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Snow Day

I woke up this morning to a world covered in a white blanket of snow!

I live in Redding California, snow is not common here. It was literally only a few days ago that I was wearing shorts for the first time this year. Crazy how suddenly the weather can turn from warm sunshiny days to a cold and stormy winter wonderland.

Today was a snow day. Today did not go how I expected it to go. With the fresh snow covering the ground and more snow falling, attempting to drive anywhere was out of the question. Places were closed and events were canceled. It was as if the world had come to a stop. The world had slowed down and was suddenly filled with a new and unexpected beauty. Everyone, including my sister and I made time in our day to venture outside and enjoy the fresh snow. We went on a walk and made a snowman in our front yard and then let the rest of the day move along at a slow pace.

As I did morning devotions while looking out my window at the snowy world, I read this verse in Isaiah:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

I couldn’t help but think about how there is so much beauty in the unexpected. This verse is such a sweet reminder of the truth that God’s ways, even though they may not be what we want or expect, are always best.

I think of how the snow that I woke up to has changed a lot of my plans for today. And even though I had to adjust and make new plans, I welcome it because the snow brings a special kind of welcoming beauty. A snow day and the memories it brings will be much more precious than the other things I initially had planned for this day.

I also think back on my life and how so many of my plans and the things I wanted, did not come to pass. God had different plans for me and it took me a while to see that His ways truly were better for me. I am beyond thankful for a God who knows me better than I know myself and for a God who has so lovingly and intricately planned every detail of my life.

God has given me many snow days in my life. Days where He has told me His plans were going to be different than mine. And though many of these days have been hard, there has been beauty in each one of them and I’m thankful for them.

So, on this snow day, I’m reminded of how good and sweet our God is. That He uses the unexpected things in our life to bring beauty and glory to His name. I’m reminded that even amidst pain and hardships, there will be beauty, and God is always working, even when we think He’s silent. I’m thankful today, and everyday, for all God’s done for me and will continue to do for me. God is so good, and I’m grateful for this beautiful reminder in the snow.

Posted on by Sydney Rose · 1 Comment

Working in the Waiting

What’s your waiting?

What has God asked you to wait in?

What is it the one thing that your heart is longing after, desiring, and wanting, but God has said not yet. God has said wait.

Do you trust God? Do you trust that God is at work?

When all is quiet and when God seems quiet, do you know that God is working? God is doing things for you that you can’t see. God is orchestrating certain events and circumstances in your life that will bring His good purposes about for you.

God has a plan for you, and his plans for you are good. Every season, every hardship you walk through, has a reason in God’s ultimate plan.

So will trust Him?

Will you trust that in your waiting, God is working? While you endure seasons of uncertainty and seasons where God seems silent, God is not abandoning you. He is working so that your life will bring Him glory. He is working so that you can experience His good plans for you in His perfect timing.

Take heart, because God is working, in your waiting.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jeremiah 29:11

(Some reflective thoughts from my life these past few weeks, hoping this encourages you in whatever God has asked you to wait in.)

Posted on by Sydney Rose · 1 Comment

A God Who Restores

What in your life have you been asking God to restore?

We all have things we wish we could change. Choices we’ve made, mistakes, missed opportunities. Maybe for some time, your prayer has been like mine. A prayer of asking God to restore something that was lost. A prayer and plea for God to give you a second chance.

This week in my Bible Study we have been reading through some of the minor prophets. A theme has been popping out to me about God through this study. This is the truth that God restores. God is a God who restores. He longs to restore and redeem his people and is always lovingly reaching out to those who are His.

But along with this truth that God restores, comes the realization that God’s way of restoring us may not take place in the way we think or want it to happen.

God’s ways often include pain and hardships. Why is this God’s way? God uses the pain and hurt to bring our hearts closer to Him. Sometimes we need to be awakened to sins in our life and the hard things are a form of fatherly discipline. And sometimes God doesn’t give us an answer for why we must walk through certain things other than the fact that He wants us to grow in trusting Him.

If God is a God who restores, this is a hope we can hold onto. Whatever it is we have lost, we can find comfort in knowing that God knows about it. God knows about your deepest hurts and hardest days. In His perfect way and perfect timing He will restore His children and bring them back to His joy.

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” Psalm 52:12

I have to share a little something with you all about my life recently that God has been showing me. For so long I feel like my prayer has been a plea for God to restore things. I was so stuck on the relationship I lost two years ago. As I continually surrendered it to God, I held onto this idea that God would restore it. But now I can see how my plans were not God’s plans. My mind was set on the things I wanted and I couldn’t see past them. When God began doing something new in my life, suddenly I began to see that God’s plans for restoring were going to look different than I imagined. He brought me into a new relationship and each day of this new season I have been watching God restore joy and love back into my life. As I write this now, I can say with my whole heart, I am so grateful that God’s plans were different.

So now, dear reader, as I end this little post, if your prayer has been for God to restore something in your life, I want to leave you with this truth; when God restores, He will do so in His way and in His time. We must remember that God knows us better than we know ourselves. God truly knows what’s best for us, better then we even know. If God has you in a season of waiting, there is a reason. If God has you in a season of hurting and pain, there is a reason. God is a God who restores. He will restore you and bring you closer to Himself through whatever you are walking through.

But here’s my little tip for you; save yourself some heartache by realizing that God’s plans for restoring probably will not look like your plans. What God plans to do for you will not only be better for you but it will bring also him more glory. God may use pain and hardships to grow you and prepare you before He brings you into a new season. But you can always trust in Him because he is a God who restores.

Posted on by Sydney Rose

Remembering

Remember when…

Remember when you were hurting so much you would fall asleep reciting scripture just to keep your mind at peace.

Remember when it wasn’t hard to go to God because you daily needed comfort from Him.

Remember when He felt so near because of how much you hurt and needed His comfort.

Remember how easy it was to be near to God in those times because of how deep and raw your hurt was.

And now it is harder.

Why is it suddenly a fight to make all those things happen that used to be a necessity? What changed, what is different? Why does getting better and healing, mean that sometimes you don’t feel as close to God as you used to be?

Why does it suddenly feel like right now, I’m far from God. I’m not content and I’m not able to make myself practice the disciplines I know I need. Why does it seem that my soul is in constant turmoil, always searching for ways to numb and ignore the issue? There’s a weight pushing down on my mind, day and night. I just want peace, but I can’t, however hard I try let go of my feelings. I want to be free but I don’t. I just want to stay here and wait, because my poor heart refuses to love another.

I cried last night. Cried because I was so confused. Cried because I missed him so much still. I cried because I think last night I saw a glimpse of God’s heart. To love someone still so deeply, even after they have hurt you. Isn’t this a picture of God’s love for us? We sin and run from God. We do things that hurt God, but God still loves us.

I think of all the times the Israelites, Gods chosen people, turned from God and all ways they must have grieved God. I think I know a little more now how God must have felt, loving a people that constantly rejected him. It’s a love that I can’t explain, loving someone even after you’ve walked away from each other. It runs deep and it is hard to let go of, this kind of love. And I know that I will keep holding onto this love until God makes it clear that I need to let go of it.

So you can see, the kind of constant battle I’m in inside my mind. Which is why somedays I just want to go back, back to those days that I remember.

Posted on by Sydney Rose

Less is More…

Lord Jesus, I pray,

I love you, I need you. So often I find myself getting so caught up in myself. I need to be reminded to look to you more. I need to let myself decrease so that you can increase in my life. Lord, remind me each day, that as I live my life, to you less is more. I take my pride and I lay it down at your feet. And I ask you Lord to help me be humble. To the best of my ability Lord, may I practice humility in all I do. Lord, take my heart and purify it with your blood. Drench me Lord, with your mercy. For all my days, Lord, I want to seek you.

