The Valleys and Hills

Just as a warning, this is a selfish post. Just some chest-lightening(is that a word?) I need to do for myself.

You know those days that you're systematically going through all the regrets you carry. It's kind of a mental task you have to perform every once in while, just to put them back in check and relinquish it all. It doesn't even say anything on how pleased or displeased you are with your life. I have a beautiful, godly wife, and three children I've been absolutely and undeservingly given. For me it's much more a struggle over myself. See, if you know me at all, then you know that my teen years were filled with either legitimate bouts of depression, or, much more often, times locking myself in my room feeling sorry for my "terrible" life. You know, the one with loving parents, a Biblical foundation, two awesome siblings, a healthy body, and a bright mind.

Luckily after getting out of that, and getting caught up in husband- and parenthood, God made it evident that I don't have the time to feel sorry for myself. Lives depended on me to get my head together. My studies(honestly by pure divine planning picking Biblical Studies) are what got me through it, by being forced to spend time in God's Word. Even though it was by proxy, by growing closer to the Lord His Word saved my life. It did. I was miserable before that.

But every once in a while I find myself faced with an old life. Regrets of stupid things I've done. People I've hurt or neglected, opportunities missed, wasted time, honest stupidity. We can all attest to the fact that I was immature and idiotic. Still am. But I have a Savior who gives hope to the future. A promise of eternity spent with Him. The hope of escaping death, as He did once. God willing, I'll have more opportunities ahead of me to give glory to Him. Of being someone that helps heal hearts instead of tearing them. Of doing right by God's will, because we've already seen what I'm capable of apart from Him.

Christ, you are my all in all, and I get to face you, my Savior, my Friend, my Beloved. I get to see what you look like. I get to behold Your hands. I get to look You in the eyes. I get to see what Your smile is like. I get to see what Your face shows when You look upon me with absolute joy. You've restored, You are restoring, and You will restore me. What a gracious, merciful God you are. I give my regrets to You, because I am dead to my old life. You've made me new. I am a new creature, with Your stamp on me. How great You are!

:) He is so good to us. Even in our times of seeming darkness, when we get lost in ourselves for a bit, He holds our hands and pours continuing grace on us. Let's not waste our lives. Let's give what little sacrifice we can to Him who changed our hearts forever.

Created

Do you know why you should be mindblown when you look around?

For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made, so that they are without excuse. -Romans 1:20

The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork -Psalm 19:1

Think about it. Why do people find such serenity in nature? Because it's just one big accident that worked directly against every law of physics we know? Because we live on the one chunk of rock in the known universe that just happened to get all the toggles right to create a habitable planet? No, let's just reflect a bit:

Looking out on a cotton candy sunset in the desert, colors dancing through the clouds
or eagerly anticipating the sun rising, slowly filling the sky with flickering flames
Maybe it's the feel of soft sand in between your toes
or how warm your skin will keep after staying out in the sun
How on your day off you can hide beneath the shade of a large tree
and listen to the life around you exult in its joy
Try standing out under a starry sky, away from town
and try to convince yourself that you're in control
As you look at trillions of stars, mammoth in size and yet a speck to you
Maybe it's watching a boy and his dog lost in their pleasure as they dodge a sprinkler
Or a little girl setting up tea party with her stuffed fellows in the back yard
Thick grass, inviting sun, fresh air, and sprawling palm trees

These are not accidental. These are beautiful. They are creative. True art is never just happenstance. And this is just southern California we're talking about. What about the beauties of an entire world? And we haven't even brought up how they attest to God's attributes. It's not even the tip of the iceberg. It's the frost hovering off of it.

I have an extraordinary God. And even in the fallen world, with man doing all he can to live for himself, there's so much left to look at. So much we couldn't destroy, no matter how we might try. You owe it to your Maker on that count alone to praise Him. He's infinite more than you. You're a speck, a particle in this gargantuan universe. And yet He still takes the time to make Himself known to you, someone who mocks Him daily.

Exalt Him. Praise Him. Sing His name to the heavens. Dance with Him. Laugh with Him. Smile and be overcome in true, complete joy. He is a God worth all of that, and infinity more.

And now that I'm done speaking to myself, some advice to you:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."