Love and Faith

Can we say we are fully committed, fully and wholly surrendered if we have not love? When Jesus' disciple asked him, "Lord, Lord, what is the greatest commandment?" Jesus could not separate one single greatest. To God, His response was one in the same - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself." 

It's that simple. Love God. Love others. 

Why then, if it's that simple do we struggle so much to truly love others. Why do we struggle to forgive? Luke 6 tells us that we are to "do good to those who hate us." Wow! How often have we done that, and yet that is exactly what God is calling us to do.

I'm moved by a book I just finished reading. Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This is a challenging book that, prayerfully, will move you into action. Move you - and me - out of our comfort zones and into the love God has called, actually, commanded us to have and use.

"The average Christian in America spends 10 minutes per day with God. The average American spends 4 HOURS per day watching TV." It is no wonder, when you read those statistics that Christians are not having the impact on our "neighbors" that God had intended. 

Annie Dillard wrote that, "The way we live out our days is the way we will live out our lives." That is a powerful statement. Do you spend your day asking God, "What can I do for you? Where do you want me to serve? Who do you want me to show love to today?" Do you spend your time basking in the love of Christ, in His presence and in His grace, or do you waste your day away working feverishly, trying to attain the world's approval, the world's definition of success - the American Dream, or trying to prove to yourself that you are worth something? Do you waste your day away watching TV, playing video games, or gossiping? 

What we fill our time with is how we live out our day and it's how we will live out our lives. Matthew 6:21 tells us, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." God's words are so true - the things that are important to us will be the things that consume our time and energy each day... and throughout our lives. 

Francis Chan says this, "If one person "wastes" away his day by spending hours connecting with God, and the other person believes he is too busy or has better things to do than to worship the Creator and Sustainer, who is the crazy one?

About 2 years ago, I made a choice that I did not want to just let life happen and "get by". I didn't want to trust that I was doing "just fine" - I wanted to know that the legacy I was (and am) leaving was a legacy built on loving others and giving Him my all. Now, there are days when that may not happen, but still, a choice was made and on the whole, I choose to fully follow Him, to not just let life pass me by, but to actively pursue my Creator. I have not looked back since then and the journey I'm on has been such an enjoyable one. Actually, enjoyable is not even a strong enough description for the impact that actively pursuing Him has had on my life. 

Chan was asked this question while he was in college, "Francis, what are you doing right now that requires faith?" He goes on to say how much that question challenged him because at that point in his life he could not think of one single thing he was doing that was challenging his faith. 

So, I ask that question to you? What are you doing in your life that is challenging YOUR faith? 

For me, I can't say much of anything at the moment. I can think of a past example - when my husband started his company. That really challenged us to trust that God would provide. We went without a paycheck for 9 months. We went from 6-figures.... to nothing. Nothing at all. $0. Not once was I ever afraid that we would not have our basic needs met. If we lost our house, as I told my husband, then we lost it. If we lost our possessions, then we lost them. 

What I wanted to know was this: Is our family in tact? Do we have our faith, each other, laughter, and health? The answer was always yes! All the rest was mere icing on the cake. 

But, this question has challenged me today. I cannot think of anything I am really doing that requires faith. I am believing and praying for several of my friends breaking marriages. I am believing for my sister to come to Christ, for my niece to have the opportunity to know Him and learn about the Bible. I am even believing to make an impact on the world around me - but the question is not really asking that. It's a much more challenging question than that.

Faith, through Webster's Dictionary says this: 1. confidence or trust in a person or thing.

Hebrews 11:1 tells us this, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

When was the last time we, in our plush American life-styles (and that even include our "poor") truly had to sacrifice it all and have true, real, unadulterated faith in Him?

So, the question I have found myself asking is this: What would it look like to TRULY love God. Not this "one-time sinners prayer, now all is well" kind of love. Not the kind of love that says, "I'll obey you if it's convenient for me and fits into my American Dream kind of plan. But instead, the love that Jesus required His followers to have. 

