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A Radical Prayer

5/17/2018

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By Erin Elizabeth Austin

​There are times in a believer’s life when he or she has what I call a divine revelation, a moment that challenges them and radically changes the way they view life. Recently, I had one of those moments, and I’m still reeling from the daily lessons God is teaching me. My worldview has changed, and I’ve realized I’ve been going about life all wrong. And it all started with one prayer.

For the past two years, God has continuously brought me back to a passage in Scripture found in Ephesians 3:14-21. I have felt compelled to read these verses daily. For those who aren’t familiar with it, it says:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and  on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond  all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
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In the beginning, I started reading this because I felt like the black sheep of God’s family. I felt like God loved me because He had to, not because He wanted to. Although I knew it was wrong, I just couldn’t get my thoughts and emotions to believe it. So, I started to pray these verses every day. I prayed that I would realize how wide, how long, how high, and how deep the love of Christ is for me, Erin Elizabeth Austin. I asked God to help me know beyond any shadow of a doubt that He loves me, willingly, and that I see myself the way He views me.

God graciously answered that prayer, but over time, He had me start looking at the rest of Ephesians 3:14-21. No matter how hard I tried, He wouldn’t let me skip past the part in verse 17 where it says we should be “rooted and grounded in love.” Before I started studying the original language in which the passage was written, I thought it meant I need to know and understand God’s love for myself and be saturated in it. However, that’s not what it’s talking about at all. To be honest, it surprised me. You see, the more I listened to sermons and read books about God’s love, I realized that Christians are missing the mark in a big way when it comes to God’s love. There is so much out there about how big and wonderful God’s love for each of us is, and it is, but rarely do we hear about how we are supposed to love God. Somewhere along the way, we’ve forgotten that a genuine love relationship is supposed to be reciprocal, meaning not only does a person love us, but we love him/her in return. Yes, we are supposed to love people even when they’re unlovable, but if one person is constantly pouring love into the relationship and the other person just takes, there is a problem. 
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The phrase “rooted and grounded in love” in Ephesians 3 actually goes back to Matthew 22:37 when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, and His response was, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Admittedly, when I realized to what this passage was referring, I thought I was loving God the way He says we should. If you look at my life, it’s obvious I love God. I started a nonprofit for Him; I have speaking engagements where I teach His Word; I write devotions. Of course, I love God! But then, I heard God say, “Have you prayed about it?”
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So, I started each day asking God to help me love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. What I’ve realized since then is I haven’t had a clue how to love God the way I should. For me, one of the biggest areas He challenged me in is my love for reading. Books have always been a way of escape for me. I’m able to get enthralled in a good story and forget my pain and sickness for a brief time. Although reading isn’t a bad thing, when I let it become more important than my relationship with God, it’s a problem. ​
I think if we’re honest, the majority of us have things we love more than God. For some, it’s their grandchildren. For others, it’s a job. Some people might love social media more than God. And though our first inclination is to say, “I love God,” would He agree?

I challenge you to start praying this radical prayer. Not only has it changed my perspective, but it’s rocked my prayer life in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I am seeing God’s power through Him answering prayers on a regular basis.

God will never stop loving us. One of the Old Testament words for God’s love literally means “to be attached to.” God cannot and will not let us go. His love is unchanging. God holds onto us even when we let go of Him. Don’t you think He deserves the same?

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing… But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:1-3,13 
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Persistence and Tenacity

5/10/2018

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By Josie Siler

The nest was taking shape nicely and the progress was impressive. I watched the mama robin hard at work building a safe place to lay her eggs and raise her babies. The daddy robin brought her materials and she placed them on the flat surface of the open feeder outside my kitchen window.

I have never watched a bird build a nest before and the process has been both hilarious and heartbreaking. The mama robin arrives at the nest with a beak full of dried grass and twigs. She carefully lays them in place and then she sits on them. She scoots her little birdie butt back and forth almost like she’s doin’ the twist! Once she’s satisfied, she stands up, does a quarter turn, sits back down, and shakes her booty again. She repeats this process until she’s made a full circle before flying off to collect more materials. 

The first time I watched this process I laughed so hard! But the next morning I was heartbroken to see the nest she was working so hard to build lying on the ground in a messy pile of destruction. All that hard work, and strong winds soon blew everything away.  

