Encouraged

It was another busy, but fun, weekend as usual. I went to my mom's Mother Daughter Brunch at her church. It was great to see my mom so happy and proud to be there with her daughter and I know the weekend meant so much to her. There was a guest singer there, Ken Strong, who shared some music and a little bit of his testimony. I was totally encouraged just from listening to his music that praised Jesus and to hear part of his testimony. He talked about how he struggles with being single and that he has gone through times when he is upset with God about it. It was encouraging to know that I am not the only one that struggles with that. At the same time, I was encouraged to see him praise a LIVING GOD as a real person.

So many times we try to put up a front that we are alright. I know I do this a lot because I don't want people to see the real me. Well, it never fails that God will ask me to share a testimony - talking to youth, asking for prayer, falling face down at the feet of Jesus and spilling out my life. And God did just that at youth group Sunday night.

Our youth are studying tea book of John and I was privileged to teach John 11 Sunday night. If you don't' know that chapter, it is when Jesus raised Lazarus from tea dead. I hit the message hard by asking, "how does it feel when someone close to you dies? Why is it so hard when someone dies?" I had tea kids write down their answers. We shared and again I was encouraged. Before me sat 13 teenagers and 2 adults. They shared some tough feelings and some very personal thoughts. It was encouraging because they didn't hold back. They put themselves out there to be real.

As we discussed John 11 I had the kids answer another question, "How do you feel knowing that Jesus died for you?" The answers were rather different than the other questions. This question brought excitement and happiness to the kids. Why shouldn't it? Jesus made it possible for us to spend eternity with him. However, WE are tea reason that he had to suffer. Our sins nailed him to the cross. Our ugliness flogged and ripped his flesh. Our mouths hurled insults at him. But the cool thing is that HIS LOVE saves us from what we deserve.

I was totally encouraged by the lesson. I know that the words were meant for me to hear too. Jesus loves us and wants to show himself to us. We need to look for him in the big things and tea little things. We need to expect GOD-sized things to happen and not be disappointed when the little things don't happen. Mary and Martha were angry that Jesus didn't come to Lazarus right away and heal a sick man. Jesus waited to raise a dead man. That is something that is encouraging.

So many times I ask for things and wait and wait and wait yet nothing ever seems to happen. Maybe Jesus wants to do something bigger than I have asked. How encouraging is that - Jesus wants to "WOW" me! The questions is, do I want to be wowed by Jesus? I think I do ............................................... do you?