unfailing love

I was trying to clear off the mess of my computer and I found this little treasure…

Unfailing: not giving way, not falling short of expectation, completely dependable, inexhaustible, endless

Psalm after psalm gives word and testifies to God’s unfailing love. The writers put their hope in it; they let their lives rest on it. The reason? Because God’s love is UNFAILING! His love will never give way. His love never falls short of our expectations… we can’t even fathom how deep it is. His love is completely dependable. His love is inexhaustible. His love is endless. Wow. And he offers that ridiculous love to us? We could never come close to deserving that even in the least amount, not one drop is because we deserve it. The gift of his love is a result of his love.

Psalm 143:8
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

REFUGE: shelter or protection from danger; trouble; anything to which one has recourse for aid, relief, or escape; security, asylum, retreat, sanctuary, haven, stronghold

Life gets crazy sometimes. Sometimes “sometimes” seems like all the time. But as a child of God, I have somewhere to go. It seems like my natural reaction to tough situations is run away. The running part isn’t what’s bad, I just need to change my direction. God wants his children to run TO HIM! He’s okay with our brokenness, our doubts, and our fears as long as we’re running to him and laying those things at his feet and under his care. Our “very present help” is our source of aid, relief, and escape. Not always escape from our situation, but escape from the fears and doubts that bring us down. We have the security of our salvation in him. He is our asylum from the lost logic of the world. He is our retreat where we find rest. He is our sanctuary where we find peace. He is our haven where we find our relief. He is our stronghold that we can depend on. We do not find our safety in temporal things, our stronghold is ETERNAL!!!

Joel 3:16
Psalm 2:12
2 Samuel 22:3
Psalm 46:1

thank the cow.

God really does know what he’s doing. Who knew?!

He has a ridiculously incredible way of working in all of his wisdom and planning things perfectly in a way we can’t even begin to comprehend. In the past I has struggled with the tendency to, oh, freak out! about everything. Being the visual learner that I am, God knew that he would have to show me a different way. So where did he take me? A magical place called Argentina.

One of the things that stuck out to me the most about the people of Argentina was their people first mentality. They weren’t constrained to a strict time schedule and making sure they come into their own. They were concerned with people, with openness, with quality time. They certainly work hard, but they care for people FIRST.

What do we do as Americans? Well, as I’m learning about in my sociology class… America’s prime values include the following: progress, efficiency, achievement, material comfort, personal success, activity, work, and science. Sounds like the description of what a Christian should be right? Not so much. These values were the source of a lot of my freak out moments. Now God has shown me a better way to live and, with the exception of my graphics labs, I’ve adapted to it surprisingly well.

He also gave me a semester at The Graphic Cow with no school to worry about to break my old habits of stress and anxiety. I love how God works on such a personal level. I don’t know that this would have been possible any other way. It’s becoming more and more clear to me that life is a process, we are constantly being molded and refined by our brilliant Creator, and why wouldn’t we want to be?

All of this hit me when I was driving back to school yesterday morning, thinking about how I was going to be late to class. I had stayed a few extra minutes at home to talk to my dad before I left. Seeing my dad before I came to school is something I’ve actually very rarely done in my lifetime. It was a treat. It was worth being a few minutes late. Does that sound Argentine or what?

A few words from Tozer on the incredible ways God works that he doesn’t always let us see…

When God created the heavens and the earth, darkness was upon the face of the deep. When the Eternal Son became flesh, He was carried for a time in the darkness of the sweet virgin’s womb. When He died for the life of the world, it was in the darkness, seen by no one at the last. When He arose from the dead, it was ,’very early in the morning.” No one saw Him rise. It is as if God were saying, ”What I am is all that need matter to you, for there lie your hope and your peace. I will do what I will do, and it will all come to light at last, but how I do it is My secret. Trust Me, and be not afraid.”

love it.