At Just the Right Time

           

I’ve wept countless times over the last few months.

            Some tears have been of joy, such as when my best friend welcomed her little girl into the world, but many of these tears have come because of uncertainty and hard change.

            I recently graduated from college and left a whole town that I had grown to love. My church, community, friends, mentors, and most of my supports were there, and I had to leave them behind.

            At graduation, my pathway wasn’t clear yet (not even the next step). So, this past summer, I headed home to my summer job with no church and no community and no plan. Don’t get me wrong I had a great family waiting for me and even a few great friends who are here for me even now, but I still felt lost for some reason.

            So, I wept. Every time I listened to a song that reminded me of the people I felt like I was losing, I cried into my pillow. Night after night, I woke up to nothing but my aching heart wanting what was behind me.

            So, I prayed. Realizing that going back is impossible and that God has me here for a reason, I gave up my fight for the past to God and prayed for a new community. And guess what? Four months went by, and I didn’t have the answer to my prayer.

            Since that night I prayed, I did start graduate school and a new job where I have met some lovely people who I even call friend, but community? Well, that’s a different story.

            I’ve discovered some things: not having fellowship with other believers is hard, especially when you’ve experienced it. Standing alone makes it so much easier to be attacked by lies. Being on my own, I’ve realized just how much this world is not a friend of Jesus, and for a while, it felt like I was all alone in the fight. For the first time in a while, I knew that I can’t stand on my own—I need others.

            So, I prayed again and even told a friend about my struggle, and she prayed for me, too.

            And this time, at what I know is at just the right time, God answered. How do I know that this is the right time for God to answer? Well, in the time of being by myself and with God, I discovered how much I need to be in His word and that I cannot do this on my own, which is big because I always have tried to stand on my own, but now I know that I desperately need other believers to hold me up.

            At just the right time, after I had learned God’s lesson, He sent a fellow believer to walk beside me and pray with me as we fight the good fight.  

            So, today, I want to encourage you with the truth that even when it feels like God is being silent, He’s not. During these past few months, God has been refining and strengthening my heart. In reality, He’s always been answering my prayer. His answer was to wait and listen for a season so I could be stronger and know that in my weakness, He is strong (2 Cor. 12:9).

            I don’t know what prayer you’re praying, but I do know that God is listening and answering in just the right way, at just the right time.

            He’s always on time, and His answers are perfect. Never cease to trust Him, and remember He is near to those who call on Him (Psalm 145:18).

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

Being Still in the Middle of Chaos

            Today, we have the world at our fingertips and that comes at a price.

            We’re constantly in motion and bombarded with news stories, such as the shootings that happened in Chicago, Kenya, and D.C. this past week or all the latest info on what happening in Hollywood (even if we don’t want to hear it). Not only do we have access to knowledge about everything that’s going on in our world, we have phones that keep us connected to people 24/7. Everything from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram to Tumbler allows us to tell others about our lives and read about others’ at lightning speed. Now, I not only get assignments during class at my school, I also get them by email on the weekends and my boss emails me, too.

            In addition to staying in touch with the world news and the various people in our life (or at least “friends” on social media sites), we have the ability to listen to music no matter where we go and not to mention the wide variety of TV shows right at our fingertips.

            My point is that with so much “stuff” going on in our lives it’s easy to get distracted from what’s important. It’s easy to run through our days without noticing the elderly lady who’s lonely or in need of help crossing the road. It’s easy to forget to spend actual time with the people who are with us in the flesh. It’s so easy to not even realize that the sky was crystal clear today because we constantly go and we’re hardly ever 

still. We hardly ever rest, and this constant motion many times keeps us from the life source:

            God.

            Our God, our refuge in the storm, in the chaos, in the everyday rushes of life, wants us to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10, NIV).

            He is still God. The never changing One who is the Great I am. He is the One who never changes, who sustains life, forgives, loves, and brings justice.

            For all that He has done for us, He deserves to be recognized everyday as we’re still before Him and acknowledge that there was never and never will be any God beside Him.

            He is the One who was and is and is to come (Rev. 4:8).

            Be still today and know Him. Know that He is still God even when we fail to be still before Him. He never fails and never changes. He knows you and longs to be known. 

