I Regret Nothing

I came across this image a few weeks ago, and I had to laugh. How like a cat! Even after being caught in the act, the creature was obviously unrepentant. The pancake (at least that’s what I think it is), is hanging out of his mouth incriminatingly. His defiant little attitude is perfect! 

Pardon me while I seemingly switch subjects.

Yesterday marked the end of my nine years as a Bible Quizzer. Five points was all that obstructed our team (Angela and I were both last-year quizzers) from competing at Nationals. I do admit that there was something was whispering in my ear that day saying,“all that work was for nothing; it didn’t make any difference!”

Almost as soon as the thought entered my head, my mind instantly recalled this image. Defiantly, I though back, “I regret nothing!” Even while I was standing on the platform, delivering my last year speech, I was picturing this black cat!

I really, truly, firmly believe that not a single moment I spent studying our material was wasted. I fell in love with Psalms this year and I know that it will leave a lasting impact on my life.

I want to encourage every quizzer right now. Even when you fall short of your expectations, even when you seemingly failed, and yes, even after you buzzed in for the last time, nothing you did was pointless. 1 Corinthians 15:58 puts it like this, “Your labor is not in vain it the Lord.”

A trophy and a trip to Nationals are not the real awards. Of course we “know” this, but do we really know it?

I can say that I do. I can look back at my nine years as a Bible Quizzer, smile, and say, “I regret nothing.” 

Mastery

This is a note of encouragement to my fellow Bible Quizzers.

Bible Quizzing is a passion of mine, anyone who knows me can attest to this. I love it. I think there are few better ways for a young person to spend their time.

Passion is a funny thing. At the beginning of the season, there's excitement and anticipation. As you learn and "master" those first few verses of the material, the future simply stretches before you like a beautiful shining sea with endless possibilities on the horizon and fathomless potential hidden in the depths! But then, life happens. Now, I may be speaking for myself at this point. I may be the only Bible Quizzer in the entire world who feels this way, but I don't think so. Passion can wear thin. I know what it's like to wake up in the morning, have a long list of things to do, look at that stack of cards (which is way over half of your material but not quite all of it), and groan. You see, at times, passion can evaporate altogether.

The daily stuff is really what gets me. Quoting. Day after day. Every day. And that's only the bare minimum! Spending time charting, understanding the verses, writing questions, aaaahhhhgggg!! I just don't have time for it all! While on vacation last week, I felt like I was doing the world such a favor by taking an hour to quote every day. I'm in that low-passion phase: finals is almost a month away, I still have material to memorize, there's quite a bit of charting to do, and the tole of dedicating time to quizzing was eroding away my gusto.

And then, I was pricked in my reigns.

During the two-day drive home from our lovely vacation to SC, I was reading a book called The Circle Maker. I had been promised that it would change the way I pray and I was reading it to that end. Little did I know that it would challenge my current view of not only quizzing, but, well, living.

Mark Batterson was talking about mastery. He referenced a study that had taken place back in the 1990s of violinists. Elite performers had, by age 20, more than 10,000 hours of practice under their belts. Let me say that again: TEN-THOUSAND!! That is the number of hours it takes to not only master the violin, but to master nearly any subject (Google it, it's fascinating). Even with all the years I have been in Bible Quizzing, I'm pretty sure they don't add up to 10,000. I firmly believe that no time spent in the Word of God is wasted… yet I felt like I was wasting time. I was convicted, because, if people can spend 10,000 hours practicing the violin, how much more should I pour myself over the Word of God? If they can give their lives for something that has only an earthly reward, how much more can I give my life for something that has eternal ramifications?

I said all that, to say this: Quizzing is tough. It requires consistency and discipline, but don't give up; pour yourself into it. It's May and there is still work to do. Teammates may be dropping like flies in the South Carolina sun, but stick with it. Strive for mastery. 

Jesus Wept

I guess that I had always supposed that the infamous two-word verse was talking about Gethsemane. That place where Jesus wrestled His will into alignment with, well, His will. The knowledge of what He was about to face would have been torturous for anyone, so of course He wept.

But, as it turns out, John 11:35 was not written about Jesus' grief for Himself, but for others. Lazarus had died. Jesus was at his funeral. He was among the weary, the grieving, and the heartbroken. When He saw Mary's sorrow, and the sorrow of those who were with her, the Bible says that He was troubled. The next verse simply says that He wept.

We do not serve a God who feels nothing, nor one who stands by untouched and unmoved by our plights. No. We serve a God of love. He knows our struggles and burdens. He feels when we feel, I daresay that He laughs when we laugh, and He certainly weeps when we weep.

Consistency

Consistency is one of the themes our youth group has for this year. While our great youth leader was pushing his hoarse throat to it's limits this evening, I was realizing how uninspiring consistency can be. Don't misunderstand me, the message was great! It's only that faithfully plodding along, day in and day out, probably isn't the normal message that is taught to teenagers.

I feel that, as a whole, teens aren't that hard to figure out. We're transitioning between childhood and adulthood. We want to embrace new and hard challenges, blaze a new trail, make a name for ourselves, essentially, we would like to change the world in our own way. Most sermons that are tailored for teens are about stepping out of your comfort zone, finding your calling, radically trusting in God, ect. However, rarely are teens challenged in the every day, mundane things.

Ah, therein lies the irony. Perhaps if teens were challenged to do the little hard things, such as having a consistent walk with God and daily disciplines, we would see more teens who were changing the world. After all, you have to learn to crawl before you can run.