Not too long later, I saw the mama robin building her nest again while the daddy robin helped collect fresh materials. They are a persistent pair and a little wind wasn’t going to stop them from what they needed to do!  

I cheered them on and watched their nest grow until one morning I woke up to see it on the ground by the feeder. It still held most of its shape, but what were they going to do now? I wish I knew the full answer to that question. When I got back home one day the nest was no longer on the ground, but back up on the platform of the feeder.

How did it get there? It was too big for one little bird to pick up by itself. Did they pick it up together, working as a team to put it back in place? I don’t know, but they finished that beautiful nest and the mama robin is faithfully sitting in it, with the daddy robin keeping guard from a nearby branch.
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Their persistence paid off, but they didn’t just quit working when they accomplished their goal. They are vigilant. The mama robin sits in her nest, but her eyes are ever watching for danger. This morning the nest was attacked by a blue jay. I saw him sweeping in, but before he could arrive, the daddy robin flew in and intercepted him. Mama robin joined the fight and they chased him off.
The persistence and tenacity of these robins remind me of the persistent widow we read about in Luke 18:1-8. 
One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
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Do you ever grow weary of asking God for healing? Do you ever become weary of fighting the same fight? Do you feel like just as you’re making progress something comes along to ruin everything? Do you feel ignored?

Oh, friends, I’ve been right there with you! I’m pretty sure Jesus has been too; He was fully human. He knows! Why else would He tell His disciples this story “to show that they should always pray and never give up”?

Let’s take a lesson from the persistently tenacious widow and robins. Let’s keep praying. Let’s look to the Lord for His answers and His will in His timing - not our own. Let’s trust that He knows what we need and that in His love for us He will provide.

And while we wait, let’s keep fighting. Maybe, like the robin, it’s starting over with a new dream God gives us or a new medication to try. Maybe it’s picking up the pieces and watching God patch them back together. Or maybe our job is to simply sit and pray, crying out to the Lord like the persistent widow.

You’re not alone. As brothers and sisters in Christ it is our responsibility to fight with and for each other, just like my little robin friends. Share your prayer requests below so we can pray for and encourage one another.
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” ~Luke 5:16

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Let's Get Real

5/3/2018

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 By Erin Elizabeth Austin

I’m proud to be a Southerner. I use words like y’all and fixin’ on a regular basis. Sweet tea is my beverage of choice. There’s nothing like sitting on a wraparound porch in a swing, and one of my favorite sights in all the world is a field of cotton before it’s picked. I am a Southern woman and I’m thankful I’ve had the privilege to always live in the Carolinas. Yet like any culture, the South has its share of problems, and one of those problems comes in the form of church.

​For those of you who live in other parts of the world, the southern part of the United States is often referred to as the Bible Belt. What this means is the Christian church plays a much stronger role in our society than other parts of the United States. It’s not hard to find a church down here because they’re literally all over the place. Even if one doesn’t regularly attend church, more people are familiar with the Bible and it’s teaching than is common in the rest of the world. Many people claim to be a Christian and go to church on Sundays because it’s what everyone else does, even if they don’t realize what being a Christian truly means. Now don’t get me wrong; the more the world changes, the more the South moves away from Christ and His teachings. Still, for those like me who grew up regularly attending church, we know that when we get to church no matter how our day is going, we put on a happy face because it’s what’s expected.

Because of this, pastors now remind the congregation that instead of presenting a good front, people need to be open and honest before God. Rather than pretend everything is okay, we need to come to God as we are and admit when we’re struggling with something. Yet I still remember being a little girl, arguing with my sister on the way to church and being aggravated with my parents, but as soon as we opened the car door in the church parking lot, everything was wonderful. And that little girl in me still sometimes struggles with admitting I need God’s help in changing an area of my life. The Southerner in me wants to put on a happy face and pretend like everything is alright.

So, I struggle with worrying about what the future holds. What’s the big deal? It’s not like that’s a big sin, like murder or rape. Compared to others, I’m good. Right, God?
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As expected, God always answers with a resounding “No!” You see, God loves us so much that He doesn’t want to leave us as we are. He knows who He created us to be, He sees our potential, and He wants to help us achieve it. For our benefit and His glory, God loves us enough to not leave us as we are, but that means we must get real before God. Pretending we’re okay or ignoring an area we know we struggle with doesn’t help us, and it’s not honoring to God.