Living Life Together,

Rebecca A. Thomas 

Just Breathe for a Second

            Your alarm goes off.

            It’s not even light outside, but it’s time to get up for another week that will be busy. Work, school, cooking, taking care of children, running errands, grocery shopping, bill paying, and so many other necessary tasks probably dangle in front of you this coming week. And, I'm sure some of you are facing sickness, heartaches, financial crises, and circumstances that I can't even fathom like war and persecution that could take your life, and in addition to all of these obligations and unfortunate circumstances, stress often is a close companion.

            I, personally, get so consumed by my day-to-day tasks or circumstances that I forget to “just breathe for a second.” Every single page I have to read for school or that errand I have to run or that phone call to a friend I completely forgot to return clouds my thoughts so entirely that I’m surprised I remember to take a shower some days (luckily for the world, that hasn’t happened yet).

            Many mornings, I wake up, take a shower, pack a lunch, eat (if I have time), fix my hair, brush my teeth, try to clean my room, grab my stuff for the day, and search for my keys (Yes, I have to hunt for them. I swear they run away). These mornings that I’m describing usually lead into a hectic day of me desperate for a break, for a second to just pause, and then, I remember I’m probably living out of my own strength on these days. It just doesn’t seem to work that well.  

            When I fail to pause and remember who God is, I usually forget who I am in Him in return. God is our comforter. He is our provider, our refuge, our stronghold, our deliverer, our friend, and our Savior. He is the One who fights for us. He is our strength when we are weak.

            He is our load bearer; so, go ahead and give Him your yoke and take His yoke (burden) because His yoke is easy and His burden is light (NIV, Matt. 11:30). He is the Peacemaker and the one true King.
         
            He is omniscient, which means even when you think He doesn’t, He has everything under control and He knows and cares for your needs.

            You. Well, you are loved (John 3:16, Romans 5:8). You are known (Psalm 139). In Him, you are redeemed and forgiven (1 John 1:9). You are not alone (Isaiah 41:10). You are wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). And, you are His child (1 John 3:1). Take courage from that today.

            So, today, as a song by one of my favorite bands Will Reagan and the United Pursuit Band says, “take a moment to remember who God is and who [You are],” and He will lift your "load."¹

               Don't take on this world by yourself. 

                                                                                                                                    Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

¹Will Reagan and the United Pursuit Band. "Take a Moment." Endless Years. Song Lyrics. SongLyrics, 2013. Web. 1 Sept. 2013.

The Holy Spirit in You Is Already Patient

            I just stood there, in the middle of the classroom I worked in last summer, wanting to pull my hair out.

All I could do was bite my lip in frustration. The rain had kept us inside all week and the volume of the students had exceeded my ears’ limitations. That morning had begun a day of never-ending complaints that I couldn’t handle anymore, and the patience I had just taught my four-year-olds about seemed like a foreign concept that I couldn’t grasp in that moment—so, I prayed.

            --And prayed some more.

            I begged God for the one fruit so many people tell me not to pray for or “I’ll regret it”—patience. As I stood before “my” children, I remembered who they were: young, innocent, and loving. In no way were they trying to frustrate me, and they definitely didn’t deserve any agitation aimed at them, but, as I said, my patience was waning; I was desperate for God to intervene.

            Then, the Holy Spirit spoke to my soul and reminded me or rather made me aware of a truth I believe so many of us Christians have overlooked. Acts 1 talks about the Holy Spirit coming upon us, that we will be baptized in the Holy Spirit when we become followers of Christ (NIV, Acts 1:5). When we receive Christ’s salvation, the Holy Spirit immediately indwells within us. Meaning, (get this) we have the power of GOD living within us, and if we let Him take over, we will be living by His power, not our own.

            If we have all of the Holy Spirit, then all of the fruit of the Spirit are within us as well. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (ESV, Gal. 5:22-23). If the Spirit is inside us, we have the capability to be patient because He is patient in us.

            So, yeah, you and I on our own may not be able to be or display patience, but the glorious truth is that we are not alone. We are baptized in the Holy Spirit who is entirely patient.

            Rely on Him and His patience to get you through. His power is in you if you have received His gift of salvation.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

Loving Others as Ourselves

         “‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”(Mark 12:29-31, NIV).

