My Inability.

Last week I shared about how all people, no matter their background, are commanded by Jesus Christ to go and make disciples. I also hinted a little bit at my own doubts in preparing for this ten week trip to Haiti. This week, I want to be even more vulnerable with you and share more about those doubts and insecurities that I have been experiencing. However, despite these doubts and insecurities, I know that I am serving a God who is bigger, stronger, and able to take my fears and turn them into opportunities to bring glory to himself.

“God actually delights in exalting our inability. He intentionally puts his people in situations where they come face to face with their need for him. In the process he powerfully demonstrates his ability to provide everything his people need in ways they could never have mustered up or imagined. And in the end, he makes much of his own name.”

― David Platt

How refreshing it is to be reminded that our God is able to turn all of our inabilities into opportunities. Last week, I shared briefly about how l find myself doubting my abilities and adequacy to share the Gospel and make disciples because I am not smart enough, educated enough or old enough. At the root of all those doubts, though, is that I don’t think I’m good enough. I’m a sinner. I make mistakes. I mess up. I make bad choices. I have a not-so-spotless past. I get nervous in front of people. I’m awkward. I’m not the best speaker. I don’t have a Bible degree or an education from a Christian school. So why, God, would you choose to send me to Haiti on this trip? Why not someone else who is better qualified? “God actually delights in exalting our inability.” ...but. “He intentionally puts his people in situations where they come face to face with their need for him.” ...oh. Okay, God.

This quote was a breath of fresh air. I am not able but that’s okay. God is able. In fact, He is more than able. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…” He can do far more than I can even imagine. I heard a quote other day that went like this, “God doesn’t call the qualified, God qualifies the called.” I may not be qualified, but I am called. I may not be able, but God is. The amount of peace and joy that I find in knowing that God is able, despite how I feel, despite if I think I am qualified or not. The more that I rest in the fact that I can rely on God to meet my needs and accomplish his work through me, the more excited I become. I get excited thinking about all the ways that God can be glorified this summer, all the ways that God can do things through me that I never thought possible, all the ways that God can use someone like me to bring himself glory. Praise God because he is able!

This is exciting as well because I can boast in nothing other than Jesus Christ and his divine power. A passage that sums up how I feel is found in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. It says, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”

As if that passage was not enough, I leave you with this final verse that reassures me of the ability of God to turn my inability into opportunity, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” Rest assured brothers and sisters, if you are feeling called by God to go do something for Him, but you feel like you aren’t capable, just remember that He, the Lord, is faithful to provide and see you through.

Thank you for taking the time to read my rambling. I appreciate all of your prayers and kind words as I prepare for my trip this summer. If you feel led to give financially, you can click here and it will take you to my GoFundMe page. Thank you and may God bless you!

Made New.

2/7/2017

II Corinthians 6:17-21

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

As I sit here in a crowded Panera, watching the rain drizzle down outside, I become blatantly aware of my inner being. I feel as if the weather today largely represents my emotions the past couple weeks. Down. Dark. Damp. Dreary. Discomforting. This is not the Wyatt I know. This is not the Wyatt I want to be. But, nonetheless, this is the Wyatt I have been. It is no one’s fault but my own. I have allowed myself to wallow in my thoughts. I have limited myself to only negative thinking. I have tried to solve everyone else’s problems but my own. I have lost focused. I have become complacent. I have believed the lies that I have to stay here, that I have done this to myself, that I don’t deserve anything better because of the mistakes I've made. To be completely honest, I’ve ignored God’s leading. I've ignored his promises. I’ve ignored His Word. I’ve ignored what I know to be true. I’ve held onto my desires, rather than seeking His. Again, to no one’s fault but my own. Looking back at the past few weeks, one theme has been evident through it all. Forgiveness. God’s forgiveness. Our forgiveness. My forgiveness. Now I can forgive other people pretty well, that is usually not a problem for me. I’m not usually one to hold grudges or anything like that (I’m not saying I'm perfect in this area, I can still improve but in comparison. Let me go on). Where I struggle, though, is accepting and believing I am forgiven and am able to forgive myself. I’m my own biggest critic. I frustrate myself to no end. I try to do things on my own, in my own strength. Surprise, that doesn’t work. I can’t do this life on my own or in my own strength. Period. I need God. I need the Holy Spirit. In my devotions today, I was in II Corinthians. I reread a passage that we had discussed in depth at Bible the past couple weeks. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” I am a new creation! I’m not my past mistakes. I’m not the person I used to be. I’m none of that. I am a new creation in Christ! Oh, how glorious! “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” To God be the glory. Silly, Wyatt, you can’t do any of this on your own, it is all from God! He reconciled, restored friendly relations between (thanks, Google), us to him through sending his son to die on the cross for us! He did that! He desired us that much to do that! He is not holding my sin against me! He sees his son in me and that is it! I do not have to dwell in those feelings like I have been. I can move on. I can learn from my mistakes and become better because of them. According to II Peter chapter 1, I have been given everything I need to live a godly life. I have been given these things from, guess who, God! Not myself. Also in II Peter, it says, “… he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” Did you read that? Through these great and precious promises that he has given us, we can participate in divine nature because we have escaped the corruption in the world. We have this ability and it is one that I have been neglecting. I’ve allowed my desires to keep me trapped in the corruption. Each day is a battle between flesh and spirit. Each day is a choice to love God or love my flesh. Each day, with help from the Holy Spirit, I can choose to live and believe the great and precious promises of God, not the lies of this world. It is my challenge to me and to you, if you struggle with these same things, to live in the light that we are no longer slaves to sin, to live in the light that we are new creations in Christ. “The old has gone, the new is here!”

