I’ve been back from Europe for almost two months now, and I'm sorry this has taken so long! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started writing a sum-up post about the time over there, and how many more times I’ve simply thought, "How in the world am I going to do this…"
Summing-up two months of your life would be hard enough as it is. But summing-up after an experience like that one? Two months of new people, new ways to worship, new sights, smells, and new (for the most part, somewhat nasty) tastes? And all of that on top of experiencing homesickness at an extent that I’d never had before. Feeling awkward and ignorant as I attempted to fit into a culture that I was simply not used to, being surrounded by a language so unlike my own, and learning to laugh at my own clumsiness and at the odd world in which I found myself. I grew an admiration for missionaries and missionary kids like I’ve never had before, because I’ve never had the opportunity to watch them, and… be apart of them, ever before. They truly are amazing, strong, Godly people with a heart for the people they have been sent to minister to. The group that I was blessed to be in contact with?… God has definitely got His Hand on them. And I feel so encouraged to know that that portion of my world is being touched by those people… They are definitely the people for the job! And I’m just proud to know them.
Getting to know my cousins, aunt and uncle, I mean, really get to know them… That alone was priceless! Those two months were so full. And words alone cannot convey everything that God has shown me through that time. I can’t point to the healing places in my heart that were so bruised and broken when I left 4 months ago. I can’t simply describe how big my God has become to me. I can’t show you the joy that I’ve found because of Him. I can’t make you experience everything that I have… But, I can share probably the biggest thing that I’ve learned this whole time… It took me a while to realize what the biggest thing from this trip has been! But… I think I know what it is…
Joy.
"Have Joy in the Lord" is a phrase we’ve probably all heard before. There are so many songs that talk about the joy knowing the Lord brings. There are sermons about it, verses in the Bible that talk about it, there have been books written about it; tee-shirts with cheesy sayings plastered on them… and they all express the same thought about joy. Knowing Jesus brings… joy!
But, what does that really mean?
In a small group at my church, we were discussing reading our Bibles, praying, and how close we feel to God given different circumstances. And one girl said, "You know… It’s actually harder for me to want God when things are going well… It’s easier to need Him when things are rough…" Many of us agreed.
In the rougher times, you are clinging to God because… you don’t have anything else. When life is falling apart, you do instinctively cling to the things that aren’t falling. You cling to the things that are standing strong. For Christians, this should be Jesus because, no matter what, He is always standing strong, and He does give you the power, strength and courage to face the day.
But when things are going well, it’s easy to just sort of… forget… We get in a routine, we get busy with life, and all of the sudden life is… Good! We don’t feel that desperate dependence on Him! Life is good! And in that goodness, we tend to forget Him.
Before I left for Europe , I was in a rougher place. I needed God, and I knew it all with everything inside me. He truly was there for me, and I could… I could feel Him. He was so real! I think most everyone has been there before, and if you haven’t… not to be a downer, but it’s probably just a matter of time. Life is hard. Is just is! And some times are harder than others! When I left, it was just during one of those harder times. But, when I was over in Europe , and since being home from the trip, it’s definitely been a "good time". The bump is over, the trials have ceased for the time being, I wake up in the morning and I don’t have the weight of the world on my shoulders. Life is good! It is good to be alive! I’ve been in a "good time".
The thing is though, I just… I guess I just got in the habit of seeking God during the rougher time, because… when things got good, I just… I didn’t stop. I continued to make reading my Bible on a regular basis a priority. I continued to pray, to just… talk to God about life! Just like I had before. My situation changed, but my relationship remained.
And I realized something really neat…
As real as God was when life hurt? He is just as real when life is good. God is just as much there for me now as He was in the rougher times. He doesn’t move! He’s still here!! He is still revealing Himself to me! He’s… He’s still God!!
And I realized that in all honesty, what we have with God is a relationship. It truly is. And a relationship isn’t a go-to line when life gets crazy—that’s not what God is. God isn’t just some big Healer in the sky who you go to with your bumps and bruises when you want all the hurt to go away. He is that! But that isn’t all He is.
He is our Friend.
Our Friend.
Think about that for a minute…
You don’t just have friends so you can run to them when life gets hard—yeah, if life gets hard, and if your friends are good ones, they’ll be there for you when it gets tough, but… that’s not why you have them!
You have friends because they are people that you choose to be around! You like them, so you want to be around them! You talk to them! You go out and eat lunch with them just to catch-up when you haven’t seen each other in a while! You care about one another. And the longer you’re friends, the more you discover about each other, and the closer you become. And usually, the closer you are, the closer you want to be. The more you know about them, the more you’d like to know…
It should be that way with God too.
We should love God simply because He is.
That’s it.
Simply because He exists, and we have the opportunity to know Him, we should seek His Presence like we seek the presence of our best friends. And we should enjoy Him simply because He is.
I learned the Joy of knowing Jesus.
I experienced, and continue to experience knowing my God.
I love my God.
And I’m so excited that I get to spend the rest of my existence falling deeper and deeper in love with Him. I get to spend the rest of eternity getting to know Who He is!
The little bits of Himself that He continues to show me… They are priceless! And I just… I can’t wait for more.
