I don't really know what to write tonight, but I have a feeling that there are things in me that need to be said. What those are, I'm not quite sure.
I'll start with just saying something that we all hear, we all say back and forth like a broken record, God is good. Seriously. God is so good. God is good. God is good. God is good. All the time. All the time, God is good. In the words of Yoda: Good all the time God is. GOD IS GOOD. God is really really really really good. God is so inexpressibly good. And He's inexpressibly good all the time. All the time as in when we're sleeping, eating, drinking, pooping, talking, thinking, going through hard times, going through good times. He's good when we're sick, diseased and broken. He's good when we are on top of the world in our careers, ministry or school. He's good when others lie to us, use us, abuse us, rip us off, forget us. He's good when we have no food or money or living in a cardboard box watching people who have enough food, money and clothes to keep a family alive for a century walk by without even making eye contact with us. He's good when our dreams and desires are fulfilled. He's good when we don't have the courage, the strength, the ability, the motivation, the love, the compassion, the health, the wealth to do what we are called to do. He's good when our candidate doesn't win. He's good when social injustice is rampant, when justice is far from us. He's good in war. He's good in peace. He's good when we're alone and when we're surrounded by our closest friends.
People. He is good all the time.
All the time.
With that in mind - God answers prayers. Even ridiculous ones that I say when I am so emotionally wrecked and worn out. It's crazy how when we come to the end of ourselves that our true spirits speak. When we are so broken inside that only raw emotions are left, that's when we pour out what is really in our hearts. Our real desires are shown. Papa knows our hearts and desires anyways, but I think that we touch His heart when we let our hearts be shown and open before Him. Of course, it goes the other way too. After we've been broken and open before Him once, the ability to hear the Spirit speak to us - spirit to spirit - comes with ease. It takes practice though, I'm finding. But I want to hear Him like I can hear my best friend. I can hear my friends' laughter in any crowd. I can pick out a close friend's voice from a group. That's the way it should be with my Papa. I want to be able to hear Him anywhere and pick out His voice from the others that would try to distract and deceive me. And guys, He answers our prayers. He hears us. And then He speaks.
Sometimes, God wants to speak more than we want to listen.
But I want to listen. I want to learn. I want to be so intimate with my Redeemer that there is no way I could miss Him speaking. He still speaks. Our God is the same God that He was in the Garden of Eden that walked and talked with Adam and Eve; the same God that came in visions and dreams to the prophets and followers of Christ of old. He longs to do that with us still today. He wants to pour His Spirit out on us. We have to give Him permission though. We have to let Him in, let Him have His way in us. Crazy stuff happens when we meet with Jesus.
He loves us with reckless abandon. He passionately pursues us. He doesn't give up on us. What would happen if we let Jesus really love us and we stopped comparing ourselves to others? I think things that we consider radical but that Jesus considers normal would happen. I mean, He tells us that we will do miracles and wonders and miraculous signs - greater ones than He did! - but for most of us, we never do. We live our lives without reaching our potential in Him. So "crazy", "charismatic" things should be the norm, right? But, at least for me, I'm terrified of people. I'm paralyzed by the fear of rejection and the fear of what they will think of me. But I have the Spirit of power, love and self discipline!! I don't have the spirit of timidity! And I have the promises of God to give me courage and strength. Pretty cool. We can do the stuff they were doing in the Gospels and Acts. We serve the same God, yeah? So what's keeping us back? It's time to turn our mindset away from ourselves and get our eyes back on what they are supposed to be fixed on - the Author and Perfecter of our faith. It turns out people don't think the things about us that we think they think about us. Satan is such a good liar. Good thing we have the Truth in our hearts. We just have to listen to the truth instead of the lies. That's easier said than done. But when Satan is being a meanie and lying to us we can run like little kids run to their daddy when they have been bullied. Our Papa wants to tell us how much He loves us and wants us and desires us and how has the best planned for us.
Well. This got a wee bit rabbit-trailish... That's what I get for not taking the time to write my thoughts out...
Hey guys. God is so good. All the time. :)
