Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to you no more’? Does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number. (Jeremiah 2:31-32)
There is so much freedom found in the Lord and the love of Christ. Because of His blood shed on the cross, we are saved from our sin and the penalty of death. Because of His guidance and presence in our lives, we are never forced to face this life alone. We are showered with blessings, friends, family, and reasons for joy.
But at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves one very important question: how are we using this freedom?
In his letter to the church of Corinth, Paul addresses this freedom that is given to believers.
“I have the right to do anything,” you say— but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”— but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others… So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24,31)
I hear a lot of people say that because they are saved, they can do whatever they want. Yes… and no. It is true that believers have forgiveness of their sins and God’s grace is unending for those who repent. However, if true repentance means turning from our sins, how valid is our repentance if we continue to turn back? This is not to discredit the faith of those who are in bondage to sin. Rather, I’m referring to those who knowingly turn their back on Jesus and His teachings to pursue their own interests.
I think maybe the thing that hasn’t clicked in the minds of those people who continue chasing after things of this world is the concept of the freedom we truly have. This seems to be nonsensical because such people often use the idea of their unlimited freedom to argue for their sin, hence they appear to have a full awareness of this freedom.
But do they really? Because if they fully knew and understood this freedom given to them, why would they even want to live in sin any longer?
I believe that what Paul was really trying to say to the church in Corinth is “Yes, you do have the right to do anything you want. We are saved under the new covenant of Christ. But there is so much more to it than that. We are so free that we’re not even subject to this world. We don’t belong to this world. Our sole purpose here on earth is to glorify God- whether we’re eating or drinking or talking to friends or watching TV or reading a book. The point is that anything of this world holds us back- that’s why it’s not beneficial. We have a whole eternity of perfection and fellowship with Christ to look forward to. We’re so free from this world, surely we must act differently.”
My challenge for you is to rethink how you are using your freedom. Are you taking advantage of it to pursue your own selfish desires or are you using it to pursue the kingdom to which we are called?
I chose to begin this post with those two verses from Jeremiah to emphasize also who this freedom is for. Yes, it is for us, but it also serves to give us a relationship with God in which we can adorn ourselves with His grace and glorify His name.
Like the Israelites, we can argue that because of our freedom, there’s no reason to live solely for God. However, it actually is the opposite. Because of our freedom, we have EVERY reason to live solely for God.
And this freedom is a marvelous and beautiful thing.
This semester has been a wreck- not in an entirely bad way, but in such a way that there is still beauty in the broken pieces and perhaps this wreck will eventually become a monumental piece of art in Jessie history.
What is the true cause of this wreck, you may ask? Simple.
The answer is God.
Now hold up. I’m not blaming Him, accusing Him, or talking negatively about Him. He is to thank for this wreck because without it, I’d still be living in fear, relentless pressure, and maybe even twisted theology.
The truth that He has been revealing to me gradually over the past couple of months involves choices. Let’s face it- life is full of them. I can’t even get out of my bed in the morning without making at least one choice (which is usually choosing to even get out of bed at all). What I’m typing to you guys is so real to me and still very fresh. I don’t know everything and I’m sure that God can flip my thoughts entirely upside down in a matter of seconds. Just hear me out and see if maybe this is the answer you’ve been looking for but never were told.
Back story: I applied for an internship in January. More specifically, I applied for my dream internship. The job description, the environment, the organization was everything I had dreamt of. This internship was like my Disney World. I believed wholeheartedly that God was leading me to this internship so I planned my whole summer in faith that He would work this out and let me go. It made perfect sense for me to go and I knew my All-loving Daddy gives His children the desire of their hearts (Psalm 37:4). Why wouldn’t I be accepted? It looked like God literally planted this internship in my lap and there was nothing that could stop this (what I presumed to be His plan) from happening.
Long story short: I got rejected by the organization last night.
These past few months have almost looked like a cycle that has still not fully returned to the beginning. I began with wholehearted trust in God. Then waiting followed. More waiting. A little bit of doubting. Some crying here and there. Then A LOT of doubting, which turned into anger at Him. Then praising Him despite the doubt and finding joy in Him despite the confusion. Until last night’s news came, which was pretty much the despair portion of this cycle. And now I’m at the stage where I’m learning to trust Him again regardless but I know there is still quite a bit of doubt, confusion, and mixed feelings inside of me.
The thing that I’ve been learning through this, along with the other serious choices I’ve been faced with lately, is that not everything is black and white. I always thought that proper theology taught we need to follow God’s leading in obedience and that’s it. That was what I believed and held on to for dear life.
Now I’m realizing there’s a lot of grey area. A LOT. For example, where do both free will and predestination come into play? Now that I know I’m not doing the internship, I have to decide what I will do with my summer.
Do I get a job? Do I continue working at my church? Do I just relax and be lazy? Do I register for summer classes? Do I find a new ministry? Do I have a summer romance?
Even more important, why isn’t God revealing what I need to do? Why has he let me walk down this path of complete dedication to this internship I assumed I’d be accepted into? Why didn’t he intervene and let me sign up for summer classes earlier or start applying for jobs? Why didn’t he spare me the pain and confusion and the awful waiting?
If there’s a right path for me, then what is it? That’s the question I’ve been asking God.
And this is where the grey area comes in because maybe it all comes down to me just having to choose. That’s a scary thought because all my life, I just assumed God had the best plan picked out for me and everything I did had to align with that plan. But that sort of thinking is wrong because where’s the free will in that? We are not slaves; we are beings made with creativity and interests and passions. Yes, God does know best and He does lead us to where we need to be, but why does that mean we have to lose the power to choose?
Instead of seeing God as holding out two different options and asking me to pick the best one, the one that will make Him happy, I think God is really just holding out many different options and asking me to pick what I want to do. Granted, I’m not going to pick a life of stripping at the club because I know that’s definitely not His will for me. But I’m not going to just wait for the “right” thing to plop into my lap either.
I was reading Ezekiel 15 this morning where God is referring to the Israelites as a “useless vine” because they have fallen away from Him and have been unfaithful to Him. Instead of bearing righteousness, the fruit they were created to bear, they were running to all the wrong things. The last verse in that chapter really spoke to me.
I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord (v.8).
The Israelites were a community that contained just as much creativity, passion, and free will as we see people have today. Some people were craftsmen. Others were musicians. Some just simply grew food for their family day in and day out. The point is that they were called to bear righteousness, but they were called to do so in different ways. And my guess is that they chose how they wanted to do that. The reason why God was upset with the Israelites is because they were unfaithful and chose sin. If they had continued doing what they were doing instead of idolizing other gods and things, I know God would have been happy with His children. It was their faithfulness that mattered.
Look at Abraham. In Genesis 12, God told Abraham to leave his country and go to a land He will show him. He didn’t even reveal the destination! He just told him to walk in faith. Later on in Genesis 15, it says about Abraham that he “believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (v. 6).
Notice that it says Abraham’s belief in God was what bore that righteousness, not making all the right moves and knowing everything God had planned for him.
It’s the faithfulness that’s key. I might have all the choices in the world to make and none of the answers, and that’s okay. What matters is, am I being faithful to God? Am I trusting that He’ll open doors that need to be opened and shut doors that need to be closed? Am I going where He leads me but still maintaining a faith even if He doesn’t seem to be leading me anywhere?
Do I trust that He loves me enough to let me choose things for myself and make decisions, let me make mistakes, let me live out my passions and enjoy what I enjoy?
Sometimes we think He’s walking ahead of us on a path He has designed for us. What if He really is walking next to us on a path He is designing with us?
Yes, there’s a lot of grey area. We never truly will be able to comprehend this whole concept of free will mixed with predestination and a whole bunch of other theological terms. What we can grasp on to, however, is His love for us. And as we walk with Him, we must not forget how deep that love goes and how far it is carried as we press on in this life. The decisions you make, the places you go will not change that.
He loves you just as much today as He ever has and ever will. Because of that, you can walk in freedom.
I’m currently reading through Ezekiel, a very interesting Old Testament book that’s been speaking volumes to me and challenging me on several things I thought I understood about God and His character.
Today, I stumbled across this passage that, though seemingly insignificant, truly does explain a few things about my life and could perhaps relate to yours as well.
Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord that faces east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. The Lord said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city. They say, ‘Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot, and we are the meat in it.’ Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man.”Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me to say: “This is what the Lord says: That is what you are saying, you leaders in Israel, but I know what is going through your mind. You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead. (Ezekiel 11:1-6)
What’s happening here is that God is speaking to Ezekiel and revealing to him what is happening among the Israelites. Apparently, there are a few leaders who didn’t quite get the memo that God is angry with them and is planning on doing something about it. Their captivity is right around the corner yet these men are reassuring the Israelites that everything will be fine. “Our houses have just been rebuilt!” they say. What they fail to see is that just because life has the appearance of being fine doesn’t mean it really is. And boy, did that resonate with me.
You see, lately my life has been consisting of stressor after stressor, whether it involves school, my future plans, keeping up with everyone in my life, or just trying to find time to relax and be alone. The easy lie to believe is the same lie that most people believe: as long as I get all of my stuff together, it will all be fine.
But the problem with life is that you can’t “get everything together”. Once you figure out one thing and resolve one issue, more arise! You know the saying, “when one door closes, another opens?” Same thing. It’s a constant battle of worry, trials, and fear.
