just what I need to know right now…
As the dew falls on the blade
You have touched all this fragile frame
And as a mother knows her baby’s face
You know me
As the Summer air within my chest
I have breathed You deep down into my breast
And as You know the hairs upon my head
Every thought and every word I’ve said
Savior, You have known me as I am
Healer, You have known me as I was
As I will be
In the morning in the evening
You have known me
Yeah, You know me
And as the exhilaration of Autumn’s bite
Oh, You have brought these tired bones to brilliant life
And as the swallow knows, she knows the sky
This is how it is with You and I
From the fall of my heart to the resurrection of my soul
You know me, God
And You know my ways
In my rising and my sitting down
You see me as I am
Oh, see me as I am
And as a lover knows His beloved’s heart
All the shapes and curves of her, even in the dark
Oh, You have formed one in my inward parts
And You know me
You have always known me
You know me
You have always known my heart
Known:: Audrey Assad - preview it here
07.18.98
A wedding and an anniversary! Yesterday Cam officiated the wedding of our friends Thomas and Jess Haymaker. We are happy to share our anniversary with such a sweet couple! Their wedding was lovely and their vows were beautiful and sincere. You could feel the love and sense the excitement they felt about starting their married life together. They reminded me of how Cam and I felt on the day of our wedding (12 years ago). We wanted to be married more than anything and to begin living life together.
Each year on our anniversary, we look back and say to each other, “This was the best year yet!” This year represents so much growth and new levels of trust and respect for each other. We have watched each other push ourselves beyond our assumed limits and have cheered and encouraged one another in doing so. I feel the most vulnerable I have ever felt and yet so safe and secure. For all the wonderful aspects of our relationship, there are definitely challenges and struggles. We are just two broken sinners trying to figure this thing out together! The security and peace that I feel at this point in our marriage is a direct result of the fact that Cam and I desire to seek God first and what’s in each others best interest second. God alone is our security and our strength. We are confident that without His love poured into us, we would not have what we need to love each other well.
I pray that year after year we will continue to say, “This was the best year yet!”
love her writing…
One of my favorite photographers, Amy Wenzel, has a new blog. For her, it’s a place to process what’s happening in her personal life and a place to talk about what Jesus means to her outside of her photography blog. I love her transparency and her pursuit of truly trusting and believing God in the midst of an incredible challenge. Check it out…
forgiveness vs. reconciliation
This spring I have been working through A Beautiful Offering, a study by Angela Thomas. The study is based on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew chapter 5. I have loved this study! The material and teaching have been like a refreshing water for my soul. It has challenged, encouraged and inspired me.
This week in our homework we studied the concept of reconciliation. Angela provides a chart to be filled out based on the following criteria: “Write the name or initials of person(s) who may have something against you. Next write your part of the responsibility. Finally, write what the Lord is calling you to surrender in each relationship.” After completing the chart she then charged us with these words, “Go immediately and work toward making things right.” In a paragraph below she says, “This may open up a huge can of worms for you. Some things cannot be resolved overnight or in one conversation. One heartfelt apology might not get it. You may need to seek wise counsel from your church leaders, a godly counselor, or a friend who understands your heart.”
I found myself being a little fired up when reading through this exercise. I have a proclivity to assume way too much responsibility in my relationships and tend toward owning the outcome of things beyond my control. As I began to think about what I might share with the women during my devotional time at Bible study last night I felt compelled to share what the Lord has been teaching me over the last couple years with regards to forgiveness and reconciliation.
I don’t disagree with what Angela said or the assignment she gave, I just wanted to clarify a couple things. I know that there is more than a small group of women out there that are on hyper-alert regarding how they may have hurt or offended anyone. This type of overly developed, critical, self-inventory can be paralyzing and burdensome to women and their relationships. Often times, we too quickly jump to take responsibility for an offense of any kind. We begin apologizing and pursuing “reconciliation” when in fact we are truly the one who was legitimately offended! I hope someone other than me needs to hear this: just because someone may declare they have something against you doesn’t necessarily make it valid. Sometimes people are offended for just plain ridiculous reasons.
