Welcome back! It's been quite awhile, but I figured it was time to "resurrect" the blog. He is risen, Hallelujah! Throughout the journey of Lent, we've been fasting, praying and almsgiving - perhaps more than any other time of the year. Now that lent has come to an end, we celebrate by enjoying the things we had given up, and perhaps we breathe a sigh of relief that we don't have to continue that time of penance. He rose so that we may have life and have it to the fullest. We celebrate for this very reason, but this doesn't mean we can just go back to our old habits and disregard all we've learned and sacrificed in the past 40 days! We've spent the last 40 days growing closer to our Lord, but just because we've met our "goal" that doesn't mean we stay at a status quo. Something so easy is to stay in that "status quo" and to continue doing what we are comfortable with or what we are used to. We get into our routine and don't always allow our horizons to be expanded. We do this with so many things in life - we have a certain way we do our job, or we run the routine of our day, or the way we think, or the way we pray or live out our faith. We all know that our Lord is so incredibly powerful and good to us. We can see the best example of that these next 50 days as we celebrate His Resurrection. But here's the other thing - He works THROUGH us. But we have to let Him in! We've heard and experienced what He can do, through the Bible and through different moments in our lives. Think about a time in your life that you've seen God at work.....................what did you come up with? You've probably had experiences where God has worked through the other people in your life. Sometimes it takes us looking backward and we can't always see it in the moment, but we can see that He does indeed work in our lives. If He works through others, why wouldn't He be able to work through you? Again, the key is to let Him in. Sometimes we get so scared, or really want to hold onto control, even though we know deep down that He will always have the best plan and that we should give Him control. The opposite of trust isn't fear, it's wanting control. "From Protest to Praise" "I knew the times would come and now the times have landed With stinging abrasion As ready as I seem to be It's never like I planned it, I'm wrestling my thoughts I'm overcome Would you give me up I'm asking Lord There's no where I sense Your presence here So I will cry out, until I go From Protest to praise You're always amazing me You're changing me slow, but surely And You're gonna see me to the end How long will I be forgotten by You forever You're not making sense here Seems like eternity has made a home between us, I'm wrestlin' my thoughts, I'm overcome Would you give me up, I'm askin', Lord? There's nowhere I sense Your presence here So I will cry out until I go From protest to praise You're always amazin' me You're changing me slow but surely And You're gonna see me to the end, to the end" Have you ever experienced that pure moment of bliss and happiness; a moment that is so beautiful and perfect you wish you could stay in it forever? In this moment you feel on top of the world and doubt that anything can tear you down or get in your way; in this moment you feel invincible and perfectly content all at the same time.
Can you think of the last time you experienced a moment like this? We need these moments to continue to give us hope when we feel like we've been forgotten by God, or when we can't feel His presence. So we cry out "from protest to praise" because God really does continue to change us "slow but surely". We have this great celebration of Easter, we have this joy and excitement for the day, but then we get thrown back into everyday life, we go "back to the grind". But we have to keep these moments at the forefront, we have to always look toward hope. So even when we don't feel like continuing to celebrate Easter, or when we don't feel God's presence, we still need to cry out to God. Let Him work on you through the struggles, but even more so through the JOY! As this Easter season continues, I challenge you and I challenge myself to continue stepping outside our comfort zone and asking God to work though us, to speak through us and to set the world on fire with His love and mercy. Remember, He has a better plan than we could ever come up with. If we let go of our own pride and control and sitting in the comfortable routine of our lives, He can do so many more INCREDIBLE things - through YOU
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