An ocean of love

So, it's Monday, and I'm running around trying to get things done. And this blog post started out very short and isn't quite so short now. But there's this verse that a good friend sent me yesterday that's really been on my mind…so maybe some of you needed to see this verse today too, I don't know… :)

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."

James 1:12

I've experienced a few of those "trials" these last three months.  Things that Satan has used to attack me, and tried very hard to get me to interpret the wrong way -- you're not worth anything, you'll never be able to forgive, you deserved this, God doesn't really care about you.

The truth is, God does NOT like it when things like this happen. He doesn't enjoy seeing us suffer. He looks at all the goings-on here on earth and His heart aches at the ways His children hurt each other.

But...He often lets things happen that DO deeply hurt us, because it creates the capacity in us to receive more of the true depth of His love. To see His heart. To find out His true intentions for our lives.

When you are hurt deeply, you can receive His love much more deeply than before. You can find out what He really thinks about you. That He looks at you with a smile in His eyes, and thinks to Himself, "I know the thoughts I think toward you…thoughts of peace, and not of evil…."

This is the last thing Satan wants. He will oppose us on every side. He has a deep hatred for God and everything good that God has created (remember, when God created you He said, "It is good!"). And Satan will do anything to hurt God's heart by hurting the ones He loves. He floats accusing thoughts by our minds and tries to get us to agree…"you're worthless…God doesn't really care or He wouldn't have let this happen…people will always hurt you like this…you can't really trust anyone..."

Pain will come. It's part of life here. We don't live in the perfect world God originally meant us to live in. But He offers us life. Restoration. Healing. You have a choice -- either listen to the enemy's whispered lies and misunderstand God's heart for you, or cling tightly to your heavenly Father and trust that He truly does care about you.  And receive His promise of LIFE.

Let the pain push you to Him. Let it reveal what He really thinks about you. His heart holds an ocean of love for you!

- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty…

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"When I look at the heavens..."

Last month, while we were backpacking in Yosemite, I braved the dark and cold and mountain lions to shoot some star trails (well, okay, I didn't see any mountain lions, but you never know, right??!).  That's where you leave your camera's shutter open for a long time (I've done anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour and a half), and in the finished image, you can see how the stars make streaks across the sky as the earth slowly turns.  Here's the view from our campsite by Ten Lakes...

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor." (from Psalm 8)

The stars are just incredible in the Yosemite high country. When I'm up at elevations of 9 or 10 or 11,000 feet, there's just a lot less air in the way! I look up in awe every time we go and I never cease to be amazed at how many pretty twinkling lights there are up there. And each of them is a massive ball of heat that would fry you if you got very close at all (the Sun, for instance, is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit). What a magnificent display of power and beauty!

"He tells the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names." (Psalm 147)

Have you ever thought about that? There are somewhere around 300 billion stars in the Milky Way. 300,000,000,000 stars. And He has names for them all?  Sometimes I have trouble calling my two sisters the right names! He knows billions of stars' names? Not to mention that he MADE them all?!?

When I look at the myriad sparkling lights in the dark sky, they seem to say, "It's okay...He made us...he knows each of our names...and you are far more important to Him." Not only is He powerful enough to make all that, He is good. And with all that goodness, He is watching over you and me.

So, here's something to think about...just a few verses earlier, that same psalm says,

"He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds."

Each of us has "broken" places in our hearts.  Places that need healing.  Sometimes we don't realize just where each of those places are, till something painful happens.  We fail, or people hurt us, or hard times come.  Sometimes something little, like a harsh word or a speeding ticket.  Sometimes something big like a business failure or losing a child.  But that's where we have an opportunity to invite Jesus into the situation. He can heal that broken place in our heart.  All you have to do, to know that he's capable of that, is to look up into the night sky and see his power lavishly displayed.  (Maybe that's why he made it so we could see the stars just about every night?)

 
May you know his power in your heart today.

- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty...

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Insatiable?

