Strong Enough

Well, here I am – blogging again! For some reason the past few nights I have had trouble sleeping – and as exciting as this may sound I can assure you that it has been everything less than exciting and fun. I like to sleep. However, I know Satan has been trying to use this to his advantage: taking my thoughts to places they have no business being, doubting what the Lord has promised me, and a pile of other “if, and, and but’s!” As I was laying in bed one night, attempting to distract my mind from the restlessness of not being able to sleep, I had begun to think about all the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me recently as well as what seems to be a huge chunk of responsibilities I don’t think I am going to be able to handle all at one time. I will give you a few examples so you are not left in the dark: When I return to Truett in the fall I will be employed as a Resident Assistant for one of the girl’s dorms. This is an exciting opportunity filled with a number of responsibilities. Not only are you held to a high standard but are also required to invest in the lives of students, getting to know them personally and spiritually. There are activities to plan and rooms to visit. On top of this I have been given the opportunity to play volleyball for TMC in the fall. I am beyond excited about this and those of you who know me understand why. I absolutely love volleyball and I am thrilled to be able to represent the Lord with the gifts and talents He has given me. (An answer to my prayers) But playing a college level sport is a job itself. On top of both of these things I have to keep my grades up so I can keep my scholarships, there are community service projects that I will need to participate it, and for some reason this has all begin to pile up in my head and I cannot do it by myself. I need help! I began to pray and ask the Lord to help me. I told Him that I couldn’t do it by myself and that I needed His guidance and his HELP. As I was driving to work the next day, I pulled into the parking lot and a song by Matthew West began to play called ‘Strong Enough.’ This particular section of the lyrics caught my attention and completely blew me away. “I know I'm not strong enough to be everything that I'm supposed to be / I give up / I'm not strong enough /Hands of mercy won't you cover me / Lord right now I'm asking you to be / Strong enough / Strong enough / For the both of us.” I sat there in my car and smiled, I couldn’t help it. I’m sure the people passing by with their carts full of groceries thought I was a crazy woman, but I couldn’t help but pray and thank the Lord. “God I don’t have to be strong enough! I am not strong enough so I don’t have to pretend to be strong enough. God didn’t give me these opportunities so that I could show everyone what a great multitasked person I am. He gave them to me so that He could magnify HIS greatness through my shortcomings. Oh how FAITHFUL is MY God. Philippians 4:13, “I can do ALL things through Christ who STRENGTHENS me. “ I just bought ‘Strong Enough’ on itunes… you should check it out.

Humility? Not as hard as you think? ..think again.

I don’t know why, but for some reason I have been running away from the whole “blogging” scene. I love to write – it’s freeing to me, a deep breath out. I can definitely say that I am in desperate need of a FEW deep breaths out. I think one reason I haven’t been investing my time into it is because I have convinced myself that I don’t have anything to write about… nothing good enough to put into words. (Uhhh DUH Em!) God is working in my life! He is teaching me things and allowing me to learn difficult lessons about myself. (Those are generally the hardest to learn…) Summer 2011 has gone a lot differently than I would have thought but God has a purpose in every aspect of life, which I might add, His Word is sufficient to face with and handle any situation in every aspect of life. That was free. (Self-confrontation) My beloved Wynn and I were chatting over the heavenly invention of SKYPE the other day. As we were talking about the different trials we have both been dealing with recently, 1 Peter 5:6-7 was brought to my attention. “Therefore HUMBLE yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.” As we were talking about the verse I suddenly realized HOW MUCH this actually applied to me. It applies to everyone but I was sharing it with Wynn as encouragement for his current trial. In reality, God was sharing it with me. Humility is a struggle and if you think that you are exempt from this you are sadly mistaken. Our selfishness comes from the root of a haughty attitude. Our sin stems from selfishness which comes right back down to humility. So many people reject the gospel of Christ because they refuse to admit they are the problem, they refuse to look inside and see the need for change. I say no to sharing the gospel because I am not thinking of the lost soul destined for hell but my own selfish insecurities. Humility is a problem. However, when we humble ourselves under God’s might hand – He gives us strength. We choose to do the right thing, the selfless and humble thing – God exalts us in His perfect timing. How refreshing is that. Yeah, I thought so too.