Farther. Deeper. More.

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the waters, wherever You would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger, in the presence of my Savior."

It's a new song by Hillsong United. Everybody's singing it. Something about it is resonating in the heart of the church. A cry is going out for God to stretch us.

That's a dangerous prayer. 

It's kinda like asking God for patience. Or asking Him to teach you to love. 

He does it. But usually not like we'd hoped. 

Usually asking for patience means God is going to bring some impossible person or circumstance for you to practice with.

Asking for Him to teach you to love usually means He's going to again bring some difficult circumstance for you to practice in. 

This song is asking Him to stretch our faith and trust. 

Wow.

Do we grasp what we're asking? Do we mean it? Do we grasp the gravity of what we're asking? 

Maybe that's why it's resonating inside the church so much. Maybe we're tired of the mundane, the going through life just getting by. We want more. We want to go farther, deeper, higher into what God has for us. We want to trust Him more so we can know Him more and go further into what He created us for. 

Praise the Lord.

I hope this song continues to resonate and resound through the heart of the church. I hope it rumbles through our chest cavity. I hope it shakes our core. I hope it becomes our heart's cry. I hope as we sing this song, the Holy Spirit brings it to life inside of us till it consumes us. I hope this song awakens something deep within us, something that may have been long awaiting such a battle cry. 

We want to go farther. We want to go deeper. We want more of God's presence. 

Spirit, lead our faith beyond the boxes we've put it in. Call us to follow You amidst impossible circumstances. Take us beyond ourselves and our comfort zones so we can grow in Your presence. 

It's a dangerous prayer. God really likes this kind of prayer. He likes to answer it. 

So, make this new song your heart's cry.

And be prepared for God to answer. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this new song by Hillsong! If you haven't heard it yet, here's a YouTube link. Take a listen! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neZkRT35J40

How does this song speak to you or resonate within you? What are some other heart cries in this song? 

How has God stretched your faith? In what other ways is He stretching You and revealing Himself to you?

Holiness is Dangerous

Holiness is dangerous.

It threatens complacency. It is the death warrant of my sinful lifestyle. It means the end of myself. Holiness destroys the comfortable lies I've settled in.
Holiness is dangerous.

"We have lost our sense of awe for the holiness of God."

I have not been able to shake this phrase from my mind. It keeps coming back. One of my college professors brought this up in class one day. We were talking about the tabernacle and worship in the Old Testament. And about God's holiness.

The Bible is full of stories of people who took holiness seriously and people who did not. God said don't do something, they didn't do it or there would be consequences (Don't touch the ark of the covenant or you'll die). God said do something. They did it and were blessed (Consecrate yourself and live according to what God says, and you'll be blessed and have peace). Or they did the complete opposite and suffered the consequences.

Holiness. Set apart. Consecrated. Purified. In the Old Testament, God chose the Israelites to be His people and to bear His name. The children of Israel were to be different from all the other nations who had pagan gods and demonic rituals and sinful lifestyles. The Israelites were called by the name of the Lord and were to follow the patterns of living that He set out. They were to be different from all the other nations, so that the world would know who the true God was. They were to be holy. Set apart unto the ways of God. Consecrated from the filth of the flesh and purified for worship of the one, true God. The God who defines holiness. He is holy.

It's interesting and incredibly sad to see what happened in the Old Testament when Israel compromised. When they decided they wanted to be like everybody else. When they decided to embrace the religious practices of the nations around them. When tolerance set in and it was decided that God's way wasn't the only way to do things.

Israel fell.

I'm not slamming Israel. Nor am I trying to make a point about America. This post has nothing to do with either. This is an illustration.

This is about you and me.

The nations of the world rise and fall. But we're not of this world, are we? We belong to a different nation. The spiritual Israel, if you will. The kingdom called by the name of the Lord and called to be holy as He is holy. Called to follow the patterns of living that He has set out. Called to be different from all other nations, so the world may know who the One True God is.

