To the Rescue

A large part of Camp Phillip for me has always been the songs.  The music at Camp has always been a way for me to pray, reflect, commune with God.  

I wrote this song at the end of a morning of Scripture reading and prayer.  It was such a blessing to be out in God's creation with a Bible, and a journal and a guitar (and a thermos of coffee).

It's interesting that the song that was written on a glorious day like that is about the hope we have in Christ on days that aren't nearly as glorious.  But I guess having a day when God's truth and love is so clear to me reminded me of the days that I try to handle the old man in me, the devil, and the sinful world all on my own.  It is great to know the reality that I am never really on my own.

Crazy Confidence

Sometimes when I look up from the Bible, I get discouraged.   Scripture describes what our lives could look, and I am excited about the picture.  Then I see what we've made of it, and I lose heart.  I often respond to this by taking the burden onto my shoulders to fix the world.

This weekend we had a teen retreat at Camp, and it became clear that I am not the only one who loses hope when faced with the reality of the sinful world around us.  The girls cabins spent some time in reflections on Friday night thinking about the parts of their life where they need to trust God's will, and rest confidently in him.  (Normally, we don't share reflections, but since they chose to post their reflections in the dining hall on the wall for everyone to see...)

There are times that you probably look around and don’t notice God at work.  There are times when you feel like he hasn’t given enough evidence of his power and control.  So many things happen that shouldn’t.  Things don’t seem to make sense.  Things don’t fit in with your plan.

And so you doubt God.  You give up on him, and think that you need to go elsewhere to find peace.  Maybe in your own accomplishments, or your relationships, or you escape into your pastimes.

The truth is that our giving up, our giving in, demonstrates a lack of trust in God.  This isn’t surprising I guess.  Not trusting was the first sin.  Really all sin is about not trusting.