What Matters Most to God?

I've had this thought stirring around in my head for weeks now, and it has been consuming my mind, and finding its way into several conversations and situations.

I was listening to a podcast, and the speaker made the passing statement, "What matters more to God than anything?"

I'm sure the rest of the podcast was awesome, but I don't remember any of it. My mind was captivated by this question.

What matters more to God than anything?

There are so many answers that come to mind. Faith for starters. God wants us to be a people of faith. Then other words came rushing in, obedience, forgiveness, and sacrifice.

Then it hit me, the answer is so simple. What matters more to God than anything? People.

People matter more to God than anything else. Not just a particular type of people, not people from a particular place, just people. All people.

This may seem like a pretty simple concept and not worth your read yet, but stick with me for a moment.

So how does this apply when you have conflict with someone? Well, you can't write them off, you can't vilify them, and you can't forget about them. They are extremely important to God, therefore, they should matter to you.

The same idea applies when you are helping friends work through difficulty. You can't push one friend away in order to draw the other close. They both matter.

As this phrase has been going through my head constantly the last couple weeks, I find myself challenged daily to forgive more, to let things go quickly, and to choose to try again with people, and to try again in difficult situations.

The ultimate goal is to see people as God sees them. To see them as incredibly valuable, and to fully grasp that just like you, they matter more to God than anything else.

I pray you are encouraged and challenged with this reality this week!

Slow Down and Deal With It

Change can be difficult, and although new seasons comes with new challenges, they also often bring new blessings.

The part I struggle the most with, is giving myself the opportunity to actually deal with the change and let it sink in.

Usually when one season is coming to an end, and a new one is starting, good or bad, I am trying to move on as quickly as possible. I don't want to think about what I'm losing or gaining, and I don't want to consider what I'll miss.

Change is coming, and I just want to get it over with.

Right now, our family is walking through some change. It's not necessarily major, but it's change none the less. We are moving from the home we have lived in for a few years, and looking to move into a new one.

I have been doing my normal thing of trying to stay busy and ignore all the complex emotional stuff. My wife however taught me a really important lesson this week.

We were packing the last of the small things we needed out of the house, and the kids were putting things in the car, and Treasa realized they all needed a chance to process this change.

We loved this house, we aren't moving because we aren't happy with it, we are moving because we are in a new season, and this house won't work for that.

Moving out of this house is hard, it's sad, and it's painful. We loved this house and had tons of great memories there.

So, Treasa got all the kids together in our living room, and just started talking everything through the reality we were facing. They talked a little, but mostly the kids just cried, they cried a lot. They talked about what they'll miss, and they asked again why we had to move. They expressed frustration, they talked about all that was going on in their head and their heart.

I sat there feeling helpless. Almost all my kids are crying, and there is nothing I can do to fix it. I couldn't solve the problem with work or effort. I also knew I wasn't supposed to tell them, "Quit crying and get over it."

The truth was, this circumstance stinks, it hurts, and there is nothing we can do but just process and walk through it together.

The next day, there was a sense of finality to the change. Crying and talking about the situation was really uncomfortable for me, but it was incredibly helpful for my family.

I share all this to make this point; life will bring moments of difficulty. Allow some time for you and your loved ones involved to talk about it. Leave room for yourself to feel whatever you feel, and to say whatever you want to say. It may be uncomfortable, but in the long run, it's the best thing possible for you.

Philippians 4:6,7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heats and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I think this passage is quoted a lot to say, "Don't stress" but there is another message in here that is important for us to hear. "let your requests be made known to God."

God isn't asking us to pretend we don't experience ups and downs. Talk to Him, talk to others, work through it. Then come out the other side, ready to take on your new season.

Even When You Can't Tell If He's There

Most of my kids are old enough to ride bikes now, and each of them learned at different paces. Some seemed to just wake up one day with the ability to ride a bike, while others took some coaching and some help. 

One of my sons was capable of riding his bike pretty quickly, but would not attempt to ride without me running along side his bike, while holding his seat. If he even suspected that I had let go, he would stop, put his foot down and scold me for putting his life in danger. 

I don't remember exactly how long it was before he tried on his own, but it was a while. For days we would go out, I would run, and he would ride. 

He was certain he wasn't ready, or able to do it on his own; I was certain he was more than capable, and just needed to have some faith in himself. 

I think that's a bit how our relationship with God goes. 

We are faced with a challenge, that we will not attempt to do on our own, unless we are sure God, or someone else is standing right there making sure we don't fall. 

This has certainly been true in my life. In fact that was true as recently as this morning. I woke up today considering a circumstance I am facing, convinced I couldn't do it on my own. I wasn't even sure where to start. 

Then this picture came to mind. My son was convinced it was impossible for him to ride a bike. That there was something uniquely different about him, that would not allow him to ever learn to ride a bike. 

I knew he could, I knew he was so much more capable than he understood. 

More than all of that, the worst that could happen, was he could attempt to ride his bike, and fall. Yes, it would hurt, and yes it might even be embarrassing; but he would get back up, and I would be right there to help him.

I want to encourage you to consider this idea with whatever challenges you may be facing right now. You may be convinced there is no way you can face this on your own. You may be certain that if you try, you will certainly fail. 

First, you are far more capable, and far more gifted than you know. Second, God is right there. He is close by cheering you on, confident in you accomplishing more than you dare to dream for yourself; and even if you do fall along the way, He will be there to help you back up. 

Life can come at us in waves. Some of those waves seem impossible to face. I want to encourage you to accept that there is more in you than you know, and God is with you, even when you can't tell if He is.