In light of having more free time than I know what to do with, resulting in countless sleepless nights, I have had nothing better to do then think & process various things. As a result of all this, I've realized several things, which will be discussed in the next couple posts.
The past couple of weeks I have been attending a ladies Bible study. The study is a series called "Experiencing God" Essentially the study is about finding & experiencing God in the day to day. Something that has really been emphasized is our need to take the spiritual truths of God and make them a reality in our daily lives. This is much easier said then done, because of what I call "the head-heart disconnect" The head-heart disconnect is our ability to know something in our head but not know it in our heart. Somehow the knowledge in our head gets lost in translation on its way to our hearts to become wisdom. For instance, if someone were to ask me if God loved me, I would say absolutely w/o hesistation. But there was a time in my life when inspite of knowing that in my head, I didn't necessarily believe it in my heart. It was simply a conditioned response, not a reality in my life.
I once heard it said: "wisdom is the application of knowledge" when I heard this in chapel last spring I remember thinking that this was one of the most profound things I had heard in awhile. It was the antithesis of the head-heart disconnect. My confession is that I am a knowledge dispenser. God has given me an amazing passion for learning theology & kingdom principles & the equally beautiful gift of explaining it to others. If I'm being honest, the problem is that only a small percent of that is a reality in my life as opposed to the majority of it being conditioned responses to various situations.
The handful of learned knowledge, that has become actual heart wisdom for daily life is immensely liberating. To truly live in that small amount of wisdom is to better understand the character & nature of God in a much more satifying & realistic way. My desire, prayer & hope is for God to continue to transform my acquired knowledge into daily heart wisdom so that I can continue to live & walk in freedom.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Seasons
The opening of Ecclesiastes 3 is all about how there are seasons in our life for just about everything. A time for laughing & crying, a time for planting & uprooting, times for scattering & gathering and so on. Some seasons are preferred to others but ultimately God puts us in these different seasons to teach us, to grow us, & to refine us. These seasons are designed to bring us closer to the Father and to deepen our understanding of His grace, love & sovereignty in our lives.
Upon reflection I have realized that I am transitioning into a new season of my life & entering new seasons in my relationships with the different people in my life. It's simultaneously exciting & breath-taking. In the next 12-14 months (God willing) I will be getting engaged, finally graduating college, going abroad, getting married & moving. This by far will be the biggest year of my life to date. It's terrifying, mind-blowing, beautiful & yet the anticipation is almost too much to stand :) Am i ready for all this? My head & my heart say no, but God seems to think otherwise, so in His sovereignty & goodness I will trust as he leads the way.
Sometimes though, with the changing of the seasons God does a little bit of pruning. Sometimes we have to pack a little lighter in order to move to the next season, and sometimes it's hard to decide what to leave behind. Fortunately the Father is patient & good & will show us what cannot be carried into the new season of life. I'm currently reading a book called "The Intangible Kingdom" and the authors put it this way:
"He loves to trim off anything that would slow us down, hinder us, or make the journey more difficult. Sometimes that includes people...sometimes that includes assets, possessions & material concerns..."
For me the pruning process is usually people, as everything I own fits in my car & I have no interest in accumulating stuff that has no eternal value. The changing of this season is no different. Through a series of events & after seeking wise counsel & much prayer I feel as though the Father is asking me to close the chapter on a friendship that I have loved having in my life but has ultimateely become unhealthy, & in the end would slow me down and/or make the journey into the upcoming season in my life more difficult. I am saddened to part ways but I know that my heavenly Father knows best & who knows, perhaps it's not permanent.
I am ecstatic for all the new season of my other relationships. I look forward to hearing about the adventures of a friend in Phoenix & about the adventures of adulthood from my better half ;) I look forward to being 90 mins away from my hermanita & having as much fun as possible w /my school friends as I enter my senior year of college (finally!) Probably most exciting come January, I look forward to having mi amor down south w/me! :D
My Father is good & good to me. I praise & thank Him for the changing of the seasons & ALL that they bring.
Upon reflection I have realized that I am transitioning into a new season of my life & entering new seasons in my relationships with the different people in my life. It's simultaneously exciting & breath-taking. In the next 12-14 months (God willing) I will be getting engaged, finally graduating college, going abroad, getting married & moving. This by far will be the biggest year of my life to date. It's terrifying, mind-blowing, beautiful & yet the anticipation is almost too much to stand :) Am i ready for all this? My head & my heart say no, but God seems to think otherwise, so in His sovereignty & goodness I will trust as he leads the way.
Sometimes though, with the changing of the seasons God does a little bit of pruning. Sometimes we have to pack a little lighter in order to move to the next season, and sometimes it's hard to decide what to leave behind. Fortunately the Father is patient & good & will show us what cannot be carried into the new season of life. I'm currently reading a book called "The Intangible Kingdom" and the authors put it this way:
"He loves to trim off anything that would slow us down, hinder us, or make the journey more difficult. Sometimes that includes people...sometimes that includes assets, possessions & material concerns..."
For me the pruning process is usually people, as everything I own fits in my car & I have no interest in accumulating stuff that has no eternal value. The changing of this season is no different. Through a series of events & after seeking wise counsel & much prayer I feel as though the Father is asking me to close the chapter on a friendship that I have loved having in my life but has ultimateely become unhealthy, & in the end would slow me down and/or make the journey into the upcoming season in my life more difficult. I am saddened to part ways but I know that my heavenly Father knows best & who knows, perhaps it's not permanent.
I am ecstatic for all the new season of my other relationships. I look forward to hearing about the adventures of a friend in Phoenix & about the adventures of adulthood from my better half ;) I look forward to being 90 mins away from my hermanita & having as much fun as possible w /my school friends as I enter my senior year of college (finally!) Probably most exciting come January, I look forward to having mi amor down south w/me! :D
My Father is good & good to me. I praise & thank Him for the changing of the seasons & ALL that they bring.
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