~Amen

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 3:30

The prayer above is based off of one of the most meaningful songs that I’ve probably ever heard in my life. It’s a song I constantly find myself going back to and singing. It’s a song that always brings my heart back to a right place before God. It’s also a song from one of my favorite bands of all time; “Less is More” by Relient K

It’s been a long while since I last listened to this song. But this week it came back to my mind and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I’m copying the lyrics below because this song has become my prayer and a sweet reminder to lay my pride on the floor and seek the lowest place. I want to share it because I think it is so beautiful and I hope it will encourage your heart as well.

Jesus, I pray
Take all my mistakes
Throw them away
Destroy them for my sake

Jesus, I call out ’cause I’m sorry
Because I fall so short of your glory
To the best of my ability
I’m practicing humility
And I lay myself before
‘Cause less is more

All that I have
I lay before
With my pride on the floor
‘Cause to you less is more

All that I have
I lay before
With my pride on the floor
‘Cause to you less is more

A part of myself
All that I am
You love me so much
That you fill me again
And may these words on my heart, on my lips
Somehow mean so much more than this

Jesus, I pray
Know what I’m trying to say

All that I have
I lay before
With my pride on the floor
‘Cause to you less is more

All that I have
I lay before
With my pride on the floor
‘Cause to you less is more

A part of myself, before you were Lord
I hold nothing back, ’cause to you less is more
And may these words on my heart on my lips,
Somehow mean so much more than this

Jesus, I pray
Just know what I’m tryin’ to say

Jesus, I plead
Please purify me
Make my heart clean
Drench me with your mercy

Jesus, I pray
I love you, I need you
For the rest of my days
I swear I will seek you

To the best of my ability
I’m practicing humility
And I lay myself before
‘Cause less is more.

Less is More by Relient K

Less is More by Relient K (link to youtube video)

Posted on by Sydney Rose

A God Who Sees

El-Roi; the God who sees. Something I’ve been learning about God this Summer.

When we feel invisible and it seems that all of our efforts to serve and please God go unnoticed by those we want to be seen by, there is one who sees. God sees. No matter how invisible we might feel, we are never invisible to God. El Roi, means the God who see’s and this is a reminder I really have been needing this summer.

All my life I’ve felt like I have just been invisible to certain people. No matter where I go or what crowd I’m with, I am never the one in the center of the picture, I’m just there, in the background. And each year of my life I’ve had to really fight and wrestle with this strong desire and longing I have had to be that one who is in the center. To be the one everyone wants to hang with. To be noticed and appreciated instead always being invisible.

Without even knowing it, I have been putting so much worth into certain roles people can have in life. Instead of seeing all the roles we have as fitting together and working together for God’s purpose in the body of Christ, I have been looking at all the ways I am not like others and feeling like I will never measure up. But this summer, God has slowly, and few many mistakes, been getting through to me and doing some hard work on my heart.

I spent this entire summer working alongside other Christians but when I look back I realize that I was unable to fully enjoy the fellowship of working with them because in my heart, and in my pride, I was telling myself that their roles was more valuable than mine. I found myself constantly striving and basing my happiness in serving on reaching certain goals instead of being fully focused on serving God in the way He has specifically called me.

Well, long story short, it took an unplanned injury and many days of “forced” rest to awaken me to a new view. Suddenly my life was slowed down by a very bad sprained ankle (which I just found out this week is also a small fracture). I no longer felt like I had constrol in my life and I was unable to strive for the things I thought were so important. I had to choose to rest and take on roles that I deemed as less important simply because it was all I could do. The last few weeks of my summer were filled with days of “forced” rest and I found myself getting back into long mornings in God’s word each day and looking to Him more for help.

And as hard as it was, somehow in the midst of this change, I began to see something. I realized that when I stopped striving I began to understand that each role is important and needed. Just because one role requires more skill and responsibility it doesn’t mean it is more important to the function of the body of Christ. God made each of us to have separate roles and callings and to simply serve Him in the whatever area He’s called us to.

But this is probably the biggest realization I made this Summer – People don’t love me less because I don’t have the skills for these roles nor do the roles that are more in the background have less importance when it comes to serving God.

