just breathe

Dear Lord,

Right now, my life is a whirlwind. I'm moving. I'm remodeling the new condo. I'm selling and downsizing my stuff. I'm trying to keep up with summer school assignments. I feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day. I'm living at such a fast pace, never stopping to breathe. I've been putting my relationship with you on the back burner as I race against the clock to complete my long to-do list before school starts again in August. I almost forgot to write this post.

Lord, help me to remember to keep my focus on you and honor you through my crazy life. I know this is a season of testing my priorities, and I need to make time for you. Having an unfinished project before the start of school isn't going to affect my eternity. If my projects don't go as planned (which has seemed to become a recurring theme recently), help me to set aside my bitterness and stress and be thankful for the reminder that I -- a sinner -- am not in control of my own life, but you -- the God of the universe -- are. You have much more beautiful and valuable plans for my life. Help me to have peace in that promise.

I am exhausted, Father. I feel like I have to do this all alone. But those are lies. You are with me. Only you can give me the rest I need. You tell me --

 just breathe. 

come and rest at my feet. 

chaos calls but all you really need is me.

(lyrics from breathe by jonny diaz)

When I heard this song, it hit me like a pound of bricks. I know there is something more than this crazy life. So why am I living as if there isn't? The world is consumed by speed. Efficiency. Time management. Think about it -- fast-food, high speed internet, movies replacing books. Its almost impossible not to be busy in today's lifestyle. 

I've always wondered why that is. One lyric from this song really pointed it out to me: I'm busy, busy, busy and its no surprise to see that I only have time for me, me, me. When we live at a crazy-fast pace, we don't have time to notice, much less invest time, in the people around us. We don't have the spare seconds to hesitate. We don't stop and think. We don't listen. We don't want to slow down to listen to that voice inside us doubting the world we live in, wondering if there is something more, wondering if there is redemption. I believe that the 21st century is addicted to speed because it feeds our selfishness, and we don't even have enough time to realize it. The devil has sucked the world into this trap, and now it is nearly impossible to escape. 

- Savannah Brooke

Why do you think that our culture loves a fast-paced lifestyle? Do you find yourself falling into the trap as well? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

living unconventionally

Dear Lord,

A common phrase comes to mind when I consider how you call me to live: "be in the world, but not of the world." But when I think about it, what does it really mean? How exactly do believers live among sinners, as sinners themselves, but not be "of the world"? It seems like a very broad and open-ended command.

(*disclaimer: When I talk about "the world," I do not reference the people in the world, merely the result of Satan's power over it.)

The first part of the phrase is much more straightforward. You placed me on this Earth for a purpose. I must live in this broken world for a short time, because it is Your plan and good will come out of it. However, while I must be in this world, I cannot be of the world. In other words, I cannot allow the world to own me and consume me by its deception. In John 2:15, you command me "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." I cannot serve two masters, and this choice is an easy -- but oh so complex -- one.

Sin has consumed modern culture, and needy people have turned to materialism, selfishness, drugs, sex, and even violence in an attempt to solve their problems; yet, no matter how hard they search, they still can't find satisfaction. Only You can fill this void inside all our hearts. Now, because I have you, I have no need to chase after false solutions to my brokenness. I know that You alone are my answer. The world can no longer lure me with the lie that I can find "happiness" in its lifestyle. I know the truth -- that joy comes from You alone. 

You call me to stand out from the crowd and live radically. How can I say no? This world has nothing for me. I can no longer find any value in the things I own. I am no longer happy when I get my own way. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is inside me, filling my soul with joy, peace, grace, and unconditional love. I don't want to walk away from that to join the chaos of the world (although often times my sinful nature says otherwise).

The challenge comes when you call me to enter into the world. After all, during Jesus' time on Earth, he did not stay isolated to his own safe little group of disciples. No. You went out into the broken world and loved. And not with the "love" the world labels as a "good act;" the motive behind it is merely for personal gain. This was a sacrificial love that only You can perfectly display. As your ambassador, You call me to love people with gentleness and forgiveness, even when they don't deserve it. You want me to love them enough to humbly challenge them, even if it threatens my own reputation. That is how I am your hands and feet. In John 15:18, you warn me "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." Because you lived differently, I will now live differently.

- Savannah Brooke

is God enough?

Right now, my family is in the process of moving from our rental house to a small condo we just purchased. And I'm not too thrilled with the move. I hate change. The condo isn't everything I want it to be. It's small and dated. I'm trying to be content with it, but I always return to my disappointment and complaints. I know that God calls us to be content with what we have. Material things are temporary. Eternal things like my relationship with God are so much more important. But, I was missing the bigger warning flag my discontentment raised.

This morning, during my quiet time, I started reading an amazing book called Lies Young Women Believe. When I read the first lie many girls my age fall for -- God is not enough -- my gut reaction was "I don't believe that!" I know that God is who he says he is and he is everything I need. However, there is a big difference between knowing in your mind and believing in your heart. As I continued reading, the authors spoke about the signs of those believing this lie -- discontentment and dissatisfaction. And suddenly, the Holy Spirit convicted me. He made the connection. I didn't realize that I was being deceived by Satan's lies. I merely thought that my discontentment was disobeying God's command to be joyful. In reality, I was doubting the character of God. I was falling for the trap that I needed something other than God to be happy. That couldn't be further from the truth.

The fall of man in the Garden dug a giant hole in my heart. God created man for close relationship with Himself. When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, sin entered the world, and with it, eternal separation from their Father. Now, humanity craves that relationship they are missing. As a result, we try to fill that hole with anything we can find -- friendships, materialism, romance, etc. But searching for fulfillment in anything other than the Lord is claiming he isn't enough.

Hebrews 13:5 says, "Keep your lives free from money and be content with what you have, because God has said 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" When I first read this verse, I didn't quite understand the connection between the command -- to be content -- and the reason behind it -- God will never leave us. As I dug deeper, I realized that this verse is a perfect representation that dissatisfaction is doubting God's character. God calls us to be content with what we have because material things will fall short of solving the deep aches in our heart. However, He will always be with us and He is capable of satisfying our deepest desires. He is enough to heal our brokenness. And he will be there when everything around us fails. God gave us everything we needed on the cross -- forgiveness, love, relationship, eternal life. Now, because of the hope we have in Jesus, He also gave us the freedom to be not only content, but joyful.

- Savannah Brooke

Are there things in your life you feel that you need other than God to make you happy or complete? I encourage you to go before the Lord and ask him for a peaceful and content heart. I would love to pray for you as well on our journey to relying on God alone, so please comment below!

ask, seek, knock

Dear Lord,

I find it so easy to get stuck in the motions. Read the Bible, pray, go to church, repeat. My mind is there, but my heart is not. I lack a passion for You. I want you to be my heart's deepest desire. Help me to crave your presence. I want to chase headlong after you and your character, because I know that what I will find will not disappoint. Lord, I have seen the effects of your love, but I want to know your love. I see Your light before me, but I want to understand every part of that light. In everything, give me eyes to look beyond the surface and find you working behind the scenes. My prayer is this: "You God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water." (Psalm 63:1)

On this journey, Lord, I long to be like David -- a man (or, in my case, woman) after God's own heart.  At the beginning of time, you called me by name and put my first desire for you in my heart -- to accept you as my Lord and Savior. Now, I pray that you would put the desire in me to know you deeper. Only you have the power to relight my passion, for my sinful nature would always choose rejection. So, Father, I ask that you reveal Yourself to me as I seek after your character, that when I knock on the doors of you heart, you would answer with open arms.

- Savannah Brooke

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Luke 11:9-10