Blind Trust

I learned a valuable lesson today through my broken camera.

A few months ago, I dropped my camera. That action messed up something inside the camera that made the screen go black. I found that if I hit the camera with my hand, the screen would come back on. It stayed on throughout several spontaneous photo shoots.

Until this afternoon.

I went with some friends on a drive up Ebbetts Pass and Monitor Pass. We were trying hard to capture the last of the stunning fall colors throughout God's beautiful, mountainous country of the Sierra Mountains. My camera did fine until we stopped for lunch. Then, the screen went black. No amount of banging would bring it back to life.

I was bummed because I love photography, and I was frustrated because I could not see what I was shooting. I could have stopped taking pictures, even though I knew my camera was still capable of taking them, but I chose to trust blindly. I continued taking pictures in the hope that they would turn out.

How many times does God ask us to have blind trust? To go without knowing? To leap without seeing? And how many times do we obey? (I'm talking to myself here, too.)

How many times do we miss out on what God has for us all because we refuse blind trust...because we won't continue taking pictures even though we can't see what we're shooting at?

My photos turned out beautifully, by the way. Maybe it's not so bad to trust blindly. There's beauty to be surprised by when we do.

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left." -Isaiah 30:31 ESV

Throw it Aside

I don't know about you, but when I run, I can't have anything in my hands, on my back, in my pockets....I don't know that I could run in sweatpants, either. If I am going to run, I can't have anything encumbering me.

Dictionary.com's definition of encumber is

"to weigh down; to impede or hamper the function or activity of"

Hebrews 12:1 admonishes us to

"strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us." (AMP)

The same is true for life as it is for running: if there are things weighing you down or impeding you, you aren't going to run well. We have to throw aside every encumbrance, including the sin that so easily trips us up.

And we can do that! God's grace allows us to throw off the sin! He has forgiven us, so we don't have to hold onto it anymore.

Here is something I wrote back in August of this year that goes so very well with this.

"I walked into church this morning feeling like a pack horse. 

And I was.

I had my purse, jacket, water bottle, Bible bag, and keys in hand, on my shoulder, and in my arms.

I went into the sanctuary and found a seat, but just stood there with my "stuff" while worship began. In a few minutes, I finally put it all down. 

Then, my arms and I were free to clap and raise my hands."

I couldn't worship with all that stuff in my hands, on my shoulders, and in my arms. It was encumbering. Neither can we run the race set before us if we are holding onto a bunch of stuff.

Pack horses can't run. So, throw it all aside and run!

Testimony

I was in the dark. I sank further into it with each step I took. And I didn't care.

All it took to get me here were some words from other people that frustrated my own doubts and confusion. Satan is wily that way.

I began doing things I had never done before...drinking, to name one. I only really drank one time, and only to the point of being buzzed. Why? To try and escape what I was feeling...to escape all the confusion and chaos I found myself in. I was two steps from leaving the church and abandoning my First Love.

And I could do nothing about it.

I didn't know how to get myself out. I just couldn't. The enemy spoke his lies into my head and heart and I believed them.

I know how David felt. There are many pages in my journal, one after another, of me crying out to God in that time..."How long, Lord? When? I can't pull myself out...I don't know how to get myself out of this" was my cry. I could have written some of the Psalms.

And in the midst of my chaos, confusion, doubts, fears, raw honesty about where I was, frustration, rebellion...God was there. He was faithful when I was not. He chased me when I ran. He heard and answered my cry for help. He pulled me out of that pit I found myself in and forgave me. He restored me unto Himself and is continuing to restore me. He spoke through a woman I didn't know, and she didn't know me. She told me I needed to draw a line in the sand and not let the enemy come any further.

And I did.

Because of that decision, the Holy Spirit has come and girded me with strength and determination: determination that I had lost. I am fighting back. I am an overcomer! I am victorious! I will stand and not be moved! I am tired of my inconsistency. With God's help, I am changing. Praise God, He does not condemn me, so I do not have to be condemned! He is revealing Himself to me and it is good!

Praise God, He doesn't leave us in our pits!

Look Alike

I have been told many times that I look like my mom. Other people say I look like my dad. Still others hold the opinion that I look like my aunt. I think I look like them all. If I look in the mirror, I see a little of my mom, some of my dad, and a bit of my aunt in me. I bear their image because I am related to them.

Mostly, I see my mom in me. I'll say something and it sounds just like my mom. You know what I'm talking about. It happens to us all.

I may reflect the image of those I'm immediately related to, but do I reflect the image of God?
Genesis 1:27 (ESV) says,

"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

I am made in His image. But, that's not the image I'm talking about.

First Corinthians 15:49 (NIV) says,

"And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven."

The Word of God says that I am His child. I am related to Him. Do I resemble Him?
 When others look at me, do they see Him? When they hear me talk, does it sound like Him? Do my actions resemble His actions?

Do I look like Him?