turn this thing around

 There's a relatively new song that gets played on K~LOVE quite a bit. It is called, "God, Turn it Around," by John Reddick. It's a simple, catchy tune that I've found myself singing a lot since it was first released last year. There's always been something about it that has bothered me just a bit, though, and until this morning I wasn't exactly sure what it was.

The lyrics basically amount to this:

I'm praying God come
And turn this thing around
God, turn it around

I'm calling on the name
That changes everything, yes

All of my hope
Is in the name
The name of Jesus
Breakthrough will come
Come in the name
The name of Jesus

He is up to something
God is doing something right now

He is healing someone
He is saving someone
God is doing something right now

He is moving mountains
Making a way for someone
God is doing something right now

 I've left out a decent amount of the repetition, but you get the picture. Great song, right? The thing is, this morning when it came on the radio I realized what it is that bothers me--as wonderful as the lyrics are, they seem focused entirely on circumstances.

Don't get me wrong, I fully believe God can change circumstances. He still sends miracles of healing. He is still moving mountains for people. He is still working every day all around the world. But from my own personal experience, I've found that God doesn't usually choose to change my circumstances.

Instead, He uses my circumstances to change me.

Life has thrown some pretty decent curveballs my way. I can assure you, the vast majority of those were circumstances I prayed for God to change. I prayed for Him to turn the bad around and make it good. I prayed for Him to move mountains. I prayed for Him to clear the road ahead and make a way.

More often than not, He chose to make a way that led me through the darkness. He chose to leave the mountain in place and tell me that His plan was for me to climb it. He chose to leave my circumstances the way they were so that He could make me turn around.

We are in the middle of dark times here in the United States, times I never really imagined I would see. This is an election year, which brings chaos of its own, but this year feels different. This year, it really seems like nothing about November will make anything better. I fear our nation has passed the point of no return, and that things will only continue to get darker. Yes, I will continue to pray for God to change our circumstances. I will pray for our nation to repent and turn back to Him. I will pray for God to bring His light to a dark land and change the hearts and minds of those in positions of leadership all across the nation.

More than that, though, I will pray for God to change me through my circumstances. I will pray that I will learn to trust in Him rather than princes. I will pray that I will rely on Him to provide my daily bread instead of putting my faith in my own provision. I will pray that He will draw my family closer to Him through anything and everything we face in a world that is growing increasingly dark, so that we can shine as His lights in a dark land.

So maybe, this is the song I'll focus on instead:

I'll find a way to praise You
From the bottom of my broken heart
'Cause I think I'd rather strike a match than curse the dark
Yeah, I'll find a way to thank You
Though the bitterness is real and hard
'Cause I'd rather take a chance on hope than fall apart

I don't think I'm ready to surrender to the dark

Even if my daylight never dawns
Even if my breakthrough never comes
Even if I'll fight to bring You praise
Even if my dreams fall to the ground
Even if I'm lost, I know I'm found
Even if my heart will somehow say
Hallelujah anyway

Yeah, I hear a hymn of triumph
In thе wilderness of my lament
In thе lowlands or the mountain tops, I won't forget
All that goodness that You have shown me
The promises that You have kept
There's better days on the horizon up ahead

("Hallelujah Anyway" by Rend Collective)

in Him

For the past few years, our little church has been reading through the Bible in chronological order. We took the outline put together by the Blue Letter Bible that schedules the whole reading for a year. I think it took us almost 3 years to make it through the first time... and this time through is taking even longer! I have to tell you, though--it is a wonderful study, and you're invited to join us. We meet in the tiny white building across from the salebarn in Green Forest. Breakfast and coffee at about 10:15, then the study right after. Come sit around the table with us. Eat, talk, laugh, cry, and truly study God's Word.

Right now, we are starting Paul's letter to the Ephesians. I was reading through the first three chapters this morning in preparation for our study this weekend. When Pop introduced the letter Sunday, he asked us to read and take note of how many times Paul wrote about things being "in Christ." Just in the first few verses, you can see why he pointed it out. If you look at verses 3-14, the focus is almost entirely on Jesus and what He does.

That's become somewhat of a foreign concept in today's world. More and more, it seems like we see faith as something that's all about us--what do I feel? What do I believe? What do I think is true? What does God do for me? How will faith make my life better? Or on a different level (and stepping on my own toes here), what do I do to earn God's favor? How do I keep proving that I deserve what God has given me? How do I prove myself?

