Waiting for the next season to come.

I’ve been pondering the milestones of life recently, and how knitted into society it is to reach certain goals. Next year I turn 20, and although it is commonly said that ‘age is just a number’, there seems to be many underlying goals that come along with this new number I’m going to adopt. Whether we like to admit it or not, there are certain age brackets that link to certain achievements as we pass through the years. I feel they’re kind of like little fires that burn away unnoticed until a friend ties the knot with their partner, or scores their dream job, and we suddenly catch sight of them and are burned with the feeling of failure.

As I ponder these achievements I see myself reaching one day, questions start to bubble up about when I will find the eyes of my husband, or the job offer that fits, when will I feel content with my figure, or travel to a new place?
I often present these questions to God, and he gently tells me to have patience, and that things will come in their due time when I am ready for them. Now patience isn’t something we hold to dearly in the society we live in, with fast food and speedy technology, we find ourselves expectant that God will deliver at the same rate, right?

It’s a harsh reality I’ve only been coming to grips with recently, and it may not be something you’ve come to think about. As I look back on the decisions I made and the paths I’ve taken I’ve come to notice that where I’ve seen the most fruit, is where I’ve patiently waited on God. One thing I’d like to address it that often waiting doesn’t mean literally sitting by your bedside in hope that God will magically give you the ability to run a company and you’ll be rich within the following month.
The same goes for women, in that waiting for a husband doesn't often mean sitting in your room digging into song of songs in hope that one day God will bring a man who’ll recite verses such as 'You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.' (Song of Songs 4:7) 



I feel like when God instructs you to be patient, he wants you to work within the parameters he has currently allowed you to work in, and hold faith that in his timing he will extend those parameters and you’ll be able to step into the new season he has for you. 

Whether this be faithfully serving in your worship team, until you are able to step into leading, or involving yourself in social circles that will allow you to mingle with people until God anoints a time of particular growth in friendship with one person. I’d encourage you to cast off the worries you once held, the burdens from the past, and don’t become anxious or impatient about the future plans God has for you either, but instead direct all or your energy into the present season God has placed you in. Begin working really hard in your workplace, your school, you friendship circles, and God will honour this and bring blessing upon you. You’re in this particular season for a reason; I’d challenge you to ask God how he can use you in it. What skills has he given you to impact the people around you? Are pushing too hard to move onto the next stage, or are you becoming sluggish because of your fear of the future? Seek God in your current season and have faith that you are there for a reason, how is God wanting to use you?

‘For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

                         (Ecclesiastes 3:1-22)

A City On A Hill

Geographically speaking, Christchurch is far from being situated on a hill. We lay in more of a valley with surrounding hills and mountains that tower over us, but yet I felt God speak this phrase to me very clearly yesterday evening. I quickly hopped on the web and searched the passage of scripture that this came from.
In Matthew 5:14 it says

‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.’ (NIV)

February the 22nd marks the four year anniversary of the earthquake that destroyed this city, but it also marks a time where we became the most malleable form in which God can use us- I will touch in this more in a moment.  We were suddenly in the public eye, news channels jumped on this disaster and it spread like wildfire. I feel this is what really placed us as a city on a hill. This scripture will continue to ring true as we rebuild, slowly building up fresh infrastructure, birthed from minds that suddenly had a whole canvas of a city to work on. Community projects have blossomed like pop up dance-o-mats, poetry walls, and outside movie screenings have adorned this city with hope during this ongoing restoration project. This rebuild will not be a quiet task, it will draw attention no only nationally but internationally and it is pushing me to continue prayerfully that God’s hand is upon this whole process. If we are a city on a hill that cannot be hidden, I want to be a city that shines the light of Christ from every rubble ruined street corner, and every sleek new office building. I desire to be a part of something that has Christ as the centre, and know that if God can speak the stars into existence, he can take the brokenness of this city and make it whole again.

This leads me onto something I touched on before, being malleable in God’s hands. After the quake we became our weakest, as we mourned over loves ones and watched bricks that built up our homes and buildings, tumble around us. The city became a mess of road cones and tears, and we watched as we became very different versions of ourselves than we once knew. But not only did God speak to me about being a city on a hill, the thing that hit me the most this evening was two verses a few above that read,

³You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
⁴ You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. (THE MSG)

How incredible is it that God loves our brokenness? A person who is willing to become completely undone for the sake of being put back together to become more like him is someone who is treasured in God’s eyes. This evening I began to see God’s heart in the way I view this city. I see how I am intrigued by the fading shop signs and smashed bookcases behind windows. I look upon broken dollhouse-like buildings, and I am reminded of my own brokenness and how lovingly God looks upon my every fault, knowing he has work to do in me. I see how when this city and it’s people are at the end of their rope, there is far more God can do because we are willing for him to take the reins. I see how when we have lost what is most important to us, the embrace of our father is that much more comforting and needed. But most of all, I see myself in these broken city streets and hear my Dad call me his child and let me know the passion I have for this broken city is the passion he has for me. He wants me to run into his arms when I reach the end of my tether, or when I feel I am crumbling in the way this city did, because in times like these he will grow me the most.
I encourage you to be attentive to what God is speaking to you about, and don’t ever feel discounted because of your faults of weaknesses. For when we are at our weakest, it is at this place we are most able to be used by our Father- and he can use you in incredible ways.

