Supernatural Contentment

Over the past 4-5 weeks I have been asked by several people “you seem really, really happy… what gives?” in one way or another. Seems like a loaded question. My first thought is I am very happy, how’d they know? What gave it away? My second thought is did I not seem happy before? and my third thought is I am happy but how can I explain to them in so few words why? It’s been a weird process with no real one moment or one happening that I can pinpoint but this weekend like a switch a light bulb was turned on in my head. I wasn’t happy because of a new boyfriend, a new condo, or even the new fuel injectors in my car (which are very helpful to have in full working order FYI). I am happy because for the first time in my life I GET it. And by “it” I mean what God has been trying to tell me all along. “It’s not about you Stephanie.” Wait a second God, then “what is it about?” We as Americans are programmed to look out for number one, to climb the corporate ladder straight to the top, to make more money, have more cars, have more things…more, more, more… right?

Let me introduce you to Jesus, a radical of his time, not cool and by no means popular…Hated enough to be crucified on a cross. So why and how has His message made it to the present? His message was clear and changed humanity. But it has somehow been skewed by the present day American dream . What people seem to forget about Jesus was his intimacy with some of the most corrupt people of the time. He associated with tax collectors who were the known liars and deceivers of the nation and whom many in his day distrusted. He associated with the socially rejected, prostitutes, sinners, lepers and the blind. He directly involved himself in the world’s brokenness. He never sat comfortably on a cushioned pew waiting for a gracious introduction to thousands of people before he gave the Sermon on the Mount. He was never welcomed in the King’s house or invited to eat with the royal family. I would imagine in today’s world He’d be the same way. We wouldn’t find Him at White house luncheons or Sunday dinner church potlucks. We’d find Him outside of the church walls on the streets with the poor, prostitutes and sick of our day. Why is this important? It reminds us. It’s not about us.

Jen Hatmaker wrote a study called Interrupted where she explains that Americans prefer the top. We are programmed to continue to want and to get the next best thing. She calls this the ascent and describes it as such. “The pursuit of the ascent is crippling and has stunted my faith more than any other evil I’ve battled. It saddles us with so much to defend, and ironically, it doesn’t deliver because the more we accumulate, the more fearful we become that we’re just one slip from losing it all.” She explains that in order to really be happy we have to experience the descent back down to where Jesus was. “The path of descent,” she explains, “is also the path to liberation. You are no longer compelled to be right and are thus relieved from the burden of maintaining some reputation. You are released from the idols of greed, control, and status. The pressure to protect your house of cards is alleviated when you take the lowest place.” It was upon reading this that I got “it”. My happiness was not based on the things of this world. They were based on the fact that God was gradually pushing me back down the ladder. I was on the path of descent. Ironic I know how could you be happy going back down the ladder towards those who are suffering? Jesus was also the one who said , “the first will be last and the last will be first.” But again it all comes back to His original message and what He was really about. He was never about Himself. He was about others.

“…the gospel is the revelation of who God is, who we are and how we can be reconciled in Him. Yet in the American dream, where self reigns as king, we have a dangerous tendency to misunderstand, minimize, and even manipulate the gospel in order to accommodate our assumptions and desires. As a result we desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is biblical. And in the process we need to examine whether we have misconstrued a proper response to the gospel and maybe even missed the primary reward of the gospel, which is God himself.” --- taken from “Radical”

It was when God finally opened my eyes to the world as He saw it that I realized what it was about, and it wasn’t me anymore.

All of this begs the question so what is the “path of the descent” and what does it mean for my life? I will answer that with what I think the path of the ascent is which is bringing very little to the table for God and forgetting to thank Him for our blessings then getting to the top only to look down and not be happy. Thus, the path of descent must mean bringing everything to Him, thanking Him for all of our blessings and instead of looking up at those above us, we look up to Him and around to those at the bottom and smile because we are happy, content…. supernaturally content with our lives. When you do something for other people and give your money not to material things but to our God and his mission, you will experience a peace, a contentment that exceeds all understanding.

Life Interrupted

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love." -- Mother Teresa


Today marks a year since the earthquake in Haiti. I thought of my little friends Daniel and Rinaldo that I met in November with a smile on my face all day. What a blessing they were to me. I went to Haiti thinking I was going to change their lives, and they ended up changing mine. Daniel was my ever present shadow for a week, crawling up and down my back and finding me wherever I was at all times. I helped Rinaldo with his ear, and the look on his face after he got his hearing back was one I will never forget. If they would have fit in my suitcase, they would be living here with me at this moment, no questions asked.

I have always been comfortable in my way of life… living the so called “American Dream”. Somehow we have all confused the message of Jesus to fit into the constraints of what we think we deserve as Christians. In November God interrupted my life in a major way by sending me on a journey to finding adventure, love and meaning that I would have never found within the borders of America itself. In Jesus’ day those who lived in poverty were seen as having disfavor with God. However, Jesus radically changed that definition with the Sermon on the Mount when he said “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” I am eternally convinced without eventually reaching out to those who are poor and hungry we cannot ever essentially please God. Living in the richest country in the world it is easy to be unaware of what’s going on in the world around us. If you make $35,000 a year annually you are in the top four percent of the global population in terms of wealth, $50,000 a year and you are in the top one percent of the global population! This means we have a huge responsibility as well. I cannot imagine standing in front of my creator with my bank statement and Him saying did you know that when you were alive on earth someone died of hunger every 16 seconds?

