Tag: Worry

Hope Amidst the Chaos

Is it hard for you to find hope amidst all that’s going on in the world right now? Here’s some encouragement.

If I surveyed every person on Earth, I bet the general consensus would be our world is in a state of chaos. Numerous people are dying from COVID and other illnesses, there is so much division and animosity (even within the church), and people have turned away from the only true source of love and joy. But the truth is, God is no stranger to all that’s going on. Just check out the Bible, and you’ll read about things much stranger than what’s happening right now.

I’ve been trying to read the entire Bible, and I’m currently in Ezekiel. (For those of you who remember it, don’t worry, I’m not focusing on the *extra interesting* parts…if you know, you know). Anyway! There is a lot of drama happening in Ezekiel, for those of you who haven’t read it. Basically, God is using symbolism to tell Ezekiel about the coming punishment the Israelites will face due to their lack of loyalty and love for God. They had turned away from Him, allowing idols to fill their hearts instead.

Now doesn’t that sound familiar? Our world feels so dark these days, like everyone’s lost hope in God.

Something fascinating after each warning from God in Ezekiel is the phrase “Now they will know that I am the Lord”. God is using these terrible events to help His people turn back to Him and realize His power.

This actually brings me a lot of comfort. You might be wondering, “Hannah, how can knowing that God is judging us for our unfaithfulness bring you comfort?”

During a Bible study about our life’s purpose, I shared that the defining factor that makes a life successful is bringing others to Jesus. It doesn’t matter if you had no money in the bank, struggled to keep up in school, or were unpopular. As long as you reap eternal rewards, your life’s meaningful.

The best thing that can happen to our world is a spiritual revival. If these horrible things, such as oppression, illness, poverty, (the list could go on…) make people understand God, then isn’t it all worth it?

Yes, the suffering is terrible. I definitely don’t want to undermine it. We should be helping people suffer less. But maybe within the suffering, there’s a sign from God. A clear message painted across the sky, in fact.

God is the only one in control. He knows what He’s doing.

The best part of that is we don’t have to worry about a thing. The most important thing we can do right now is place our trust and hope in God. God hears us, and He answers, whether it be in a still, small whisper, or a loud roar.

With a strong hand and an outstretched arm,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

Psalm 136:12

Trust in the LORD forever,

for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

Isaiah 26:4

Lose Me to Love You

How has this year changed you and your relationship with God?

I don’t know about you, but a little something I’ve started looking forward to each year around this time is my Spotify Wrapped– basically a summery of what songs I listened to and who I listened to over the past year.

To my complete shock, the song that I apparently played the most in 2020 was Lose You to Love Me, by Selena Gomez. I mostly play contemporary Christian music, but I also dapple in pop and random other genres that people recommend. Yet this surprised me because I hadn’t listened to this song since sometime last spring. But reflecting on the title and the concept caused me to think for a minute.

I think that in many ways, one of the biggest things I learned in 2020 was summed up in the title “Lose You to Love Me”. Throughout the year, I realized that it’s okay to be misunderstood for my faith and my uniqueness. It’s okay to not be liked by everyone I meet. It’s okay to stand out sometimes. And most importantly, it’s okay to not live up to other people’s expectations. The only one who should define us is God. Ultimately, the only ones we will have at the end will be God and ourselves. We can’t fully love others until we invest that same energy in appreciating ourselves and recognizing how we are made in God’s image.

But an even more important lesson I learned was in the reverse of this title. I learned to lose me to love God. I have always wanted to be in control, but this year more than ever did I realize in order to fully trust God, I have to let go of my own plans in order to accept where He was leading me. Sometimes we get so caught up in the day-to-day that we forget that God has an even bigger plan for us. When we get fixated on just what we can see, we lose our faith. For faith is not in the seen, but is assurance of what we do not see.

I think 2020 is a year in which we’ve all needed a lot of faith. Whether it’s been having faith in a God that’s still good despite all the civil unrest, tragedies, and uncertainties, to wondering what is to come in the future. But before COVID and all that has defined 2020 for many of us, I wrote down as my word of the year a word that many may not associate with how this year’s been– hope.