I was reading a verse in Hebrews today a verse that really cemented in my mind this concept that God has been teaching me;

“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,” Hebrews 6:10-11

In this passage, I saw that God doesn’t overlook any acts of service to Him. God see’s all we do, even when we do things that are more in the background. God is the God who sees! One of my favorite things I find myself constantly saying to myself is that God knows my heart and all the desires of my heart, so I can trust him. This means that, because God is the God who see’s and knows my heart, I can rest in Him and find fulfilment in whatever role He calls me to. If others don’t see or give me the appreciation my heart longs for, God sees and nothing will go overlooked by Him.

He is the God who sees! God sees me and He see’s you!

Maybe this post is mostly me babbling on about my experience in something I’m learning. But I want end it by saying that there is also so much that you can take comfort in when you know that God is a God who sees. Whatever your struggle is, whenever you have days where you just feel invisible and unnoticed. God always sees you and your heart. God loves a heart that serves Him for the pure joy of serving Him and not in serving with hopes of being noticed. It took a hard trial and setback in my summer to get this truth into head. So my urge and prayer is that you won’t have to learn this lesson that hard way like I did.

Resting in the God who sees shouldn’t just encourage and comfort us, it should also spur us on to serve Him well in every role we have and stay faithful to the call He has on our life.

Posted on by Sydney Rose · 2 Comments

Choosing God

What do you do when your heart wants one thing, but you know deep down that it is probably not the best thing for you.

Or maybe something has happened that you’ve been waiting for and it’s not a bad thing that happened but the timing is just not right. This is kinda what happened to me just the other day.

There is a line from a song that comes to mind from a song I used to sing; “Sometimes my brain says no but my heart says yes.” And I just have to say that this saying rings so true at times. Sometimes our hearts can be so set on something, so ready for something we want, that we say yes without thinking. But then our minds hold up a red flag to us and say wait.

I won’t go into detail, but I made a decision today, a decision to put something I know my heart wants on hold because my brain has told me to wait. It’s not that what I want is bad, but that the timing is just not right. I had to choose to either say yes to what my heart wanted and allow something into my life that would be a distraction or to say no so that I can choose to keep my focus on God for this season in my life. You probably know what choice I made.

After some prayer and seeking some counsel, I felt like I could see things a lot more clearly. God made it so clear to me that I needed to choose the things He wants for me and not the things that I want. God has me in a season right now where I need to keep my focus on Him because I’m working at a camp in ministry this summer. And this week I have found myself, well, a bit lost. A bit overwhelmed and stressed about things that were happening.

But I made the decision to say no to chasing after what I wanted so that I could give God and this camp my whole focus. This decision has been a wake-up call to me. It’s caused me to realize that when you are at a crossroads, you can say no to your heart, and you must choose the path that is going to bring God the most glory and honor.

So wherever you find yourself, struggling with decisions and not knowing what to do. I just want to challenge you to take some time to really think about the options that lay ahead of you. Think about all the things that you want, and then about where God might be leading you. And choose the way that is going to keep you closer to God, even if it means saying no to the things you want.

And my friend, realize that saying no to what your heart wants can also simply be because the time is not right, not a it’s never going to happen or it’s such a bad idea.

I have learned today that choosing to put God first over what I want is the most freeing decision and that it leads to a peace that is so refreshing. You will never be disappointed when you make a decision to put God first above whatever it is your heart wants.

Posted on by Sydney Rose

A Lesson from Jonah…

Do you know about Jonah in the bible…

A couple of months ago my church preached a sermon on Jonah. It’s been a while since that sermon, but I still have the story ringing through my head. And, like it or not, I have been seeing myself in parts of the story of Jonah. Mainly in Jonah’s stubbornness and unwillingness to rejoice in God’s goodness. I know, a great character to relate too…

After trying to run from God, being thrown into the sea, swallowed up by a fish, and then given a second chance by God, Jonah finally makes his way to Ninevah. He delivers a short and to-the-point sermon to the Ninevites and then he smugly makes his way to an outlook to watch the city receive God’s judgment. We look at this story and we shake our heads at Jonah. Johah just didn’t get it, we say. He didn’t understand God’s character and grace. But in reality, when you read chapter 4 of Jonah you will see that Jonah did have a right understanding of God;

“But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.  He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity”

Jonah 4:1-2

Jonah was upset and admitted that the whole reason he didn’t want to go to Ninevah in the first place was because he knew God’s character and He knew God would show them compassion. This really paints a whole different picture of Jonah’s heart as he ran away. And as much as I try to hide it, I can see parts of my heart reflected in this.