Like those men boasting of their rebuilt houses and convincing the Israelites everything was fine, we often base our judgment on how well our lives are going by how well-built things appear. Just got a new job? Nothing can bring you down. Found a new significant other? Everything will be perfect from here. You just had an amazing latte from Starbucks and have the best friends in the world? What could possibly go wrong?
The reality is that things do happen. Deadlines come way too fast, friends drift in and out of your life, parents get mad, your girlfriend or boyfriend says the wrong thing, classes are difficult, and stress somehow finds you EVERYWHERE. So what do you do?
You let God be the one to tell you how things are.
The One who spoke life into existence speaks truth into our lives that we often do not hear because of the rest of the chaos we’re allowing to get in. What might happen if we stop looking at how things appear to be going and ask God how He sees our “things”?
God, why is it impossible for me to pass this class? Why have you not brought someone into my life yet? How long must I endure this? Sometimes those questions need to be asked. Only He knows the answers.
And maybe things have been going great in your life and everything has been falling into place perfectly. That’s great! Even so, are your eyes on God or on your circumstances?
The story of the Samaritan woman at the well has spoken to me so many times. One of the first times I read it I realized that I was like that woman, except instead of hoarding husbands, I was hoarding answers. I was hoarding solutions and fixes to all the problems and chaos in my life when really it was just Jesus I needed all along. I can say that things are fine or that things will be fine once this happens or that happens, but things shouldn’t be just fine. Jesus says that He is the Living Water, the beautiful and blissful drink that quenches our undying thirst.
When we start trusting in that and letting Him be our solution, things are better than fine. Life becomes SATISFYING. Joy is found around every corner- not because our circumstances are changing but because of who He is!
So this is me, confessing that I’ve been looking for far too long at the problems and not enough at the Giver of all-satisfying peace. What He’s been trying to tell me is that He’s all I need. I can trust in Him for refuge, for strength, for peace.
Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.’ So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. (Ezekiel 3:3)
Just as Ezekiel needed to eat the words God had for him before he began his ministry and living out his calling, we need to be consume the words God has for us and take them to heart before trying to live out his mission for us.
The Word of God is so powerful, it has the ability to fill us and satisfy us in ways nothing else can. The problem arises when we listen to what God is trying to tell us, but we’re in too much of a hurry to truly let it settle in.
We’re like a kindergartner that’s so antsy to play a game that they just bypass all of the rules and don’t really take the time to understand how the game is played. They only end up playing the game wrong. The grown-ups can see they’re playing the game wrong, but the kindergartner doesn’t. It’s no wonder they get bored easily and move on to the next game they can find. Likewise, we try to bypass all of the wisdom and understanding we need to really “play” in the most fulfilling and sensible way.
When will we finally settle down and listen?
If you want to see God use you and move through you in truly amazing and divine ways, you need to fuel up on His Word. If that means taking your Bible to a quiet room and just reading until you’ve had your fill, do it. If that means just sitting in silence or perhaps listening to music and letting His Words just come to you, then do that.
Make it a goal this week to truly seek after God this week. A part of a growing relationship is listening, and we need to listen to Him more than any commercial, radio show, latest gossip, or friend’s advice.
Let His Words fill you and then allow Him to direct your steps.
I was reading through Isaiah 58, which is a fairly popular passage on “true fasting” that I’ve been hearing a lot about lately in terms of making a difference in this world and standing up for those who are in need and have no voice. In particular, I think of the 27 million people in slavery today, which is the highest number of slaves there has ever been in all of history. There are men, women, and children who are forced to labor as slaves, often in debt to those keeping them captive, and also brought into sex trafficking against their will with no option of escape. It’s a worthy cause to fight for and I know so many people are striving to make a difference, especially college students who are becoming increasingly more aware of this issue in the world. If you want to know more about what this generation is doing to fight slavery, check out the news clip from CNN I included in this post.
Isaiah 58:6-10
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
The couple of verses I’ve always read in Isaiah 58 but never really contemplated on are verses 8-10, which say that after we do all of these things, such as “loose the chains of injustice”, “set the oppressed free”, and “not to turn away from your own flesh”, we will then have our light “break forth like the dawn”, our “healing will quickly appear”, his righteousness will go before us, and the glory of the Lord will be our “rear guard”. Also, we are told that after those things are done, “then you will call, and the Lord will answer”.
Wow, look at those awesome things He offers to us! Healing and righteousness, as well as the glory of God that will be our rear guard, which is simply another way of saying He will protect us from attack. When we call out to Him, He will hear us and respond. We are told our light will rise in the darkness, and our “night will become like the noonday”, which sounds like darkness will not touch us; we will instead produce a light for others to see.
