Greater

This morning at church was utterly refreshing. We had a time of praise as we studied Psalm 23 and then responded to God in worship. One of the songs we sang was "Greater" by New Life Worship. We've sang this song countless times before, and I even have it on a playlist on Grooveshark, but I've never really let it sink in until today. It's really quite  simple:

Find rest my soul
Confess you're weary
Surrender all
Embrace your healing

Pre-chorus:
I will cast my cares
For You have always cared

Chorus:
You are greater
Greater than the fight
That rages for my life
I have found my rest is in
You are brighter
Breaking through the night
Lighting up my sight
I have seen my rest is in You

Find hope my soul
You know He's with you
My Savior God
Still I will praise You

Bridge:
His yoke is easy
His burden is light
I have decided
I'm gonna fix my eyes
On the perfecter the author of my faith
Jesus Christ

So simple, yet so profound. He IS greater. Greater than all my stress and worries and responsibilities at this busy time of the year. Greater than any of my fears. Greater than any of my mistakes and sins. But the thing that really hit me is the bridge. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. Do I really believe that? More and more I have been finding myself despairing. I have found myself giving into the stresses of life and getting overwhelmed. But as I sang out this morning, I am going to surrender all, embrace my healing, and cast my cares upon Him. I'm going to find rest and hope for my soul.  I have decided I'm going to fix my eyes on Him who is Greater.

5 Things Friday- Things that are Ridiculous

Things that are Ridiculous

1. The size of Murray rooms... right now it looks like two people are living in here and my roomie doesn't move in til next week.

2. My new RA staff- we have wayyyy too much fun!

3. The fact that I couldn't fit one more shirt in my closet if I wanted to... I think it's time for some fall cleaning.

4. In our "Emergency Procedures Guide" that we get as RAs, there are a number of situations listed, in order of severity. "After Hours Custodial Response Procedure" is immediately followed by "Bomb threats and weapons." They sound pretty similar to me.

5. How sore I am after canoeing for an hour or two yesterday.

5 Things Friday- Things that are Going to Change

Things that are Going to Change [in the upcoming weeks]

1. I will be living with another human being

2. Class all day instead of work all day

3. I will be mother hen to 29 residents :)

4. I will be living in my small-town hall rather than the big-city Towers

5. Official senior status

5 Things Friday- Things that are Making a Difference

Things that are Making a Difference

1. Free Rice

2. CNN Freedom Project

3. Love 146

4. Reject Apathy Magazine

5. Not for Sale

5 Things Friday- Things that are Quotable

Things that are Quotable

1. "I can only be loved to the extent that I am known." - The Me I Want to Be

2. "I cannot stay where I am and go with God." - Experiencing God

3. "Every year you grow, you will find me bigger." -Aslan, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

4. "Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to hold power over another is to choose to limit oneself- to serve." - The Shack

5. "Do you realize that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely, if ever, pictures me [Jesus] there with you?" - The Shack

Flow Blocker: Apathy

When we trust in Him we're free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. - Ephesians 3:12

Gosh that's hard to remember. And even harder for me to live out. I know that God created me to be a fighter. To go after the things I know are right and true. To seek justice. To live with passion. To speak truth into situations. But sometimes that can be a really scary thing to do.

Because that means that I can't live under fear. And I can't live under apathy. Can I be real with you? Those are two of the biggest things I fight. Apathy hits me hard. Especially if I'm in the middle of something, if I've kind of gotten in the groove. And I think Satan tempts me with apathy because apathy is so opposite of who I'm created to be. The opposite of apathy is flow.

Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity (Wikipedia).

I want flow. I want to be fully immersed, involved, energized, and focused. I know that when I am enabled through the Holy Spirit's power to have flow in my life, I am much more effective in my activities, projects, and relationships. But I cannot be experiencing flow when I am giving into apathy. Apathy blocks me from living the life I know I am supposed to be living, the life I want to be living.

So now for a little dose of truth:

Truth: I get to be whoever God says I am and walk that out however I feel God is telling me to walk that out.

Truth: I cannot live out who God says I am by walking in apathy.

Truth: In order to be who God says I am, I cannot give into apathy, instead I need to be enabled by the Holy Spirit to experience flow in my life.

You might have noticed I kind of skipped over fear. Well, that's for another day. My soul can only take so much life-changing truth at once. :)