Uncontainable

You're in your bedroom when all of a sudden someone knocks on the door.

"I have a surprise for you. Mind if  I bring it to you?" your friend asks.

"Yeah, sure. Bring it on in."

"Are you sure. I don't think it'll fit in your room." Your friend glances around, sizing up the place.

"Of course. It'll fit. Bring it on in."

You like surprises. You know the friend who is asking is trustworthy and always has good things to give you. So you accept the gift and wait for him to bring it in.

That's when he brings in a small object, unwraps it, and starts blowing up a life-size elephant. It gets to about half the size it is supposed to be, and it won't go any further. Your room isn't big enough to hold the gift from your friend.

"Maybe you can take that outside," you say with a puzzled look on your face.

"The air won't go back out once it's grown this much."

"But, it can't grow all the way in here. The room is too small."

So, this example might be a little bit crazy. I don't know too many people who could find a life-size inflatable elephant, let alone one that won't let the air out. But it was used to make a point.

That's how we are with God. We know He has something good for us. We want what He has because we know it's good. We ask Him to give it to us. We wait for Him to give it to us.

But then we set up limits.

We try to fit what He will do for us into our expectations. Instead of saying, "I expect You to move in ways bigger than I can imagine," we say, "This is where I am, and this is where You can go from here."

Recently, I was spending some time with God. During that time with Him, I asked myself, "Will I limit my limitless God?" I meant it to be a challenge to myself. I meant it to be a reminder not to limit Him. Well, instead of letting me think about it, God answered for me.

"You already are."

Well, if that didn't get me thinking about my supposedly rhetorical question, I don't think anything would have. God used it to show me how I have been thinking about a certain situation in my life. What I thought was merely having trouble seeing how I could reach my potential in a certain area was way more than that. Thinking that way put a limit on God.

God doesn't care about titles. He doesn't care what I think is expected of me. What He cares about is trust in Him - trust in His ability to do way more through me than I could ever hope to do on my own. He is a God without limit. He will take whatever room we give Him to move. A title doesn't matter. My expectations of myself don't matter. What matters is my trust in His ability to do great things through me.

So, the rhetorical question that God answered for me did make me think. It helped me take the limits off. And I hope it makes you think too. Know that God has big things in store for you. Know that He will give you whatever you expect, but expect Him to do more than you can imagine. Ask yourself if you will limit a limitless God.

I hope when you answer that question you answer, "I will not limit my limitless God."

All of Your Promises

Close your eyes. Dream. Picture your life the way you want it to be now. Picture the way you want it to be in five years, 10 years. Just dream about it.


Now open your ears. Hear this. "I am able to do 'superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare ask or think, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams'." This is a promise -  a promise from God, a promise that will be kept. No matter what.


There's just one problem (from our point of view anyway). He doesn't always keep those promises in the time we would like Him to keep them. That's where trust comes in. That's where faith comes in. That's where patience comes in.

Think about this. A friend promises to bring you lunch, but you don't think he or she will follow through. Instead of waiting for their promise, you run to McDonald's to grab a quick burger. An hour later, your friend shows up with steak and a baked potato. You didn't trust him or her. Now you're too full to eat the food he or she brought you, and it's because you settled for a cheap substitute instead of waiting.

It seems crazy right? Why wouldn't you trust a friend? After all, he or she has proven trustworthy enough to earn your friendship.

We do this with God though. He promises to give us better than we can imagine. Yet we settle. We see how happy we think our plans will make us. We see how we can be happy right now. We don't trust that God has something better. If we can be happy, why wouldn't He want us to have it? Even if we do believe he has better, we don't have the patience to wait for it.

So we settle. We settle with what we have now, even if it's not God's best. We pursue things that may not be God's perfect will for our lives, and though they may be good, we're still settling for less than we could have if we wait.

Instead of settling, all we need to do is have faith. We need to have a faith that is complemented with patience. God does fulfill His promises. And He does it in His own timing, timing that will make those plans even better.

