It's my birthday. I am no longer a teenager. GUYS. I AM NO LONGER A TEENAGER!!!!
To be honest, it doesn't feel different until I think about it. I've lived on this earth for two decades. I've seen sunrises and sunsets, good days and bad days, rainy days and sunny days and snowy days and chilly days and extra-too hot days.
I made it. Not like, made it. But I made it to my twentieth year of life. That's more than some can say. I am blessed. I got a roof over my head, a crazy family who loves and supports me, crazier friends who make life worth living, the ability to listen to music and read and write and laugh and cry and learn and move and grow. I have coffee for goodness's sake, and hot running water, and a nice phone with a great plan (thanks, mom, thanks dad :D), and a computer, and glasses, and a guitar. I could go on all day and all night.
Something struck me while I was on my way home from work today. Through the ups and the downs, God's been there for me through it all. When I was good, and when I was a complete and total mess of hormones and rebellion and pain, He was there. When I wanted to just lie down and die (both figuratively and literally), He was there, keeping me alive, keeping the blood pumping through my veins and the oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out. When I wanted to hit someone over the head with a folding chair or throw someone out the window, He held me back (and in some cases, sent an angel to keep me from doing something irrational like that, thanks, sis).
When I missed my friends and felt completely lost and alone, He was there. When I was broken, He was there. God had, has a plan for me. I can't go a day without Him. He's my rock and my salvation, the One who knows the beginning to the end, the One who robed Himself in flesh and came down and died for me. He's a faithful God. I can't wait to see what else He has in store for me.
And if this God has a plan for me, then trust me, He has a plan for you too. You may not be 20 yet, or maybe you're over 20, but He definitely still has a plan for your life. How do I know this? Well, if He didn't then you wouldn't be reading this, now would you? :D
Trust Him in and through the process. Pain means you're growing and that you're still alive. Pain is a lesson. You just need to learn it. When you're in the fire, He's in it with you. When the storm's raging around you, He's right there with you. Maybe He's calling you to get out of the boat and walk on the water. Maybe He's in the boat with you and you need to have more faith and stop freaking out. He said you'd make it to the other side, and if God says it, it's gonna happen. He's faithful.
Life's such a crazy thing, a precious gift. It's made up of decisions that we make. My life's not over yet, and neither is yours. We both have a chance to make our lives mean something, and God can make it mean more than we ever thought possible. So go do something with your life. Don't give up. Keep pressing forward towards the destiny that God has for you.
God bless you guys. Love ya. <3 :)
--Sonya :) <3
P.S. Guys I need a new name for this blog 'cause I'm no longer a teenager. If no one gives me suggestions, I will be forced to come up with one myself. Muahaha. But seriously though if you have suggestions, comment, I am accepting suggestions and if I like more than one I may just do a crazy mash-up so I don't know. x)
Showing posts with label trust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trust. Show all posts
Monday, April 10, 2017
Monday, June 13, 2016
Just Some More Random Thoughts
Sometimes, God does some weird, crazy stuff. Weird, like, awesome, but when you're in the middle of it it's just weird, you know?
Like, sometimes, you get lyrics or a melody stuck in your head, you write/play it out, and BAM you have this song that doesn't make sense for where you are in life right then. Maybe it's about brokenness. Maybe it's about joy. Maybe it's about growing up. And then later you get to a point in your life where, dude, I needed that song. Like, that song was written by the Me from then for the Me that's now.
It's like when you memorize a verse. Sometimes, those verses in the Bible make absolutely no sense, or they make sense but it's just head-knowledge. Yeah, I know God'll never leave me or forsake me. Yeah, I know He'll bring me through the fire and the water. Yeah, I know He's faithful.
But then you go through some crazy situation and dude, now you know that God will never leave or forsake you. Now, you know He'll bring you through the trials. Now you actually know that He's faithful.
Sometimes, we go through times where we question those promises. You feel numb to the things going on around you, and God seems distant. You're angry, you're lonely, you're unsure about what to do next. Are you making the right decision? Are you doing something that's actually glorifying God? Is what you're doing really going to help take you to where you want to be later in life, or is it all just a big waste of time?
And with those big questions like that, there comes another big question: God, are You actually listening? God, do You care about this dilemma I'm in? How come I can't hear You? Are You speaking? Am I praying hard enough, or are You just not answering me?
Raise your hand if you've done that before. Okay, good, I'm not the only one. Now, raise your hand if you've done that to someone who isn't God. Maybe a sibling, friend, parent, if you have a phone you've more than likely gone through that when they aren't texting back and you're waiting for a wise reply to a tricky question.
There's this thing called trust. You have to have the trust in order to have the relationship. Whether it's a mutual exchange 'business' kind of relationship or a romantic relationship, in order to have any kind of relationship, or to have any kind of transaction, you gotta trust.
People with trust issues: you trust the cashier to give you back your credit card when you hand it to them to pay for something. You trust the ATM to give you money when you punch in the numbers and give it your information. You don't have trust issues, you have people issues, or paranoia, one of the two.
If you have both... just pray. God'll take care of both of those issues.
