Author: Hope Surrendered

Monday’s Musings — Joy

~ Hope Surrendered ~ Leave a comment

“What I am anxious to see in Christian believers is a beautiful paradox.
I want to see in them the joy of finding God
while at the same time they are blessedly pursuing Him.
I want to see in them the great joy of having God yet always wanting Him.”
~ A. W. Tozer

A.W. Tozer was a pastor, speaker and writer who had a profound impact on those with a deep desire to pursue God during the 1920s to 1960s. His books and legacy live on in churches today. He was known for his prayer time, his holy pursuit of a deeper walk with God, and for cautions to live simply and avoid moving down a path toward worldliness.

Too often, it is our JOY which is missing in our pursuit of a Christian walk. We go through our days, our chores, our mealtimes, our careers, our relationships, our quiet moments, and we fail to find joy in what we do … in just being.

Joy is bigger than happiness.

I’ve come to believe that happiness comes from our emotions about a situation, circumstance, person, whereas joy is not an emotion–it is simply a state of being. It’s just there … or it’s just not. It’s deeper than happiness, and I also think it comes from acknowledging that which is greater than our self or our circumstances.

My personal opinion? … Joy exists in those who are learning to know, trust and understand who God is while allowing Him to be THE impact in their walk.

Just as we can quiet or quell the leading of the Holy Spirit within us, our joy can be stifled when we focus too much on Self or on circumstances. We hear more of the Spirit’s voice moving within us when we get out of the way, and we’ll experience more joy in our life when our focus is on pursuing God through His Word, through prayer, through fellowship (with Him and with others), and in learning to walk in obedience to how He has called us to live. It’s a process and a path, but it’s one where joy is present.

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Finding Hope in the Woman in the Mirror

~ Hope Surrendered ~ 3 Comments

FruitSpirit.Mirror.HS

I’ve struggled most of my life with looking in the mirror.
The woman I see staring back at me has usually not been the same woman I am.
The one staring back often feels as though she’s just not good enough.

Three years ago, my journey took a new turn. With that turn, part of me was lost, but part of me was also found. I had decisions to make and a path to walk. None of it would be easy. The reflection wasn’t friendly, but what was reflected became bigger than my own reflection.

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I wear make-up, and I like to wear make-up. My husband and boys tell me I don’t look much different without make-up as compared to what I look like when I do wear it. I disagree. The mirror seems to prefer mascara, eyeliner and lipstick.

The mirror tells me I’m a little “soft” and that I carry a few extra pounds;
the camera shows me that I’m squishy, and it’s more than just a few.

The mirror shows me that my skin is beginning to show its age;
my heart and my love of adventure don’t agree.

The mirror reveals the increase in my graying hair, my stray lip hair and the dark spots here and there from tanning way back when.

The mirror is like a friend who is brutally honest … you know … the one who tells you what you need to hear, not necessarily what you want to hear.

The mirror shows me what is on the surface, but — if I stay to look long enough — it shows what is often hidden.

The mirror.

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For Christmas this year, my husband surprised me with two wall decals. He got me the kind that press on, but are removable if one ever wants a change. One was small, and it went up right away, but the other one came in a big roll, and — since shortly after Christmas — it has laid on the floor in our library with a few soft stuffed animals pressing on it to make it flat. MANY times, he has asked me where I’d want it to be put on the wall, as he was VERY ready to stop stepping over it and get it up “for me.”

It was big. I just didn’t know where to put it. Most of the walls in our house are textured, so I just kept saying I didn’t want him to try to put it on a textured wall until I was sure I knew where I wanted it.

About a week ago, I told him I finally knew where I’d like it to be placed. When I told him the location, he questioned me multiple times. He was pleased that I had finally made up my mind, but he doubted the wisdom of my decision. Against his own preference, he decided to honor my wish, and he diligently pressed the letters onto the surface for me. We’re both in agreement now.

The photo you see above is where it now resides.

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In our master bathroom, there’s a folding, three-way mirror I designed and made when we renovated the room a few years ago. These wall decals now hang on the middle section of that mirror. They were a perfect fit, and I think they truly were meant to be there.

You see, the words now stuck on that mirror are the fruit of the Spirit. When I look into that mirror, what reflects back at me is not just me, but what He is leading me to be as I submit to being in step with the Spirit who resides in me.

“… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control;”
~excerpted from Galatians 5:22-23 of the NASB

In John, chapter 15 of the Bible, Jesus tells us He is the vine, and we are the branches. The branches grow from the vine and draw their life from the vine. The branches, then, have the ability to bear fruit. His fruit. Perhaps we’ll delve into this vine/branches/fruit topic more in the future, but for now, I want you to know something …

In Him, through Him, and because of my walk with Him, the woman I see staring back at me is becoming more like what He calls me to be.

I’m still a work in progress, but the seeds of His Spirit within me are sprouting and bearing His fruit.

I am struggling less with the mirror, as what is reflected is greater than just my own reflection.

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The Day I Stopped Asking God For “Clarity”

~ Hope Surrendered ~ 2 Comments

I am “re-blogging” this post and sharing another person’s writing today, because it is EXACTLY the mindset I’ve been striving for in 2014. My Year of Trust  verse is Romans 15:13.

Learning to TRUST in His promises, in His Word and in Him provides us with a sense of clarity which is far more valuable than just seeing where one needs to go on their journey through life.

I hope you enjoy this one by a fellow writer. Click on the link below to see her original post.

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Mandy Black's avatarMandy Black

I held my tongue as I listened. It seemed like ages that I waited and then…. nothing came. I stared longer over the cliff, and down at the ocean waves, across the deep, dark, ever-stretching expanse of water. An expanse that has always intrigued me since the first day I dipped my toes into it….Since the first time I walked beside it under the moonlight listening to the waves and thinking about the God who made them.

