Finding Favor

The word "favor" has been showing up everywhere for us the last few weeks.  

It seems silly to connect "favor" to such a dysfunctional year.

2020 for almost everyone has felt like anything except for favor.

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For so long, we have viewed & used the word "favor" in the wrong way.  

We connected the favor of God to what we call blessings or when things fall into place.

The last few weeks - through reading the Christmas account of Mary - we have adjusted our idea of favor and realized that favor through the lens of the Kingdom is quite the opposite.  

The favor that was upon Mary also brought with it a lot of unwanted companions.   Her circumstance from the human eye looked unfavorable.

Throughout our journey together as a couple, we have faced some gut wrenching circumstances.  Some that left us separated, alone, confused, and hurt.  

Some that we still bare the scars from today.

In those moments, I would have never correlated the favor of the Lord with that suffering.  NEVER.  

There were times I can remember crying out to the Lord and feeling the stiff silence from Heaven.  

It most definitely felt like I was forgotten and not favored.  

Now, looking back, I see it all so differently.  

We were being refined.  We were being stripped down, peeled back, and rebuilt.  

We are now walking as new creations because of the suffering that we endured.  

Favor often disguises itself as inconveniences and interruptions.   

Why?  

Because it is meant to make us more like Jesus.

I listened to a Christmas sermon earlier this week & was left amazed by one of the closing points.  The pastor talked about the Lord being "Emmanuel - God with us".  

I have always loved that name for Him.  The idea that He is came to be WITH us is overwhelming.  

But, I had never made the connection that this pastor made.

At the end of Matthew - when the Lord was sharing The Great Commission - the last thing he said pointed back to His birth.

"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" Matthew 28:20

I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS.

That ... is favor.

The truth is, we all have favor in Emmanuel.  

This Christmas, we are redefining "favor".  

It isn't financial or physical.  It isn't tangible.  But, it sure is precious.  

Emmanuel.  God with us!

Si Dios lo permite ... If God allows it

Si Dios lo permite ... If God allows it

This is a very common saying in the Spanish language.

For years now, we have heard it in every day conversations.

When you invite someone to something ...

When you plan something together ...

When you talk about the future ...

When you talk about possibilities ...

I have always smiled in my heart at the sound of this phrase.

After all, the Bible makes it clear that we should live in the framework of that thought.

Now more than ever, we are realizing the true weight and value of those words.

2018 taught us a lesson about those words in a very hard way.

Since returning to PR in January, things have been uncertain and unstable to say the least.

Over the last few months, we have learned the meaning of those words yet again.

We are very clearly still learning about what it really means for the Lord to be the one to decide what we do & what we do not do.

This lockdown has revealed to us that even though we have surrendered our lives to the calling that The Lord placed on our family, we are still living as if everything that we plan is certain to come to pass.

We fill our daily, monthly & yearly calendars with plans for work at ministry sites, ministry events, short term mission teams, and travel plans.

All with great intentions ... with a desire for the Lord's ministry on the island to continue to reach more young people.

But very rarely considering what will happen if the plans fall through.

Once again, as He has done more times than we can count, The Lord has interrupted our plans.

• Visits in April from both sets of our parents have been canceled.  Being away from family is hard.  These visits help us to connect and give Josie time to make memories.  That time together now has to be rescheduled.

• So far, five mission teams have had to cancel their trips for 2020.  So much time goes into preparing and planning for these teams and their trips.  So many people are involved in fundraising, planning, preparing & executing the work.  Camps have been canceled, kids have been disappointed, & needs are not being met.  It is hard to keep our hearts from wondering why these "plans for good" have fallen through.

• General Assembly - a conference for our global Youth For Christ International family - was postponed.  Missionaries, staff and volunteers from around the world have been looking forward to & planning for this opportunity in The Netherlands for 3 years now.  The conference is now rescheduled for 2021 and we are left with disappointment.

We make intentional efforts every single day to creatively plan ways to reach more people with the Gospel. build awareness of the ministry needs, & maintain connections with our support system worldwide.

Yet in an instant - all of the hours spent in planning and preparing for everything mean nothing as one by one the plans have been dissolving.

We can all plan, budget, dream, have goals and write itineraries.

But in the end, we truly have zero control of the outcome.

We have been reminded yet again that if it is not something that He allows, it simply will not come to pass.

