Gotta Know

Man, I’ve been so crazy busy over the past few weeks that my blog has seen little love. The product of my invisibility will soon be shared on here, but it’s got a few more touch-ups and final tweaks before I can post it. You guys will be among the first to know once it’s done :)

One thing I have squeezed in over the past few weeks has been a few basketball games. It’s March Madness—what am I supposed to do?! Since I do have a crazy schedule though, some of these games have been relegated to watching far after they actually take place (via the magic of DVR). Now, this usually isn’t a big deal, but when it comes to college basketball games in March, it’s hard to keep from catching a score even when you’re trying not to listen. And what’s even harder is not hearing a UK score when you live in the great state of Kentucky. Next to impossible.

But in my quest to actually watch the game and sit in suspense just like I was watching it live, I go out of my way in doing lots of things: I turn my head from looking at any TV with sports on it, I don’t look at texts from my UK-loving friends (or my UK-hating friends), I announce to everyone I’m hanging with that I haven’t seen the game and not to spoil it for me, and I avoid looking at Facebook. I actually alter the course of the rest of my day to make sure I can watch the game and not have the ending ruined.

Obviously, if I knew the ending going in, then I wouldn’t get near as much enjoyment from watching it. All of the twists and turns of the game don’t pack as much as excitement because I’m not left wondering at any point how it will end. In fact, it can get boring enough that I’ll just turn it off and go do something else.

Why then do we all try so hard to know the outcome of everything in our lives before it happens? Why can’t we be ok with not knowing how things are going to turn out?

We have promises from God in the Bible that tells us we’ll be taken care of. We may even have words that have been spoken to us by the Lord through revelation, dreams, or other people. If we know enough of the ending to know that it’s good, then why do we need more!?

We all need to get more comfortable with not knowing the answers to everything. Peace amidst uncertainty is something that all believers in Christ should have. Let us pray for and attain to new levels of faith and trust in the Lord and just let God do what He does: make things so great for us beyond all of our wildest imaginations and dreams. Let it come, Lord, let it come! May it be done in Your Name!

In Jesus Christ of Nazareth’s Mighty Comforting and Holy Name, Amen.

Embracing Mystery

Two weeks ago I wrote about taking God at His word. Today I’m gonna tell ya about the 2^nd big thing I’ve been doing recently: embracing mystery.

I have a tendency to want to know exactly how things are going to play out in my life. No matter the area, I want to have a plan and a good idea of how things are gonna look once I get there, and how things are gonna look along the way. Before I even start moving from Point A, I not only want to know about Point B, but I also gotta know what the path in between holds—does it have some cool restaurants, a sweet place to hang out and relax for a while, a few rough patches that I need to brace for??

That desire to know how everything is going to work has kept me from experiencing the biggest and best things of God. Yes, God has still blessed me tremendously; even when I’m operating with little faith...trying to do things pretty much by my own power. But He wants to bless me more.

To get that real good stuff, I believe it’s gonna take more faith—faith that says, “I don’t need to know how you are going to do everything; I just know you will.” I have to believe what I can’t completely comprehend. Though my mind may initially say it’s impossible, my entire being has to get on board and embrace the Kingdom reality.

God’s ways and methods are higher than ours. Does it not make sense that He can work things in ways that are beyond our comprehension? Does He not constantly do things that are beyond rational explanation? You don’t have to see everything with your naked eyes to know that it is happening! 2^nd Corinthians 5:7 says, “We live by faith, not by sight.” We’ve gotta embrace the things that we can’t see naturally. We’ve gotta be ok with not having control.

When you start to take God at His word and believe what He says to you, your faith starts to rise up. Even when things seem bad, you trust and believe that what the Lord has told you is going to come to pass. This is the kind of attitude that flows into embracing mystery. Even though you have no clue how things are going to work out, you just believe that it will.

Pretty soon you notice yourself actually enjoying the mystery of it all. Watching God work becomes like a game of peek-a-boo when you were a little kid. Ha. You just end up falling all over the place in laughter and joy as you bask in the blessings He is pouring out on you.

Ya know, little kids don’t wonder how their parents are always there, always putting food in front of them, or clothes on them, or taking them places and showing them things they’ve never seen before—they just know it happens. They don’t question it. They laugh and have fun and enjoy the ride. Let us become more like children with our Heavenly Father. He’s a good Dad.

Provision

A few months ago, I had 2 dreams that I didn’t understand. So I took them to my friend, and my most reliable dream interpreter, Stephanie (shoutoutcafe.com). Sparing you the details of the dreams, the overriding theme of them both was that finances would not be an issue in my life. That’s good news to hear! Especially when you’re a worship leader!

For the next few days, I was really happy thinking about the dreams I’d been given. I was telling some of my friends how awesome it was, and just thanking God for the reassurance. However, a few weeks passed and I found myself worrying about money again. I was in the process of moving and facing the prospect of more bills and purchasing new things, and I was trying to make sure all the numbers would be right.

Well, I don’t remember the specific day it was, but it hit me that I had kind of lost hold of the promise the Lord had given me. I realized that I was trying to do things in my own power instead of just relying on Him. So I made up my mind to wholeheartedly trust in Him…even when I don’t understand anything about how something is going to work. I decided to take Him at his word, and believe exactly what He had said to me.

Wouldn’t you know that things are going just fine :) God is taking care of my needs and then some. Needs have been met by people seemingly coming out of the woodwork. I’ve actually had to turn down some people’s offers of generosity because I have no physical room for it! Praise the Lord!

I don’t want you to hear me wrong today. I’m not suggesting that we serve some “cosmic lotto god” that we just ask for material things we want on a whim and see them appear before our eyes; I’m betting that if you ask God for a Ferrari it will not magically manifest in your driveway. Nor am I suggesting that we should neglect our finances or fail to intelligently plan for the future. No. What I am saying is that if you put your hope, faith, and trust in the God of Israel you will always be taken care of.

God will make a way for you. If you are a born-again believer and follower of Jesus Christ, then you have nothing to worry about when it comes to having your needs met—spiritually, emotionally, physically, financially, mentally, etc. The promise of provision covers everything.

I’m not the only one that shouldn’t be worrying about making things work, making ends meet, making sure needs are met. You shouldn’t either. Yes, I had a dream that was reassurance from the Lord, but all Christians have promises of provision from God in the Bible. For example, 2nd Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” Here are a few other verses that address this topic specifically: Matthew 6:31-33; Matthew 7:11; Luke 12:28; Psalm 37:25; Psalm 84:11.

God provides, my friend. Take it, bank on it, believe it, and stand on it. Amen.