​In Mark 9, we find one of the more quoted verses of Jesus’ ministry in verse 24 when the father of a demon-possessed son cried out to Jesus, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” If you go back and read this passage, you’ll see that this came after Jesus asked the disciples why they couldn’t heal the boy. The disciples had seen Jesus do the miraculous numerous times, and they still struggled with faith. Yet rather than admit they needed Jesus’ help, it was the boy’s father who was honest. And that’s when we see Jesus step in and do the impossible.

Whether or not you grew up in the South, many of us struggle with admitting we need God’s help to change. We like where we are in life; it’s comfortable. We know what to expect. Who cares if we struggle with an area of our relationship with God? In the grand scheme of things, it can’t be that important. Yet we forget that anything which interferes in our relationship with God is a sin.

God doesn’t need or want us to be perfect. We don’t have to have everything figured out before we go to God. As Timothy Keller said, “Helplessness, not holiness is the first step to accessing God.”[i]

​Is there an area you’ve been trying to ignore because you know it’s not honoring to God? Let’s get real before God today and stop pretending everything is okay. He’s already aware of the problem. He’s simply waiting for you to cry out to Him.

“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” ~ Hebrews 4:16


[i] https://www.lifeway.com/leadership/2015/09/14/best-quotes-from-propel-women/

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Silent Surrender

4/26/2018

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By Erin Elizabeth Austin

There are moments in life when the unexpected happens, when a tragedy or problem comes seemingly out of nowhere like a summer storm, and we wonder how we’ll make it through. These moments are life-changing. It’s impossible to come to such an impasse and not be changed. The question becomes, “Will it make me better, or will it make me bitter?”

Last week, I talked about my recent life-defining moment (See Slaying Dragons). If I’m honest, for almost a month I wrestled with the question of how to respond to my personal tragedy. True, no one died, yet for me, such a huge, unexpected sickness had me questioning what God was doing in my life. For four years everything seemed to indicate that God was slowly healing me. Dealing with a brain infection went against what I believed God was doing. I was expecting good to happen in my life and instead, I got pain and drama.

I couldn’t help but think of Job as I struggled to respond to God in absolute trust. Job went from the height of success to living in desolation, and although he didn’t walk away from God like he was tempted to, he did question what God was doing. It isn’t until Job 40-42 that he finally learns an important truth. Knowing God is in charge is completely different than resting in His authority.   
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One of the most quoted verses in the Old Testament is Psalm 46:10, which says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Most people think that “be still” means to “be quiet.” However, the original Hebrew root for this phrase means something completely different. What God is actually saying in this verse is “let go.”  

Let go and know that I am God. 

I’m not very good at letting go. I like order and plans. I like knowing what’s going to happen next. So, to come to a place where I can take a step back, throw my hands up in surrender, and say, “God, this is yours,” is incredibly difficult for me to do. Yet it’s one of the most vital things a believer can do, to come to a place in life of absolute surrender where we can honestly say, “God, I need You more than I need to be healed. I need you more than I need this problem to be resolved. I need you more than I need my family and friends. I’m letting go. Help me know that You are God!”
So many of us are going about our lives trying to hang onto a little bit of control. We may not admit it, but we don’t want to give everything to God. We want to be in charge of our lives; we want to have a say in what happens next. As the poet William Ernest Henley said, “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.”[i] But this isn’t biblical or God-honoring. It only steals our joy and peace when trials come our way, and it keeps us from walking in all the blessings God wants to give us.
God, in His infinite wisdom, has a plan for each of our lives. No matter what personal tragedy you’re facing, God can reach into the mess and turn it into something glorious. He’s not overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of your problem. He’s not questioning what He can do to fix it. God is present. He is with you, at this very moment, inviting you to surrender everything to Him. Can you hear Him?

It’s time to let go!
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“Cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” ~ Psalm 46:10 (NASB)
© April 25, 2018

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/718319.William_Ernest_Henley
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Slaying Dragons

4/19/2018

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By Erin Elizabeth Austin
​“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” ~ G.K. Chesterton
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I’m good at dying. As morbid as that sounds, I have been told by doctors on six different occasions that I was about to die or I should already be dead. It sounds horrible to say, but after so many times of hearing a doctor say this, death has become routine. It’s expected; the only question is when it will happen.

