DAY 19: Again I Say...Don't Worry...

As I got ready for church this morning, I was reminded of our dress code that urges for women to wear closed-toed shoes when in formal and/or church settings. As I dressed,I felt this little tug of something as if to say "don't wear them today". When I arrived at the site of the church, I was amazed as they shuffled me up the stairs to a half-built building where seats were reserved at the front and a puddle lined the front of this open air room.

The normal church building was under at least a foot of rain water--flooded after two days of rain in here in Madagascar. The people had relocated with high praises going on from the second floor of the building just in front of it that they are currently building for a new sanctuary. The word God gave me for them in that moment is the word I pass along to you right now...DON'T WORRY. Worry is a useless emotion/behavior. In fact, I appreciate a quote I read that said that "worry is a misuse of imagination".

But we have a God on our side whose imagination is supreme. He is the ultimate Creator and he doesn't miss a beat. The Lord that we serve is detail-oriented. He has every detail of our lives in his sight. That means from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet, he is interested in all that we do...so much so that what I now know was the Holy Spirit would nudge me to do something as simple as not wear a certain type of shoes.

As I read the words of Matthew 6 to this congregation, I was amazed that God would say these words to people who, from the outside looking in, seemed to have plenty to worry about. The church and the house that shares its courtyard it was knee-deep in water like so many homes in the city. There are people around the world still mourning the loss of the Malaysian airline one year ago. There are people in Sierra Leone and Guinea sick and dying with Ebola. There are nations and people around the world at war. Yet, in the midst of it all--come hell or high waters...literally--God says "don't worry". If he tells those in the midst of spaces like this not to worry, then how much more would he expect those of us with concerns of what shoes to wear or what job to take or what people to befriend to walk boldly in TRUST and faith. This is not to devalue what you're going through as much as to encourage you that you can trust in this powerful God who would do as little as make sure my shoes were right for the times I was preaching in. Just like the scripture says, "how much more would he do you, oh you of little faith?"

Selah.

Blessings,
Pastor Andrea

DAY 15: Argh!

I got angry.

It's not a very common occurrence in general in my life, but I have noted that I've gotten truly angry a couple of times in the last couple of weeks. That's a hard thing for me to digest because I'm the type to get annoyed or frustrated or hurt, yes... but angry? Yeah no...that's not really my thing. So when someone approached me in the dining room this evening and told me that they had to come check on me because I was "radiating anger from all the way across the room", I knew I needed to take heed. It was my testimony that was being compromised, my day that was being ruined and my face gaining more wrinkles while I stewed about issues of the day. It was harming me over anything else.

I can't blame hormones. I can't blame fatigue. These last two instances have truly been my own weakness, insecurities and sadness mixing together into one apparently volatile cocktail. But I don't know why I was surprised. I just came off of a few days of great personal victories and moments of joy. What I know to be true is that in this spiritual battle, the enemy went for the unexpected weapon--anger (Ephesians 6:12). When you least expect it, the enemy and your flesh will work in cahoots to ensure that you miss a moment of that joy and pieces of your peace.

I think that, in the end, I was more upset that I'd allowed the devil to win than I was at whatever issue had come my way. In hindsight, neither of the situations seemed to be worth "losing my religion over" and so I'm glad that even in my anger, I can be spirit-controlled. I did make every effort (sometimes successfully and sometimes not) to heed the words of Ephesians 4:26-27 to "be angry and sin not"; and I generally try my best to emulate the Lord's example and be "slow to anger". I appreciate that God doesn't tell us that we can't get angry. No. There are things that should anger you in this world. Instead, it's about how much we allow that anger to take up brain space and usurp our power. In both situations, my response (after a bit of venting) was to take it to the Lord in prayer. I can't wait until the day when that is my first response to everything.

So here's a head's up for you. This week, choose to be diligent in clear communication, check your judgments and disappointments about others at the door, and pray for the spiritual health of all those around you--avoiding the pitfalls that lead to anger. Whatever situations may present themselves, remember that 'whoever is slow to anger has great understanding and might' (Proverbs 14:29, 16:32), and trust that the Lord will be the one to secure vengeance and right any wrongs.

Blessings,
Pastor Andrea

DAY 2: That Darned Pride

 One would think that I would get tired of going around and around with this issue. P-R-I-D-E...the plant of negativity whose roots seem to be so elusive when trying to pull out. But today, I realized that we couldn't have a discussion about ridding our hearts of negativity without dealing with pride early on. I believe that pride is the root of so many of our negative spaces. Our self-righteousness and anxiety or contrary attitudes are often birthed out of the idea that we know better, we would do different/better, we need to have control and so on. Pride is the weight that we often choose to hold on to even in situations when it's to our own detriment.

However, the Bible is clear on this very topic. Proverbs 16:18 says that 'pride comes before our falls and a haughty spirit before destruction'. The Word doesn't hesitate to associate being prideful with being wicked (Psalm 10:4); and one of my favorite verses being where it tells us that "When pride comes, then comes disgrace (UGH!), but with the humble is wisdom." (Proverbs 11:2) At the end of the day, we are faced with a choice. We can hold on to our false righteousness in an effort to be RIGHT or we can begin to connect our hearts with the will of God to be humble.