I don’t know about you, but I think those things sound like awesome rewards for whatever God asks of us. The thing is, I realize that I’ve been forgetting those blessings and rewards are directly explained as something we receive after we accomplish those tasks and participate in that “true fasting”.
Please hear me out: I am NOT saying that setting captives free and providing for the needy are absolute prerequisites for God’s light or healing in our life. God certainly hears us always and gives us grace and blessings out of love for us.
What I’m asking for you to reflect on is this one question: Why would we expect blessings from God if we fail to do the things He requires of us?
I know what it’s like to wait on healing. I have cried out many times, waiting for rescue and response from the Lord. Yet in my own longing for healing, I have been guilty of neglecting others whose need for healing is certainly greater than my own. I have all-sufficient Jesus, whereas so many people do not.
I also have cried out for freedom in my own life from sin, from hurt, from anger, and many other things, yet when faced with the opportunities to set other people free, I have hesitated and shrunk back. I use the excuse, “God cannot use me to help this person because I am going through the same thing.” That, my friends, is a straight-up lie that the enemy often uses to keep us from accomplishing the mighty things God has planned for us to do through His power. After all, it is believed that this passage on true fasting was said to the Israelites shortly after they returned from exile and were freed from their captivity, yet their mindset and hearts were certainly not completely free. If you read the verses before verse 6 in Isaiah 58, we are told that they are exploiting others, causing quarrels and hurting people out of anger. God still expected the Israelites to set others free and fight on their behalf even though they were living in sin.
The reality I am now faced with is this: while God has healed me, protected me, poured his righteousness over me, and set me free, I had and still have no reason to expect these things from God if I have failed to be obedient to Him, which I certainly have many times. He is gracious to me and forgives me of my wrongdoings, but the fact remains that God does not have to do anything for me.
I am in desperate need of humility if I begin to believe that having my needs met is more important than having other people’s needs met. How could I not strive to serve other people when God offers such amazing things to me that I will surely receive someday in return? And something so awesome is that in serving others, I am also serving Him. Jesus does say to us that “whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
We must stop turning away from others. We must take our eyes off of our own lives and begin being Jesus’ hands and feet to those around us. I firmly believe that when we meet other people’s needs, the Lord rewards us because He sees our hearts and our love for Him. We must obey out of love and expect nothing in return.
But the most beautiful part is that we do receive so much more than we can ever imagine in return.
If you’ve wandered off the path God has laid out for you, it’s not too late to get back on, to begin following Him again. Trust in His ways, trust in His timing, and strive for obedience. You will find peace.
Seems like a pretty vague topic, but for some of you, it may be quite specific.
Maybe God has revealed a piece of his plan for you, but you’re currently waiting for it to come to pass.
Maybe you’re clinging onto a certain verse or part of Scripture that is very personal to you and describes something God has in store for you.
The point is, most of us, if not all of us, are holding onto a promise from God and, more importantly, waiting for it to arrive.
What sometimes ends up happening in the midst of us waiting is that we try to take things into our own hands. After all, if God isn’t immediately moving, why don’t we? Right? Patience isn’t a strong suit for many people in this situation.
I was reminded tonight of the story of Abraham and Sarah and of how God made a promise to Abraham that involved Sarah bearing a child. Sarah, however, was in her old age, and because of a lack of patience and a lack of complete trust in God’s promise, she told Abraham to have a child with her maid, Hagar, instead.
Well, Hagar indeed had a son. His name was Ishmael. I won’t go into complete detail, but let’s just say that Ishmael was not exactly a blessing to the family. After much drama and thirteen entire years, Sarah finally had a son of her own named Isaac.
Isaac was the fulfillment of one of God’s promises to Abraham; however, because Sarah took things into her own hands out of doubt and impatience, Ishmael occurred as well.
What I’m getting at is that sometimes we trust in God’s promises and we believe He’ll do what He says He’s going to do, yet we lose patience and tend to try to control the situation. Usually, we end up creating a little Ishmael that has large consequences.
Waiting on God to fulfill His promises is not always fun, but it’s a necessary component for growth and discipline. Did I mention that Sarah and Abraham had to wait THIRTEEN whole years for Isaac after Ishmael was born?
We need to protect ourselves from creating Ishmael disasters by loading up on God’s truth to dispel the lies.
Sample lie #1: My plan is better than God’s plan.
Sample truth #1: His plan is so far above my own.
Sample lie #2: I need this to happen for me right now.
Sample truth #2: There’s a reason God is delaying this from happening, and because God is good, this delay is also good.
What lies are you believing right now that are holding you back from trusting and waiting on God’s promises?
What can you do right now to surrender your man-made plans to God’s divine plan for your life?
