Four questions that could define your life

There are times that, no matter who we are, we all must face. These moments of decision that will define who we are and who we are to become. Sometimes these times come during trials. But other times these times come during blessings. We all know that trials can bring out the worst or best in us. But did you ever take time to think that blessings can do the same? 

I have been defined by the tragedies I have had to face and work daily to overcome. But sometimes I let blessings define me as well. How is it that I act if I am suddenly blessed financially? What if I have been blessed with a certain talent? I am faced with a similar choice if either of these should occur. If I choose to keep all that I am blessed with to myself how will that define me? A recent conversation with someone made me think of how I would act if a $173 million winning lottery ticket was in my hand? Would I hoard it? Would I spend it all? Would I give it all away? My decision defines who I am. 

I was told by someone once over this last year of my life that my stumbles and falls would be forgiven solely based on what I had gone through. While I appreciated the sentiment, I have to say that is wrong.  Just because I have a trial to face, no matter how large it is, I have no excuse for choosing to act selfishly or blaming God for the circumstances I find myself in. But I also know that if I acted selfishly after being blessed rather than cursed one thing remains the same. I can still be forgiven. God doesn't care why I sinned. He only wants to remove that sin from me as far as the east is from the west. 

In this last year I have found myself in situations where I have not acted as God would have me to act. Sometimes I recognized what I was doing and the wrongness of it and stopped. Sometimes I didn't stop. But God forgives me regardless. The I find myself doing something my God cannot do. I carry the guilt of a sin around with me. This is the same sin that God forgave and forgot. 

What about your life? How have blessings or trials shaped you? Take this little test:

1. God blessed you in a special way. Did you pass the blessing on? Did you soak in the blessing and point out to everyone how much God must love you to have blessed you so richly?

2. God met a real need in your life. Did you thank Him and ask Him to show you how you could bless another? Did you immediately go on to the next need on your list?

3. You are going through a trial in your life that doesn't seem to end. Did you recognize that, no matter how painful the trial, that God will eventually see you through? Did you wallow in the pity of it all enjoying the attention it brought you?

4. You have a real need in your life that you know God wants to fill but He hasn't yet? Do you continue to seek His face and ask Him to show you the good that can come of your need? Did you take matters into your own hands like Abraham did by marrying Hagar?

These are four simple tests to run your life through. I hope you can answer favorably to each of them. I wish that I could have every time I faced similar situations. But I can't do  haven't.  I'm human. But God is God and He still sits on the throne. And from His throne He shows me grace, mercy, forgiveness. And He still has a lot more to give out if we will only ask Him. 

This do in remembrance of me

I recall that day of horror. 

That day no one will forget. 

When darkness fell in broad daylight

And tears made our faces wet

Neighbors checked on neighbors

Prayers were said by all

Eyes squeezed shut and heads in hands

As iron and glass began to fall

Comfort did evade us

As pain marked our faces

Where monuments once stood of greatness

Now sat empty spaces 

I was not alone that day

The day that brought such grief

For many lives were lost that morn

Along those ash filled streets

But with the terror came something else

And it came as no surprise

Brothers helping brothers

As beauty from these ashes rise

That day we showed the world 

What unity can be

Differences tossed aside

As we all dropped to our knees

Red and yellow, black and white

Color did not divide

Christian, Jew, and even Muslim

Arm in arm we cried

But as pictures from streets attest

Something more that day

Color didn't matter then

That day we all turned grey

So as you cry in memory 

Of those lost in those towers

Don't forget the lessons learned

Together we showed power

Wave goodbye

Sometimes I am Moses. Staff raised as the waves build and hold in a tremendous wall of water. I look in wonder and think how close I am to imminent danger. The only thing between me and drowning in the depths is faith. Faith that these aqueous walls will not collapse upon me. I marvel at how I can see the power of the wave only inches away and how that power can overcome me with merely a thought. I thank God for holding back those things that want to overwhelm me. Without Him I would not be a perpetual overcomer. 

Some times I'm an Egyptian soldier. Standing on what I thought was dry ground. Looking at the murky depths that are now murky heights. Walls of water rivaling the heights of the pyramids. I see the people I am pursuing in front of me, safely on shore. I long to be where they are. I laugh at the children playing on the shoreline with their newly found perfectly shaped sea shells while their parents try desperately to hurry them along. I imagine that more than one of them has had to answer whether they are "there" yet. Meanwhile I stand between two columns of death. I take another step toward my goal of reaching the other side only to be buried beneath the waves as they come crashing in. Did they crash in to smother me because of a lack of my faith? Because of a lack of faith of those around me? Am I suffering in the depths because of something I did? Why is it that God has chosen NOW as a perfect time to release the waves?

I wish I had the answer to those questions. I can only give thanks to the Lord for holding the waves back as long as He did. My faith wasn't strong enough to hold back the waves. But is is strong enough to recognize that the very hands that held back the waves can reach down and save this worthless human being again. His hands can help me overcome. Again. 

And that is how you become a Perpetual Overcomer. 

A river runs through it

This summer I had the opportunity to spend some time on a river. While I enjoyed myself and the company I was in I couldn't help but notice how the flow of water had cut through this mountain as it flowed from its apex to its base. At times, as we rode this river, it seemed faster and rougher than others. Staying in the raft became a chore as the skilled guide led us on our journey. We were tossed and spun and, on the river, it was fun and yet sometimes terrifying. More skilled people than the six passengers have travelled these waters and not made it out to tell about it. At other times the water looked almost still as it flowed over areas where it met no resistance. 

After our journey ended where the water was calm and we removed ourselves from the raft I began to reflect on the day. In spite of the fears we may have faced along the way, we made it to our destination. Looking back on it, the memories were fond and not fearful. 

In our daily lives we can see the traces of the river. Sometimes the driving force of the water changes the very ground it touches. Digging new scars into the earth as it goes. On the soft earth the flowing water sculpts and shapes the land. On more firm soil it may take a bit longer but the river will eventually win. But, in some cases the river is what gets changed. A boulder here. A firmly rooted tree there. In those cases the river adjusts and goes over or around. But never through. 

My life has been changed by rivers. In softer areas I have broken. The river has left scars that will take a considerable amount of time to heal. If they ever do. Most likely those scars will remain for the duration. But other times the river had met a rock. The Rock. On those occasions the river has changed. Throughout its journey the river has never altered my faith. The more it has flowed the stronger my resolve has been. Yes, the river has changed me quite a bit. But I have had an effect on the river as well. 

The forces will undoubtedly leave scars. But the impact of that which remains firm in your life will forever alter the course of those forces. The river I saw was beautiful. It was majestic. In both the scars and the boulders. People came for miles to see it. And many of them left changed because of their encounter. When people see how the river has affected you, what will they see?

Life is a choice. Faith is a choice. Forces will come that will alter both. The question is, how will you let it alter you?