Family Photo 2015

Family Photo 2015

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Finding Patience and Strength in the Everlasting God

Recently, our congregation sang the song "Everlasting God" by Brenton Brown. I have to say that this is one of my favorite worship songs today! It comes straight from scripture, the tune is catchy and congregational friendly...but mostly I like it for the what the text is saying to us, at least what it is saying to me.

I love when the Lord leaves you small messages throughout your day. The past couple of weeks, the words to this song have kept playing in my mind. As I sing these words in my heart, I am reminded of two of many things we can find in the Lord; Patience and Strength. I may have mentioned it in my previous post, but lately I have been feeling sloppy, and I am not just referring to my eating habits... actually I am. But what I am trying to say is that I have become extremely lazy and sloppy in all areas of my life, including the spiritual needs. That is really hard for me to say out loud especially since I am in ministry, but I need to be completely honest.

As I was sitting in my small group last week, I was so inspired about moving forward with our weight loss journey and with moving forward and doing better with everything else in my life. It was as if God had removed the over sized blinders covering my life and revealing in full detail just what was happening. I guess that is why I have not blogged in a while or even completed some journal entries. But the questions remain, how was I going to do this? How was I going to move forward and not go or look back? How was I going to dig through the slop and get back to where God wants me to be? Then Brown's song and those words came back to my mind....Patience and strength.
As I was studying the word, two passages of scripture held my attention. The first was found in James 5:8-12 and it states:

"Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the LORD. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts for the coming of the LORD is near.

When I read that passage, God was reminding me that all good things take time. And of course we always say that God's timing is better then our own. So in my desire for healthy living, and all that it involves, I am having to remind myself that this is in no way a quick fix. Plus, I have to remember that this is so much bigger then what I am eating and how I exercise. For me it was trusting and obeying. It is trusting that God will indeed see me and my friends through this journey! In turn we need to be obedient to His voice and be prepared to head down the road he may take us. Which brings me to the next word: strength. Isaiah 40:28-31 says it all

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God,the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall run and not faint. "

Yes this process will be hard. There will be challenges along the way. But I rejoice because I know my strength is coming from Him. Everyday and everything of my life has to begin with him. During these past few weeks I have found myself becoming weary. Like most people, our responsibilities and our schedules can leave us feel depleted, exhausted, and well, weary. No matter our positions and responsibilities in life, we can all agree that there are times that we can grow tired in our day to day tasks. If you are reading this blog, I pray that you are encouraged and reminded that no matter where you are in your life, we take comfort in knowing that our God is faithful, and as the scriptures says "never grows weary." He is the God that gives us the patience to endure and that he is indeed our strength!

RG

Friday, June 4, 2010

First Friday: 263 and down on my knees

You get out of it what you put into it! This is the shortest, quickest way I can sum up this weight loss journey. I discovered that I was putting up this wall to success in this area of my life. Why can't I see myself at the finish line of this journey? This past month I found several opportunities to move forward both spiritually and physically...and yet, I did not act upon it. Instead, I chose to lay there on the couch with crumbs on my face watching gobs of season and series finales!
Well, June is upon us and I have reason to celebrate! I am thankful that my wife has not given up on me. She has been a constant encourager and support! The bad news...I don't think I have done a good job of encouraging her on this same journey. So we began this month anew with more drive and determination. One of my favorite songs is "Moving Forward" by Israel & New Breed. I close this post with the chorus.

"I'm not going back, I moving ahead. I'm here to declare to You my past is over in You
All things are made new, surrendered my life to Christ. I'm moving, moving forward!"

As we begin our next study, I am looking forward to moving forward with our small group...not just in the area of weight loss. But in our relationship with each other and our relationship with Christ!