But here I am 10 years later sitting above the same expanse wondering why the God who made it in all of its enormity couldn’t give me, His beloved daughter, the direction and answers that I feel like I need in one of the most pivotal seasons of my life. If He cares why doesn’t He give me clear direction and certainty? I continued to pray and alternate my words with silence, listening…

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Monday’s Musings — He’s AWESOME!

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NIVConcor.AWESOME

Did you know that God is described as “awesome” in the Bible?
Yes, the actual word is used.

Psalm 47:2 declares:

“For the Lord Most High is awesome,
the great King over all the earth.”

It was last week in my once-a-week morning study with a great group of women where I realized that God was described as “awesome.” It was in our lesson on Nehemiah, which referred us to Nehemiah 1:5:

“Then I said: ‘Lord, the God of heaven,
the great and awesome God,
who keeps his covenant of love
with those who love him and keep his commandments, …’ “

I’ve read these passages before, but–obviously–I had not read them slow enough or conscientiously enough to see the word “awesome” in the way I do now. (I need to work on having “eyes to see” and “ears to hear.”)  That particular word takes me back 30+ years to my teens.

You see, I am an ’80s teen. “Awesome” was a big part of our vocabulary, and it was another way of saying things like “wow,” “REALLY cool,” “pretty fantastic,” or “spazzy good.” In case we struggled with spelling, the cheerleaders at our high school (and yours, too, I’m sure) had a cheer that went:

“A-W-E,  (!!)
S-O-M-E;  (!!!)
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome are we!”  (!!!!)

“Awesome,” in my mind, was more of a teeny-bopper word … until last week.

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During the ’80s, I don’t think I EVER attributed “awesome” to God.

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I use a New International Version (NIV’84) of the Bible for my regular study, and my exhaustive concordance is the same version. It lists “awesome” as being used 34 times in the NIV Bible. For comparison’s sake, the New King James Version (NKJV) uses “awesome” 39 times, the New American Standard Bible (NASB) uses it 32 times, and the English Standard Version (ESV) references “awesome” 33 times.

As a part of my homework for this post, I committed to read all 34 entries from the NIV.

I am in awe.

I knew and I know God is awesome, but after reading these 34 references to the word in the Word, I AM just IN AWE of who He is and how my still-’80s perspective of “awesome” falls SO far short of the real meaning of the word.

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If you go to Blue Letter Bible , and you type in “awesome” and ask to see it in various versions (I pulled it up in the NASB for this particular example), and then you click the box beside STRONG’S (you can only do that on the NASB and the King James Version on this website; that’s why I used NASB…), you’ll see the word “awesome” come up in red. Just to the right of the word, you’ll see a tiny reference number. If you right-click this and open it in a new tab, you’ll see the same page I linked to above and here.

Scan down this page you just opened, and you’ll see the word broken down, defined and outlined. You can see there are some references to “fear” and “dread,” but you’ll also see references to verses and usages where “awesome” is used to mean, “to stand in awe of, be awed, to honor, to respect, to cause astonishment, and to inspire reverence or godly fear or awe.”

My takeaway — from the verse in Nehemiah we were going over last week and also after reading the 34 NIV references — brings me to see God in an even more astonishing and reverent, awe-filled way! He’s majestic, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, and … AWESOME! I knew all of that, but I never deeply tied who He was to the Biblical definition and understanding of “awesome” like I do now. My ’80s idea of the word just can’t match how I see it now.

I just love reading His Word. He never ceases to amaze me. Never. He knows me SO well, and even after many years of studying Him in His Word, I still get excited to learn more about Him…and also about words which describe Him.

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Using His Talents Wisely

~ Hope Surrendered ~ Leave a comment

Question Mark - Copy

I want to say a huge “thank you” to those of you who have commented, emailed or messaged me about my last post. Your grace and support is truly appreciated!

I’ve been reminded of the importance of using the resources I’ve been given.

The Amplified Version of the Bible in Matthew 25:29 says:

“For to everyone who has will more be given,
and he will be furnished richly so that he will have an abundance;
but from the one who does not have,
even what he does have will be taken away.”

I don’t want to even think of the possibility of wasting something the Lord would desire for me to do, yet any one of us could easily come up with a quick list in how we’ve done just that. If I have the ability to produce something good in His name (fruit), it is because He has given it to me to use for His glory (vine); if I don’t have the ability, but He has called me to it, I can trust in Him to provide me with the resources and abilities. Just as in the parable of the talents in Matthew, chapter 25, I need to invest in the “talents,” responsibilities and blessings I’ve been given, and I need to be pursuing them wisely — or there will be a cost.

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Part of me is struggling with whether or not to make this site about my daily goings-on in the way I handle the challenges, conflicts, blessings and smile moments that happen in my normal days. There are a lot of bloggers out there who do this. My life isn’t necessarily one that would be labeled by others as fascinating or exciting, AND, I definitely don’t have all the answers, so I’m not sure that’s the way for me to go. However, I am reflective, and that character trait could be a benefit in sharing my perspectives on these pages.

The other part of me is wondering if maybe I just need to focus less on longer posts with pictures and more on what really captures my heart and helps my path to be lit by Him.

I have a lot of these little moments.

I’m not sure how meaningful they’d be to all of you, but they certainly are meaningful to me — they serve as a reminder of His constant presence. There’s a lot of joy, peace and comfort in that for me, and if I could give you a bit of that, then it could make a difference in your life and in mine.

Maybe I need to do a little of each? If you have any thoughts, I’m open to them!

Well … I have just realized that I’ve done all the above in this post! For now, I’ll be working on some of the started-but-not-finished posts I mentioned the other day. I’m praying about them, and I’m keeping my eyes and heart open to some new ideas, too.

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