Maybe that’s why this latest bout of sickness was so incredibly difficult for me. You see, this past October, I spent a week being tested and prodded like a lab rat by my doctor. What she discovered was mind-boggling. After four years of intense treatments, my body decided to do something profound. The organs decided to work! Before I started treatments, my liver was barely functioning at only 10%. My kidneys were only slightly better, working at 20%. My stomach and intestines were massively inflamed. My lungs had scarring that kept them from fighting off the simplest of colds, and I was told years before that my uterus would never carry a child. But God decided none of that mattered, and this past October I was told that my organs work! Not only is every organ functioning at 100%, but I was told my body can now carry a child to term if I ever decide I want to get pregnant.

I can’t describe what hearing that did to me. There are no words adequate enough to share that mountaintop experience. My life suddenly went from knowing death was imminent to being told I might live until I’m an old woman, which is something I’ve NEVER experienced in my adult life. So when I got sick the day after Thanksgiving, my spirit plummeted. Suddenly, I was no longer good at dealing with sickness. I was supposed to be getting better. Severe pain and fatigue were supposed to be in my past. The joy I used to claim was gone. There was no song in my heart, and laughter was nowhere to be found.

It didn’t escape my notice that we just finished a Bible study on Believing God. I made the statement months ago that sometimes we have to make a conscious decision to plant our feet and choose to trust God no matter what. And I did! My joy may have fled when I became sick, but my trust in God remained firm. Yet I still couldn’t help but wonder what a person is supposed to do after praying and making a stand to trust God when problems prevail. Just because we choose to trust God doesn’t automatically make the problems disappear. So, what does one do while waiting?
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Worship.

I heard God whisper this after I asked Him what to do for the twentieth time.

​Worship Me.

If I’m honest, I didn’t like the answer. You see, I didn’t feel like worshipping God. It turns out that because my organs didn’t work for years, they held onto bacteria and viruses. When they started working, they suddenly realized that all the bad germs needed to leave and began attacking everything at once. Like a broken dam after a flood, my blood showed twelve different bacteria my body was trying to fight at once, two of which had the potential to be fatal. Awful doesn’t come close to describing how I physically felt for five months. I didn’t have the mental clarity to hold a conversation half the time, and yet God wanted me to worship Him.

After telling God I thought He was crazy, He showed me numerous times in Scripture where worship was the key to tearing down strongholds, winning fierce battles, and triumphing over giants. My favorite passage is 2 Chronicles 20 where three different armies decided to come together and fight Judah. Everyone came before God crying out for help, and His answer was, “You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you,” (vs. 17). The next day, the people gathered together and they began to worship God. Even though God said He would deliver them, it wasn’t until the people began to worship that the enemy was defeated.
Time after time in Scripture we see this truth. Worship is a battle cry. When we turn our eyes off our problems and put them on the only One who matters, God does amazing, miraculous things. Giants fall. Dragons are slain. God’s people walk in victory!
For the past five months, I’ve saturated myself in worship music. Throughout the day, I keep worship music playing in the background, and an amazing thing has happened through this. When I first started, all I could do was sit in silence and surrender. But more and more, worship has become a source of joy and encouragement. It’s become an anthem for my soul, and I’m starting to see God do things I could never have imagined. What I've learned through this is that worship connects us to God’s dynamic power.

Do you have a giant in your life that seems impossible to overcome? Or maybe you have a dragon that needs to be defeated. If you have a relationship with God, there’s good news. God is the dragon slayer! It’s time to shout your battle cry and worship Him!
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“As they started to sing praises, the Lord set ambushes against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the people of Mount Seir who had come into Judah. They were defeated.”  ~ 2 Chronicles 20:22 (GW)   
*Note: If you’re looking for a good place to start worshipping God, check out the music group Rend Collective. They have quickly become one of my favorite bands.

​​​Do you have a favorite quote that regularly motivates and encourages you? If so, please share it in the comment section below. You might just see it in a blog post.
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Shine Bright!

11/30/2017

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By Josie Siler

​I adore this time of year! Each day more Christmas lights shine their joyful twinkles of hope into a dark world. Driving by house after house that is adorned with light brings a smile to my face and fills my heart with warmth. My neighborhood is normally quite dark, but not at Christmas! At Christmas, lights shine from every street corner and push back the darkness to the edges of our community.
 