I will never forget my time in Haiti and I look forward to my trip again this year. These people do not thirst for God as most Americans do because they literally rely on God for every single thing in their lives and praise Him for it with a faith I’ve never experienced in my American life. My prayer is that in a nation who does not rely on God for their every single need that He will interrupt our lives in a way so that we are always left thirsty for Him and willing to step outside of our comfort zones and go out into the world that lies desperately in need of our help.

What Really Matters.

“Beginnings are scary. Endings are usually sad. But it’s what’s in the middle that counts. So when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will.” -- Sandra Bullock

What’s interesting about life is that people come into your life and people go. It’s always for a reason whether it’s a lifetime or just a season. People are there to lift you up in times when you need them, and they leave you when its time to move on to something better. Relationships can be an emotional roller coaster. What’s neat about God and life is that it’s always for the best, whether it’s to become your best or for you to make a mark on another person’s life instead. It’s scary to find myself at the beginning again but beautiful to know I have the middle to look forward to…

The Beauty of LETTING GO

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” --
Isaiah 43:18

When I was little I collected stuffed teddy bears. They were like my little family. I taught them school and had tea parties with them. As the bears piled up we had to get nets that hung above my bed and in the corners of my room. Then mom came to me one day to “get rid” of all these bears to make room for things like my bed. =) I was devastated. I loved them all how I could I get rid of them. Besides they needed me, I was their friend. Who else was going to yell at them for talking during class…? I wasn’t happy about it but I picked out a few to give away and to be honest after a few weeks forgot about the ones I had lost. This may be a weird analogy but as I’ve grown up those bears have been replaced by real people and real situations. Sometimes in life we face situations or relationships that go awry and become an overwhelming part of our focus in life just as those bears were overwhelming to my room.

The beauty of a new year is that it’s easy to start fresh and anew. 2010 was an amazing year., possibly the best yet for me. I made lots of new friends, went on several adventures throughout the country and in Haiti, finally had my dream job, bought a new car with my own money and formed several new incredible relationships. Like most people not everything goes as planned, I stumbled a few times along the way and made several mistakes. Whether it’s in friendships or relationships with family or a significant other, we all have had bad experiences or situations that begin to consume our life.

When you hold on to things that hold you back you are stranded from pressing on towards your goal, towards making the best of yourself. What letting go of things has taught me is that there is an incredible amount of freedom you obtain in doing so. You are now in control of your life and not a slave to that situation anymore. You are in a sense the best version of yourself. God cannot to do what He wants to in your life until you let it go. Letting go allows you to fear less and LOVE more. Love others more, Love yourself more, Love God more. Just imagine the possibilities!

Being IN LOVE. (Inspired by Francis Chan)

“The critical question for our generation and for every generation is this:  If you could have heaven with no sickness and with all the friends you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven if Christ was not there?”  -- John Piper

Most people think being a Christian is maintaining a list of so called rules and regulations to live by...things you must do to get to heaven.  How empty and boring this would make our lives huh? I used to think in my youth of God as so sovereign that He was out of reach to the normal human being.  I started at a Christian school in the 6^th grade studying Kings and Chronicles in the bible. Memorizing the geneology of Jesus was a daily occurrence.  You can imagine Bible was not a class I looked forward to.  It was actually the hardest class we had.

Maturity brings us a lot of things but in my recent walk with God I have learned that its not important to God that we can name the kings directly before and after David or how old Methusaleh was (969 years just for giggles).  What was really important was my relationship with him. All these lessons and stories were a platform to show me the relationships He had with his people. I just didn't realize it at the time.

Which brings me back to the original question, could you be satisfied in Heaven with Christ not there?  Heaven epitomizes the ultimate place right?  A place so great we cannot even begin to imagine it with our earthly minds.  Have you ever been somewhere like the greatest beach in Hawaii or the most elegant restaurant with friends but was not really happy because maybe your best friend wasn’t there?  This is what I imagine John Piper was getting at.  You know the old saying, "It’s not where you are but who you are with that matters."  Well, that can go both ways whether it’s a happy place or a sad place.  I was recently in Haiti surrounded by war, hunger, sin and heartbreak.  My mom asked me, "weren’t you scared?"  "Nope, not at all."  "How could you not be scared with people burning tires around you and hitting your bus?"  "I don’t know mom I felt safe."  (...insert mom looking perturbed for a second.)  "Mom, I had my best friend there."  Rolling her eyes, "Stephanie what was she going to do to protect you?" (hinting at a dear friend of mine)  "Mom, Jesus is a He and that’s just what He does."  I’d never be satisfied in Heaven without Christ nor in Hell (or a so called earthly Hell) without Him either.

God loves us more than our worried hearts can fathom.  He loves us so much He saw we were doomed by sin and sent his son to die on the cross to save us.  Has anyone else you’ve ever known died for you?  Or sent their only son for YOU?  Hard to understand this kind of love right?  So how can we repay him?  It’s not by serving Him like slaves out of obligation whether its by fear of his wrath or ignorance of the real truth.  What He really desires is a relationship with us.  For us to be His best friend.... to ask when we need, to call when we’re worried, to vent when we are angry, to question when we don’t understand...

Galations 5:13

“So you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

This verse releases us from a list of so called "dos and don’ts" and frees us to simply be more Christ-like.  Francis Chan summed it up best when he said, “if we train ourselves to run toward our REFUGE , toward LOVE – we are free, just as we were called to be.” God loved us so that we could love others.  Once we realize that happiness is not found in the sinful nature of the world or the "flesh" as he calls it, it pushes us to desire a more genuine relationship with Him that is summed up in one word: LOVE.  So back to John Piper’s question,  if you truly love God and see that He wants what’s best for you and wants you to desire Him, would you care if you had all the luxuries of this world but didn’t have your best friend there to share it with?