Called to be holy. Set apart from the ways of the world. Consecrated from sin and purified for a life of worship. Worship of the God who defines holiness. Who is holy.

And holiness is dangerous. The lifestyle God demands is dangerous. It is the death warrant of a sinful lifestyle. It is the threat to complacency. It means the end of myself. Holiness aims to destroy the comfortable lies I've settled myself into. It means I'm going to look different from the rest of the world.

It means no compromise. God's way is it or die.

Which the world finds a very threatening thought.

But no one ever said holiness and living for God was safe.

So live it anyways.

Don't Despise the Process

I love summer.

Summer means being woken up by sunshine streaming through my window. It means going to sleep to the sounds of frogs and crickets. It means sleeping with my window open and feeling breezes blow through my stuffy, second-story bedroom window.

Summer means BBQ chicken and lemonade at a picnic table with my family. It means camping trips and sleeping in. It means water fights and homemade ice cream.

Summer means working in the sun, refueling my depleted bank account, and getting my tan on.

Summer means no homework, no classes, no school. No papers, no due dates, no finals, no tests.

Wait, did I say no tests? I didn't mean that. But maybe tests isn't the right word. Maybe trial? Or refining? Or maybe process is a better word...

See, for the past three years now (ever since I started college), no school for me means processing time. Refining time. Trial time, test time. Summer means Corinne gets to reflect on the past school year and ask God what needs to change before the next school year.

This summer is no different.

Did you know that asking God to pry you open and shine His light into you is a dangerous thing to ask? It's like asking Him for patience. He grants your request but the process of it is not pleasant at all. When the process starts, you wish it would just get over with and the end result would just happen.

Unfortunately, in my 20 years and 11 months experience of living, I don't think God has ever been like "Hey, you need to fix this! So let's just fix it! Boom! You're fixed!"

Nope. Normally it goes more like this:
"Hey Corinne, we need to fix this. Let's go through this process of discovery and conviction and struggle and surrender, release and healing. It's going to be tough and it's going to hurt. Let's do it."

Ouch.

I heard someone say once that God is not so much interested in giving you what you want as He is in your knowing Him as the Giver. He's more interested in your knowing Him as Healer than He is interested in your healing (sidenote: do not misread this and say God doesn't want to heal. That's not what I'm saying).
I think the same principle applies here. God's primary goal is for us to know Him. The best way to get to know someone is to do life with them. Life is a process and a journey. So God walks us through life. Through the process. Through the journey. Cuz He wants us to know Him. So He uses our imperfections and our failures and our shortcomings and our trials and temptations and all our stuff to help us know Him. Nothing in this life is an end in and of itself. Every event, every relationship, every everything is placed in your life for the purpose of you knowing God more.

So, I guess what I'm saying is this: Don't despise the process by which God shapes your character and molds your heart. He wants you to know Him, so He'll shape you and help you do so. It's uncomfortable, it's painful, it's stretching and it's growing. But it's all those things for a purpose. Be uncomfortable. Hurt. Stretch. Grow. Know that this process is designed for you to run to the One who knows you best and who will not leave you to the process by yourself. Let Him walk you through it. Better yet, walk with Him through it. It's a process, not something to be jumped or skipped. Even though it hurts or is hard, it's ok. It won't last forever. And when we get to the end, the results will be worth the hard work. It'll be worth the process.

Strike a chord with you? I want to hear about it! :) Leave me a comment or shoot me an email! What process has God taken you through or is He taking you through? What did you learn about Him and yourself? Or what are you learning?

A College Student's Application of 1 Corinthians 13

August 30, 2012

If I get all A's and stay on top of all my homework, but don't love those around me, I'm wasting my time.

If I have the right answers and intelligent replies, but don't love those around me, my words are empty.

If I manage all my time well, get all tasks accomplished and all practice hours in, but don't love those around me, I've missed something.

