Imperfections

God didn't choose us because we are perfect, He chose us because, through our imperfections, we can grow and show the world what He can do. 

I realize that I am not perfect. I am short, come from a somewhat dysfunctional family, and have more insecurities than I have reasons for; however, every single imperfection I have, God has placed within me to enable me to show, through my growth, what He is capable of.

If Jesus chose 12 Pharisees to be His disciples, they would have "known it all." They would have doubted the rebellion that Jesus showed against the norm. Because He chose the tax collector, the habitual liar, the fishermen, the uneducated, and the poor He was able to show that with Him, we can do anything with Him.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.- Philippians 4:13

 Though I have imperfections, insecurities, and fears I will not allow those things overshadow that which God can accomplish in my life. With Him by my side, I can accomplish the things that He has placed in my path to do, the things that I say "I can't do that" to.

Remember always that God knows what imperfections He gave you. He knows that you fear or worry what could become of you due to those imperfections. However, He will use every imperfection for His good and for His glory which He does deserve!

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 "Can't" - Edgar A. Guest

Can't is the worst word that's written or spoken;
Doing more harm here than slander and lies;
On it is many a strong spirit broken,
And with it many a good purpose dies.
It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning
And robs us of courage we need through the day:
It rings in our ears like a timely-sent warning
And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.

Can't is the father of feeble endeavor,
The parent of terror and half-hearted work;
It weakens the efforts of artisans clever,
And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.
It poisons the soul of the man with a vision,
It stifles in infancy many a plan;
It greets honest toiling with open derision
And mocks at the hopes and the dreams of a man.

Can't is a word none should speak without blushing;
To utter it should be a symbol of shame;
Ambition and courage it daily is crushing;
It blights a man's purpose and shortens his aim.
Despise it with all of your hatred of error;
Refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your brain;
Arm against it as a creature of terror,
And all that you dream of you some day shall gain.

Can't is the word that is foe to ambition,
An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;
Its prey is forever the man with a mission
And bows but to courage and patience and skill.
Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying,
For once it is welcomed 'twill break any man;
Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying
And answer this demon by saying: "I can."

Life's Tests - Will You Pass?

Throughout life, we will be given tests. Christians, as I said in my last post, will be tested and tested in their faith; however, that doesn't mean we should give up!

In the last couple of days, I have gotten some disheartening news in regards to my college education. I found out that, even though all 62 credits transferred to my new college, most of them transferred in as elective credits. This being said, some of these credits were transferred in as a direct match to a class that was needed in my new college; however, many of the ones that I needed to transfer in correctly in order to have fulfilled my general education requirements will have to have a petition to prove what I actually learned in the classroom so that it will count at my new college. After receiving this news, I must say that I was so disheartened I began to cry in front of my academic adviser as I thought all my credits transferred and I could continue in the manner as I did in my old college. Also, because of my late date of registration for my classes, I am stuck with full classes and the knowledge that now, because some of my credits won't transfer properly, I will not be able to take my Accounting 301 course; this sets me behind a semester in itself -- not to mention what will happen if the petitions or the syllabuses don't come through for me

Now that I have explained a bit of my problem, I will share with you my lesson.

Before my transformation, I was a worrier. I would stress and stress until my life was consumed with the problem and I wouldn't let it go until it was resolved. While I was speaking to my mother earlier, I recognized myself going back to this. I started to try to fix everything my way, I wanted the classes my way, I wanted to have these classes my way. I lacked the trust that God would take care of my situational needs in that I need to take English 295 and I need my Communication classes to either transfer properly or I must retake it this semester. I have to have other classes, but these two and my statistics class not transferring properly and are keeping me from entering into my major and, thus, I will be a semester behind. I didn't trust that God would find a way to get me into these classes or that he would provide the means for me to get through them. While my trust and faith in God has grown so much, I still am weak. When my hand gets weak and tired, His still has a hold! I was just thinking about this and calmed my heart. Trusting that God will open a door before He closes one. Trusting that no matter what happens, it is in His plan. Trusting that He will provide what I need! I will continue to look for open classes and I will continue to try to get my past syllabuses; however, no matter the outcome, I will trust in God as His way is the path that I will follow; not my own.

In regards to a pass or fail, I'm not sure what you would want to call this. I could have failed, like so many times before, because I lacked the faith and trust in Him. I could have passed because I realized my fault. Either way, an error has been made, and I tried to take back control.


I will leave you with this:
When you are weak and weary, when you feel like you have nothing left to give and you have failed, God will carry you! He will bring you back to the path that you were meant to be on. He will throw things that are to help you realize your faults, not as a slam, but as a helpful hand. Though the unknown are before you, don't let that keep you from Him. Run to Him, all eyes on Him and you will prevail, unlike I did for the past couple of days. We all stumble, we shouldn't rely on others to help us get back up, but we can rely on Him!

Understanding

21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand ? 22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up , and said , I see men as trees, walking . 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up : and he was restored , and saw every man clearly. 26 And he sent him away to his house, saying , Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town. (Mark 8: 21-26)

 In the Gospel of Mark, Mark tells a story of a blind man from Bethsaida. Though this is a miracle preformed by Jesus as He healed the blind man, there is much more to this story than what meets the eye. 

Within this story, Jesus lays His hands on the blind man twice after asking His disciples why they do not understand who He is and what He is meant to do.  Now, we know that Jesus doesn't make mistakes; thus, there had to be a reason that he would spit on his eyes and only have the man see men like trees that walk. The reason is this, we cannot just see the miracles that Jesus preformed and believe that He is what He said he is, thus the reason for the "do not tell anyone what has happened here" verse. We have to realize that our belief in Him is a two part play. First, we need to believe in His goodness, mercy, helpfulness, and grace. We need to see His miracles happen in our lives and believe that they are miracles. However, if we only do this, we only get half the picture; nothing is clear when you only get half of it. Thus, the second part is that we have to understand and see His death and resurrection. While we, now days, cannot physically see the death and resurrection of Christ, we can understand it. As we read the Bible, to not only skim over or hurry through the beating, but to feel the pain that He felt and understand what you are worth to Him. Then we must see the resurrection! The new life and breath that we are blessed with each day. This is the two part story. 

To have seen and to believe is one thing, to have never seen and to still believe is quite another. 
"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen , and yet have believed ." (John 20: 29)  If we are blessed, as the scripture says, then we must believe with a right mind and a right heart. We cannot merely remember the good and forget the agony; we cannot, as Christians, pretend that they world should love us! They should hate us for being different, they should criticize us and jeer at us! However, we would prefer to be liked and forget the pain and agony that Christ went through to give us life in order for our pain to stop. Who are we to forget that this is more than just miracles, this is also about trusting Him to get you through any pain. 

This two part story is like our two part lives. We only are Christian when it fits us to be so; yet, we want to be so much like the world that we lose site of the Almighty. To be a Christian we must understand that we will go through more pain and have more criticism than others that are "normal." We will have people against us as He had people against Him. If we don't have people against us, we aren't Christians, we are worldly.