If that's what it takes to praise You, then Jesus bring the rain!

I don’t care much for storms. I don’t like thunder, lightning, heavy rain, or the possibility of bigger storms like tornadoes. I just don’t. Never have. I guess you can say I’m a little kid when it comes to storms. I mean, I don’t go running to my mommy and daddy, but I still don’t like storms.

There have been storms several days out of the past couple of weeks down here in the south, and I haven’t been a very happy camper because of that. Which has got me thinking…why is it that we’re always in amazing moods on bright sunny days but bad moods when it’s rainy and miserable outside? It’s all in your attitude towards it.

I know when I wake up and it’s a yucky rainy day, I pretty much dismiss any ideas of the day going well. It’s dark, miserable, depressing…but when it’s sunny out, I’m content and happy. Like I said, it’s all in the attitude.

However, according to Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” Whether it’s rainy or sunny, warm or cold, tornado or clear, today is a gift of God, and we should be glad that He at least gave us another day rather than taking it all away from us. We shouldn’t complain about it because at least we’ve lived to see another day.

It’s days like this that I think of the words written by Mark Hall of Casting Crowns in the song “Praise You In This Storm”:

“…So I’ll praise You in this storm,
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am.
And every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hands.
You’ve never left my side.
And though my heart is torn,
I’ll praise You in this storm!”

I think Mark Hall is an amazing lyricist! His songs have so much truth and meaning in them. I think in “Praise You In This Storm”, the word “storm” has a double meaning. First, it can literally be a storm. We need to praise God not only on the beautiful sunshine-y days, but also during the rain, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. It’s a hard thing to do, but if you do it then you’re attitude will be much better and you will be much happier!

I also think “storm” has a figurative meaning, as well. Everyone goes through “storms” in their lives. People go through break-ups, loss of friends or family, losing a job, your dreams/goals not working out, etc. The storms will come, that much is inevitable. It’s how you react to them that shows your true character and faith. If you let these storms consume your life, what will you have left? But, if you decide to praise God for these things, for the wisdom you get through experiencing them, for life in general, happiness will follow. As Christians, we are not promised that we will not experience storms, but we ARE promised that God will be walking right there with us, holding our hand, throughout the storms. Sometimes, we need to experience the bad storms so that we know how good we have it on the bright sunny days. Yet another song comes to mind – “Bring the Rain” written by Bart Millard for his band MercyMe. I’ll leave you with the chorus from it:

“…So I pray…
Bring me joy,
Bring me peace,
Bring the chance to be free,
Bring me anything that brings you glory.
And I know there’ll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that’s what it takes to praise you

Jesus, bring the rain!”

God's Will in my life

I wrote this about a month ago, but I thought I'd use it as my first blog post...

God's Will In My Life
-February 23, 2009-

So for a while now, I’ve been kind of obsessed with the continent of Australia (talk to any of my friends and they’ll agree), but I’ve never been exactly sure why. And I’m still not sure. But, I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately…

Every summer since 7th grade, I’ve gone to a summer missions camp called M-Fuge. It’s a LOT of fun and I look forward to my 8th year going this next summer (shameless plug :D). But the past few years, I’ve felt more and more that God may be leading me to missions, which is so not what I had in mind for myself, but of course, His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor our ways His ways. Anyway, so I’d spent several years contemplating whether or not God was really calling me to missions or I was making myself feel that way for some reason. Then, 2 years ago at M-Fuge in Philadelphia, during the one of the last services before going home, I prayed that God would show me what He wants me to do. If He wanted me to be a missionary somewhere, whether here in the US or in another country, I would do it. If He wanted me to be a teacher, which personally has been my plan since I was a little kid, I would do it. If He wanted me to do something completely out of the ordinary, I would do it. Then, shortly after I finished my prayer, the song “You Never Let Go” by Matt Redman began to play and I started to cry, because I realized that no, God really doesn’t ever let go. He never let go of my heart, kept bringing me back to missions somehow.

So what does all of this have to do with Australia? Well, I’m not exactly sure. But (and this may just my thinking again, not sure yet) but maybe, that is where God wants me to be. Maybe part of His plan for me is to move to a completely different continent, to serve Him. Maybe that’s the reason I have an obsession with the land down under. Maybe that’s where I’m meant to be…

Like I said, I’m still not exactly sure, but I do know this-I’m willing to do whatever God wants of me. And for me, that’s kind of a scary thought, giving up my dreams in order to fulfill God’s plans for my life, especially since I haven't had all that much experience with missions work-just M-Fuge and Acteens, as well as a few other things with my church. But, I know that it’s totally worth it. I know that God wants the best for His children, even if that means that we have to give up our dreams in the meantime.

So am I going to move to Australia to pursue missions? Is that why I’m posting this? No. I’m posting this kind of as a way of trying to figure it all out, if that makes sense. I’m posting this mainly for me, so that I can remember the promise I’ve made to God to do whatever He wants me to do.

Thy will be done, Lord, not mine. Let me know what You want me to do, and I’ll do it. I’m just waiting, Lord, trying to be patient.