Regardless...what I learned, when God didn't.

Obviously I enjoy writing a blog, but I also enjoy reading blogs. When I come across one that really hits the mark for me, I love sharing it with you so you can add another one to your reading list. My new friend Hannah has a great blog, and today I've asked her to share with you so you can get a sense of who she is. I hope you'll read it and check out her other works on her site. Enjoy!

"You are invited to join us at for a special Hardship Service. 

Come share your darkest moments and hardest seasons with dozens of strangers.  Do you have a health issue that God hasn't healed? Come tell us about it!  Are you facing eviction because you haven't gotten that raise at work? We'd love to hear about it!  Have you been crying over a broken relationship that God hasn't restored? Come cry with us!" 

You will never see this service advertised on a church website or bulletin. Why? Because people love to talk about the amazing things that God does.

When He heals the sick. When He provides in miraculous ways. When He raises the dead to life.

But most people don't want to talk about times that God doesn't.

I am not one of those people. 

It all started with a blazing furnace and a simple declaration.

You've probably heard the story of crazy King Nebuchadnezzar and the furnace. I like to call him Nezzy for short. The story is found in Daniel chapter 3 and tells of three young men who refused to bow to the idol that Nezzy built of himself.

In a nutshell, they refuse to worship the idol so Nezzy throws them into the blazing furnace. But a miracle occurs and the three friends emerge safely from the flames without even a smell of smoke on their clothing.

This story is pretty unbelievable. But I believe the most unbelievable part comes not in the furnace but at the idol when the friends stand before the king. They say with boldness:

"But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Their faith in God gave them the audacity to say, "REGARDLESS of what happens to us, He is our God." Regardless. It means in spite of everything. Despite the prevailing circumstances. In the face of everything that tries to stop or hinder.

Honestly, sometimes it’s really hard to say those words.

In the GOOD times of blessing, provision, and health it's easy to say, "You are my God."

But it’s a different story when things are hard. In the BAD times, when they stay bad, and when God doesn't show up how you expected Him to.

But, I truly believe that if we want to grow into mature Christians we have to learn to praise God when He DOESN'T just as easily as when He DOES.

This was not an easy thing for me to learn.

In college something happened that changed my faith forever. It was a normal Friday night when all of the sudden I got a terrible headache and couldn't even stand. I tried everything to ease the pain but nothing worked. Months went by and I had every test under the sun but the doctors could not figure out what was wrong with me.

My grades slipped. My relationships suffered. My faith in God was shaken.

A year later I was diagnosed with something called NDPH (New Daily Persistent Headaches). The doctor said, "This means that for some reason you suddenly got a headache and you will have them for an undetermined time. There is no cure. Many people have it for the rest of their lives."

As you can imagine, that was not very comforting to me. But I knew that the Bible told me I was healed by Jesus stripes. So I prayed. I asked. I sought. I did everything you’re supposed to do. And you know what happened?

God didn't heal me.

I was so angry with Him because it didn't make sense to me that He could be ABLE to do something and still choose NOT to do it.

Months later, still in pain, I sat down to pray. I couldn't even find the strength to ask him one more time. So instead of praying for healing I simply said, "I love you." They were the only words I could muster.

And in that weak moment, I heard His sweet voice: “Daughter, your faith shouldn't be based on what I do. Whether I heal you or not, I’m still your God."

From that moment on I have been free!

To this day I still have headaches every single day. I don't know if God will ever heal me. And frankly...I really don’t care!

Because REGARDLESS of whether He heals me, blesses me, or gives me anything at all, He is still my God!

Today, you need to know that REGARDLESS of what is going on in your life, He is still GOD!

When we are in the tough times of life we tend to think that it’s God who has somehow changed. But in reality it’s us who decide to change, not God!

Malachi 3:6 God says: “I, the Lord, do not change." Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not human. He does not change his mind.”

God doesn't suddenly change on us. It’s us who change under the weight of our worries, pressures and disappointments.

There are three important lessons I learned when God didn't heal me:

1. DON'T LET YOUR FRUSTRATIONS CHOKE YOUR FAITH

Make a decision right now that you will trust Him REGARDLESS of your frustrations.

My struggle with healing left me so frustrated with God because I knew that He was ABLE to heal me but He chose not to. I started to let my frustrations blind me to who God was. This is a dangerous place to walk.

Maybe you are frustrated with yourself. With God. With others. I understand. But I want to challenge you to have a faith that doesn't hinge on what God does for you or in you, but hinges instead on who He is.

Faith isn't faith unless it is faith even if He doesn't.

2. DON'T LET YOUR WANTS CHANGE YOUR WORSHIP

Make a decision right now to praise Him REGARDLESS of what you get out of it.

We all want things. We want to be blessed. To be healed. To have life go a certain way. There's nothing wrong with having those desires. But the problem comes when we let our wants determine our worship.

We must do what is right, even if God doesn't do what we want or expect.

We often do quite the opposite.

Many Christians tell God that once they get what they want, then they will worship. But we don't worship to receive anything from God. We worship because of who He is.

He is worthy REGARDLESS of what we want!