“You are more than the choices that you've made,

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,

You are more than the problems you create,

You've been remade.”

-          “You Are More” by Tenth Avenue North 

Endure It.

1/14/2017
“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” – I Corinthians 10:12-13

This is a passage of scripture that I have heard hundreds of times. It’s been told to me and I've given it to others as well. In fact, I have even given a short little message to our youth group about it before. However, as I was reading it today, a couple things struck me. (Side note: I love how you can read certain verses and passages a hundred times over and think you have it down and then the Holy Spirit just enlightens you and opens your eyes to something on the hundred and first time reading it. God is so cool.) First, I was reminded to never become so secure in where I am standing that I think I have it all together. We must always, “Be alert and of sober mind,” because “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8). Often times, in my life, the times when I think I am doing really well, are when the devil hits me the hardest and I’m not ready for it. So don’t get complacent. Secondly, I love that Paul encourages us by saying that we aren’t alone. We aren’t the only one facing this temptation or that temptation. “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.” This was really encouraging to me because most of the time, I feel like I’m the only one who struggles with certain temptations. But I was reminded and reassured that is not the case. As Christians, we do not have to go through pain and struggles and temptation alone. We are called to lift one another up in prayer to be there for one another, helping and strengthening our brothers and sisters. The beauty of being a part of the body of Christ is that we never have to go through life alone. Thirdly and quickly, I was reminded and encouraged that no matter what I’m up against, no matter how strong the temptation, with Christ, I can bear it. I can get through it. He will not give me more than I can handle. How great of a thought that all those times we face something that we think there is no way we can do it or get through it, God says we can. Now, this is when things got interesting for me as I read this passage. “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” How many times have you heard someone share that God will give you a way out, an escape from your temptation? I know whenever I have heard someone telling me this or when I've told it to other people, we always stop there, “He will also provide a way out.” Period. We don’t finish the verse, “so that you can endure it” (emphasis added). I read this today and it stopped me in my tracks. Endure it? Wait a minute; I thought he gave us a way out? Doesn’t that mean we don’t have to deal with it? Can’t we just pass over it or skip through it? Why does it say endure it? Google (don’t you love Google) defines endure like this: “1. suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently. 2. remain in existence; last.” What are you saying, Wyatt? Good question. I think a lot of times we read this verse and when we are struggling or facing temptation, we or someone else might pray this verse over you or share it with you to encourage you that God will give you a way out. But that’s it, we don’t finish the verse. So we build up a false sense of what should happen or what God will do. We just assume that we will look up and see a red “Exit” sign and that’s it, an easy way out. We get upset with God if that’s not the case. “Where’s my help, God? Why did I fall into this temptation? Where was my way out?” Read the rest of the verse! “So that you can endure it.” His way out may not be completely avoiding the temptation. It may be a friend who enters into the situation with you to help you through it. It may be a book or a quote or a verse that speaks to you and encourages you through it. It may be a change of perspective about the situation. It could be any number of things, friends, but I’m convinced that it is not always going to be an easy-button exit. When are we ever told that the Christian life would be easy? So why should we expect an easy way out of our temptations? Now, I’m not denying God’s miracle working ability or doubting his providential ways. Maybe in your life, He has given you an easy way out, praise God for that, but let’s not think that that will always be the case. Let’s be encouraged and evaluate our struggles and circumstances and see if maybe God has given us a way out, “so that we can endure whatever temptations or struggles we are facing. 

Pure Joy.

7/1/2016

When you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, what is your initial response? When you’re face to face with struggle, trials and tribulations, pain, hurt, doubt, how do you respond?

What do you do? Do you say things like, “I wish I could just fast forward through this?” or “What did I do to deserve this?” Maybe you ask God why he is doing this or allowing this to happen.

All too often are initial responses to struggles and to testing trails is to question them, to get mad or frustrated with them. But why is it that it’s not until after we go through it, that we look back and say, “Oh, now I see, God. Now I get why I had to go through that.” Why can’t we respond that way during it? Did God tell us that we won’t face trials? Did He say it would be an easy life? I think there is a reason that we are told to “rejoice always” and “pray continually,” multiple times in the Bible. Life is hard. Life sucks sometimes. Life can knock you down, it can throw you a curveball when you’re thinking fastball, and it can throw you one up in, knocking you back off the plate. Just when you think you have it figured out, something goes wrong, something doesn’t go the way you thought it would. The question is, how do you respond?

I’m guilty of letting it get the best of me all too often. I get angry, I get frustrated, I get depressed. But now, I’m challenging myself, and you, to choose joy. James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Consider it what?! Pure joy? God you can’t be for real? There’s no way. That’s too hard. You don’t understand what happened.

Yes, consider it pure joy, child, because I am perfecting you. I am doing more inside of you than you could ever ask or imagine. I am refining you through the flame.

That’s my challenge to you and to me. Consider it pure joy.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”

- II Corinthians 4:6-12