So frankly, I have a LOT on my mind. I am about to go on a mission trip to Swaziland, Africa. I am so stinking excited! But that doesn't eliminate the random thoughts I have. Now understand that these rants really probably have nothing to do with my mission trip. It's just that these thoughts need to be typed and shared before my head explodes.
Rant 1: People who are trying to lead without having been anywhere. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Yeah that's great that you want to lead people to God and stuff, but you can only lead people as far as you've been. So ask yourself "Have I been anywhere?" and if the answer is no, then hows about trying to follow someone else before you lead the sheep off the cliff. Not that it's bad to have a leadership's heart. In fact that's GREAT! But understand and acknowledge that you must be led first, before you can be entrusted to lead others. Let me give you another example. Mamma bird raises her baby birds. Baby birds grow up. Baby birds must now flee the nest and learn to fly. Baby birds are now adults and they migrate with the rest of their family. Now adult birds come back home and raise their own baby birds. It's a cycle. The birds must grow, leave, have an adventure, and THEN they come back to raise up new leaders. You can't just hop out of the nest and start flying and assume you can lead. no. no. no. It just can't be done. There is nothing wrong with you, it's just you have not reached the capacity of knowledge and experience that is required to be a successful leader.
Rant 2: "Friendzone"
Just stop. Stop. STOP. STAHP. Guys and girls, the friendzone is a GREAT place to be!!! This other person is like your sibling! Your brother/sister in Christ!! WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU WANT TO DATE YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER? ya nasty, go back to Arkansas. But seriously. God wants us to develop a friendship BEFORE we pursue a romantic relationship. (and yes those of you who went to LTS, I'm really just re-iterating what they taught us). Value a friendship more than a boyfriend/girlfriend. Because if you develop the friendship and God tells you that y'all can date, you already have a friendship foundation! You can build love on that kind of foundation. It is IMPOSSIBLE to build a romantic relationship without friendship. What kind of house would that be? So just stop complaining about being friendzoned, because that's where you should want to be. You want to be friends because if you pursue a relationship that God does not want you to have, then you're just wasting your own time.
Rant 3: Can everyone please just be thankful for what they have? I'm tired of hearing people complaining about whatever. Yes, I am guilty of that sometimes but I really try to keep myself in check. Thankfulness is not just something you show at Thanksgiving. We should be in a continual state of thanking God for all the blessings He gives us. Just think about it. You are obviously blessed with internet access if you are reading this right now so that in itself is worth a whole day of praising God for. Need I go on?
So thank you God for everything, especially this chance to share my rants with the world wide web.
--sea'sthoughts--
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Trust, Destiny, and Adventure
We've been talking about trust, destiny and adventure at my church. And everyone that speaks about it really hits my heart...in a totally good way. I know that God is setting the foundation for something big in our community. But we also need to recognize that and LET GO of all our distractions, excuses, and past hinderances. How does one do that? Complete trust.
Complete trust? Woah. Does that mean relying FULLY on God? Yeah, of course it does! You can't get rid of distractions without giving it to God. You can't get rid of excuses without giving it to God. You can't get rid of whatever happened in the past that you can't get over without giving it to God. JUST LET IT GO (feel free to start singin Frozen). If you are struggling and wondering what the next step God has for you... first of all STAHP worrying. Ok. Then depend on him and hold his hand so he can guide you. It seems simple to say and think "Oh, yeah I can totally do that." But APPLICATION is the key and you need to commit to getting it done. ACT ON IT. One of my role models in life, that preached at youth a few weeks ago, gave a great image of how relying on God looks like... it's like when a baby is learning to walk, and they HAVE to hold on to Daddy's hand. We are that baby learning to walk and we require God's helping hand. However, unlike babies we won't ever need to not hold on to something. As children of God we can not walk by Faith without holding His hand. We may stop holding His hand, but that usually leads us astray. Therefore just hold on to God's hand and he will take care of you and lead you to your Destiny.
Destiny. Ah, such a lovely word. Very profound and elegant. Well. What's it mean? Dictionaries say that destiny is "the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing" Ick. That's so drab and bland. It seems that destiny is something we aren't in control of. Well it's not. God has a particular destiny for each of us. BUT it's not just gonna happen. We have to trust God and let Him take us to our destiny. Each step we take holding God's hand today, determines what tomorrow will be. God has given us a promise and we need to actively take control of that by walking in faith and trust, and by living with a Spirit of Adventure.