In Luke 9:57-62, Jesus invited people to follow him (this would make up His 12 disciples) and this is what was said:

"As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nest, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But, he replied, "Lord, first let me go bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back  and say goodbye to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

There is a HUGE cost to following Him and truly serving Him. Have we, as Americans REALLY considered that cost? Even our poor in this country still eat daily, can afford to smoke a $6 pack of cigarettes and can find money drink away their problems. The wealthy, they are chasing a happiness that will never come to them. Jesus was pretty clear - follow me and homeless may be in store for you. Follow me and you may not see your family again, but those are the costs of following Him. 

I don't know about you, but that's what I want. That kind of "all in" heart with God. There are people overseas that are sacrificing everything for the chance to be in the presence of the very same Father we deny, or push under the carpet until a loved one is sick or money is tight. They are sacrificing their livelihoods, their families, and their own lives so that others will have the opportunity to hear about God's goodness and grace. 

Do we have that kind of true love? Do we - do I - have that same kind of faith it takes to truly pick up our cross and follow Jesus? 

2 Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."

What can you change in your life that moves you from being a lukewarm Christian to a mighty warrior for Christ?

The blessings that flow.

So, after a hiatus from blogging, I find myself sitting here in my quiet livingroom, ready to pour my heart out once again. The kids are having friends over for the night and my husband is away on travel. I'm sipping a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top and my Bible is at my side. I'm ready... but where do I start? Which topic do I write of today. There are so many things on my heart... so many things I want to share. I guess I will begin with a story of surrendering your will to God and waiting on Him.

After 4 years of prayer, God led our family to a new church. Within 3 weeks of being at that new church, God's blessings were flowing so deep and so wide. One blessing came in the form of a guest speaker. 

The church was holding a missions day - a day to bring awareness to a cause they felt was important. The cause, Human Trafficking. The speaker, Pat Manzo. Pat and his wife, Mary Ann, founded a non-profit organization (called Run For Freedom) set up with two main goals: 1) To bring AWARENESS to the atrocities of Human Trafficking. And 2) To build DREAM HOMES across America. (Dream Homes are safe homes, designed to bring shelter, food, counseling, medical, dental, and vision care, education, reprieve, and most importantly, God's love, to the young girls who will eventually call a Dream Home their home.)

Pat spoke so passionately about this cause. He brought cold hard facts to this American reality. He brought real life stories - stories happening right here in the U.S.A. - to the forefront. 

Traveling back in time approximately 4 years, God had brought this cause to my attention through a Christian music festival in NH called SoulFest. SoulFest was featuring a different non-profit doing the same thing - fighting to end human trafficking. My husband and I were moved. We began supporting, financially, this other non-profit (called Not For Sale). We did that for about 2 years... then God moved in my heart even further with an event that would rock my world.

Across the street from our house (we live in an upper-middle class neighborhood), in a quiet small NH town, on a quiet cul-de-sac, an atrocity was taking place and I did not even know it. A story so horrific that I won't even share the details - but the gist of the story is that an innocent 11 year girl was being trafficked by her own step-father, while her mother worked a 3rd shift job. This innocent young girl was exploited and trafficked, both in our neighboring town and on the internet through various sexually explicit websites.

Every morning when I went running, I would run past her as she waited for the bus. I had no idea of the intense and grave atrocity that was taking place against her. As the FBI and local police swarmed our road on a hot July day, the news began to unfold to the other neighbors on the street. 

My heart sank. There are no real words to describe the emotions that stormed my mind, my heart, and my body. Although I did not know her personally, I vowed I would not sit by and do nothing. I vowed I would not allow such atrocities to continue without me getting in on the fight to protect the young, the innocent, and the weak. This was already a topic that moved me to donate monthly to an organization fighting this very cause, but now it seemed personal. It was so close to home. So preventable. So tangible. But, what could I do? I am just one person.

That is what Satan would have you tell yourself. "You can do nothing. The problem is too big. What good can you make? You are so small compared to the problem." Lies! These are all lies and the Bible is clear that Satan is the father of ALL lies! (John 8:44)  You CAN make a difference. Fully surrender your heart to God and allow Him to show you where you can surrender your life for His glory. He will show you.