How often have I been too scared to pray a certain prayer, take a chance with a certain person, or say yes to opening a new door because I know deep in my heart what God’s character is and what God is going to ask me to do. I know that what God wants for me is going to be differant then what I want and I just don’t want to go there.

When following after God means showing grace and love to those we don’t like, going outside of our comfort zones to reach the lost, and forsaking our flesh and choosing the path marked with pain instead of pleasure, wouldn’t it just be easier to stay where we are. Or to run away in the opposite direction.

But as we see with the story of Jonah, running from God doesn’t help us. In fact, it’s impossible because God is everywhere and he is sovereign over everything. And when Jonah finally obeyed and went through with it all, He still did not have his heart in the right place and he wasn’t able to share in the joy of seeing God show compassion to sinners. The compassion and grace God gave to the wicked people in Ninevah is a beautiful thing, but Jonah was blinded to it by his pride and discontentment.

When we are so focused on our pride and our life not being where we want it, we miss out on the good things God has for us now. Just like Jonah, we sit under our own tree, angrily waiting for the thing we think we deserve, when in reality, God has already given us more than we could ever need and His plan for us is to stay in this season a little longer.

When we are discontent, we will complain and grumble to God about all the things we don’t like and we miss out on seeing all the good things he has given us. But on the flip side, if we are content where God has us, we can rejoice in all God has done for us and all the grace he has shown us.

I don’t know about you all, but this story of Jonah has been hitting home for me a lot. I keep saying to myself, “Wow, I am a lot like Jonah as he sat on that hillside waiting for God to give him what he wanted.” I can so easily fall into the habit of complaining about my life more than praising God for it. But when I remind myself of God’s character and how God is sovereign, I begin to see things better. I see that this life, is not about me and making the things I want to happen, but about God and letting God do his will in my life.

So as I end this post, if you ever find yourself like Jonah, you’re not alone. We all find ourselves on the hillside wanting our own way over God’s way. But this is the challenge; Instead of sitting on the hillside waiting for God to work, we ought to be jumping up and down for joy praising God because he is always at work and he has already done the greatest work! Sending his Son to die for us so that we might be free! That is the greatest act of compassion and mercy in all of history, and if we have our hearts in the wrong place, we just might miss out on this great joy.

Posted on by Sydney Rose

Rejoicing Always

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.”

Philippians 4:4

Have you ever thought about this verse and how it doesn’t just say rejoice in the Lord? It says to rejoice in the Lord always.

The other night, I was in my room again and I was feeling sad. It was Easter and it was another Easter I had to celebrate alone, without him. I saw post after post of all those I know sharing about this being their first Easter together as a couple. It wasn’t long before I found myself thinking about him and crying out to God to comfort me. So I did that Bible thing where you pray for God to bring you the right passage in the Bible and then randomly open up the Bible.

I opened up to a random chapter in Ezekial. I was very skeptical but still decided to give it a read. And nope, it wasn’t very helpful. I tried again and opened up to Psalm 116. This Psalm was actually very encouraging and relatable so spend some time reading it and meditating on it a bit. But what I really needed came after I finished reading in my Bible. I picked up a small book I have full of prayers. My hope is to read one of the prayers in the book each night before going to bed. Well, the prayer that I read was the “Ode to Joy” poem which was made into a familiar hymn. What’s funny is that I instantly felt the urge to not read this prayer. A call to be joyful was the last thing I wanted to read about and I felt the tension in my spirit. But as I read it the conviction began to set in. This prayer was just the reminder I needed that there is always so much I can be joyful in. I want to bed with a prayer to be more joyful in the Lord.