ADVENTURE. The first time I heard my pastor say Spirt of Adventure I thought of Frodo, Luke Skywalker, and Indiana Jones. WHERE DO I SIGN UP FOR THIS?!?!?! And stop there. Having a Spirit of Adventure isn't just something you can buy. This is something you are born with (It's given to us by God *mind blown*) And if God's destiny for you is to be an adventurer you must also be a conqueror. [The rest of this is pretty much taken from my notes taken at church] To be an adventurer and a conqueror we must set our hearts to determine to be an overcomer. An overcomer can navigate change and adapt to it, which is a pretty good quality for anyone. Also if you are committing to being a person of Adventure you NEED to be a risk taker. (NOTE: not everyone is given a Spirit of Adventure to travel the world, so don't go and sign up for the next mission trip because it sounds fun. Your heart needs to be in the right place and you've gotta be comfortable with the uncomfortable.) Your Spirit of Adventure could be just around the corner...literally. Everyone has a different Destiny, therefore their Adventure will be different. You could be uncomfortable with the thought of sharing the love of God to people in your school or workplace. wait for it. THAT'S YOUR ADVENTURE. So no excuses "Oh, I'm just not called to go across the country to serve God." Then how about you go across the street and serve God by being a friend to your neighbor.
Soften your heart to be a difference maker and change will come into your life and you will need to embrace it and trust God so He can show you the next step and reveal your Destiny and your heart will find its Spirit of Adventure!
And to clear a few things up:
I am mostly talking to myself here because I know that I need to give my complete trust to God. But I do think this is a great reminder to realize our mission in life is NOT to sit back and let God take care of everything. Get active.
--sea'sthoughts--
Complete trust? Woah. Does that mean relying FULLY on God? Yeah, of course it does! You can't get rid of distractions without giving it to God. You can't get rid of excuses without giving it to God. You can't get rid of whatever happened in the past that you can't get over without giving it to God. JUST LET IT GO (feel free to start singin Frozen). If you are struggling and wondering what the next step God has for you... first of all STAHP worrying. Ok. Then depend on him and hold his hand so he can guide you. It seems simple to say and think "Oh, yeah I can totally do that." But APPLICATION is the key and you need to commit to getting it done. ACT ON IT. One of my role models in life, that preached at youth a few weeks ago, gave a great image of how relying on God looks like... it's like when a baby is learning to walk, and they HAVE to hold on to Daddy's hand. We are that baby learning to walk and we require God's helping hand. However, unlike babies we won't ever need to not hold on to something. As children of God we can not walk by Faith without holding His hand. We may stop holding His hand, but that usually leads us astray. Therefore just hold on to God's hand and he will take care of you and lead you to your Destiny.
Destiny. Ah, such a lovely word. Very profound and elegant. Well. What's it mean? Dictionaries say that destiny is "the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing" Ick. That's so drab and bland. It seems that destiny is something we aren't in control of. Well it's not. God has a particular destiny for each of us. BUT it's not just gonna happen. We have to trust God and let Him take us to our destiny. Each step we take holding God's hand today, determines what tomorrow will be. God has given us a promise and we need to actively take control of that by walking in faith and trust, and by living with a Spirit of Adventure.
ADVENTURE. The first time I heard my pastor say Spirt of Adventure I thought of Frodo, Luke Skywalker, and Indiana Jones. WHERE DO I SIGN UP FOR THIS?!?!?! And stop there. Having a Spirit of Adventure isn't just something you can buy. This is something you are born with (It's given to us by God *mind blown*) And if God's destiny for you is to be an adventurer you must also be a conqueror. [The rest of this is pretty much taken from my notes taken at church] To be an adventurer and a conqueror we must set our hearts to determine to be an overcomer. An overcomer can navigate change and adapt to it, which is a pretty good quality for anyone. Also if you are committing to being a person of Adventure you NEED to be a risk taker. (NOTE: not everyone is given a Spirit of Adventure to travel the world, so don't go and sign up for the next mission trip because it sounds fun. Your heart needs to be in the right place and you've gotta be comfortable with the uncomfortable.) Your Spirit of Adventure could be just around the corner...literally. Everyone has a different Destiny, therefore their Adventure will be different. You could be uncomfortable with the thought of sharing the love of God to people in your school or workplace. wait for it. THAT'S YOUR ADVENTURE. So no excuses "Oh, I'm just not called to go across the country to serve God." Then how about you go across the street and serve God by being a friend to your neighbor.
Soften your heart to be a difference maker and change will come into your life and you will need to embrace it and trust God so He can show you the next step and reveal your Destiny and your heart will find its Spirit of Adventure!
And to clear a few things up:
I am mostly talking to myself here because I know that I need to give my complete trust to God. But I do think this is a great reminder to realize our mission in life is NOT to sit back and let God take care of everything. Get active.
--sea'sthoughts--
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