Where to place your trust.

When I was in high school identity was just a thing I protected. To be liked, to feel included was what I desired. To do that you had to be cool, and to be cool I thought you needed to be like everyone else who was cool, and most importantly you did not want to look foolish. I guess things really have not changed.

At least that is what I perceived recently while speaking to hundreds of teenagers at different schools, and it seems to me what has also not changed is the great amount of cynicism and disconnect students feel toward the world around them. What really struck me for the most part was the incredible difference or really indifference in attitude between freshmen students and the juniors and seniors.  The freshmen were usually much more willing to listen and involve themselves in my visits while the students progressing toward graduation were much less enthusiastic about be there.

At some point perhaps we begin to believe this world may not be full of the possibility that we once thought and that those whom we looked to to help us on our way have let us down. The reality is that the world IS full of possibility and that there are still people thankfully that we can trust. The problem herein arrives when we place all our happiness and fulfillment in the possibilities that the world offers and we expect others not to let us down. For there is only one place to put our trust and only one person who will never let us down. That person is Jesus. That does not mean that bad things will not happen to us even Jesus said you will have trouble in this world. But once you trust in him your perspective changes from relying on what can be seen to what you know in your heart. How awesome is it when the world is falling apart that you can find everything you need through the reassurance that Christ brings.

So I encourage you to continue to believe all things are possible. For just as Jesus said we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)

This is sometimes easier said then done, since we can have some things that are difficult to put behind us and hold us back at every turn. I know for me that was the case when I was around probably eight years old and found out I was adopted. For years I carried that revelation as a painful reminder that I was different and that I was not really my parents son. Was this the reason I sought so much approval from others and so desired to belong growing up? Oh how foolish this was, but we can be stubborn in our own misery. How many wasted years of resentment held me back from the truth that I was chosen just as we are by God through Christ (Ephesians 1:4-7) and the reality of the love that has truly made us free.

Father help us to trust and when we look for answers may we find them in you.

 

Your Relationship with God

Becoming a Christian is easy, compared to being one. As a Christian, we face many things that try to distract us from God, which separates us from Him. School, work, sports, friends, even family! The list goes on and on. We need to understand the importance of always being aware of God and spending time with Him.

Just like practicing for a sport, the more time you spend with God the closer you get to Him and the more you grow in faith. What spending time with God means to you can and will differ from someone else. I am good friends with the author of this blog, and the things we do to grow closer to God are very different. Going up to her room (or just someplace quiet) and praying for hours or reading the Bible and meditating on just a couple of verses for hours is what brings her close to God. For me, praying keeps me conscious of God, but if I pray very long I feel as if I’m rambling. I prefer to listen to music. Anytime and anywhere works, as long as I’m focused on the music. Reading the Bible daily also helps me. The author of this blog is self-motivated in reading, and can just open the Bible randomly and meditate on a few verses. I have to have a reading plan to remind me to read and to give me reading material. For you, it could be little prayers throughout the day or one or two long prayers. It could be reading and meditating on a couple of verses or reading a couple chapters a day. You just need to find what works for you and make sure you set time aside every day for that.

Why do we need to spend time with God? Well, again, it’s just like sports. If you want to be the best you can be, you have to spend time with God and honestly want to know Him better. Let’s say you play soccer. If you want to be a good forward, you have to practice shooting on goal. If you want to be a better pitcher in baseball or softball, what do you do? Practice pitching. The more you do something, the easier it comes and the better you get. How do you get to know Him better? How do you get to know His plan for you? How do you pull through tough times? How do you grow in faith? How do you unlock the keys to happiness? Everything comes back to spending time with Him. Find what works for you, practice it and you’ll begin to live out His plan for you and grow in Him, sometimes unconsciously.

If we never spend time with God, we begin to get sucked back into our old sinful ways. The author of this blog and I both have noticed that if we slack off reading or praying for even a day we begin to forget that God should be our focus. We start focusing on something else, like school or our horses or how annoying our siblings are. We stop making decisions that the Godly part in us would do, and let our sinful side grow. As soon as we go back to spending time with God, though, we realize how different we are, and almost immediately go back to focusing on God. Not saying that we’re perfect, because even when we spend time with God things vie for our attention, and of course we sin. But when God’s our focus, it’s easier to say no, and we actually want to spend time with Him. The same will happen with you. If you’ve never really focused on God, or you haven’t for a while, it will be harder to start the habit of spending time with Him, but if you stick with it, you’ll start wanting to do it, instead of forcing yourself to.

All this will help you become constantly conscious of God. Like Joyce Meyer said in her Battlefield of the Mind devotional, you become what you focus on. If we make God our focus, we’ll start to become more and more like Him. At school, I used to not think about what God would want me to do in little situations, and not saying I made bad decisions, but I probably didn’t think of how to help a friend out best because I didn’t consider what God would want me to do. As I started to spend time with Him, He began to come into my life at school. I’ll say a little thank you prayer or ask Him for help at school now, and I’m starting to think of how I could spread His love more. Sometimes I have to write a little verse on my hand or draw a little cross, or wear a bracelet to help me to remember to think of Him first. Jesus said “surely I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20), so we should take advantage of that. Last but not least, being aware of Him helps us in conflict. If you are fighting with a sibling, or you get called out for being a Christian, just remember what Jesus said in John 16:33. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”