When 'our best' is not enough.

We are all familiar with the phrase "Your best is enough", but this afternoon I am sitting here completely convinced that it is not. Our best is always totally and completely inadequate. Our best falls pathetically short. No, our best is not enough. When I hear that phrase it conveys an image to me, an image of giving or doing until we feel we've run out of room, shrugging and saying "well I gave it my best". I know how I sound, I know what some of you are thinking, but hear me out. We need to be striving for God's best, not our own, and I believe in order to accomplish that it means to never stop. Even when it hurts, when it's scary, when it's uncomfortable, when it's unfamiliar, we should never stop.

Do you give until it hurts? I don't. God does not provide us with nearly overflowing resources so that we might hoard them to ourselves in an attempt to make our lives as comfortable as possible. He gives to us so that we have *more* to give.

Right now I am following a group of bloggers who are currently on a missions trip to the Philippines through Compassion International. I'm reading these words on my two year old laptop (that I complain about being out of date), in my air conditioned house (that I complain about being too small) from my overstuffed sofa. And I am thinking to myself "what am I doing?".

We don't currently sponsor any charity of any kind. Because if we did that we wouldn't be able to pay our cable bill, or go out to eat, or buy new housewares. And it suddenly feels like such a terribly pathetic excuse. I have a lot to pray about and evaluate in my life, because I am now convinced that God did not bless me with the resources I have in order to cushion my life. This is not what life is about. If you feel like challenging yourself, I encourage you to follow these bloggers this week on their trip, and ask God to open your hearts to their messages, and pray for them while they're on their journey.

Chatting at the sky
Simple Mom
Inspired to Action
Keeper of the Home
Passionate Homemaking

A battle of faith

Oh, Lord, rescue me, I beseech you
Encamp your angles round about me and deliver me from our enemy
Harken unto me, Abba, hear my cry
I need you to be my rock and my foundation, let me hold fast to you
My soul cries out for you, for You are my Savior
Though the war spins round about me, I desperately seek to fix my gaze upon you
When the fight engulfs me from my right and my left, from below me and behind
I lift my hands up to you from the mountain and I wait for your deliverance
In the storms, you are my shelter, in the wasteland you are my well
In the black of night you are the my eternal light
When my strength has failed, I will rest in the Everlasting Arms
Yahweh, I call out to you, save me from my despair
You are my God, your grace is sufficient, your love is perfect
Blessed be your name forever and ever
Selah.





When we are attacked, we are rarely attacked on only one front.
Because one front can usually be easily defended, can't it?
No, it is much more advantageous for the Devil to attack us from multiple strategic angles.
Fear of death, lack of self esteem, doubt, marital insecurity, illness, a childs illness, financial strain.
He hopes that by breaking the ice on all angles, that we will fall through, that we will give into the seemingly hopeless chill that engulfs us.

These moments happen to everyone, they are not unique to any one person - what sets us apart is how we react to these situations. Some people will look to themselves, some people will look to their friends, some to alcohol, some to drugs. I am choosing to look to my Lord with the strength that I can. I am not strong, I am not perfect, but I am putting my effort into my Father and Savior. But I do not believe this journey is one that I can walk alone. I need your help. I need your prayers, I need you to lift me up.

In Exodus 17 Moses prays to the Lord for victory in a battle that Israel was fighting. When he kept his arms raised, Israel won, when he let them fall, they lost ground. When his arms became too heavy for him to hold up on his own, Aaron and Hur came along side and held them up for him - and because of this, they won the battle.
Right now, I need you to hold up my hands. I am tired, I am afraid, I am physically run down. Will you help me win this battle?