Paul started his letter by addressing "those trusting in Messiah." The thing is, though, that's where the idea of what the people were doing stopped. He immediately switched gears:

~Blessed be God... who has blessed us in Messiah
~He chose us... in love
~He predestined us... through Messiah
~to the praise of His grace with which He favored us
~In Him we have redemption
~His grace... that He lavished on us
~He made known... His will
~His good pleasure... that He planned
~He will bring all things together in the Messiah
~In Him we were chosen
~He keeps working out His plan
~We are for His praise
~In Him we are sealed
~He is the guarantee of our inheritance

 I'm an incredibly independent person. Sometimes that's a strength, like when I needed to fix fence by myself after Nathan had surgery or when I had to trust that I could figure out how to pull a kid when a goat was having a difficult labor. But like all our personality traits, strengths can easily be our weaknesses. When my independence becomes a weakness, it means that I get it in my head that everything happening in life depends on me and my ability to do all the things. That can become how I view faith, as well. In those times, I start telling myself that God's love and favor depend on what I can do to please Him. If I fail, His love for me will fail. If I'm not doing enough to further His kingdom, it must mean that I'm not good enough for Him. If I don't live up to my end of the bargain, He won't either.

But here, Paul was reminding the Ephesians of something incredibly important, incredibly simple, and yet incredibly hard for me to cling onto--

It isn't my faith or my actions that matter to my salvation. It is simply Him.

All of my striving, all of my best effort, all of my accomplishments? They aren't worth anything. I can't move myself a single step closer to the throne of the King of Glory. I can't make myself worth any more to Him. I can't make myself look better, make myself worth loving, make Him think more of me.

The only reason I know that I will spend eternity with my Creator? Because He chose me. He looked down on me in the middle of all my mess--the ugly stuff I keep hidden from the world--and He said that I was worth dying for. He didn't weigh all my good and bad, then make a decision based on which there was more of. He simply loved me. Despite all the times I've failed Him or hurt Him, He loved me.

His mercy.
His grace.
His love.

Not me.

There's a song by Tauren Wells with this line in the chorus:

"It's hard truth and ridiculous grace
To be known fully known and loved by You"

How true is that? It is hard knowing that God knows me fully--all the hidden ugly stuff, too--and yet loves me so much that He chose to die in my place. What kind of ridiculous grace is that?

one word for 2024

 Way back in 2012, this blog started with the "One Word" challenge. That started something I stuck with through 2020--choosing a word to be my focus for the new year. I was better at it some years than others, and in the craziness of the past few years it was something that faded into the background. This year, though, I felt the desire to find my one word again.

Choosing a word has been easier some years than others. There were years when I struggled for weeks and others where a word just kind of fell into my lap. This year, it wasn't the word that first popped into my head, but a verse:

"It is better to take refuge in ADONAI than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in ADONAI than to trust in princes."
(Psalm 118:8&9)

2024 is an election year here in the US. The ugly commercials and commentary are already out there--it seems like it has been unending since the 2020 election, to be honest. Now is the time of extravagant promises that we all know will almost undoubtedly be forgotten just after the next president is sworn in right around a year from now. Thinking of all the chaos that is sure to come in this year brought those two verses from Psalm to mind. No matter which side of the political aisle we are on, it is incredibly easy for us to start putting faith in a person to have all the answers. If we can just get the right person in the White House... the right people in the House and Senate... the right people wearing the judicial robes... then all of our issues would be solved. If we can just elect the right President, all the problems with our nation would disappear, right?

But these verses remind us that our salvation isn't in any political leader. It doesn't matter who we elect in November--there is no earthly "prince" who is worth putting our trust in. It is only in God that we can find salvation.

Those verses led me to a word search and a whole host of other verses, all centered around the word I've selected for this year:

Refuge.

Safety and shelter from pursuit, danger, or trouble.

"On God, my salvation and my glory is the rock of my strength.
My refuge is in God."
(Psalm 62:8)

"As for God, His way is perfect.
The word of ADONAI is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him."
(2 Samuel 22:31)

Psalm 18
(Just read the whole thing!)

2024 is set to bring so many unexpected things--just like every year. Could it be more intense than it has been in the past? Of course. Could it be better? Of course.

Whatever comes, though, know that God is a refuge for His people. The world could crumble around us, but God will never be shaken. He is in control, even of the upcoming election.

Daniel 2:20-23
20  Praise the name of God forever and ever,
        for all wisdom and power belong to Him.
²¹     He sets in motion the times and the ages;
        He deposes kings and installs others;
    He gives wisdom to the wise
        and grants knowledge to those with understanding.
²²     He reveals deep truths and hidden secrets;
        He knows what lies veiled in the darkness;
        pure light radiates from within Him.
²³     I recognize who You are, and I praise You, God of my ancestors,
        for You have given me wisdom and strength.