            For the past few years, I’ve recited these verses, and the more I repeat these commandments, the more insight the Spirit seems to give me. I understand that we are to love God and love others. From reading the two greatest commandments, I’m sure everyone gets that fact, but many times, I think we overlook the two words “as yourself.”

            God hasn’t just called us to love our neighbors any such way. He has commanded us to love them as we love ourselves, but what if you love yourself incorrectly? Can you truly love your neighbor well?

            I mean, if I don’t believe that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) how can I love others as fearfully and wonderfully made. If I criticize my body when I look in the mirror, how much easier is it going to be to criticize the girl I meet on the street? If I don’t see myself as a valuable human being who is loved by God completely, how will I ever see others that way? If I constantly put on “Rebecca glasses” to view myself and define myself, can I biblically love someone?

            So many times, I think we fail at loving others because we haven’t accepted the love we’ve been offered. We feel unworthy, so we don’t know how to love like God loves. As my pastor often says, “If we want to love others as ourselves, we need to first love ourselves correctly.”

            God tells me that I am beloved, set apart, a child of God, a coheir with Christ, beautiful, known, forgiven, and valuable. Dig into the Word of God and find out what He says about you and how deeply He loves you.

His love will change you, and it will change how you love people.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

He Will Call My Name

            “I will rise when He calls my name. . .” (Chris Tomlin)

                The words to this famous Chris Tomlin Song “I will Rise” echoed throughout the church building this past Sunday as I stood among friends worshiping together. As the music whirled around my head, I remembered a word of advice someone gave me once: “don’t sing the words unless you mean them.”

            This recollection of quotes was strange in the context of the song, but I realized how weak I was singing this song of triumph, life, liberty, hope, love, and grace. I was spouting out lyrics of a song about the day I’ll be forever ushered into the presence of the Most High God who gave Himself for me like I sing a song about monkeys to children I watch. When I started to listen to the words, truly listen, my heart started knocking against my chest because I couldn’t contain my joy in the rhythm of the song being played. My perfect, holy, and righteous God is going to call my name one day.

            This roll call won’t be to banish me from His sight, but to welcome me into His presence forever. I’m humbled by that thought and left in awe at His name. He is going to call me, Rebecca Thomas, a girl who has sinned countless times and will sin in the future. My name will be called because He loves and cherishes me.      

            Not only do I get to be love Him and be loved by Him for all of eternity, but He’s also even wiping out my pain, shame, and suffering. NO MORE. No more watching people who you love slowly waste away. NO MORE feeling hurt and alone. NO MORE worry, pain, tears, heartache, or struggles.

            We get to be called into His eternal family forever, and that truth is something to celebrate and be hopeful about. So, next time you have a memory lapse about the hope and knowledge of being called into this eternal glory, remember 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, which states,  “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (NIV).

 

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

*Music Lyrics by Chris Tomlin

But, He Chose to Use Us

           “Why doesn’t He just write His name in the sky? That would be easier, right?”

            That question or a variation of it has been asked numerous times by a multitude of people I can’t even begin to list. We wonder why God doesn’t choose another method to spread His Kingdom. Wouldn’t it be more efficient just to announce it over the internet or through the cosmos? Wouldn’t everyone believe then, if they heard a voice from above?

            We can ask ourselves or others those questions until eternity begins, but the fact is that God chooses to use us, human beings, to advance His Kingdom. No, He doesn’t really need us, but that’s been His design since the beginning. In Genesis 1, God creates man and woman in His own image and then, tells them to be “fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). From the start, we were to multiply His image throughout the earth. He chose us.

            Then, after the fall and Jesus came and died and rose, Jesus told His disciples that they were to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19). Later in Acts 1:8, Jesus tells us that we are to be His “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (NIV).

            We are a part of His master plan to bring people into His Kingdom. He chose us to be the hands and feet of Christ. We get the opportunity to be the body of Christ and be a part of His story. I don’t know about you, but I’m humbled to be chosen by a perfect God to be a part of His plan of redemption.

            So, remember, God didn’t choose to write His message in the sky or tell it Himself over radio waves. He selected us to tell our family, neighbors, enemies, friends, acquaintances, and strangers the Good News. We don’t need to pray about whether or not He wants us to take action and take part in the advancement of His Kingdom. He already told us in His Word to go.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas