The Joyful Journey

A Different Kind of Salty

My reading plan has me in Leviticus right now. Honestly, I rolled my eyes when I saw I had to read a couple chapters of this book. I tend to find myself bored by the content, find it inapplicable to my daily life, and have built up an attitude towards this book. That has changed. I have been praying and asking God to reveal His truth to me before I open my Bible to read. Today He definitely delivered.

During the time of the book Leviticus, the people had to prepare offerings for God. They had to offer the best items they had. For example, “if the offering is a burnt offering from the flock… you are to offer a male without defect” (Leviticus 1:10). The grain offerings required salt. God said to Moses, “do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all of your offerings” (Leviticus 2:13). God blessed the people with what they had so they had to be willing to give some back.

In the book of Matthew, we learn believers are the salt of the world. We are the best part of an offering. Us. Our bodies, lives, and spirits are an offering to God. We are our best because God calls us to be salt and light- the most important part of the grain offerings back then. In some recipes, if there is no salt, it tastes bland. In this world, if there are no active Christians giving salt, the world will continue to fall harder and faster.

When something isn’t salty enough, there is no flavor and the food lacks enjoyment and purpose. If there was no salt in the grain offerings, they would not be the best things offered to God. In these offerings, salt offered flavor, gave purpose, and was shared with God. As believers, we are called to be the salt of the world. We are to offer all that we are, give freely, and share the Gospel.

If the salt was taken out of the offerings, it wasn’t a true offering since the people were keeping the best part for themselves: the salt. If we lose our salt, we are taking out the best part of our lives and offering the world no hope. With everything going on in the world today, people need salt (Sacrifice, Aid, Light, Truth). We are constantly offering something, even if it’s silence, a lack of excitement, no passion. Offerings can be negative, but believers are to offer the best of themselves, which is Christ in us.

As believers, we need to check our hearts and become true salt for the world like we are instructed. It will take living like Jesus, loving when it’s hard, giving flavor when we don’t feel like it, standing up for the needy, and giving resources freely. We serve God when we serve others.

Often, we want to keep the salt for ourselves so we keep the best. When we do this, our world becomes more bland, broken, and tasteless. Salt pours itself out with the help of the cook. We pour ourselves out with the help of the Holy Spirit and when we run out, He will fill us back up. We will never see change until we change our hearts and the amount of salt we pour into the world.

If salt is important in recipes, think how important we are in this world. Believers, we have the opportunity to provide salt in bitter places, love in hate, light in darkness, and comfort in chaos. We may not feel qualified, but God called us to live this way and He will provide. We simply must offer ourselves first, the best offering we can give.

Mat Carrier Mentality

One of my favorite things about the Bible is every time you read it you can learn something new. That happened to me today. I read the story about the paralyzed man who was lowered through a roof to be healed by Jesus. Just that short description of this story is fascinating. However, there is so much more to this already powerful story.

Jesus was often surrounded by large crows who wanted to hear His teachings and be healed by Him. This particular day was no different; Jesus was preaching the word in front of hundreds of people. A paralyzed man was being carried by four men. Because the room Jesus taught in was too crowded, the men decided to climb on a roof, cut a hole, and lower their friend in front of Jesus.

The paralyzed man had to trust his friends. I’m sure he was shocked when he was on top of a roof being lowered into a room to see Jesus face to face. Once he was there, Jesus performed two miracles. First, Jesus forgave the paralyzed man’s sins. Second, Jesus said “‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all” (Mark 2:11-12). Wow!

This view of the story is pretty incredible. A paralyzed man, who trusted his friends to bring him to Jesus, was healed because he was lowered through a roof. This is how I only used to view the story. Like I said before, there is more to learn from the story.

Let’s look at the four friends who carried their paralyzed friend. These men believed in the power of Jesus and they knew their friend had to see Him. These friends cared so much for the physical and spiritual health of the paralyzed man, they sacrificed time, energy, the price of the roof, strength, etc. The mat carriers couldn’t get to Jesus from the ground so they found an uncommon approach because they knew the impact Jesus could have on their friend’s life. They carried a full grown man for miles, cut through a roof with their hands, and believed in Jesus. We see that no effort or cost was too great for these men; they wanted their friend to meet Jesus.

None of the miracles would have happened if the mat carriers didn’t believe in Jesus’ power or sacrifice their own personal time. These simple mat carriers teach us that Jesus is worth any trail, inconvenience, cost, etc. if it means people coming to Jesus. Their actions that brought their friend to Jesus were based on their belief and picture of Jesus. If Jesus was insignificant or unworthy in their minds, the paralyzed man would have never been healed and we would have never seen a clear picture of sacrifice. They saw Jesus as a healer, redeemer, and restorer. Because they firmly believed these names of Jesus, their friend was able to personally experience these names. Four men who carried a mat saw two of the most amazing miracles because their view of Jesus was true.

How we view Jesus impacts how we live our lives.

Confession: Throughout high school and even some of college, I would cringe when my friends would want to sit down and have conversations about how we can ‘carry each other’s mats’ or what we have been learning in our own personal quiet times. This was partially because I valued my own life above what God had for me. I looked to my own ability or desires over what God wanted. Sacrifice was probably not even in my vocabulary. As I grew deeper in my relationship with Jesus and learned more about His character, I began to value these deeper conversations and found myself desiring ways to ‘carry people’s mats.’ Now, I find myself pushing for the discussions I used to reject.

How we view Jesus impacts how we live our lives.

Be a friend to the ‘paralyzed’ people in your life. Be willing to carry their mats and bring them to Jesus. If you’re totally against the idea, look in your heart and see what distractions, beliefs, or your own views of Jesus may be blocking your hands from grabbing the mat.

Some days we pick ourselves over others, but when our view of God aligns with the Word, we begin to find ourselves more willing and looking for opportunities to help people carry their mats to Jesus. When we learn more about Jesus and His character, we begin to pick up mats and crave Him even more. Then, people will be amazed, turn to God, and praise Him (Mark 2:12).

Water Under the Bridge

In high school, I had the privilege of going to Guatemala twice for mission trips. Changed my life. On our ‘fun afternoon’ (is it really a mission trip if you don’t have a fun day? Kidding) my team and I zip-lined around Guatemala. We saw mountains, bodies of water, endless amounts of trees and beauty as we sailed through the air. However, to get to the point of seeing stunning scenery, we had to cross a rickety bridge. At first, I questioned how sturdy the bridge was, but knew we had to cross it to get to the highest peak. We trusted our tour guides to lead us the right way and we crossed. The view was totally worth walking across the bridge. Halfway across I knew the bridge would hold us and I started to see the best view ever. I tell this story to say: sometimes bridges (pathways, situations, circumstances) in life may seem unstable, unwanted, and like God isn’t there. Just like my team and I did with our tour guides, we have to trust God to lead us across some questionable bridges to get to the major blessings He has for us.

On some bridges comes the questions of why should we trust God in the first place? If God is good, why would He allow Corona to happen or _____? How will this bridge benefit me? What if this bridge burns and crumbles beneath my feet? Not going to lie, some of these questions have gone through my head in this time of quarantine. It’s hard to see lots of good through this situation or in any bad circumstance. But good happens even in the midst of darkness. When thinking and reading about these questions, I remember we can and should trust God. He gave His only son to die for you and me. If that doesn’t deserve all of our trust, I don’t know what will. As author Ann Voskamp shares, “if trust must be earned, hasn’t God unequivocally earned our trust with the bark on the raw wounds, the thorns pressed into the brow, and your name on the cracked lips” (One Thousand Gifts)? God didn’t have to send Jesus and Jesus didn’t have to die. They did these things because they wanted to for us. Now that’s real love worth our trust.

Yes, being stuck at home is not my preference. Yes, experiencing death of loved ones was a bridge I didn’t want to walk across. Even good bridges can still seem unstable. I was beyond excited for my mission trips to Guatemala but also terrified of the unknowns. I was ready for college and knew I chose the right school, but worried because I didn’t know a single soul. Even on the sturdiest bridges, we tend to find sections where we can doubt instead of filling it with trust and expectation. I’ve come to notice God shows up the most when we genuinely trust Him the most.

For example, when Jesus was walking on water in Matthew 14:22-33, Peter trusted Jesus and kept his focus on Him. Therefore, Peter was able to walk on the water too. When Peter looked away from Jesus, he started to sink. No matter what ‘bridge’ we are on, when our focus if off Jesus, getting across gets more complicated and fearful. However, there is more to the story. Jesus saves Peter from the water. Peter shifted his attention off Jesus and Jesus still saved Peter. The water tried to take Peter out, but Jesus could walk on it. Jesus can walk on top of anything trying to take us out. Even if the bridge seems unstable to us, water and hard situations still flow beneath the bridge. When we only focus on the bridge itself or the situation surrounding the bridge, it’s hard to see the scenery and keep our attention on Jesus.

After Peter is safe, Jesus asked him why he doubted. I feel like Jesus asks us this question a lot. Jesus wants us to walk with Him. Sometimes it may be in the middle of a storm, but we’re still on a bridge. The bridge may seen unstable, but why doubt when we have Jesus? Just like the bridge in Guatemala, the best views come from traveling all the way across the bridge and trusting Him along the way.

The Beautiful Letdown

I think everyone can agree life is temporary. However, with what’s happening in the world, that phrase has a whole new meaning. Aside from physical death, there has been death of plans, dreams, goals, and excitement.

As a senior in college, I am heartbroken that my time on campus has come to a close. I have been mentally preparing myself for ending this chapter in May. That month was when I would say the hardest goodbyes, play one more basketball game in the gym, attend BCM one last time, and proudly walk out of my last class ever chanting “I DID IT!” Instead, my goodbyes happened without me knowing, basketball came and went, BCM is over, and I walked out of class for the last time without even realizing it.

We get consumed in our daily schedule, due dates, and goals that our days become muscle memory with a lack of purpose. I know this happened to me in college, especially with graduation constantly on my mind. Even though we often say we’re tired of our busy lives, when the business leaves, we feel uncomfortable. We’re bad at stopping and ‘smelling the roses.’ At this time, I think silence and being alone is our biggest fear. There are no longer sporting events, school, work, or activities to distract us and make noise. Sometimes, silence speaks the loudest to us.

God is giving us an opportunity to step back, reflect, and turn to Him. Yes, I sometimes wish this was done in a different way where my college life did not have to suffer. However, this life is not about me; this life is temporary. My life is not centered around my college experience or how long it lasted. My life is centered around Christ and HIS desire for the Gospel to be shared. Before we share the Gospel, we need to know Him. And we can’t know Him if we put what this life offers above Him.

Even through times of confusion, heartache, and frustration, God is giving us a uniquely-timed gift. He’s giving us the gift of rest and limited distractions. Everything that can turn our attention away from Him has been taken away. It’s rare and annoying, but needed for transformation. In the book of Hosea (2:2-8), God told Hosea to remove all temptations or distractions from his wife so she would come back to Hosea instead of selling herself to other men. God is removing all temptations and distractions so we may come back to Him. This is an act of grace and love, even in the moment it seems harsh. Because God is perfect, His wrath is perfect. Even in his wrath, He loves us and wants us to know Him.

I am sad that my college career has ended abruptly, but if people come to know Jesus because of the limited distractions, my lack of official college goodbyes is worth it. As someone said this past weekend, “if you are not a believer, this is the closest you will ever get to heaven and if you are a believer, this is the closest you will ever get to hell.” Discomfort here is worth the reward and party there will be in heaven. This world is not our home. The best is yet to come when we have a relationship with Jesus.

Therefore, “come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us, He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds” (Hosea 6:1).

Yet, God Forgives

For the person who doesn’t feel worthy of God’s relentless love or for the person who needs the reminder that it’s okay to be broken, this is for you. In a world full of competition, interviews, and status, it’s hard to feel truly known. People paint an image of who they think we are, or ought to be, without looking deep inside our hearts. However, maybe some of us don’t want to be fully known because the road leads to regret, shame, and shattered pieces. Covering up or sin may look better on the outside, but slowly suffocates us on the inside.

Even if we never share the extent of our heart with others, God already knows. You can’t hide a single aspect of your life from God. He knows everything about us; in fact, He created each of us. Between the good, the bad, and the ugly, He knows it all. It can be unnerving that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords knows my deepest and darkest regrets, thoughts, and desires.