I think my favorite neighborhood decoration is the house right next to mine. They put a giant star on their roof that you can see for quite a way. It's fantastic... and I feel like it makes up a little bit for my dark house. Oh, the inside is full of beautiful twinkling lights, but the outside has yet to be illuminated. I'm not sure if it will happen this year, but the inside, that's what counts!
 
When I was a kid we'd always take a drive to look at the Christmas lights. I don't know that we ever knew where we were going, we'd just drive and see what we could see. Have you ever spotted a big house on the top of a hill all decked out with Christmas lights? It's a sight to behold, let me tell you! You can see that sucker lit up for miles and the closer you get, the more spectacular you know it's going to be.
 
Did you know that Jesus calls us the light of the world? He does! Matthew 5:14 (NLT) says, "You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden." There's no hiding a city that sits on a hilltop, just like there's no hiding a big house on the top of a hill that's full of Christmas lights. You're going to see it and you're going to see it from quite a distance. And that's what Jesus compares us to.
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​It's pretty incredible if you stop to think about it. Jesus says that you and I are the light of the world. I don't know about you, but I've noticed the darkness that fills our world today. Some days it feels as if we'll never see the light again, yet if we believe what Jesus says, not only is there still light in the world, WE'RE THE LIGHT!
 
This is a fact. For those of us who have chosen to be in relationship with Jesus Christ, He is living inside us. Not just that, but we're fully united with Him, one with Him. So this light of the world thing, it really has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Christ in us, the hope of glory.
 
The light people see in us is not us. It's nothing that we've made or manufactured. We don't get brighter by doing more good things or sinning less. The light that shines out of us is the light of Jesus. It is produced by Him, yet miraculously He allows His light to shine through us, reaching into the darkest corners of our world.
 
John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Darkness has not overcome the light, and it never will. As dark as our world gets, the light of Christ will always be brighter. Always.
 
You see, Jesus has already overcome the world! He leaves no doubt when He tells His followers just that in John 16:33. “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
 
This Christmas season let's take courage and allow the light of Christ to shine through us wherever we go. Let's be that city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Let's bring His light and peace into our workplaces, our churches, clinics, and hospital rooms. Remember, just like Christmas lights, the darker it is, the brighter we'll shine! Shine bright, my friends!
"We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine."
~ Dwight L. Moody
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Where is God?

11/16/2017

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By Erin Elizabeth Austin

Let’s be honest for a minute. As more and more atrocities of violence occur in our country every day, many people have thought the question, "Where is God?” Struck with the raw emotion of having a gunman walk into a church or a concert or drive a vehicle into a crowd of people and kill innocent men, women, and children, at some point the question of God’s presence crept into people’s thoughts. Many of us are still in shock and horror that such tragedies could ever occur, and as we come to grips with the scope of what is happening in our country, that nagging question will continue to creep into our thoughts until we deal with it and learn the truth.

Although the fact it’s almost the Christmas season makes dealing with tragedies seem even worse, it seems appropriate that it is the season of Emmanuel – God with us. When Jesus was born, He came to offer hope to a world without hope and peace. The key word being “offered.” God has never forced Himself on us. That is the big difference between people and animals. When God created us, He chose to give us the gift of freewill. An animal doesn’t have this gift. When a skunk feels threatened, he will emit an odorous spray. A spider will make webs and catch insects. Fish will swim. They don’t get to choose to do something different if they get bored of being what God created them to be. Yet it’s not that way with people. People can use this life to do whatever they want – whether it’s right or wrong, good or bad. We can choose to worship God or deny His existence. We can choose to be a teacher, a rock star, or even a murderer. We can choose to use our lives to do some good in the world, and unfortunately, we can also choose to do evil in this life and harm others. That is why Jesus came to this fallen world when He knew people would hang Him on a cross to die. He came to forgive our sins and show us a better way. He came to point us to God.
Yet people continue to reject Christ and His free gift of salvation. Because of this, there is still evil in the world. But even beyond that, our country has told God we don’t want Him. We’ve taken God out of schools; we’ve taken God out of the government; we’ve taken God out of our entertainment; we’ve even taken God out of sporting events. Sadly, even some churches are stepping away from the truth of God’s Word because its message isn’t popular with society and may offend someone. As a nation, we have told God He isn’t welcome, and because He’s a gentleman and won’t force Himself on anyone, God has stepped back. What we’re seeing right now is what happens when we remove God from the equation. Evil prevails and dominates the hearts of men.
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But this doesn’t mean God has abandoned us when tragedy strikes. It doesn’t mean He’s forgotten about those of us who are trying to live our lives to do some good. Personally, I can’t help but wonder if He ever has to restrain Himself from intervening when people try to destroy what He created. Throughout Scripture, Jesus is depicted as sitting at the right hand of God when in Heaven (see Matthew 26:64, Matthew 23:24, and Mark 16:19). Yet there’s one time when Jesus is shown to be standing at the right hand of God. In Acts 7:55-56 when Stephen is being stoned to death for his faith in Christ, we are told twice that Jesus was standing at the right hand of God. God doesn’t just sit back and relax while we mortals are suffering. He is very aware of what’s happening in each of our lives, and He cares. Not only that, but His Spirit is with us on every step of this journey. Jesus is still Emmanuel, which means God with us (Matthew 1:23).
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God doesn’t abandon His people. Even though our country has turned its back on God, He will never turn His back on those who call out to Him. Even if it becomes illegal to speak the name of Jesus, as long we choose to keep our hearts and minds focused on God, He will always be with us. So the next time it feels like your heart will break into a million little pieces and you are tempted to ask, “Where is God?” remember Emmanuel. You are not alone. God sees you. He knows what’s happening. He cares. And He is with you!

