Faith

First of all, let me say Happy 4th of July to everyone!  Thanks to all who make our Freedom possible.  I believe we all know that Freedom isn't free.  We are so grateful to those who fight and protect this country.  Thank you for all that you do!

So today I was driving and thinking about a note that I received from a new friend the other day.  The note talked about finding Christ through tragedy when we'd given up on him all together.  So I decided to talk a little about restored faith. 

I don't know a person out there that hasn't at some point or another turned their back on God.  Usually it is followed by losing someone or something extremely important.  We are so quick to say Thank you Lord for the blessings...and WHERE ARE YOU GOD? in the bad times.  I told this friend of mine that Coach asked that question to a friend of his a while back and the answer was so true...

God is in the exact same place that He was when His son was on the cross.

Sometimes I think we forget that He too has been through the storm.  God doesn't want us to hurt...He doesn't want us to turn from Him...in fact, He desires us to grow through those times as better Christians.  Yet, some stray.  Some wander into life without Him.  That is the thing...when we are young Christians, I think we have a different view on being "saved".  We think that by asking Jesus into our hearts we won't suffer any pain...go through any sad times.  And that isn't true at all.  What it means is that HE is with us the entire time.  Good and Bad.  And that in the end, we'll see why we went through those times in our lives. 

If you can just for a second...think back to some of the worst times in your life...and then look forward.  What did you learn?  How did you come about learning that?  It isn't always that we are ready to give credit to Him, but when you reach that point in your Christianity...you see it.  Clarity.  You understand it.  You know that without pain and suffering, we wouldn't know what He went through or how much He loves us.  Storms in life change who we are.  And that is scary.  We don't necessarily want to change...but God knows we need to.  Tough times make us look at everything differently.  We re-evaluate.  We re-arrange our lives.  We re-prioritize our priorities. We renew the commitments we have made to the ones we love the most. And most importantly, we re-store our faith.  We come to realize that He is the only thing we have to hold onto...and we cling tightly.  And when we reach the point where we made it through the storm, hopefully we realize how we made it and spread that love to others who might not know it is there.

Today, think about your relationship with Christ.  Does it need to be restored?  Renewed?  Do it.  That is all I've got.  Do it.  I am and I think we all should.  Have a blessed day!
Amy