YET He still longs for us to be His children and wants to use us to advance the Gospel. He wants to use a broken, powerless, ordinary individuals to share His glory, love, and grace. He wants to use you and me to proclaim the best story ever, His story of redemption. There’s no better way for Him to share His story of redemption than to use the people He has redeemed.

Don’t believe me? Let me tell you about a guy named David…

David grew up as a shepherd, fought a giant, and became a king; he was called by God. Like all of us, David has sin in his life he was ashamed of. He committed adultery with a woman named Bathsheba. Then, David had Bathsheba’s husband strategically placed in battle where he would be killed. David tried to erase his sin and hide it from everybody, like most of us do. Of course, God already knew and pursued Him in the brokenness.

In the book of Psalms, David writes about committing adultery with Bathsheba in chapter 51. David cries out to God and states, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me… restore to me the joy of your salvation.” David prayerfully offers his brokenness to God so that He may restore, heal, and redeem. David began to understand that God would never turn His back, even at our ugliest sins.

David wrote over 70 Psalms. He expresses how God will never leave or abandon us no matter how consumed in sin we are. When God feels far, it’s usually because we’re the ones trying to hide certain areas of our lives and aren’t intentionally communicating with Him. There is rescue in confessing sin, redemption to coming broken, and freedom to walking in His love.

If you feel like God could never forgive you for the sins you have committed, He has! God sent His son Jesus to cover our sin and shame once and for all. When we accept Jesus into our lives, and truly come to a place of repentance, our scarlett letters become as white as snow. If you feel like you must be completely broken-free before coming to Jesus, news flash, you will never reach that point. We are made of flesh and sinful desires; we will never be perfect. I have good news though. Psalm 34:18 declares that “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” He is close to the broken and works in our weaknesses. If we were perfect, we wouldn’t need Jesus to begin with.

Let God use your brokenness to display His redemptive, glorious spirit.

Survival Guide

When reading through the Psalms, the Lord is often referred to as our shepherd. During Bible times, shepherds weren’t that important. They often weren’t considered or adored by others. In fact, they dwelt at the bottom of the social status. So why should we be comforted that the God of the universe is referred to as our shepherd?

Psalm 23 discusses God being a shepherd. Some characteristics of God as our shepherd include, guidance, presence, and comfort. If God is reflecting shepherd-like qualities in this scripture, it’s necessary to look at attributes of regular shepherds.

Shepherds actually have a larger role than we may originally suspect. Yes, they watch the sheep, but there’s much more involved. A shepherd takes care of the sheep; they defend their herd from enemies that seek to cause harm. Shepherds comfort any injured sheep and are gentle towards each one. They guide the sheep to fresh patches of grass and clean water. They desire to see their heard grow and prosper.

God does all of these things for each one of us. However, unlike a regular shepherd, God does this with perfect love, grace, truth, and compassion. We just have to accept Him as our own shepherd and allow Him to guide us. There’s comfort in knowing our God uses ordinary people to explain and reflect His great might and power. There’s comfort in knowing God is gentle like a shepherd, walks with us like a tour guide, and leads us to places of peace and growth. There’s comfort in God being our shepherd.

I know sometimes I want to stay in the pasture I’m familiar with. Even if the grass is worn down, the water is getting dirty, and the area has given me all it can, I want to remain where I’m familiar with. However, just over the hill lies an area filled with tall green grass, fresh water, and new experiences. I’m not always aware of the new place, but the shepherd is and wants to guide me there. Without the shepherd’s direction, the sheep would never know about the new, beneficial place that lies ahead.

Let our shepherd, God, guide us to a new area where we can find greener grass, clean water, and more opportunities than we could imagine. The journey getting over the hill may be challenging, but the new pasture will be refreshing and worth the trip. Without Him guiding us, our lives are empty, purposeless, and will lack the green grass we didn’t know we needed.

If anyone is going to guide and protect me like a vulnerable sheep, I’m thankful it’s the God of the universe who made me and has a plan to prosper me. Let the Shepherd guide you to a place of rest, peace, and growth.

Joy to the World

Confession: I am terrible at coming up with titles or names. Creating a name for this blog, and titles for each post, is more stressful than it needs to be. The Joyful Journey was all I could think of that wasn’t completely lame, but it also means so much more.

I began to compare and contrast the words ‘joy’ and ‘happy.’ When simply looking up each word online, I found something pretty interesting. Joy is a noun, happy is an adjective. If there’s one thing I learned in elementary grammar, it’s that you cannot take a noun out of a sentence. If joy is the subject, you cannot remove the word. Sentences can be formed without adjectives, but all sentences need a noun.

The word joy becomes more than just a noun when reading the Bible; it’s a blessing from the Lord. Psalm 16:11 says, “You [God] make known to me the path of life, you will fill me with joy in your presence.” When we rest in God’s presence, we receive joy. Therefore, the more we rest in God’s presence, the more strength our joy will have. This type of joy is not based on emotion, feelings, or circumstances. It simply is apart of our lives when we consistently spend time with God. He never promises us happiness, but He does declare joy over us.

A couple chapters earlier, Psalm 14 talks about fools. The chapter describes how fools never call upon the Lord. They are overwhelmed with dread because God is present with the righteous, not fools. These fools weren’t resting in the Lord’s presence, creating fear in their lives and a lack of joy. They could feel something was missing, even though they didn’t fully understand what was missing. We’re impacted negatively and lose joy when we don’t spend time with the Lord.

If you constantly feel a sense of dread or lack of joy, look to what you’re basing your attention, happiness, and thoughts on. If it’s not Jesus, you won’t have true joy. I believe that sometimes we don’t want to call upon the Lord because we want our own way. However, if we’re not receiving joy from the Lord, we will miss a crucial part of our lives. Happiness comes and goes as fast as our emotions watching Atlanta sports (rip). When God gives us joy and since He’s our rock, we won’t be shaken in times of distress. Happiness will fade, but joy is found in the everlasting presence of God.

In trials, we can be filled with joy and rejoice without necessarily being happy. Losing a job is not something to be excited about, but there can be rejoicing in who God is and His bigger plan. We can trust God and rest in the comfort He continually offers.

This blog, The Joyful Journey, has a deeper meaning than I originally thought. Life is a journey. Sometimes the journey is fantastic and sometimes the journey completely sucks. While the journey isn’t always happy, it can always be joyful with the Lord.

Expectant in the Waiting

I am a highly impatient person. I am quick to yell in traffic, cringe at long lines, and the thought of waiting 2 weeks for a package to be delivered is daunting. In a world full of hustle and bustle, what happens when our Savior calls us to wait?

He made people wait 400 years between the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible. He probably won’t make us wait that long now, but sometimes a few years or even a few months can feel close to 400 when we’re wanting big answers from God.

When we’re caught in the waiting period for however long, keep pressing into the Lord. Be expectant, be hopeful, be joyful. In the waiting, build up your faith, dive into scripture, and keep seeking a relationship with Jesus. God changed the world after the 400 years of waiting by sending His son, Jesus. His biggest act of love was displayed after hundreds of years of waiting and confusion. He was fulfilling His promises and growing individuals, all in His perfect timing.

We may feel stuck, discouraged, or what feels like a long line to talk to God. The people in the Bible waited 400 years to see God’s plan begin to come full circle. Imagine how these individuals felt. A son was prophesied, then silence fell. The waiting is worth it. Even when the world offers Amazon Prime, Fast Passes, and the Peach Pass, waiting is worth it. Jesus is worth it.

Even when God seems silent and feels far, He is constantly working in our waiting. We can’t see every detail. If we could, we wouldn’t have any dependency on God; we wouldn’t be forced to trust Him in every aspect of our lives.

Psalm 46:10 tells us that God says “Be still, and know that I am God.” Sometimes, God wants us to sit, be silent, and reflect on who He is. Be silent to hear His voice but don’t be silent about Him. In the waiting is when the most growth can happen and when God is preparing the way for what is to come.

God made the people wait 400 years for Jesus. If He’s making you wait right now, He is going to do something BIG in your life. He may be preparing you for the future and you don’t know it yet. Waiting is a blessing even when it feels hopeless.