Swimming Against the Tide: Part 1

Lately in our church we just finished a four part series on love, romance and sex (don’t worry, this isn’t one of “those” blogs!). The series itself was excellent at unwrapping those particular topics (it can be found here) but one thing that also stood out to me is that in practically all aspects of christian life, we are swimming against the tide of our secular western world. Pursuing God and doing things his way and the way he designed them is so counter to what our culture would say. We live in a fallen world, a world that is lost and confused, a world that says identity and satisfaction can be found in sex, money, status, possessions and self worship. Since the fall of man, so many wonderful things that God created for his purpose have been twisted and moulded to fit man’s own selfish wants and desires. So as Christians walking in this broken world, seeking Gods kingdom come and the ultimate reconciliation of man to God, how do we go about living our day to day life against this ever rushing tide of secularity and worldly influence? I was pondering and praying about the ways in which we can go about this and on the drive home from college today, 3 things stood out to me in my mind, the first of these I’d like to share today.

Part 1: A strong personal relationship with the Father

As we look at the life of Jesus in the bible we can soon notice the strong connection he has to his father in heaven. In Luke Chapter 5, news of Jesus’ teaching and his miracles is starting to travel abroad and crowds are starting to gather in wait for him, then in verse 16 it says 

“Yet He often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.”

Jesus was a rather busy man back then, healing the sick and teaching the good news all over the place, yet still he understood the importance of quiet time with God. In order for God to use us to win this broken world back for him we need to be like Jesus and take time out to spend with our heavenly Father. Even when we get busy and overloaded with the stresses of life, we need to do what Jesus did and take time to withdraw and spend with God. There’s no use trying to swim against the tide of culture and worldly influence if we don’t have the presence of God and the Holy Spirit with us, it would be like an athlete trying to run a race with no energy, or trying to drive a car without filling it with petrol. The Lords prayer asks God to “give us today our daily bread” He is the bread of life, he is what we need daily in order to live and be more like him. Taking time out for him is the most important thing we can do. 

When Paul writes to the church in Ephesians he says to not get drunk on wine, but keep on being filled with the Spirit. In short, what we put in is what we get out. If we are spending ALL of our time being filled with the things of the world (the wine so to speak) then we can very easily start to drift back downstream and begin to compromise areas of our lives and thoughts. Bearing in mind though, wine itself, like many other things in the world, is not inherently bad when in its right and godly place, but to “get drunk” on these things and engage with them in a way God didn’t intend is what Paul is warning us of. However, If our priority is to be consistently asking for more of the holy spirit, fueling up on the words of the bible and aligning our will with Gods will through prayer, then we will become equipped and ready to go out and be salt and light in the world. 

Something else important to note in that verse is that Jesus withdrew to desolate places, other translations use words like deserted, lonely and wilderness. When Jesus teaches us to pray in Mathew chapter 6, he says to go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father. One important thing I think these passages are saying is that in order to spend good quality time with God, we need to unplug from everything around us and create a space which is quiet and away from the outside world. That means not only closing our door, but also turning off our phones and laptops, switching off Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and all those other things that can so easily distract us with constant notifications, messages, invites etc. With technology the way it is, it’s so easy to be wired in and connected 24/7. More information is accessible at our fingertips than every before and communicating with friends and family is only a few clicks away. Like the wine Paul speaks of, all that stuff is great in it’s right place. However to become addicted and unable to be without these things for long enough to collect our thoughts and begin to draw close to God is a huge danger we face in modern life and even more so in our relationship and our quiet times with God. When we take time out for our Father in heaven we need to make sure we are removing any and all distractions and obstacles that can hinder our relationship with him. Being aware of technology and it’s right place in the kingdom of God is something that as Christians we should be really aware of on a daily basis. By letting ourselves conform to the worlds constant need to be plugged in, we may miss opportunities to plant gospel seeds, do good for others, have important conversations and most importantly, hear from God.

Without spending consistent quality time with our provider and our sustainer, the tide we swim against is one that can seem relentless and unbearable. But by spending time with the Father and learning what it means to withdraw to the desolate places to pray as Jesus did, we soon realise that it’s a battle that has already been won.  

