God...Life....2012

Boy, has it been a while since I blogged anything.  I tend to forget that I have a blog when life gets busy. I guess that happens, right?

We are swiftly approaching a new year.  2012.  Wow.  When I was a kid I could not imagine it being 2000 let alone 2012.  Being born in 1978, 2012 seemed a world away.  But here we are, sitting on its doorstep just about ready to ring the bell and begin a new journey into a new year.

So, how was your 2011?  Mine was good. And bad.  Trials and learning.  Joy and sorrow.  Laughter and tears.  Would I do it all over again?  Yes.  Because of the things I learned through those trying moments, I am stepping closer and closer to God's intended purpose for my life.

How is your walk?  Are you running towards Him or away from Him?  Do the decisions and choices you make daily, hourly, minutely, secondly bring you to the Throne or away from it?  How is your heart?  Where is your heart?

Too many questions?

Possibly.  But important questions nonetheless.  These are questions we, as believers, are faced with every moment of every day. Some days they are easy to answer.  When life is going right and things are falling into place.  When your relationships are good and you have money left over at the end of the month.  In those moments it can be easy to say, "yep, everything is good and God is good."  Or it is easy to forget that God was even in the picture.  When life is comfortable and easy, some people no longer acknowledge that God had any hand in it at all.  They give themselves the glory for a job well done instead of giving the glory to God who did the job in the first place.  Or they become complacent....in life, in faith, in general.  Complacency is the ugly brother of apathy, and the two together are a devastating cocktail that can tear apart faith and usher in complete indifference to God or people around you.  Be wary of complacency.

And then something happens.  Disaster strikes.  You are laid off.  There's too much month at the end of the money. Relationships get tough.  People walk away.  Someone passes away.  Life takes a different course than you thought it would, or you thought it should.  What do you do then?  Do you run into the Father's arms?  Or do you blame Him for not being there when He has been there the whole time?  Do you get angry and turn away or do you run to Him and admit that you can't do it alone and that you need His help?

He is always there for you.  You know that, right?  He wants nothing more than you. Not the cleaned up, pristine version of you.  Not the "wait till I get my act together" version of you.  He wants you.  Just the way you are.  Right here.  Right now.  You.  He wants to meet you where you are at.  He wants you to know of His love for you.  He wants you to feel His love coursing through every part of your being as the life-giving ointment that it is.  The love that surpasses knowledge and understanding.  A love so potent and so real that it took nails, beatings, ridicule and crucifixion so that He could be here, with you, right now.

And He would do it all again.....just for you.

 I have a brother who doesn't believe in any of this.  For whatever reason, he has anger towards God and tries to discredit Him at every turn.  He believes the Bible is just some old book that holds no relevance today.  He doesn't believe in a God he can't see or touch.  He is easily angered with me because I do believe.  I know what my God can do.  I know because He has done it in my own life.  And if my brother is struggling this hard to disprove the existence of God, or to disprove a book that has never been proven false, I believe that God is going to do something pretty awesome and miraculous in his life.  I can't wait to see it!  God is churning something in him even if he doesn't realize it.  For now I watch and pray.  I wait to see what God's abounding love is going to do in the life of my brother, in my family.  God can do immeasurably more than we can see or comprehend, and He is constantly working in and through situations in our lives for His greater glory.

Very yes.

So as 2012 begins in less than a week, think about this....where is God in your life?  Do you know Him?  He knows you.   He knit you together.  He formed you.  He knows your thoughts, your actions and where your heart lies.  Will you let 2012 be a carbon copy of 2011, or will you finally see that God has so much more for you and surrender to Him?  I guarantee it is worth it.  You will never be the same.

Happy New Year!