And if that wasn’t enough of a reminder to me, the next morning I read Philippians 4 where Paul tells us to rejoice always. I just have to say here, as I know I’ve said many times before, God is just so good to me in all the ways He reminds me of His goodness.

Here is the truth that I realized; we can rejoice in the Lord always because our God is faithful to us and He is unchanging in all that He does. Our circumstances change, but God never does. If our rejoicing is based on our circumstances it’s impossible for us to always find joy and keep that joy, because our life is always changing. But when our rejoicing is in the Lord, we always have reason to be joyful. We can be joyful because of all that God has done for us and all that God has promised us in His Word.

So today, I’m choosing to be joyful. I’m choosing to rejoice despite my circumstances and this season that seems to have no end. I will rejoice always in my God and I will rejoice in all that God has done for me. I will rejoice in the fact that God has always been with me, is still with me, and has a good plan for all of this in my life.

Posted on by Sydney Rose · 1 Comment

Not Ready…

I was laying in bed last night, drifting off to sleep.

But as I felt my body drifting, I got inspiration and a new idea popped into my head. I don’t know why it is that inspiration always comes to me at the worst times. This is not the first time I have been inspired to write something while trying to fall asleep.

It’s a miracle that when I woke up in the morning I actually still remembered what I was thinking about as I fell asleep. So here I am now, writing about my thoughts that I had late at night.

I fell asleep thinking about how a year ago, when I was on the verge of getting married, I felt like I was so ready for that next step in my life. I had been waiting so long to be married and now it was my turn and I wanted it so bad. But in truth, I was anything but ready, and it was by God’s providence and grace that he didn’t let me take that step into marriage.

Whenever I look back now, I cringe when I think of how blind I was. I was not ready, I can see now and say so confidently now, I was not ready. I was selfishly wanting that next step so bad that it was unhealthy. I was so shattered when I didn’t get it because I had made myself believe that I deserved it.

As I was thinking about this, the thought came into my head about how so much has changed in this year. Now I feel ready, more ready than I was then. I thought, yes, I am ready now. But the minute that thought entered into my head, the dangers of that statement came to my mind at full force.

I realized that to say that I am ready is to say that I know what’s best for me. And to say that I know what’s best for me, is to say that I don’t trust God’s timing and plan for my life. To say that I am ready, is actually a selfish thing to say, because it takes away the fact that I need and depend on God each day. Saying I am ready puts me in the position of demanding things from God and being upset for not having things because when I say I am ready I am saying I deserve certain things now.

There is a quote that I remember from C.S Lewis’ book “Prince Caspian” where Aslan asks young Caspian if he is ready to become king;

“Welcome, Prince,’ said Aslan. ‘Do you feel yourself sufficient to take up the Kingship of Narnia?’
I – I don’t think I do, Sir,’ said Caspian. ‘I am only a kid.’
Good,’ said Aslan. ‘If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been proof that you were not.”

C.S. Lewis

It is because he is not ready, that he is ready. If Prince Caspian had said he was ready, he would be showing that he had a prideful heart and he would not be open to learning how to be a king. But his humble admitting that he was not ready, showed that he was ready, because he would be able to go into this new role willing to learn and lean into the wisdom of others.

So the reality is, to say we are ready, is not a wise thing to say. Yes, there will be times when we must prepare ourselves for something and we will be more ready than we were before for the task we are called to. But the minute we say we are ready and we have no more need to work or wait, we take a prideful selfish stance.

Saying we are not ready, is evidence of a heart that is seeking to lean on God and trust in God’s timing and in God’s way. Saying we aren’t ready, is the humble response God calls all of us to take so that our great God, can then come and be our strength and meet us in the places where we need His help.

So today, I am saying that now, after a year, I am not ready. I am not ready for the next step. I am not ready because I know how much I need God to strengthen me and lead me. And whenever God does bring the thing I desire most into my life, I will have to lean on Him for help and guidance. Because the minute I say I am ready, I am not ready.

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:31