That is what happened to me. After learning about what was happening at my neighbors house, I began praying and asking God to allow me to get involved with Not For Sale, the organization I had learned about through SoulFest - nearly 2 years prior to this incident. I started writing emails to their volunteer department, to their directors. For nearly a full year I heard nothing from them at all. I continued to pray that God would place me where He wanted me. That He would open the door He wanted me to walk through. I wanted nothing less than His perfect will. 

A year passed by with no word from them, at all. Then, our family made the decision to switch churches. Three weeks after switching, Pat Manzo came to speak at our new church. God spoke to me, so clearly that this was it. This is what HE had been preparing for me all along. I asked our new Pastor to introduce me to Pat and he lead me immediately back to him. I shook his hand and told him, without hearing anything of his organization, that I wanted to start a NH Chapter for his organization.... that I believed God was calling me to do this. His immediate response to me was this, "I believe you are the person we have been praying for. My wife and I have been praying for someone to step up and say they wanted to start a NH Chapter. I believe you are the answer to that prayer!"

Four years in the making, two years of prayer and petition, and a lot of patience - God opened the doors to an opportunity I had been waiting on Him for. I would not want it any other way. I fully surrendered this area to Him. I prayed that He would open or close doors. I prayed He would use me where He wanted me. I prayed for His perfect will in my life. The irony, 3 days after that encounter with Pat, I finally heard from Not For Sale. They asked me to come on as a NH Regional Director and sent me the requirements to join their team. By that point, I knew where God wanted me though. I saw this as a distraction from the father of lies. Not For Sale is a wonderful organization.... but simply said, I knew at that moment, exactly what was happening. Satan did not want me working with Run For Freedom. But here God was, using me to start a brand new chapter for Run For Freedom. Now, I get to use my love of public speaking and I get to share God's love to others through through my Run For Freedom platform. How amazing is God?

Fully Surrendering to Him can be hard. We are impatient beings. We want what we want when we want it. I am particularly bad at that. I get an idea in my head and that's it.... I've got to do it THEN! But, that's not always God's plan for us. Sometimes He says no. Sometimes, it's just a gentle, "Not now. Grow my little one, set your feet on solid ground and delve into my Word." Sometimes it's an immediate, "Yes." Whatever His response is,  it is our responsibility to fully surrender our wills to Him and wait on His will. That's what we want, right? Do we really want our way? Or do we really want His perfect way. The way that is paved with His Light.

Numbers 14:8 says this about God, "If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and He will give it to us."

Psalm 31:3 says this, "Since you are my rock and fortress, for the sake of your name, lead and guide me."

Wait on God. Talk to Him. God is not a God of rules, checklists, or regulations. He wants that deep, personal, intimate relationship with you. When you feel like you've heard God speak into your heart and the doors are not opening, pray! Continue to seek Him. There are times when God will reveal a little bit of His plan to you, but that does not necessarily mean the doors will be opening at that moment. I think of motherhood for me. God had spoken children, a lot of children, into my heart at an early age... but that didn't mean those children would come in my timing. Instead, my husband and I went through a total of 10 years of infertility. Steadfast though... I knew what God had spoken to me. And even now, I know our family is not complete, but we are waiting on God to open the doors of adoption for us. 

Surrender your plan to God. Watch Him work in ways you could not imagine. I'll leave you with this story I heard. 

A family in Maine decided they wanted to adopt a child from Haiti shortly after the Haiti earthquake disaster. All adoptions had come to a halt as the country tried to come to grips with the disaster, as well as, handle the large amount of new orphans. This family was not sure how things were going to work out given what had happened, but they believed God would work everything out. I don't remember the exact time-frame, but it was a very short (a week or two I think) time later when a family from the couple's church felt they had heard God speak loud and clear to them. The family didn't know why, but they felt like God was calling them to give the couple a check for $24,000! They were obedient to God and gave the money to the couple. That was the EXACT amount of money needed to adopt a child from Haiti. 

The story does not stop there.... with the money in hand, the couple proceeded forward with the adoption and God parted the Red Sea for them. God opened every single possible door for them and in a VERY SHORT TWO WEEKS.... the couple flew down to Haiti and picked up their new child, fully adopted!!! God still moves mountains and if it's in His plan and it's His will for you, He WILL open those doors!

Be blessed and know that God is for you. He wants the best for you and most importantly, He wants ALL of you!