Love means kind words and appropriate responses. Loe means smiling at and talking to anybody, regardless of their major, manners, personality or agreeableness. Love means patience and grace. Love means really listening. Love means helpfulness and sweetness, regardless of circumstances, emotions or personal opinion. Love means honesty without cruelty.

Wisdom will be needed. As will grace and discretion.

Lord, teach me to love You by loving Your people. Teach me how to love those I come into contact with. Teach me how to respond, how to act, how to speak, how to smile, how to look. Ultimately, may I be swallowed up in You. May You consume me so that when people see me, they see You and our relationship.

Why So Busy?

SPRING BREAK!!!!!

A wonderful week for college students. No papers, no reading, no classes. No pressure. No due dates. No homework. Nothing.

But, we normally fill the space with as much fun, "relaxing," stuff as we can.

As I'm heading into my spring break, I am pondering the question of why do we make ourselves soooo busy?

Because personally, my life right now is rather insane. You have no idea how happy I am to be on break right now.

When someone asks me how things are going, I usually respond in one of two ways:
1). Busy!
2). Crazy busy!

When someone asks how I am doing, I have two rehearsed answers, either one of which may apply at any moment:
1). Good
2). Tired

I'm guessing I'm not alone in this. In fact, I know I'm not alone in this. Maybe it's just a Bible college thing, but the majority of my friends usually find themselves in this place as well.

So I am asking, why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we cram so much into our lives?

I am especially asking this question because I myself have a habit of cramming as much as possible into my life. And going and going and going and going till I have run myself to the ground. As many credits as possible, as many music opportunities as possible, as many jobs as possible, as many leadership opportunities as possible...and this results in as much homework as possible, as few free weekends as possible, as much muisc practice as possible, and as little sleep as possible.

Why?

What it is about being busy?

I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't think we're just supposed to sit around doing nothing all day. We are supposed to work and do things and be productive. It's good to do things and to "have a life," if you will. And we fill our lives with good things! School and church and bible studies and extra curricular activites and jobs and friends and families...all really good things!

But why do we run around like chickens with our heads caught off?

Is anyone else asking this question? Does anyone else find themselves in the place of utter exhaustion, feeling like you have nothing left to give to anything or anybody? And does anyone else find themselves so busy, with so much scheduled into their day, that time at the feet of our Savior is compromised or done away with altogether? And does anyone else find that when they do have time to spend with Jesus, that it's hard to focus because there are a million other things calling out your name?

Why do we do this?

We all know the story of Martha and how Jesus chided her because she was so busy doing that she forogt to just be. To spend time at the feet of the Lord. We know that we aren't supposed to be like her, right?

So why do we still do it?

God dropped an answer for myself on me at church this morning. But it was very specific to me. I'm guessing we all make ourselves busy for different reasons. I may blog later this week about what God showed me about the state of my own heart, and some things that He has been showing me about this in general, but what about you? As I process this topic this week, would you join me? Can we examine our hearts together and honestly ask God, "why do I put so much into my life that I crowd You out?"

Because I'm pretty sure that while God intends us to be about His business, He never intended us to put so much into our lives that we end up putting Him to the side or wearing ourselves out so thin.

What do you think? Do you find yourself in this place sometimes? Is your life insane? Do you have time for Jesus?

Saying Goodbye

I hate saying goodbye.

I really do.

But somehow I seem to be in a season of goodbyes. And this specific season will probably last at least another year. And I am dreading it.

Allow me to explain.

I am in my junior year of college. Which means a). That I have dear friends graduating this year and b). That I will be graduating next year. So, saying goodbye to those leaving me this year and saying goodbye to those I'll leave next year.

But, graduation hasn't happened yet! I still have a few weeks.

Oh wait, I still have a goodbye to say tomorrow.

*Sigh* You know those people who somehow just get a hold of your heartstrings? There's just something about them, they have a way of stealing your heart in some fashion. I have a habit of "adopting" such people. I have a whole slew of adopted little brothers and sisters.

