Micah

1:2-5
Hear this, all you nations; listen to this, all who live on earth!
The Sovereign Lord will testify against you.
Listen! He speaks from his heavenly temple.
The Lord is coming from his holy place; he will come down and walk on the tops of the mountains.
Then the mountains will melt under him like wax in a fire;
they will pour down into the valleys like water pouring down a hill.
All this will happen because the people of Israel have sinned and rebelled against God.

2:8-10, 12-13
The Lord replies, "You attack my people like enemies. Men return from battle, thinking they are safe at home, but there you are, waiting to steal the coats off their backs. You drive the women of my people out of the homes they love, and you have robbed their children of my blessings forever. Get up and go; there is no safety here anymore. Your sins have doomed this place to destruction.
...
"But I will gather you together, all you people of Israel that are left. I will bring you together like sheep returning to the fold. Like a pasture full of sheep, your land will once again be filled with many people."
God will open the way for them and lead them out of exile. They will break out of the city gates and go free. Their king, the Lord himself, will lead them out.

3:8
But as for me, the Lord fills me with his spirit and power, and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel what their sins are.

4:1-2
Many nations will come to streaming to Mount Zion, and their people will say, "Let us go up to the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel's God. For his will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people."

5:3-5
So the Lord will abandon his people to their enemies until the one who is to give birth has her son. Then his fellow countrymen who are in exile will be reunited with their own people. When he comes, he will rule his people with the strength that comes from the Lord and wil the majesty of the Lord God himself. His people will live in safety because people all over the earth will adknowledge his greatness, and he will bring peace.

6:3-5, 8
The Lord says, "My people, what have I done to you? How have I been a burden to you? Answer me. I brought you out of Egypt; I rescued you from slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. My people, remember what King Balak of Moab planned to do to you and how Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember the things that happened on the way from the camp at Acacia to Gilgal. Remember these things and you will realize what I did in order to save you."
...
The Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

7:7
But I will watch for the Lord; I will wait confidently for God, who will save me. My God will hear me.


7:14-20
Be a shepherd to your people, Lord, the people you have chosen. Although they live apart in the wilderness, there is fertile land around them. Let them go and feed in the rich pastures of Bashan and Gilead, as they did long ago.


Work miracles for us, Lord, as you did in the days when you brought us out of Egypt. The nations will see this and be frustrated in spite of all their strength. In dismay they will close their mouths and cover their ears. They will crawl in the dust like snakes; they will come from their fortresses, trembling and afraid. They will turn in fear to the Lord our God.

There is no other god like you, O Lord; you forgive the sins of your people who have survived. You do not stay angry forever, but you take pleasure in showing us your constant love. You will be merciful to us once again. You will trample our sins underfoot and send them to the bottom of the sea! You will show your faithfulness and constant love to your people, the descendants of Abraham and of Jacob, as you promised our ancestors long ago.

God's Provision on a Stressful Morning

I have a story to share, and I'm pretty excited about it. However, I do not expect you to be as excited about it as it does not directly pertain to you (it can't hurt to try to apply it to yourself though!).

This morning I was supposed to take an exam for one of my hardest math classes at 8:00 am. I say "supposed to" for a reason. Let me rewind a bit and catch you up.

This semester I had some of the most challenging (and obnoxious) classes I have had in years. This math class was probably tied for the worst along with my other math class- I am a math major afterall. My first test in that course didn't go as well as I'd hope and the second was even worse. I simply could not wrap my head around everything I needed to know. With the help of my family and my fellow tutors, I buckled down and worked even harder to get a better grade. My third test grade jumped up whole letter grades from where I'd been previously and I was so excited to finally understand what I was doing!
The final exam for that particular class was scheduled for this morning at 8:00 am, so I did two things.
1- I tried not to panic or worry about it and thus create undue stress for myself. (In so doing, I procrastinated.)
2- I went through all of my tests and made sure I knew the correct way to answer the problems, not the way I'd done before.
Basically I crammed. That's not what it felt like I was doing, but looking back, that's pretty much how it went down.

So my roommate gave me a deadline of 12:30 am to be finished and go to bed; I finished at 12:30 and got in bed. (Duh.) And of course, I set my trusty alarm for 7:00. I was going to need every single minute in that two and a half hour allotment. Except then I woke up. I looked at my phone and it was off. I don't even remember hearing my alarm- and I'd even tested it last night before I went to sleep to make sure it would go off and be loud enough to wake me up the first time! I looked at my clock... 9:30 am. An hour and a half already out the window, and I still had to clothe myself and get to the classroom. In a matter of less than 10 minutes I was sitting at a desk looking at this exam. I had already panicked on the way there so there was no use in panicking more during the exam. I pulled out my pencil and the permitted notecard and realized, upon further inspection, that I knew most everything on that test paper!! I blew through it, feeling more confident than ever, and finished exactly as the given exam period concluded. (That means it took less than an hour...)

I called my mom as I left to tell her my story and she reminded me that God is a lot more involved in our lives than we remember to give Him credit for. She told me that the adrenaline from waking up so late and freaking out was probably what got me through the exam so quickly. Isn't it fascinating how God always knows exactly what we need? I may have wanted to be there before the door was unlocked, mentally preparing myself for what doom awaited me, but God knew I could do it, and would do better, if He turned off my ears to my alarm for the first hour of the exam. (Which goes back to that God timing :) He's never late and never early. His timing is perfect, even if you think it's not.)

