webs

Job 8:14-15 "What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider's web. He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold."
When you see a spider's web, it is a neat thing to see how strong the spider has crafted its creation to support itself, but even if you could find a web large enough, someone would never be able to lie in one like a hammock for a nap or touch it without breaking...it is not meant to support our weight! What may seem so beautiful to the eye holds nothing we truly need it to. If you saw someone leaning on a web expecting it to support themselves you'd think they were crazy! Thus, God himself sees us looking for things that can never support us and shakes his head. Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (mt. 11:28)." Why are you going to all those things that are not meant to support you or your burdens? Why are you ignoring me? The one true God who would delight if you would trust me and come to me with who you are?

I got to see an old friend this past weekend. Though only for a few hours, it truly was a sweet time. She has been caught up in a web the past seven years, I've only known her eight. So most of our friendship, I've seen this one picture of her, but this past weekend, I got to see a completely new image radiating from her!

Praise God for the transforming power He has done and let me witness in this dear friend and sister!

Chim chim cher-ee...proclaiming from the rooftops!

Matt. 10:26-27

"So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.

As I think about this next month i am really excited to see what all God has in store. In the ministry at Long Beach State, the ladies will be focusing on what it means to be Women of the Word. I was talking with one of my best friends earlier on during the week about how God is allowing her to share her story from this past year. Why I love this passage of scripture has to deal with a few ideas.

1. God speaks when we are in the dark and hard places in life. When you feel alone and can't see where everything is heading, God is there waiting to whisper in our ear if we silence our fear and worry long enough to listen.

2. What is told to us in those seasons, we are able to re-tell or share with others in the daylight. When we look back, we realize so much more of what God was doing during the hard times!

3. Proclaim it from the roofs! God wants to use our stories to help others and praise Him for who He is! 2. Cor. 1:3-5 says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows."

Just a sweet thought I've been meditating on today. I hope you are taking time to hear the whispers and shout from the rooftops with joy!

quoteable quote

If you look at scripture, you understand that every time God calls somebody to do something, He is calling them to do something that he or she desperately needs God's power and ability to be able to pull off. He is going to call us to do stuff that He is involved in, His power is a part of that, He must be needed...His sovereignty must be there. -Pastor Frank

On Tuesday I wrote this down from a podcast I heard on Monday. Today, (yesterday now technically) this could not have been more true in my life! Praise God it is not my work, but His!

Maniac Magee to Pete

I went outside on a short run. It only took a few minutes for me to realize the sound of my feet slapping the wet cement was an easy distraction from what was in my head. It wasn't much longer until the sound of my breathe overwhelmed all other noise. So I stopped. My vans were blocking the rain from hitting the ground while I watched the cement being painted with dots all around my feet. I wanted to run, but I was mesmerized. I felt cold from the rain by now and could not tell which were drops and which were tears on my face.
I've secretly always desired Elliot the dragon (from Pete's Dragon) to be my friend and come up to me in those moments to wipe away my tears and tell me it's all going to be ok without any understandable words. But maybe that's just how I envision God coming alongside Job and in moments of my weakness and frustration I want to experience God coming alongside me and comfort me in that way.Maybe it's because though I am anything but, I feel slightly orphaned or unsettled in Long Beach and can't seem to shake feeling that way no matter how I've tried this semester.