Sunday, June 17, 2012

Rise and shine

         So it is currently 5:45 and I am somewhere in SC heading to Orlando FL. I am traveling to do some mission work with my old youth group from when I was in public school. Our youth director, who happens to be a dear friend that I grew up with, is the one driving because if you know me, you know that I do not function well at night!
        Anyway so in between naps, conversations, sing-a-longs, and a few quick pit stops, the Devil has found time to slip in a few attacks knowing that my eyes are rarely, and I mean rarely, open during the wee hours of the morning. It has been a pretty consistent battle in just dealing with emotional junk. It started with anger and bitterness as a result of selfishness and then worked its way into the form of lust. It's frustrating to no end when the enemy takes a simple friendship and tries to tarnish it by twisting thoughts on at least one end.
        So after my 4:30-5:00 AM nap, I woke up very burdened with lust. My heart and mind felt trapped. I began to worry about how this could affect my ministry during my next encounter with this person. However, it was at that moment that I partook in one of the joys of being wide awake at the crack of dawn; I got to see the sunrise. I witnessed a line of clouds taking the form of a curtain as the sky became illuminated with golds and blues. Cirrus clouds had a pinkish glow to them and the sky was therefore painted the way God had intended it to look on this day.
It was at that moment that I thought of Matthew 6: 25-34:


""Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."


              I shared this sat of verses with a very dear friend who is dealing with her own troubles and needed the reminder just like I do now. Even though the verses speak about anxiety in regards to provision, I can see application for myself. Jesus challengers the listeners to think about the birds of the air and lilies of the field. Neither worry about being clothed or storing up food. Yet our Father in Heaven provides for them each day. If He provides for the birds and the grass how much more will he provide for His children?!? That is what I was reminded of this morning. I saw this promise in the sunrise! We serve a faithful God; one who promises not to allow us to be tempted beyond our control. He will provide an escape. He will provide freedom from the lust I faced this morning or from whatever any of us will face. The freedom comes in the form of His son, Jesus Christ, who died to free me from the very sin I encountered at 5:00 AM! Glory be to the one who saves our souls! Who preserves our spirits for the day we are delivered into His kingdom!!




The sunrise looked similar to this, although this picture does 0 justice!