Three of these "adopted" kids happen to also be my actual brother's best friends.

Aren't they precious? They're two years younger than me and I've known them for years. And ever since they entered high school and we were all in youth group together, they've been my little brothers. I've gone to Mexico with them, gone on dozens of youth group outings and attended hundreds of youth group bible studies with them. I've worked with a couple of them on worship teams and have pushed at least of one them to grow beyond their comfort zone. Our families have gone camping together, we've hung out so many times. And even after beginning college and being around them less, they're those type of friends that you can just pick up where you left off with, no matter how many months have passed since you've last seen them. My little brothers.

Why am I bringing all this up?

Because one of them is moving. Across the United States. 

I hate saying goodbye. 

Even though I know that this is how it has to be, even though I know God will take care of this kid, even though I know this is just a part of life, and I know I'm being such a girly big sister, that doesn't change the fact that I hate goodbyes. All that knowledge doesn't change the fact that I feel incredibly sad. 

Why? I have no idea. If you figure it out, let me know.

Because this is just the beginning of the goodbyes that I will have to say even in the next year. This year alone I must say goodbye to an amazing teacher who is moving on to another school; I must say goodbye to a dear Montanan couple who have had a huge impact on my life; I must say goodbye to dear friends from Hawaii who brighten up my day; I must say goodbye to dozens of others who will be leaving and moving on. And next year at this time I will be getting ready to say goodbye to those who I will be leaving as I move on. 

So, how do you deal with goodbyes? How do you make the most of every moment, knowing it won't be forever? How do you go about saying goodbyes? How do you deal with pieces of your heart going all over the place with the people you have developed friendships with? 

I have previously not asked specifically for feedback on this blog, but if you would comment on these questions, I would love to hear what you have to say. I would mostly love to know that I'm not the only one that this happens to. Although I'm strange like that, so it wouldn't surprise me. 

How do you deal with saying goodbyes to dear friends? 

A God That Blesses When I'm Not Looking.

Can I just brag to you about my God for a minute?

He's so funny. He likes to do things for me when I least expect it.

Here's my current situation that brings this up:
The other day I got a part time job offer teaching at the Lesson Factory. I could use the extra money, and I enjoy teaching piano, so at first I was pretty excited. And, to be honest, it was kind of flattering to be not even graduated from college and to get this kind of opportunity.

However, after praying about it and seeking some counsel on it, I decided now was not the time. I really don't have the kind of time to put in that they were wanting, and I need more flexibility with my schedule. Long story short, I didn't take the job.

Remaining issue: I could still use some extra cash. I have a car that needs fixed and school to pay for. And no time to commit to a normal job.

Now, when I prayed about the Lesson Factory, I asked God for peace in whichever decision (yes or no) was right. And I said if this was from Him, great. I also said that if not, then I was going to trust Him to provide something else. Because, if I'm being really honest, I was a little scared that I was going to make a wrong decision and then doors would never open up there again. But I made my choice and let it go.

Here's the fun thing.

I clean for a super-sweet elderly lady every other weekend. Today happened to be one of those weekends. And she mentioned that a relative of mine was actually wondering if I could pick up some hours cleaning for her as well.

The great thing about this is that it would be on the weekend, which I can manage, and it would alternate with my other cleaning weekend, making so I don't have to reschedule anything or try to work around my already crazy life. It would fit perfectly into a spot I have and if I need that day off for something, it's easier to get it off than it would be working elsewhere at, say, the Lesson Factory.

Now, it's not as glamorous as teaching piano by any means. But that ok with me. If this works out, it gives me the few extra hours of a job that I need and it doesn't require me to give up anything else or set up expectations I can't commit to. It works for me.

And I was definitely not looking for anything.

Gotta love how God brings in those blessings when you're not looking.

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

Lost of times when you're not looking. :)