I know I said I was going to post more vineyard photos next...but that's going to be the next post instead! I've been thinking about some things lately, after some rough times this week, and this morning I wrote a Facebook note about it. So I think it's going to go here too, for those blog readers who aren't on Facebook. :) Here you are...

There's something that happens to me at some point every morning. I bet just about anything that it happens to you too. My body tells me, "Hey, I'm hungry. I need something to run on, so feed me!" So I do. And then off I go to tackle the day's activities.

Well, several hours later, it happens again. I get hungry again...and often weak and shaky...whaddaya know, I need to eat again. What? Didn't I just do that, not long ago?

It would be nice if I could just do it once a week or so. Ever think about that? What if we could just eat a whole bunch of food on Monday, and then we'd have enough energy to go for a couple weeks before needing to eat again?

Nope...God designed us to need food every single day, and generally more than once a day. Hey, don't get me wrong, I really enjoy good food. But sometimes it annoys me that I need it so much. I can't get away without it for too long, especially if I'm working hard. I'm stuck. I have to eat.

So yesterday I was thinking about this. God made us like this on purpose. He set up our bodies this way so we'd be reminded every few hours of our need...not just for food, but for HIM. This quote from John and Stasi Eldredge says it perfectly:

      "This is the nature of our condition. All of us are leaky vessels. Sandy soil. When it comes to happiness, our soul is like a colander, a tire with a nail in it, our grandfather's memory. ...
      "Let's face it -- we are insatiable. We have in each of us a famished craving. An aching void. A returning hunger. If we are not aware of this, and if we don't know how to handle it, our insatiability will do a lot of damage.
      "The human heart has an infinite capacity for happiness and an unending need for love, because it is created for an infinite God who is unending love."

I need him so badly. I can't do anything without him. My heart is designed to need him. I was created to be best friends with him, and -- this really blows my mind -- he wants that from me too.

"My heart has heard you say, 'Come and talk with me.' And my heart responds, 'Lord, I am coming.'" (Ps. 27, NLT)

I've often tried to fill that void with other stuff...friends, food, work, movies, vacations, sports. You probably have your own list too. Don't get me wrong, those are all good things. God gave them to us! "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father..." (James 1). I love my work as a photographer. I love to ski. I love my friends. I love flowers.

But as good as these things are, I can't put them in his place. I can't expect the happiness from them that only God can give. Whenever I do, it always turns out disastrously. God will never make me fat like frozen yogurt. ;) He doesn't make my shoulders sore like when I get over-zealous and do too much butterfly at the pool. He's never impatient with me when I'm struggling, like friends or family sometimes are. He never misunderstands me.

You might think these things make you happy, but if you're expecting them to satisfy in ways that only God can, they will always come back and bite you! They're not perfect like Jesus is. This week has had some horrible moments because of some friends and activities that I put in God's place. I've felt abandoned, misunderstood, and just stupid. But if I take a step back and look at this for what it is -- it's that "insatiability" the Eldredges spoke of. It's my heart's "infinite capacity for happiness and unending need for love." Only he has the capacity to make me really, really happy, and all the people and things that seem to fill that void are just expressions of himself.

Enjoying that beautiful sunset? He made that. He IS beauty. Like the taste of that chocolate cookie? He made the cacao bean and gave mankind the inventiveness to come up with yummy ways to use it. Love the feeling of speed as you rush down the mountain on skis? He made the hill and the laws of gravity that make it so much fun! Enjoying a friendship? He gave you the capacity to love and enjoy companionship because he is the most perfect friend you'll ever have.

So, while I can't exactly say I've enjoyed the struggles of the last few days, I'm grateful he used them to remind me how much I need his companionship. He is so gently persistent, and so unendingly patient. People fail us but he won't ever, ever, ever fail me.

"I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along." (Ps 40)

Enjoy the gifts. But remember the Giver. He made us insatiable...so we'd keep coming back to him. Because our hearts were "created for an infinite God who is unending love."

- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty...

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