Revival.

I struggle severely sometimes when looking at my newsfeeds. The things that people post, talk about, and complain about tend to infuriate me. I get it if one isn't a believer. There isn't an example, standard, and higher goal or calling thrust upon them. But if one is in Christ, they have no excuse. The self-centered, high maintenance, materialistic, image-focused, American Dream life that we've begun to whine about obtaining as if somebody owes it to us makes my stomach knot up. And it's sad how difficult it is for me to find like-minded people in this. VERY sad. 

I wish there was a way to force every single person to spend time working in the heart of the impoverished areas of our towns right here or a third world setting. Because if the American church doesn't begin getting some perspective, it's not going to be a pretty. The time for revival is now. And I'm talking about WITHIN the church. A revival of heart and focus and purpose. And I've drawn the circle around my own two feet. It begins here. With me. 

Loving the impossible.

I never get tired of the way Jesus shows off. Seriously!

 Yesterday, I received an e-mail about my up-coming trip to Kenya with some details I had not been aware of. Several of these details meant some extra expenses that are hard to cover when you're working as a barista. So I naturally forgot most of my Believing God stuff and let the human-nature side take over. I panicked. I kicked and screamed against God's chest with frustration and fear. I sobbed. I became irrational. And over-dramatic Liz took over sounding strangely close to a certain donkey we all know and love who delights in pointing out the negative in every situation. I finally  threw up my hands and, exasperated, said "Alright, then. I can't do anything to make sure I can afford this. If it's gonna work, YOU have to do something." 

I'm thinking at that very moment His response was "THANK YOU! Now that you've finally handed me the reins, I can show you a little something." And show me He did. Within 2 hours, I was being told a check was coming my way. And then before I could be done being blown away by THAT, I had more money today. Jesus is rapidly turning my world upside down and around in a way that will make sure I'm never the same. He continues to show me how much He delights in doing the impossible. Every day. And the more I get to do the harder things, the more He pours out. I wouldn't be witnessing miracles big and small, left and right, if I didnt have the honor of living a life that requires utter dependence on Him. 

...Which makes me think again about the fact that we may be missing out on watching Him do things that are of ginormous proportion because we don't want to let go and completely say "YES!" to faith-living. To complete Kingdom-work. And how sad would it be to never experience the God who hand-knit you together doing things for YOU that no human being could ever even consider. Heal the leaper? Cast out demons? demolish strongholds? Banish disease? Tell people who've never heard that their creator walked Earth and died just to have a love-affair with them? Yep. Still can happen every single day. If we learn to start loving the impossible because we know it's the perfect formula for Him to show up and be BIG.  I'm Believing God. 

Maybe.

Sometimes I think we honestly desire to hear the voice of God, but we don't know how to listen. We spend some time in His Word, we ask for an answer. And then we sit in silence for a few minutes and hear nothing. We drive to work with Christian music, hoping the answer will come in a song as we so often hear others claim it did for them. And by the time we've been at work a few hours, we've become frustrated with the "silence". So we subtly throw our hands up and begin focusing on other things. On the tasks before us. And when the day is over, we're tired. We drive home or to the gym. We flip on our shows. Make dinner. Hang out with the family or friends. And unintentionally, we've forgotten about the way we poured our desires out before The Lord. We subconsciously give up. 

Maybe, just maybe, Jesus has been sitting with us the entire time. Maybe He delights in the fact that we poured ourselves out before Him. And maybe-since He is outside of time itself-He has already answered our prayers. Not the way we expect. Not WHEN we expect. But even better. And bigger. And nicer. But maybe, just maybe, we give up too soon and cease eagerly anticipating the answer. And maybe that can cause us to miss seeing the moment two months from now that the answer comes out of nowhere, dropped right in front of us. Beautifully packaged in a way only someone who knows us intimately can perfectly deliver.