She knew it... she knew something had happened. She waited and waited and he never showed up. She was thinking back to earlier in the week when he called her to ask her out. They didn't go to the same school, but she knew who he was. He was amazing! He was the guy that all the girls talked about... and he was asking her out! They talked a couple times during the week but homework was crazy. Plus, she didn't want to seem too anxious. But she couldn't help it. Then, before she knew it, it was Friday! THE DAY! She hurried home and got ready. Took a shower. Got out her clothes (5 different outfits just in case she didn't like the first one she had picked). And now, 3 hours later, she was ready......... and he never showed up. He didn't even call. Now her mind swirled with questions, hurt, anger, confusion, and so much more. "Why didn't he come?"
Now maybe that story doesn't speak to us. But it seems like nearly all of us have had those moments that we waited anxiously for... and then there was a big let-down. And the truth is, that being a Christian can be like that. We set ourselves up with big expectations like "Now that I'm a Christian, everything will be perfect" or "If I do this for God, He will bless me"... but what happens when He doesn't show up the way we expected? Or maybe a tougher question... what if what's best for us is what we don't want?
But there's something about being on that "bad side" of circumstances. There's something about taking a stand for something that our friends just don't understand or that people make fun of. There is something about realizing the pain or difficulty we are going through is actually bringing us to a closer relationship with Jesus.
You may be feeling really tempted right now. You may be feeling like giving up. You may be worried what people would think. You may be waiting for Jesus to show up... and you feel like He never does...
But today, read Matthew 5:3-12. Notice how many of those people that God blesses are not things the media challenges us to pursue. Why would they keep us from these things? If God is who He says He is, and will do what He's promised to do... then why do we believe lies about life instead of Jesus, Himself? READ, THINK, DISCUSS, LIVE
It's Day 4... time to get away from the noise. Find a way to sit in silence for 30 minutes today and journal what you noticed and thought.
Day 3
From Sarah Cassidy:
This is a passage that I was struck by this week and it seems to really fit with what those of you who are doing the media fast. It comes from Deuteronomy 30:
I was just struck by the choice that God gives us daily to seek His will and follow through with it. Although the promise of the land across the Jordan doesn't really apply to us, God does promise life eternal with Him basking in the glory of His light. The "word" is close to us, in fact, if we are believers the Word lives within us and speaks to us constantly. All we have to do is listen to that voice, hold fast to Him and no other, and the Lord becomes our LIFE, now and forever.
This is a passage that I was struck by this week and it seems to really fit with what those of you who are doing the media fast. It comes from Deuteronomy 30:
11) Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12) It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13) Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14) No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. 15) See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16) For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17) But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18) I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19) This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20) and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life
I was just struck by the choice that God gives us daily to seek His will and follow through with it. Although the promise of the land across the Jordan doesn't really apply to us, God does promise life eternal with Him basking in the glory of His light. The "word" is close to us, in fact, if we are believers the Word lives within us and speaks to us constantly. All we have to do is listen to that voice, hold fast to Him and no other, and the Lord becomes our LIFE, now and forever.