Anyways, if you say you have 'trust issues' what you really mean is, "Somebody hurt me and because of that, I'm afraid that someone will hurt me again and that's why I'm careful to not open up and be vulnerable." I get it. The pain of allowing someone into your heart, or your life, or into your outer circle, and seeing them treat you like you are worthless, that hurts. You either learn to overcome that and forgive them, allowing them to go free and yourself to take the fall, or you learn to hate and get bitter over that.
The second option's easy, because it involves our idea that 'justice must be done,' that this wrong must be made right.
The first option's hard, because it means you gotta trust that God will make you stand when other people make you fall. It means you need to trust in something higher than yourself. It involves a decision-making process that is incredibly hard to make when everything inside of you screams at you to condemn, judge, kill. Your mind calls for justice, for the blood that they made you spill to be spilled by them.
But God, His Spirit, asks for mercy.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He gasped that out when He was nailed by his wrists and feet to a splintered, wooden cross. He who did no wrong was falsely accused, condemned, beaten, and nailed. If anyone had a right to cry out for justice to be done, it was Jesus Christ. But He didn't. Instead, He cried for mercy.
Sometimes, God allows us to go through these weird, crazy situations to get our attention. Where we are, who we are, what our purpose is, what makes up our character, it all has to be refined. After the thing, we realized, had it not been for *insert craziness here*, we wouldn't be who we are today and we wouldn't have a clearer vision of where we need to go. During the whole weird, crazy stuff, it's like, umm God, what's going on? But we need to just trust that He's got a plan. He's doing some weird, crazy things that are for our good. It'll work out in the end.
And that's a promise that you can stake your life on. :)
Happy summer, guys. God bless ya. <3
--Sonya
Like, sometimes, you get lyrics or a melody stuck in your head, you write/play it out, and BAM you have this song that doesn't make sense for where you are in life right then. Maybe it's about brokenness. Maybe it's about joy. Maybe it's about growing up. And then later you get to a point in your life where, dude, I needed that song. Like, that song was written by the Me from then for the Me that's now.
It's like when you memorize a verse. Sometimes, those verses in the Bible make absolutely no sense, or they make sense but it's just head-knowledge. Yeah, I know God'll never leave me or forsake me. Yeah, I know He'll bring me through the fire and the water. Yeah, I know He's faithful.
But then you go through some crazy situation and dude, now you know that God will never leave or forsake you. Now, you know He'll bring you through the trials. Now you actually know that He's faithful.
Sometimes, we go through times where we question those promises. You feel numb to the things going on around you, and God seems distant. You're angry, you're lonely, you're unsure about what to do next. Are you making the right decision? Are you doing something that's actually glorifying God? Is what you're doing really going to help take you to where you want to be later in life, or is it all just a big waste of time?
And with those big questions like that, there comes another big question: God, are You actually listening? God, do You care about this dilemma I'm in? How come I can't hear You? Are You speaking? Am I praying hard enough, or are You just not answering me?
Raise your hand if you've done that before. Okay, good, I'm not the only one. Now, raise your hand if you've done that to someone who isn't God. Maybe a sibling, friend, parent, if you have a phone you've more than likely gone through that when they aren't texting back and you're waiting for a wise reply to a tricky question.
There's this thing called trust. You have to have the trust in order to have the relationship. Whether it's a mutual exchange 'business' kind of relationship or a romantic relationship, in order to have any kind of relationship, or to have any kind of transaction, you gotta trust.
People with trust issues: you trust the cashier to give you back your credit card when you hand it to them to pay for something. You trust the ATM to give you money when you punch in the numbers and give it your information. You don't have trust issues, you have people issues, or paranoia, one of the two.
If you have both... just pray. God'll take care of both of those issues.
Anyways, if you say you have 'trust issues' what you really mean is, "Somebody hurt me and because of that, I'm afraid that someone will hurt me again and that's why I'm careful to not open up and be vulnerable." I get it. The pain of allowing someone into your heart, or your life, or into your outer circle, and seeing them treat you like you are worthless, that hurts. You either learn to overcome that and forgive them, allowing them to go free and yourself to take the fall, or you learn to hate and get bitter over that.
The second option's easy, because it involves our idea that 'justice must be done,' that this wrong must be made right.
The first option's hard, because it means you gotta trust that God will make you stand when other people make you fall. It means you need to trust in something higher than yourself. It involves a decision-making process that is incredibly hard to make when everything inside of you screams at you to condemn, judge, kill. Your mind calls for justice, for the blood that they made you spill to be spilled by them.
But God, His Spirit, asks for mercy.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He gasped that out when He was nailed by his wrists and feet to a splintered, wooden cross. He who did no wrong was falsely accused, condemned, beaten, and nailed. If anyone had a right to cry out for justice to be done, it was Jesus Christ. But He didn't. Instead, He cried for mercy.
Sometimes, God allows us to go through these weird, crazy situations to get our attention. Where we are, who we are, what our purpose is, what makes up our character, it all has to be refined. After the thing, we realized, had it not been for *insert craziness here*, we wouldn't be who we are today and we wouldn't have a clearer vision of where we need to go. During the whole weird, crazy stuff, it's like, umm God, what's going on? But we need to just trust that He's got a plan. He's doing some weird, crazy things that are for our good. It'll work out in the end.
And that's a promise that you can stake your life on. :)
Happy summer, guys. God bless ya. <3
--Sonya
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)