Sunflower Faith

Wow! Can you believe that it’s 2010 and a brand new year!

There is six more chapters to this book study that I have been following along and even though it’s a new year, wanted to complete what was started.

When I first started reading “Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl” for the online book study, I was wanting and seeking a more deeper, more alive and more intentional relationship with our Heavenly Father and what a journey and blessing it has been.

To say that the book study has been easy, is far from it and if anything, it’s asking a lot of hard questions, it seems like, at the right time.

In Chapter 12 of “When God Hurts My Feelings”, Lysa writes,”The bolder I am with pouring out my hart to God, the bolder He is with His responses to me.” (pg 142).

That is so true.

We get what we ask for and sometimes, it seems funny that when we call upon Him for that deeper faith and relationship and He gives it to us, how easy it is sometimes for us to turn around and run.

She provided a very powerful reminder to us all,”I (Lysa) would pray for God to change the situation and just make it better. But time and time again, God wanted me to learn how to look at things from His vantage point rather than my own self-centered perspective”.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a lot of “Why me” moments and wishes for second chances.

It’s difficult to understand when whatever it is that happens happens and for many of us, struggling to understand, why couldn’t we have been dealt with a better hand than what we have.

Maybe even lookingly longely with our hearts, for “What if’s” that realistically we know will never or could never happen.

It takes time, consoles Lysa.

“It takes time. Even when you love God and believe in His promises. Even when you know wihtout a doubt that you will see your loved one again. Even when you know hope is sill there.

It takes time.

It takes wading through at ocean of tears.”

Everything serves to God’s greater good and to His glory, but wouldn’t it be great if at that moment of time, that wasn’t the case, or maybe years later.

¹⁰ For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. ¹¹ Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:10-11, New King James Version)

You’re not alone if you have those moments of grief be it on the outside or inside of you.

You’re not alone when you have those moments when you just think or even say out ,”Lord, why me? Why this life”….just….”Why”?

¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11, New King James Version)

Everything has and is made perfect through and in Jesus Christ; He is the firm foundation that no storm can and will tear you from. The hardest part is remembering that sometimes and that’s okay.

We’re human.

That’s what makes relying on Him better than anything on this Earth, because our Heavenly Father, through and in Jesus Christ, makes all things for His good.

Even earlier in the chapter, Lysa shared how God had convicted and encouraged her when faced with a difficult situation.

She shared about a project that she was part of but ended up, her part in the project had been cancelled. She later found out that a woman who participated, intentionally painted Lysa in a not so pleasant light to turn disfavor on Lysa and now felt horrible of the part she had played and asked Lysa for, forgiveness.

Lysa shared that she felt like she could easily have shared something other than forgiveness, considering the part she (Lysa) had hoped to be a part of, in the project,was long gone.

Lysa shared about the bitterness that was in her heart about the woman and the people who listened to the woman and what she got floored her and is a lesson for all of us:

It was shared that God showed her several things:

• He addressed her misperceptions about the situation by helping her to see it from another perspective.

For those of us, you, me, all of us, any of us, reading that is like getting ice cold water thrown on our view. He showed Lysa and even us through her story, that there are no accidents in what He does and wow, that’s a lesson, even I am still working on learning and coming to terms with.

God showed Lysa that He didn’t need her, just like He really doesn’t need you or me, to do His work. That’s not our place. It reminded me of what a mentor at church told me, “It’s not our job to be the Holy Spirit. It’s our job to let the Holy Spirit do HIS work without us and to be used only when HE needs us, not when we decide He is needed”.

My hubby would laughingly call this, being a busy-body and getting into people’s business when they don’t really need you.

God had some work to do in the lady’s heart and HE knew what was needed to be done, Lysa didn’t and it wasn’t her call to decide that. He just needed her to be in what turns out to be the right place at the right time,though it probrably didn’t feel like that to her, for Him to do what HE needed to do.

• He helped Lysa see how sin clouded her view and that she was refusing to acknowledge her part.

Notice how we get perturbed about something, not because it’s really about what the other person was or wasn’t doing, but because well, they weren’t doing what WE wanted them to do, but it was easier to blame it on them.

Lysa shares, “all opportunties are gifts from God. I (she) wanted to take credit for something that had very little to do with me (Lysa) in the first place.” She continued with, “I had misplaced notions of where this opportunity had come from and Who was really responsible for creating it”.

Wow. Was that a major “Whoa” moment or what?

It really just reminded me back to what I shared what my mentor had said,”WE (you, me, all of us) are not the Holy Spirit. Let Him do His job”.

• He showed me (Lysa) my stubborness and my (Lysa) refual to extend grace in my effort to prove I was right.

The trouble with pride, is that we want to take the credit and make it all about us. Silent treatments, gossip, refusal to be the better person. How does that make us the better person or an example of Christ if we refuse to forgive. I mean really forgive.

Lysa shared a powerful point here,

“I am a person who deseparately needs grace; therefore, I must (emphasis is mine)freely give it.I didn’t need to prove I was right and withhold my forgiveness to punish her. God was dealing with her about what she’d done. My responsibility was to extend grace and make the choice to move on.”

How many of us, personally take the reigns and take control and be conditional? There is a great quote that “If we call ourselves Christians, we can’t choose whom we love”.

God didn’t choose who He loved. He loved all of us. He loved all of us enough that His ONE and ONLY Son died, for you, for me, for all of us, all of us sinners, all of us, so that in and through Him we would be saved.

Wow.

We have the opportunity to just demostrate SIMPLY through that simply act of simply saying “I forgive you”, yet we easily say “I love you” to everything and about everything else and saying “I forgive you” is like pulling teeth.

I know. I’m there. I’ve been there. I’m working on it. I’ve worked on it.

As I was catching up on my reading for “Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl” and I read this chapter, I had actually finished reading a book that had me thinking down this path.

How is it not sinning ourselves, when we withhold forgiveness of others?

We applaud Jesus when He stops the Pharisees from stoning the adulteress and gives her forgiveness, yet…when we are hurt ourselves, we pick up the stones and either are ready to throw or do throw them.

Praise God, that He is bigger and better than that and just as He works on the “other person’s” heart, you can trust He will work on our hearts too…It’s never just …the other side. We are the other side too.

In the end, it’s not about what you want or see things, or what I want or see things, or anyone wants or see things, but in the end, its how our Heavenly Father wants and sees things and THAT is what is important.

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