3. DON'T LET YOUR PROBLEMS STOP YOUR PURSUIT.

Make a decision right now to seek Him REGARDLESS of your problems.

I used my problems as an excuse to stop seeking God. I thought because I was in pain that I got some kind of pass from pursuing His Presence. But I was wrong.

Having problems doesn't change the fact that God is the most worthwhile PURSUIT we will ever have!

REGARDLESS of what is going on in your life, God is still God.

If you ever get misguided in thinking that your hard life exempts you from giving everything to God, let me remind you that not only is He worthy, but He did the same for you.

REGARDLESS of your past. IN SPITE OF all your sin. AGAINST ALL ODDS of having a relationship. IN THE FACE OF EVERY OPPOSITION that tried to stop Him...

He came. He lived. He died. He loved. All for you.

I don't know about you but that is enough for me to say, "REGARDLESS of what is happening in me, to me or around me:

"Oh God, You are my God. Give me nothing  And I will still give you everything."

As you can see, Hannah has a great style, and I've really come to enjoy her blog. It's raw, challenging and she writes with humor and passion. Please take a moment to check out her site, A Wasted Life.

My first concussion

I was about to start this blog with, “I remember my first concussion like it was yesterday...” However, that would be a lie, because I actually remember nothing about my first concussion. Most of what I know has been told to me, and the few memories I have are a little disjointed. But the basic facts go something like this...  

It was during a morning PE class in my 8th grade year. We were playing softball during the Spring semester and sometime while we were outside playing or warming up I took a wack-a-poo on the back of my dome. The stories that came out from various “eye witnesses” were many and varied, but sometime after that, I collapsed while playing in the outfield.

My first memories of the events of that day are waking up in the training room. My friend Danny was sitting there in tears, just talking to me, trying to keep me alert. Next I remember being in the ambulance going to the hospital and discovering that I knew the ambulance driver as a member of our church. Next I remember Bob Smith coming in with a bag of Peanut M & Ms and we played poker using them as chips. Finally, I remember being in recovery the following day. That’s about it.

Apparently during my hospital stay, I had many visitors. I remember none of them. If you were one of them, please don’t take that personally...I don’t even remember my mom being there!

My youth pastor, Bob Smith, showed up with the M & Ms and  brining with him some pictures of a recent trip we had taken. As the story goes, I would glance through the 15-20 photos he brought, laugh at some, ask questions about others, and then set them down next to my bed. Moments later I would pick them up and repeat the same laughter and questions at the same pictures. I repeated this several times until my mom took the pictures away even though I declared, “Hey...I haven’t seen those yet!”

While my grandmother was checking in on her favorite grandson, my friends Sonia and Buffy (along with some one else) came to visit me. Like the well-mannered child that I was, I introduced them to my grandmother. Every 2 minutes. For about half an hour. I just wanted to make sure they knew each other well.

Those first few hours were pretty scary for my family. If I was scared, I soon forgot about it and moved on to M & Ms and pictures. My brother Phil told me, years later, how worried my dad was seeing his son so loopy. I think my parents always knew there were some wires criss-crossed, I just don’t think they expected it to show itself so severely and suddenly.

That’s what makes the events of that particular episode of my life so “memorable”; in an instant, life was changed dramatically and unpredictably. No one woke up that day and thought, “you know what, I’ve got a feeling that Joe is going to crack his melon today, get a serious concussion, spend a night in the hospital and miss a week of school with serious headaches and a mild case of amnesia!”

But that’s how life is, isn’t it? Just when you think you know the routine, just when you and I get comfortable with “normal,” something happens to radically change our perspective. A car accident. A doctor’s prognosis. A friend suddenly passes away. Something valuable gets stolen. A child becomes seriously ill. A grandparent takes a painful fall. (all of these events I took off my Facebook feed from the past seven days). Like the commercial says, “Life comes at you hard.”

There are no guarantees in this world but one: All of us are inching closer to the day our life ends in this world and begins in the next. That’s the only event we can be certain of, we are all going to pass on at some point. And while we know the reality of that end, we do not know the timing or the circumstances in which it will occur. So the question is: Are you living with the end in mind?

My 40th birthday has really brought about the somber reality that half of my life has passed (statistically). Even if I live to be 90 or 100, the fact remains that I am approaching the second half of my life. That reality has caused me to think more about what matters most to me, and how I want to spend the years, months, weeks, days, hours and seconds that remain. I’m asking God to help me narrow my vision to invest in the people and activities that matter most, so that what I do today, will live long after I’m gone.

I was in Chicago recently, visiting The Moody Church and a museum at Moody College that describes the life and times of its founder, Dwight L Moody. One quote really caught my attention as it pertained to Moody's vision for the school: "...when I am gone, I shall leave some grand men and women behind."

How’s your focus today? Are you living with the end in mind? Are you living in such a way that whatever God sends your way, whatever obstacles pop up on your journey, you’re in a place to trust the One who walks with you?

Life is full of uncertainty, but nothing catches God off guard. As you walk the Overboard Life, you walk with the One who know the future and knows the great plans He has for you. Are you trusting Him with His plans?

10 down, 30 to go.

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!