“But Zion said, “I don’t get it. God has left me. My Master has forgotten I even exist.”

“Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I’d never forget you—never. Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of My hands. The walls you’re rebuilding are never out of my sight.” ~ Isaiah 49:14-16 (The Message)
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The Story of Stuck

11/2/2017

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By Erin Elizabeth Austin

She was stuck. It’s been over ten years since it happened and I still can see her frozen in fear. It was the first time I’ve ever seen someone petrified, and that image has stayed with me even a decade later.

​Twelve years ago, God blessed me with an incredible, glorious summer when all my health problems decided to stop. I don’t know how to describe that summer other than to say it was a gift from God and one in which I eagerly took advantage. I worked at a Christian girls’ camp as a cabin leader, but even more surprising, I was one of the four staffers who were trained and certified to run the camp’s 32-foot rock wall. For those who aren’t familiar with rock climbing, there needs to be a person who belays. What this means is a person is anchored into the ground wearing a harness and he is connected with a safety rope to the person climbing the wall. A belayer’s sole purpose is to keep the safety rope taut as the person climbs, so if he falls, he goes nowhere. The belayer is literally holding all of your weight up and keeping you from harm. It was a job I should have not physically been able to do, but I’m so grateful I did because it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

​There are many fun stories that came from this experience, but the one I’ll never forget is the day a thirteen-year-old girl made it two-thirds of the way up the wall, and then she looked down. After that, she could not and would not move. For thirty minutes I held her weight while she continually yelled, “I can’t do this! It’s too hard!” Everyone was cheering her on. Our team leader even climbed up next to her to help her reach the top, but she refused to do it. It didn’t matter that I wouldn’t let her fall. Her fear was greater than her faith. And with only six needed steps to reach the top, she decided she’d rather quit and had me lower her back to the ground.

As we finish our Believing God series, I keep thinking of this girl. When I started studying all the areas we struggle to believe and trust God, I knew I had areas I didn’t fully believe God to take care of for me. Yet the more I studied and began to completely trust God, I realized that like the girl, I too was stuck. Unfortunately, I wasn’t stuck on something as simple as a rock wall. I was stuck in life. I had come so far in my walk with God, but the things He was calling me to do were scary. Yes, I knew He had me anchored and I wouldn’t fall, but my lack of faith kept me frozen from stepping out of my comfort zone. Maybe it’s the same with you.

​I’ve loved listening to your stories and reading your comments on each devotion. We have all struggled at some point with fully believing God will fulfill His promises. But the more we believe Him and take Him at His Word, the more we see ourselves the way He sees us, and then is when the fun begins. God has great things in store for you and me, but we have to be willing to leave our comfort zones and trust Him with every single concern. As we end this series, I encourage you to go back and study the names of God and ask Him to show you if there’s an area of belief in which you need to work.​
·         The Heart of a Cynic
·         Waiting on God
·         In Need of Safety
·         When I am Afraid
·         In the Midst of Change
·         When I am Weak
·         Too Much to Handle
·         When God Doesn't Heal
              §  A Healing of the Soul
             §  Why Me?
            §  Walking Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death
·         When Difficulties Come
·         The Valleys of Life
·         Burnt Out and Weary
It’s time to step out in faith and trust the Great Belayer. He won’t let you fall. Do you believe?     