My challenge to you for this week, or the weekend at least, is to rely on God to provide exactly what you need exactly when you need it. Don't rush Him, that will stir impatience and disappointment in you, and who really wants that when you could have peace and joy?

Go(o)d Timing!

I have wanted to write something all day, but I couldn't think of what to say. On my way back to school this evening I heard a story on the radio and my heart just wanted to cry out to the woman through the radio waves and phone lines so she would know that she is being prayed for. But, alas, I could not do that. So I contented myself with an earnest prayer to God, hoping that she would physically feel His presence and comfort. During my prayer, God and I had a little chat. Actually, it was more like I talked and God listened. But He's a very good listener.

God's also very good at responding to me when I've composed myself and moved my thoughts away from whatever was frustrating me so. Tonight's response came in the form of a friend's blog. She wrote this almost a month ago, and I typically read her posts relatively soon after she writes them, but I hadn't taken the time to read it until a few moments ago. This exerpt is God's message to Rachel  (aka you never know when God may be using you to speak to a friend- or total stranger):

"We were not created to live comfortably in defined spaces. The day you chose to follow Jesus was the day you gave up your rights to be satisfied with being comfortable. You are an exile in this world, this is not your home - no wonder you feel so out of place compared to the world. Keep waiting. Waiting does not mean stop - it means close your eyes, open your ears, take a step, and trust Him. "
-I Prefer Harmony Please

God took the words I spat at him in the car earlier and spat them back at me, almost verbatim. (Keep in mind it's holy spit since it's from God.)

Be encouraged. God loves you and He desires you. Don't be discouraged because you can't find a place here. You're not supposed to! And just because you feel like you're in a rut doesn't mean that God is in a rut or that He's just going to leave you there. He's waiting for you to ask Him to help you, because He wants to help you.

I wrote this on November 7 and for some reason never posted it. Reading back over it, I like it :) So I'll let you read it, too:

There is so much I want to tell the world, so much I want the people inhabiting it to know and understand. Yet I can rarely think of the words or take hold of an opportunity or think of what one thing a person most needs to hear first.

Lately, I have been learning about the beauty of God and of genuine joy. I first learned about real joy a few years ago when I realized that I had it. It was this feeling, this sense and presence that could carry me through struggle and pain and rainy days with a smile on my face and a glow in my heart. That is how I describe joy. Insufficient, I know.

Learning

I have learned much. My stress level has significantly decreased lately, too. It's as if I really learn something new everyday, although I may not realize that I have, in fact, learned something right away.

This past weekend was the 2010 Carolinas Fall Getaway for North and South Carolina Campus Crusade for Christ ministries. Adjective of choice: phenomenal. Hank Marshman spoke, and he challenged us to be authentic. Authenticity is so much more than what my old youth pastor taught when he said "Be Real." Authenticity is true, genuine; sincere; not shallow; founded on truth, God. It is not guilt-ridden nor burdened by disappointment. It produces zealous conviction rather than mere opinion or passive conviction. I learned that God walks with us in our disappointment and failures, just as Jesus walked with his two disheartened followers down the road to Emmaus. They had no idea He was the man accompanying them, but as soon as they figured it out, they were reminded of their hope and immediately returned to where Jesus desired them to be. I am those followers too often; but I thank God that He is so faithful to remind me and not desert me when I walk away.

I also spent a lot of time thinking about my Granny. That weekend marked a month, after all. But I ended up applying the Gospel in a way that has helped me significantly. My Granny thought she was a failure. She believed I was disappointed in her. But she had the Son of God living in her. Jesus was completely innocent of any wrongdoing, but He died a horrid death on a cross, taking the punishment that God says we deserve. All we have to do to live eternally with Him in heaven is accept that gift of life that Jesus paid for and give Him the rule of our lives. (Who wouldn't want the Creator to take care of his life when He is so perfect and all-knowing and we are so imperfect and small?) There is nothing we can do to be good enough for God and earn salvation, and there is nothing we can do to lose that salvation He gives us. So, regardless of any of her failures or thoughts, she is alive with Christ. And I am as well. Forever. (Permanently!)

Step Back to Move Forward?

It has been all of maybe 2 days. So far, I have learned that a huge part of stress prevention and relief lies in perspective. Each day brings new struggles, just like Matthew 6:34 says, "So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings." God cares for the smallest of His creations, why should I doubt that He can and will take care of me, one of His greatest creations?

I have found myself becoming alarmed or stressed over myriad things in the past two weeks, and even in the past two days, but the reactions in the past two days have been much different. Instead of panicing and stressing myself to the point of no return, I've learned to take a step back and keep the situation in perspective. For example, just today I learned that the background check I have to have for my education class will not go through but I'm potentially still being charged for the report. I freaked out, almost cried, and considered myself to have had the worst day ever. The truth is that I had a wonderful day with a small glitch, a glitch that I can do nothing about at this point. It was hard, and definitely not my first thought, but after I mentally forced myself to consider the day's events in their entirety, I was able to realize that overreacting can seriously affect my mental health. Not only that, but I have been allowing myself to be bogged down and burdened by my circumstances.

Here's another truth for today: my circumstances do not determine my joy. Christ living in me is my Joy, and nothing can change that. In fact, joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit! When the Holy Spirit resides in me (which is always) the fruit of His presence and God's reign in me is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control." So my newest lesson is to (1) step back, (2) consider the trials or hardships I face compared to the eternal hope that I have for heaven and that I have for a Christ-filled life here on earth, and (3) move on! And as an old friend of mine once told me, "Practice makes permanent," so I'll put this concept into practice and see how it goes.