It Really Is Well…Really
I am not afraid to admit that I regularly talk out loud. I’m sure that people driving past me on the street wonder if I am OK – but that’s OK with me. Talking a loud has always served as a healthy method for me in making sure that the things that are internally floating around in my heart and soul are able to come out into the light and get some fresh oxygen. It lets my fears breathe – and it allows my concerns to somehow become right sized. I have come to realize that if I keep them inside they often feel bigger and much scarier than they really are.
So today I let them out to play and as I listed them off to God I had the hymn “It is well” playing in the background and my list actually came out an entirely different way today. They started as a list of fears that I traded in for a list of peace. I am sure that I will need to keep speaking this truth out loud – one blog post of declaring that my soul is OK with all of these fears most likely won’t accomplish perfect peace.
So if I pass you in the car and you see me talking out loud – yes I’m a little bit crazy – but most likely what you are seeing is me declaring that God has won – Christ prevailed – and it continues to be well with my soul!
- It is well with my soul that our house has not sold and we have not
- secured a renter yet.
- .
- It is well with my soul that we still have a long way to go in our
- fundraising efforts.
- .
- It is well with my soul that we are still trying to figure out our living
- situation in Chicago.
- .
- It is well with my soul that we have more unanswered questions than we do
- defined answers.
- .
- It is well with my soul that I regularly feel unqualified for the task
- that God has clearly called us to accomplish.
So what is on your list today that needs to come out from the darkness and breathe so that you can also say – “It is well with your soul?”
And if you get a chance go to ITunes to get my friend Todd Fields CD – I have had this song on repeat all day. Thanks Todd for being a part of my story of trusting God today!
Mustard Seeds of Faith, Trust, and Sacrifice
Early on into the process of deciding to launch Soul City Church I felt God give me a prayer to pray every time we hit our common speed bumps of fear, control, and desiring comfort.
“God please turn my Fear into Faith, my Control into Trust, and
my desire for Comfort into Sacrifice.”
Today I hit all three speed bumps. I realized how much I am afraid of when it comes to giving up our jobs and financial security. I realized just how out of control I am when it comes to the fact that I can’t make someone buy our home, and I realized how I crave comfort when it comes to my lifestyle.
After flopping around in the reckless fear, control, and comfort for a while I was taken straight to the passage in Matthew where Jesus breaks it down for his disciples as to why they could not cast out a demon and said this…
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you
have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move
from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 17:20
So I went to my cabinets and grabbed a container of Mustard Seeds and asked God to give me that kind of faith, trust, and desire for sacrifice today. I put three mustard seeds in a bowl representing my fear, control, and desire for comfort – and asked God to turn them into faith, trust, and sacrifice.
How about you – What kind of mustard seed faith, trust and sacrifice do you
need today?
The Turning
Jesus had a beautiful way of taking ordinary items and turning them into the extraordinary. At a wedding he took some ordinary water and quickly turned it into wine. While on a hillside he took a young boys lunch of a couple fish & loaves and turned it into a complete all-you-can-eat buffet for the masses that were gathered to hear him teach. We have been experiencing this kind of “Turning” throughout the process of launching Soul City Church. God is taking the things that have become ordinary in our lives and is turning them into extraordinary growth.
We have walked with Jesus for many years and we have devoted ourselves to ministry – but just like every other human being we often find ourselves having fear about the future – leaning into our propensity to want to control life – and clinging to our selfish desires for comfort. It has almost become a daily experience where God will take our developed and far to ordinary skills of fear, control, and comfort and invite us into an opportunity for him to turn it into extraordinary growth.
God has been taking our fear about the future, finances, and finding a facility and He consistently has invited us to allow Him to turn it into faith.
God has been taking our desire to control the housing market, the details in our team building, the timing of how it all comes together, and He consistently has invited us to allow Him to turn it into trust.
God has been taking our desire for comfort as we leave our home, say good-bye to dear friends, and move to the unknown – God has invited us to allow Him to turn it into joyful sacrifice.
God loves to turn things around…
Where does God need to…
- Turn your Fear into faith
- Turn your desire to Control into Trust
- Turn addiction to Comfort into Sacrifice?
…will you let him?