“What then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, then who can be against us” 

-Romans 8:31

Sane Faith

Recently, I have been reflecting on 'faith'. Is faith wishful thinking; do we have faith in order to believe in the ridiculous? This issue has been raised on various occasions, in which it has affected my Christian life down the track. This misinterpretation means for some people that: faith is merely gap filler, which convinces one to believe in something without two thoughts. This is in reference to how Richard Dawkin's defines faith as "an evil[,] precisely because it requires no justification and brooks no argument". This misunderstanding has been used to credit the misunderstanding that is 'post-modern spirituality', of which touched on earlier (see here). But is Dawkin's definition of faith true? Short answer, definitely not. The long answer though will need us to explore two of faith's dimensions of trust: in testimony; and in relationship. 

Trust In Testimony - Faith's Relationship With Evidence 

For Christians, their faith predominantly is underpinned by the Bible; this means we believe that the content of the Bible is true, that it is God's word. Just to clarify, the bible wasn't compiled to form a knock-down document to demonstrate proof for God. I am sure that an all knowing and all powerful being would have plenty of other methods if that was his intention. God's intentions for the Bible is difficult to explain broadly, but in one aspect it is his tool for equipping his people, us. The Christian faith's relationship with evidence therefore, isn't one that is underpinned by body of physical artifacts that are sufficient proof for the existence God. Rather, our belief trusts in the testimonies given by God's people, and furthermore, what God's word means to and for us. Think about what proof means for a moment. The problem with proof is that it is so ambiguous to know for sure when something is actually proven. Take this definition of proof: as evidence or argument establishing a fact or the truth of a statement. If you think about it hard enough it is actually a lot messier to prove something. 

One aspect of faith is that it doesn't rely on proof, but evidence - spoken word, testimonies - that testifies to the belief. This idea may send mixed messages, as it has done to me before. Since it can be easy to say faith is an excuse to not bother to weigh the reasonableness or likeness of something. However this is not so, precisely because faith is only more credible when one does weighs the reasonableness of God's promise. Faith's relationship with evidence and the problem with proof may be expanded through this analogy:

Bob has been saving up his money for several years in order to buy his first smart phone. Just after its release, Bob manages buys an I-phone 5.  After a month of regularly using it, he inevitably learns about how many of its features work. 

Thereafter, one of Bob's work mates, Sam, received a text message from Bob saying how he has the new I-phone 5. Sam was amazed that Bob got it so early, and asked for proof that he had it. Sam explained to Bob he has to bring it with him to his house the next day as proof. 

A series of events happen and Bob found that he cannot possibly retrieve the I-phone. Measuring with this Sam's expectation of proof , Bob cannot possibly prove to Sam that he has or at least had an I-phone 5.

When Bob explained to Sam his situation, Sam refused to believe Bob's claim of his possession. After dwelling on his curiosity, Sam challenged Bob to recall everything he knew about the I-phone 5: its functions, additional and defining features, applications, graphics, processor, description of design, faults. He also had Bob ring his family and a few friends, of whom gave a testament to Bob having an I-phone to Sam. Sam was amazed at both the breadth of Bob's account and the additional testimonies. Thereafter, he decided to trust Bob that he had an I-Phone 5.

Sam believed Bob precisely because of the evidence he gave them. Does the fact that Bob cannot provide proof for his testimony mean that it is merely wishful thinking? The evidence doesn't prove its existence to Sam, however, it presents a body of information which demonstrates how Bob's claim is reliable and trustworthy. These accounts of Bob's I-phone demonstrate how believing in Bob's claim isn't wishful thinking. 

One Dimension of the Christian Faith 

This is the same for the Christian faith. When challenges and choices arise or when one prophesies, one may weigh such things with what the bible says. Christians hesitate, we are challenged. This was demonstrated through Sam's hesitance to trust in Bob. Because what are the odds of Bob losing his I-Phone just before he was going to show Sam? Thereafter, Bob's understanding of the I-Phone demonstrated an aspect of truth which made his claim more trustworthy. God provided his word for us to weigh the doubtful. Sam's willingness to seek the truth reflects a part of understanding God's word. That is to say, it is easier to explore and understand what the Bible says with a soft heart. Some people take more time to weigh their belief in God, and that's all good. When a Christian says they have faith, they look back on Jesus' story. They - we - believe in a God who so loved us, that he sent his only son, Jesus, to save us (see John 3: 16). The Bible, shows a God who recognizes our struggles, who suffered for us, and who speaks new life; we believe the Bible shines the brightest and only hope in our broken world. 

So when one asks 'is faith wishful thinking?' The answer should be precisely no! To have faith for a Christian in regards to trusting in testimony, is to be equipped with God's word. This means being steadfast in God's word, willingly seeking truth and challenge your doubts.  

This video is an amazing song that reminds what Christians believe in, so that we may be encouraged in times of hardship. Hit up the beatz, chur!