There is a great story in Matthew chapter 15:1-20 about an encounter between Jesus, the disciples and the Pharisees. The Pharisees are offended that the disciples didn’t wash their hands before eating. Jesus essentially responds to their hypocrisy and explains how they are being ridiculous. He says, “Listen and understand. What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’” The disciples come to Jesus and ask, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” Jesus goes on to say that it is what comes out of the heart that makes one ‘unclean’ “but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’” Don’t get confused by the “clean” and “unclean” but recognize the idea that the Pharisees were offended by Jesus. In fact, tons of people were offended by Jesus. Sometimes even when we do the right thing we offend others. The Bible tells us repeatedly that the disciples experienced persecution and that we should expect the same. I don’t think we will be persecuted because we walk around affirming everyone and every behavior or choice!
I do believe that it is very important to stop and take inventory in our relationships and ask the Lord if we need to make restitution or if we need to be enabled to forgive someone. We also need to consider if our words, actions or choices have legitimately offended anyone. There is a standard and it is not based solely on how a person feels! The Bible is our black and white standard. We need to ask ourselves, “Did I sin against them?” “Am I experiencing conviction from the Holy Spirit?” If we ask honestly, from our hearts, God will be faithful to reveal to us what our responsibility is and what it isn’t.
In a situation where “offense” has been taken that isn’t legitimate, our responsibility is to leave an open door for a reconciled relationship. We need to lay down our defenses, our hurts, our judgement and any anger we may have at the feet of Jesus. As we lay down these “stones” that only harden our hearts and create distance from us and our Savior, He will, in return give us the “gifts” of freedom, peace and forgiveness. We need forgiveness for our judgements toward a person who may have unfairly held something against us and we need Jesus to give us a seed of forgiveness that can grow to extend to the person who hurt us.
These are the questions we need to ask ourselves, “Do I have an open door for reconciliation to occur?” “Am I pursuing forgiveness from God for my sin and asking Him to enable me to forgive the wrongs committed against me?”
One really important thing to keep in mind is that there is a BIG difference between forgiveness and reconciliation! There are a couple of quotes from pastors, whom I trust and respect, that have helped me understand the difference over the last 18 months.
“Reconciliation doesn’t look like forgiveness. Reconciliation takes two people, forgiveness just takes one. You can forgive someone but until they repent, you are not reconciled. What Christians do in the foolish misunderstanding of reconciliation is this, “You did something bad I am going to forgive you and we are still going to hang out even though you abused me, stole from me, lied to me (fill in the blank). That is not reconciliation- that is enabling.” ~Mark Driscoll
“Being restored is up to the offender- not to you”
~Grant Fishbook
In Hebrews we read that the Word of God is “living and active” and that it alone “judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” God knows our heart and we can not hide what is truly in it from Him. He can help us test our perceived convictions by the standard of His Word. If we have a responsibility to pursue reconciliation we can trust Him to direct us toward that end.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.”
~Psalm 139:23-24
love this…
Even more than I appreciate Amy’s photography, I appreciate her transparency and her heart. Once again, she openly shares her struggle, her faith and her hope in this most recent post. I recommend reading the entire thing but the last paragraph really struck me and could not more perfectly articulate my own desire for this year and the rest of my life!
“There is one thing I want so badly though. I simply want to be wrecked by God’s love for me. I want to be so undone that I can never be put back together. I want the Holy Spirit to so utterly consume me that my every breath is to bring glory to God. I want to be so intimate with Jesus that I am like a light shining in the darkness, pointing the way to the most beautiful, wonderful truth you can ever experience. I am a woman consumed by passion to know the living God. I can hardly think of other things sometimes. His love is changing me. Rescuing me. Healing me. I am not the same as I was, and I can never go back. I have found everything I was ever looking for. He’s so beautiful. He’s saving me. And I adore Him so much that I just cannot stay silent. So if there was ever a New Year’s resolution for me this year it would be to unify my voice. To speak my heart no matter what the cost.”
How we can help Haiti
To donate to Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Relief go here.