Today, make a choice to do something a bit different: Choose humility. Choose to rid your daily situations of the horrific, cancerous leech that pride can be. Present your heart today and know that God can truly walk with you and help you. Be reminded that he is the Greatest Gardener ever and when we put our hearts in his hand, he can delicately remove roots that we allow him access to. Present yourself to Him in prayer continually until you look up and trust is built, humility is in bloom and positivity shines bright...

Lord, I have given up my pride and turned away from my arrogance. 

I am not concerned with great matters or with subjects too difficult for me. 

Instead, I am content and at peace. As a child lies quietly in its mother's arms, 

so my heart is quiet within me. Israel, trust in the Lord now and forever! 

Psalm 131 (GNT)

Be encouraged and be blessed in this day!
Pastor Andrea

It Doesn't Take Much

A friend of mine passed me in the hallway and handed me an envelope. Inside was a simple colored 3x5" card with words from another friend who had sent her notes to distribute. Earlier in the day, I received a package. And when you're serving away from home both the packages and notes mean the world to you.  It's not about what's in them per se (although that's always nice), but it's the thought that someone took to remember you that really sticks out. I felt thought of and remembered and yes...loved...

And. as much as it meant to me, I was reading in 1 John 3 and noticed how that little thought means a lot even to God.

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

1 John 3:18

So my question to you today is what are your actions saying? No matter how big or small, what you do has the power to truly change someone's life? It's not rocket science. We need to stop trying to complicate things. Change our focus and realize that it's the simple things that make a world of difference. In all, we have great power and opportunity in all that we do, and it doesn't take much to love with action.

Blessings,
PastorA

That Nasty "P" Word

Recently, I've been really struggling with that nasty "P" word. You know the one I'm talking about. You know...P-R-I-D-E...(that is what you were thinking, right?). It seems a recurring theme in my life where something will happen that will make me feel affronted or disrespected. And, while I may not go off on people to their faces (my Christian standard would not allow that, she says haughtily), what's usually going on in my mind spells pride over and over again. "Don't they know how smart I really am? Don't they realize that I may be serving but I'm not their servant?" Yep...not exactly the picture of humility. And while I'm doing better that I could be doing, it doesn't make it any better before God. I used to have a friend who would always fuss and complain about the things that were happening to him. Somewhere in the midst of his rants he would express how he was so misunderstood because he was "soooo humble". I remember thinking (and saying a few times) that if you have to say you are humble the likelihood is that you are not. And in my mind, I'm sure I made a comparison to how humble I thought that I was...yeah...not much better, right?

So it's further convicting that the example we have is one of perfection in Jesus who somehow managed to genuinely not care what people thought or how they treated him as long as has Father in heaven was glorified. Mark 14:61 says that "He kept silent and answered nothing" when being questioned by the high priests. Jesus...Lord of Lords...King of Kings...Son of the Trinity...said nothing. So many of us would have said "Don't you know who I am?!" and quickly put them in check. In fact, some of you are being challenged in this area right now just as I am--wanting to give air time to the voices in your head that are telling you to defend yourself. But I'm here to remind you that it is HE who defends us at every turn. Isaiah 54:17 says that 'no weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgement GOD shall condemn.'

Today, you and I both have the opportunity to do better--get our minds right and check our self-righteousness and pride at the door. You may not want to call it that. You may feel (and actually BE) fully justified in your indignation, but that indignation gets us nowhere in Jesus. Today, be encouraged to allow God to do what He's so good at doing. Allow Him to shine above and beyond your "rightness". Allow His credentials to prove you right. Allow Him to fight your battles.

Blessings,
Pastor Andrea

Day 29: The Honor of Humility, The Gift of Grace

A man's pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor. Proverbs 29:23

There is a scripture in James that I often reflect on. It says, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." (James 4:10) It's one of those verses that often sticks in my heart as I reflect on the idea that humbling is something that we do for ourselves and not this thing that God does for us. So I appreciate today's proverb that preaches along this same vein--humility brings honor. It's not just okay to say that we want to be humble, but it's necessary to understand that intention and action must accompany this desire. Walking in humility means putting aside your sense of entitlement and clothing yourself with the understanding that there is nothing that we deserve. While God has made promises to us, His words are ones of grace and not earned blessings. While He hears and understands our cries of "why me", the Lord wants to see our heart changed to "why not me". We may not want to hear this, but when we chose Jesus, we elected to join Him in His suffering (that's what it says in Philippians 3:10 ..."that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death"). If we are sincere, we decide that we love Him more than our creature comforts, we love Him more than what makes sense to us, we love Him more than even our own reputations. The tears you've been crying because your whole world has gone south and you feel like you don't "deserve" it are signs of grief mixed with pride. No one deserves heartache any more or less than the next person. The grace of God lets us know that Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted so that we don't have to live in that space of grief continually. He gave us a gift that is irreplaceable. Thus, as you approach this new week, do so with the cloak of humility surrounding you. Approach others with the thought that we all are in this together with none of us more or less deserving of grace than the next; and watch as people respond with awe and love--honoring the gift you've given them through your humbled spirit.

Be encouraged!
Blessings,
MinD