.success.

Our culture has come to define success by our materialistic means. If you are not driving the most expensive car, if you aren’t wearing the nicest clothes, or you do not live in the biggest house, you are merely just another average person. Society might esteem you every now and then, but you aren’t a household name, so there’s really no reason for you to think too highly of yourself. Forget the fact that we live in a nation that is far more wealthier than numerous cultures in our world; we have been taught that we always need more than what we already have. Our culture propels us to seek to be the best at whatever cost, to gain the most when we already have enough, and to make ourselves our number one priority. The American Dream is still the symbol of success in our country and is still sought after by millions.

But what if there is a better life than just financial security and a white picket fence surrounding your family home? What if the American Dream can never be fully fulfilled and we are continually having to spend our lives seeking to better ourselves? How can dissatisfaction ever truly lead to success?

“How happy are those who fear the Lord–all who follow his ways! You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How happy you will be! How rich your life!” {Psalm 128:1-2}

Almost four years ago God finally got me out of the American Dream mindset. He threw me far outside of my comfort zone and sent me to the rarely heard of country of Senegal. The people I met while there were some of the happiest people I have ever met, yet they lived in the midst of poverty. Even though I was removed from my comfort zone, I have never felt more safe or more at home. Of course this blonde haired, blue eyed American stuck out in the crowd, but I was right where I was supposed to be.

God has thankfully called me into a life of fulfillment, a life seeking after his will and not my own. I am not trapped by the American Dream. I am not called to use my life working in some office doing the same routine day after day. God has called me into a life of total abandonment to him. My life will not be defined by how much I make come payday nor how perfect I can make my life seem to others. Rather my success will be defined in how I can use my life fully to glorify God.

Life is too short to not make it memorable. I want to live a life that is exciting. I want to look back one day and say, “I still cannot believe that God wanted to use me for that purpose! Thank you, God!” I want to hand over every aspect of my life to him and allow him to do with it what he will. For I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he knows the desires of my heart and desires to use me to make his name famous. Living a life that is fully influenced by God is the only form of success we should be chasing after.

One of the best resources I have found on this is David Platt’s Radical. I ordered and read the book last summer and it instantly became one of my favorites. If you have not read it, I promise you it will be worth your time to read it.

May we begin to seek approval from none but God and may we begin to view life as God’s story unfolding through us. He desires to make our life better than we could ever imagine; we just have to be willing to walk through the doors he has opened for us. May we begin to forsake the cultural norm of success and see that God desires to define success differently in our lives.

.love letter.

 I often catch myself reading my Bible simply to mark it off on my to-do list for the day. I barely remember what I have just read once I close the covers. I am not entirely pleased that this is true in my life, but I am compelled to be honest. Somedays I have no desire to read God’s love letter to me; somedays I simply forget and fill my time with meaningless tasks. I know that I need to truly appreciate God’s Word and I know that it possesses eternal significance in my life. I have all the facts, however, I often lack the change of heart. I wish this was not the case. The perfectionist inside of me is disappointed that the truth is being revealed.

There are numerous passages in the Bible that I adore and God has shown me over and over again truths that I need to see through his Word. There are days when God’s Word encourages me, changes me, and even corrects me. It is a living book that still applies to me in this present day. My Bible is one of my most cherished possessions. I love how I can read a passage, come back to it at a later date, and gain a whole new application from the same passage.

Today I almost skipped reading my Bible. I had no reason to do so: I am on summer vacation and I have very few responsibilities at the moment. My time is abundant. But I knew I would regret it if I didn’t read it this morning. I began reading in Acts 13 and immediately fell into the just-read-it-to-get-it-over-with trap. Names of places that I couldn’t pronounce, much less point out on a map, began to make me disinterested and I almost decided that it wasn’t even worth my time. I then got to verse 41 where Paul quoted from Habakkuk 1:5 and I was quickly drawn to the passage. Habakkuk 1:5 is my life verse and as I read it in Acts 13:41, God got a hold of me.

God knew that today I wouldn’t feel like reading his love letter. He knew that today I would read Acts 13. He knew that Habakkuk 1:5 is one of my favorite verses. He knew that today I needed a reminder that his word demands my attention. Jesus sacrificed his life for me; why can I not sacrifice time for him? I want to fall flat on my face and ask for forgiveness when I realize how selfish I have been.

Although this may be another lifelong lesson, I will seek to allow God to win out over the fight between my flesh and my spirit. There will continue to be days when I don’t want to sit and spend time with God; I’m human. But I will strive to remember that those are the days when God teaches me the most. May God begin to renew my desire to spend time with him. May he lead me into a divine romance with him that begins with falling in love with his Word again. I know that when I fall, he will be there to pick me up again.

God’s Word is his love letter to us. Why would we ever desire to not read it? May we begin to ask God to burden our hearts with a passion for his Word. May he become the romancer of our soul and may his love letter become our treasure.

.timing.

“There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.” {Ecclesiastes 3:1}

I am a planner. I like to know what is going to happen and all the details that go along with it. It gives me something to look forward to; it gives me a certain sense of control. Yet God has been teaching me lately that my plans may not always happen the way that I want them to and that I need to place my faith in his perfect timing.

When I was sixteen I was given the opportunity to travel to Senegal, Africa. The year I went was the same year that the passport guidelines for traveling to Mexico changed, so I made sure that I applied for my passport with plenty of time to spare. Months passed and still no passport arrived at my house. The night before my plane was to take off I still had no passport and had given up all hope for I was convinced that there wouldn’t be enough time for the mail to come before I was supposed to be at the airport. My mom had asked all of our extended family to pray that if it was still God’s will that the passport would come in time. Out of all the responses, only one has stuck with me since then. My mom’s cousin simply replied, “God’s timing may not always be our timing, but his timing is always perfect.” God gave me a sense of peace after I heard that truth. The next morning my mom and I drove all over town trying to chase down the FedEx truck carrying my passport. Two hours before I was to board the plane, I finally had my passport in hand. God brought me to a point where I had given up almost all hope and showed me that he wasn’t done yet. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Africa and it still makes me smile that God knew all along that he desired for me to go the whole time. He just wanted to teach me first.

No matter how much I want something to happen on my schedule, no matter how much I desire for things to always go my way, my plans and desires will always pale in comparison to what God has in store for me. Oh what a humbling thought! The infinite God of the universe wants nothing less than to orchestrate every detail of my life into the masterpiece of his wonderful story.

Lately I have been tempted to rush into things. Admittedly I was a little upset with God for the timing of certain events in my life. I couldn’t understand why things were happening this way when he knew that it was the end of the semester and I would have to move back home soon. How foolish I was to doubt God’s timing and how gracious he is to open our eyes to things we do not understand. Would I have planned things differently? Yes. Would I have messed things up with my timing? I have no doubt that I would have. Am I happier that I had a little time compared to nothing at all? Absolutely. God knows exactly what he is doing; why am I so stubborn to recognize it sometimes?

Like many other lessons I have had to begin to learn this year, always trusting in God’s perfect timing will be a lifelong lesson for me. He knows what is best for my life in order for it to match up with his perfect will. At times I will want to tell God that this is not how it’s supposed to go. May he never stop telling me that I am wrong and to just trust him. This may be one of the hardest lessons I will have to learn for I know that at times it will bring devastation while other times will bring joy. Yet may I always be brought back to the truth: “God’s timing may not always be our timing, but his timing is always perfect.”