As we exhale each day & process more news of cancellations, delays, disappointments, and extensions of this lockdown, those same four words continuously come to mind.

Si Dios lo permite  .... If God allows it

This interruption has made us fully aware of our true responsibility in the Lord's work in this world.

We are simply managers of what the Owner of it all has entrusted us with.

The time, talents and treasures that we have in this life are not ours.

They have been given to us to steward, care for, expand, share, and to manage.

No different than when we borrow something from someone else & ask their permission before we use it, we should be intentional about seeking The Lord before we use these resources.

We own nothing.  We control nothing.

If THE LORD allows something to happen, our hearts can rejoice with thanksgiving & praise.

If THE LORD does not allow it, our hearts can still rejoice knowing that it must not have been His best.

So ... as we wait to see how & when this season will come to an end, we are intentionally choosing not to waste what we have been given.

You see, we are still held accountable for what we are doing with our time, talents & treasures during this time of isolation & uncertainty.

We can choose to use this time to make an impact on this world that carries on long beyond our lives.

We can have an enteral Kingdom impact if we steward well this season despite the discouragement and disappointment that we are feeling and facing.

Si Dios lo permite .... If God allows it.

May we never go back to how things were before this.

May our lives & schedules always reflect the work that was done in our hearts in 2020.

May this world be forever changed because of the way we choose to steward this season!

Lord, we are listening.

Hearts around the world are stirred and fearful.

The world is watching the news to see what the latest is on this virus.

I heard a pastor share this morning that the news is meant to be checked not watched.

We have to guard our minds and hearts more than ever to be sure we aren't swept up in the chaos.

The Lord most definitely does not desire that for His children.

So this morning, we listened to a devotional for some fresh encouragement.

The scripture that was shared was Acts 17:24 - about the creation of the heavens and Earth.

But, after reading ahead in that chapter, these words came alive in a fresh way in regards to our current worldwide reality.

We couldn't keep it to ourselves.

Acts 17: 24-31

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.  

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Here are the truths that stood out to our hearts this morning.

The Lord created this world and everything in it.

If He created it all, we can stand confident that nothing is bigger than Him.

So, how much should we trust that He is able to handle a virus that caught us all off-guard?

He is not surprised by this.  He is fighting for us as our Defender, Provider, and Protector.

The Lord DOES NOT live in temples made by man.

So much talk over the last few days about churches shutting the doors and canceling services.

So many opinions and judgemental comments.  Pastors are under a lot of pressure to get their response "right".  There's no way to please everyone.

Let this virus serve as a strong reminder that God does not dwell in the four walls that we call the church.

We have become so dependent on the four walls of the church to "nourish" our souls.

In these days, we will have to become our own worship leaders.

We will have to dig into the Word on our own to be fed.

WE are the temples that He dwells in.

The Church is still alive and well.  We have work to do in our own hearts and in this hurting world.

While you are away from your services, take time to pray for & love on your Pastor.

He is commanding us to repent.

By far the most powerful verse for us this morning was verse 30.

"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands ALL PEOPLE EVERYWHERE to repent".

Could it be that we are watching this very verse come to life?

Is The Lord giving us a chance to truly turn back to Him?

And in His loving-kindness, willing to overlook all of our times of ignorance and foolishness as we turn to Him and truly repent?

Our hearts all along have felt that The Lord is using this virus to get the attention of the world.

So ... now what?

We live robotic lives.

pre-programmed by schedules

 rushed around

performance driven

too busy for interruptions

striving to out-do, out-work, and out-perform those we compare ourselves to 

We have collectively been missing out on His purpose for our lives for a while now.

Is He slowing us down?

Meditate on this scripture.

Repent & remember that this world is HIS.

We were created for a purpose.

But that purpose was most definitely not to arrogantly parade around His world as if we were the ones in charge.

We are praying for each of you as you stay home, protect your loved ones, and slow down for a bit.

We plan to continue to do the same.

This song is so beautiful.  We hope that it will encourage you as it has done for us.

"I'm sorry when I've just gone through the motions
I'm sorry when I just sang another song
Take me back to where we started
I open up my heart to You
I'm sorry when I've come with my agenda
I'm sorry when I forgot that You're enough
Take me back to where we started
I open up my heart to You"