My translation of the definition of faith that used the word assurance (which was taken from the Bible) in some translations is actually the word hope. Faith is not some wishful thinking type of hope. Faith is hoping with complete confidence that God will restore our lives and use us according to His purpose.

It’s definitely been a strange year. But I’ve noticed more than ever before that God is working in mysterious ways that we can’t even comprehend. So today, whether you are feeling discouraged by the weight of the world or how this year may have disappointed you, remember that we can still have faith. We can still have hope.

But we can only feel free of worry when we lose ourselves and our failures, disappointments, and concerns by focusing on what is never changing– our loving relationship with God.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:22-24

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

But I Thought God Promised…

What does God really mean when He says He will give us the desires of our hearts?

Sorry for a bit of a late post for today’s Encouragement Thursday! I’ve had a recurring thought come to mind and I decided it would inspire this week’s post, despite the fact that I didn’t get the idea by being encouraged from someone else. I actually think this is a reminder that God’s been placing on my heart because I really needed to hear it this week.

Take a look at this verse:

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:5

I’m sure many of you have read this verse and felt your heart swell with joy and contentment, until…you didn’t get what you wanted.

Then you came to God in anger, frustration, defeat, or maybe all of the above. You said to God, “I thought you promised to give me what I wanted if I trusted you and praised you. Why didn’t things work out the way I planned?”

I think we’ve all been there, in that place, wondering why God didn’t “come through” for us. But the thing is, many of us just haven’t interpreted this verse correctly. Yet, it can still be a source of encouragement for us, just in a different way.

You see, God is always going to do what’s best, even if we don’t understand why. And just because you desire something doesn’t mean it’s what’s best in the long run. We don’t know the future, only God does, so really, we should only want what God wants because He’s the only one who can have everyone’s best interests in mind.

In addition, we often like to take verses out of context, don’t we? That’s okay, I’ve done it plenty of times. But it’s important to read around the verse too.

The following verse says this:

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:

 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Psalm 37: 6-7

The key to God’s promise in these verses is that if we are following God and placing our lives in His hands, He will make sure our patience, trust, and obidence is not in vain. He will make sure that our lives are used to bring others closer to Him and He will fill us with His love and mercy. And of course, in the end, we will spend the rest of eternity in Heaven with Him.

Isn’t that an even better gift than getting that short-term dream fulfilled?

God never leaves us empty-handed. But we need to be willing to do our part and not expect the Creator of the Universe to do whatever we ask simply because we believe it’s what’s right.

If you trust God and ultimately desire His will to be done, then you will get the desires of your heart.

So today, think about what you desire in life. Are your desires following along with what God has told you in the past? Are you upset at God because He didn’t do what you asked?

I know it’s hard to understand God sometimes (okay, a lot of the time). But it’s important to think “big picture” about life. We really don’t know what’s ahead, but we don’t have to be afraid because God is in control. We just have to trust Him and commit our lives to Him. And in the end, it’s worth the wait.

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lordweighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 16:1-3

Living in the Moment

Living in the moment is the way to find true satisfaction.

I talk about living without regrets all the time, but I just want to say that sometimes you might be called to do things that seem so strange. Not classy, not popular. But it’s what you are supposed to do in order to follow God’s plan for your life. You just have to go for it, even if it doesn’t make sense.

Take every opportunity you can because you never know what tomorrow might hold.

All the wonderful things that have happened in my life were not planned. All the terrible things that have happened in my life were unanticipated. No human can truly fathom the future God has made for us.

So it’s important to live in the moment. Don’t look back at the mistakes you can’t make up for. Don’t be anxious about the future, that’s what we are commanded to do. I know it’s hard and it’s okay to have those feelings, so long as we are actively fighting against them. We cannot let fear win. Fear is only dangerous when it is given power by us.

Today make the effort to go out of your way for someone else. You might be the only one who does.

Today do something you’ve always wanted to do. You may have found a new passion for life!

Today ask God what His plan is for your life instead of praying specific things. Ultimately, God’s plan is the best one, and it’s what’s going to happen. Might as well go with it willingly than be dragged along, right? After all, He does have our best interest in mind.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6