plan to make you shine for Him.

The Heavens are an eternity away from the earth but He created us to shine, exude praise, and be visible between the two. It is God that gaps the distance and who gives us the strength, courage, and pride to be spotlights in a world of darkness.

We are never lost when we are found in Him.
We never lose who we are until we lose sight of Him.