I know that in my personal life this year, I feel the need to be consistent and diligent in my daily walk with God. Yeah. It's not the coolest thing to focus on. I would much rather that God would smack me on the side of my head with my life plan all written out–complete with details like: where I should go to school and what for, where I should work, what my ministry will look like in 20 years... you know, the works. Instead, I'm called to spend more time in His word and talk to Him a little more.

It's not glamorous. But as Surge Student Ministries heard tonight, there is power in consistency.

I Choose This?

“I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments.”

-Ps 119:45

     I came across this verse while I was reading my Bible this morning, and it really stuck with me. How strange this probably seems to most people! They look at us and see people who are slaves to rules and to outdated religious ideals.

     “What would happen if you cut your hair?” They ask, almost as if expecting us to reply that we would immediately fall over dead, or, perhaps be excommunicated from our families and church. “Do you like, have to wear skirts?”

     “No!” We tell them time and time again, “This isn’t something we have to do, it’s something we choose to do.”

     “Wait, you choose to do this?!”

     Sometimes, I think we can act like the unnamed interrogater above. We change from saying, “I choose this,” to questioning, “I choose this??” We forget this incredible freedom that we have in God. We can begin to look at holiness and standards like it’s something dooming us to a life of sticking out like a sore thumb.

     That is completely opposite from the truth! Before, we were slaves to sin, the end result being an eternity of pain and torture, an eternity completely separated from God. But now, we have the freedom to follow God and His commands. (Romans 6)

     Be confident in the freedom you have!

Fearful

Revelation 21:8: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. 

Yes. I know this does seem like a strange verse to base an entire blog post on. Actually, it’s not as odd as it seems... this is one of the verses we have  get to memorize for Bible Quizzing this year. One day, one of the words suddenly struck me: fearful. Woah. That can’t be right. I must have gotten the words mixed up. It’s probably supposed to say ‘but the prideful, and unbelieving...”

But no. The word is fearful. This seems odd, a fearful person lumped into the same category as murderers? As whoremongers and idolaters? I can see how fear might not be the best character trait, but this seems a little but harsh!

In truth, it’s more than harsh. This hits home. You see, I can be very fearful. The fear of what others think of me influences what I do and say more than I like to admit. Fear of my own inadequacies prevent me from stepping out and aspiring to bigger and greater things. Fear of the course our country and world are taking can overwhelm me. In short, according to Revelation 21:8, I–along with the unbelieving and murderers–will be excluded from heaven.

Right?

Well, yes and no. 

Allow me to elaborate. Did you know that fear is a noun? It’s an idea or a feeling, just like inspiration or awe. That means that by itself, fear as wrong as a table or a tree (also nouns). 

Fear must be acted on, however. For example: let’s pretend that you were really afraid of big yellow balloons. One day you are walking down the road, and someone offers you a free, big, yellow balloon. You have two options at this point: 1) Accept the ballon despite your fear and continue on your walk, or, 2) Shrink back in fear (the balloon is really scary after all), and run away screaming.

If you chose number one, you acted in spite of your fear. Good job! 

If you chose number two, you were driven by your fear. :(  I’m sorry, that was the wrong answer. 

Another negative response to fear is demonstrated in a story found in Matthew 8: Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” 

When you act in spite of your fear and counteract your fear with faith, you get what is commonly known as courage. Joshua 1:7 says, “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.”
 

When your driven by your fear, you are demonstrating a lack of faith. This is the destructive fear referred to in Revelations 21:8 and in Matthew 8. This is contrary to scripture. 2 Timothy 1:4 states, “ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

At times it seems like the deeper I look into my heart, the more doubt and fear I find hidden there. Just when it seems like I’m drawing close God and He is using me, I find yet another thing that needs to be removed. Perhaps this is why Paul, in his letter to Timothy towards the end of his life, stated that he was chief among sinners. You can never achieve perfection here in this life, for life is a journey of perfecting. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, we need to give up things that we want to cling to. Yes, we have to surrender ourselves over and over again. But, it’ll be worth it all one day. 

Let’s not be fearful. 

Beauty–Through the Eyes of a Child

My aunt was beautiful. Sure, her glasses were quirky and her sense of style wasn’t exactly cutting edge, but I never noticed. 

She was getting married, and I was going to be one of the flower girls (something I had wanted to do ever since my best friend had been a flower girl a couple years prior). I had a beautiful dress, the rollers were in my hair, and all the adults were abuzz with excitement while they were getting ready.

A few cousins and I giggled as we darted in and out of the various rooms in my grandpa’s house only hours before the wedding. I was just 7, and this was my first time in a wedding.

On the way to the church, I remember my aunt turning in the passenger seat to talk to someone behind her. That was the first time I had seen her with her hair done and her makeup on. I started. What had they done to her? I was horrified, why–on her wedding day of all days–would her well meaning sisters and aunts make her look ugly? Scary even? It just didn’t make sense; people were supposed to be beautiful at their weddings, weren’t they?

A child’s natural reaction to make-up is to disdain it. They see it for what it really is: a facade. Over time, children grow up (obviously), and their mindsets change. I did, and mine has.

True beauty is something that is easy to lose sight of, especially when the culture shoves billboards and magazine ads in our faces, screaming “SEE?! THIS IS REAL BEAUTY!’  Eventually, we begin to agree with them. “Yes,” we reply, “that is how to look beautiful.”

Proverbs 31:30 says, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” How easy that is to forget! A month or two ago, I was reminded of this verse again. You see, I read a quote that will probably always stick with me. It said, “I would rather be a Proverbs 31 woman than a super model.”

I love that! Here is a woman that has made pleasing God her ultimate goal, not the pleasing the world. I’m thankful that I have many women like her in my life who tell me to do this every day. Oh, they don’t tell me with words, they tell me with their actions. I want to thank them, I hope one day I can do the same thing.