​“If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get His help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.” ~ James 1:5-8 (MSG)
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Where The Rubber Meets The Road

10/5/2017

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By Josie Siler

My heart has been breaking a lot lately. It’s heavy with hurt for others, and it’s heavy with the state of the world in which we live. I feel as if God has lifted me up and given me a drone’s eye view of our world; the sight before me both breaks my heart and gives me hope.
 
I see a world that has been torn apart by sin. I see a world that is so full of self that we don’t even see our fellow human, let alone God. I see a world in which people tear one another apart for the pure pleasure of it. A troll used to be a cute little figurine with funny hair we played with as kids. Now, trolls fill the internet seeking out people to destroy with their words.
 
I see people who have been devastated by nature’s wrath, lives needlessly lost, and lives selfishly and sinfully taken. I see people who murder for pleasure, and others murder with their words as they slice into the hearts of their friends and enemies alike.
 
There is so much needless pain in the world and my heart breaks for those who are hurting.
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We recently started going through the book of Romans at my church and our homework the first week was to write out, by hand, the entire first chapter. It was such a good exercise as it required me to slow down and think about what I was writing. One verse, in particular, jumped off the page.
 
Romans 1:25 (NLT) reads, “They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.”
 
This verse wrecks me. I think it’s one of the saddest verses in all of Scripture. I’m so impacted by this verse because that’s the world I see today. I see a world who knows the truth about God, but trades truth for lies; a world full of people who are too busy worshiping created things to notice their Creator.
 
Do you have that sinking feeling in your gut too? Do you find it hard to catch your breath? I’m not done yet.
 
The view I see also gives me hope. I see neighbor helping a neighbor, and strangers not batting an eye as they rescue someone in need. I see people pulling together to rebuild and recover. I see people taking their eyes off of themselves and their own need long enough to look another human being in the eye.
 
I see people crying on each other’s shoulders and giving a friend their last bottle of water. I see people standing for the truth, even when it means they will suffer. I see the persecuted church praising God and proclaiming their allegiance to Him to the very end. I see individuals who are sold out for the Lord, whatever the cost. Oh, how great will their reward be in Heaven!
 
The truth is, as bad as things seem now, they are going to get a lot worse before Jesus comes back. God even gives us a list of things to expect in Matthew 24; we’re just getting started.
 
So what do we do? Especially as people who live with chronic illnesses, how can we help make our world a better place? We can’t go to Puerto Rico and help with relief efforts. We can’t go to Las Vegas to minister to those whose lives have been forever changed. Most of us are so financially strapped we can’t even donate money.
 
But you know what we can do? We can do the most powerful thing there is to do on this earth. We can do the will of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 tells us to, “Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
 
 We can pray. Friends, prayer is such a powerful tool and it’s one we don’t use often enough. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

​But Josie, I don’t know what to pray! That’s a valid point. It’s hard to know what to pray but thankfully, God left us a book of instructions. I find that the Psalms are a fantastic place to start. You can’t go wrong when you’re praying the Word of God!
 
The second half of 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 tells us that we are to be thankful in all circumstances. That’s another thing we can do, though it’s only possible in Christ. We’ve been talking about our unity with Christ and this is where the rubber meets the road. The things God asks us to do are impossible in our own strength, but in Christ anything is possible, even praising God and being thankful in these desperate times.
 
Friends, let’s put the judgment away and love one another. Let’s be thankful in all circumstances, and let us come together in spirit and pray. As you listen to the words of the song below, make it the cry of your heart as you call out to God. Oh Jesus, how we need You!
“Jesus looked at them intently and said, ‘Humanly speaking, it is impossible.
But with God everything is possible.’” ~Matthew 19:26
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A War Cry of Faith

9/21/2017

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By Erin Elizabeth Austin

Floods. Fires. Hurricanes. Earthquakes. If you’ve watched the news at all in the past month, you know it seems like our world has been cast in an apocalyptic movie. Everything has seemingly gone wrong all at once, and it’s scary.

​As I’ve watched what’s happening, I admit I’ve found myself following social media and I’ve been shocked by people’s responses, particularly in regards to Hurricane Irma. I lost count of the number of Christians who posted something to the effect of: “It’s okay. I prayed, so God will turn the hurricane around.” Let’s be real for a moment. Demanding God answer our prayers the way we deem best is not faith. It’s arrogance! Now before you start sending me emails about the power of prayer please note I believe, as God’s children, we are called to pray. Not only that, but God answers prayers. He is in the miracle-making business. Having said that, I think many Christians have missed an important point about prayer and faith.

​Somewhere along the way, many of us have been led to believe that if we pray and believe God will do what we ask, then it will happen. That’s not faith!!! True faith is never about what God can do for us. Faith is all about God. It’s why this Believing God series has been interwoven with the names of God. If you look at the original Greek word used in Scripture for faith, the word used is “peitho,” and it means “to put confidence in God.” Note that it doesn’t say “to put confidence in God, so He will answer your prayers the way you think He should.” Genuine faith is saying, “God, I trust You no matter what. I lay my requests at Your feet, and if You don’t answer my prayer the way I wish You would, I will trust You know best. I will still believe.”
And that right there is why faith is so terrifying. It’s letting go of our need to be in control and admitting that we can’t see the whole picture. It’s looking at the truth of Hebrews 11:39-40 and understanding that sometimes we won’t receive what we asked for because God has something better waiting for us in heaven. Faith isn’t a math problem, where if we do a + b then we’ll get our desired result. Faith is a daily choice of choosing to believe God no matter what, and when we start to live this out, then God will show up and show out.
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I love the promise found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says, “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” That, my friend, is what prayer is all about. It’s about seeking God and admitting we need Him. It’s surrendering all that we are and trusting Him no matter what.

So many of us have missed the mark when it comes to believing God. We’ve misunderstood what faith really is and we’ve been operating in our own strength. Ephesians 6:16 tells us to “take up the shield of faith so that we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Interestingly enough, the definition of shield in this verse actually means door. Think about that. When our faith is in God, He is a door that protects us and stands between us and Satan. It doesn’t mean the attacks won’t come, but the door is firmly closed.

At the beginning of the summer, I went to the beach with my family. A tradition I have with my three nephews is I take them out into the ocean and we go boogie boarding. One day, while my brother-in-law played with my two youngest nephews in the shallow surf, I took the nine-year-old further out into the water. The current that day was extremely strong, and I was constantly on guard so that neither of us would get pulled out to sea. Needless to say, my strength didn’t hold out for long and after twenty minutes, we had to come in where I promptly collapsed in my beach chair thoroughly exhausted. Barely a minute passed before my three-year-old nephew came running up to me asking why I wasn’t playing. I responded by telling him the water was too strong and it made me tired. After asking if he could use my boogie board, I did what any good aunt would do and told him to be careful. In the innocence that only a child can have, he looked at me as serious as can be and said, “It’s okay. I’ve got this.” Then he grabbed the boogie board in his left hand, turned to face the water, threw his right hand up high in the air, and shouted, “I AM BATMAN!!” He let out what can only be described as a war cry and took off running into the water…straight into the arms of his daddy. The current was still strong and overpowering, but it didn’t matter because he was safe in the arms of his father.
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That image has stayed with me months later. Countless Christians have been operating in their own power, and they’ve run out of strength. They find themselves sitting at the edge of the water, overwhelmed by its sheer enormity and power, and they wonder why God isn’t actively working in their lives. I’ve been there, and I want to encourage you. Turn your eyes onto God. Surrender everything – your hopes, your dreams, your desires, your needs – and let God be God. His plan is so much better than anything you could ever do. Let go of the need to be in control, shout out your war cry of faith, and choose once and for all to believe
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” ~ Hebrews 12:1-3     

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    Erin Elizabeth Austin

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    Erin Elizabeth Austin is a writer and speaker with a passion to help people find healing in the midst of their brokenness.

    If you want to contact Erin directly please click here.

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    Josie Siler

    Contributor

    Josie Siler, like millions of others, is living with chronic illness. She is eager to share the hope and joy that she has found in Christ, whether that is in a church, at a women’s retreat, over a cup of hot cocoa, or through a blog post.
    Click here to email Josie.

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