Nothing compares to His promises. We need to grasp that. When we grasp that, we'll have patience. We'll trust Him. And He will bring those promises into our lives.

Close your eyes. Dream. Picture your life the way you want it to be now. Picture the way you want it to be in five years, 10 years.

Now know this. It will be far better than what you just imagined. All you have to do is trust God's promises and have the patience to wait for them to come to pass.

Living Love

A small child stands in front of his mom. She looks down at him as he stretches his arms as wide as he can. "I love you THIS much," he says. She smiles because she knows he's telling the truth.

We all did that when we were little. We tried to show our moms and dads, brothers and sisters how much we loved them. And well, the only way we knew to do that was to stretch our arms out wide and say, "THIS much" with a giant grin on our faces.

How many of us still do that? How many of us still try to show those around us how much we really love them? I know I don't, at least not as often as I could. Why don't we?

For me personally, there are several reasons. First of all, it's hard. Showing love is showing emotion, and that's never easy to do. It's not always easy to see how love is received, and not knowing how it's received makes it hard to give. Secondly, I don't always want to. I'd rather receive love than give it. I'd rather sit back and take it easy. Third, sometimes, it just doesn't seem like people deserve it.

However, God doesn't care about all those excuses. (Yes, I called them excuses, because that's what they are. They're not reasons.) It was hard for Him to show us His love; He had to die. He didn't want to die. We didn't deserve for Him to die for us. He just did it. So we should too.

Here's a few lessons we can learn about love that might help.

1. We have to make a decision to love someone else. If we don't make the decision to love them, we don't have anything to show.
2. Love is active. People can't see words. People can see actions. If our actions don't match our words we're not showing anybody anything. Our actions will show people what we mean when we say, "I love you THIS much!"
3. Love is deliberate. This combines the first two points. We can't be deliberate about something if you haven't made a decision on what to be deliberate about, and if we're deliberate about something, we do it on purpose. Deliberate love makes a conscious effort to put love into action. It thinks about what it is doing. If an action doesn't match the decision to love another, deliberate love will change what it is doing.
4. Love is living. Anything living should be growing. The more effort you put into loving someone else, the more you're going to love them. You're going to benefit from watching them receive your love, and it's going to help you show them more love.

Living love takes time and practice. We can't expect to get it right as soon as we start trying. But we can start trying. We can make a decision to love those around us unconditionally, deliberately and actively. No matter how hard it is.

I want to be like that little child, always letting people see how much I love them. I may not stand up, looking up into their eyes to see their reaction and stretch my arms as far as I can. I may not always see their reaction right away like the child sees his mother smile and scoop him up into her arms in a giant hug.

But I want my actions to say, "I love you THIS much."

Small Packages

Ever had one of those really stressful days? How about a really stressful week? Or to be even more exact, a really stressful month or more? Even when everything is going right, there's just so much of it that you can't stop and think about how good it is. If you do get one of those off days when no matter what happens you're still relaxed and smiling, something good can still seem like a major gift.


That would be where I have been recently. Sure, life has been great. It's even seemed easy most days. But that's only because I put off all the stressful stuff until the last minute, which not only builds the stress but also makes the last minute even more stressful than it should be. My schedule is so crammed full of busyness that I get excited when I find even an hour of free time (which unfortunately doesn't seem to stay free for very long). This girl who doesn't seem to understand how to say "no" has finally learned what it means to have to.


It's in these crazy stressful times that I am reminded how much God really cares. It's in the crazy busy times when even singing worship songs and reading my Bible doesn't seem to focus my thoughts on Him that I am reminded I'm still on His mind.


For example, I'm going to review the way my week started out. Monday involved an 8 a.m. class, a tour of the local newspaper building at 11, class at 1 p.m., class at 3, attempting to get an interview at 4, prayer meeting at 5, dinner at 6:15, city council meeting at 7 (not at all by choice), actually getting an interview at 10, trying to get a stupid program to work that never did, and finally going to bed at 1 a.m. Tuesday's agenda included meeting for a group project at 9 a.m., class at 9:30, lunch meeting at 11:15, class at 12:30 p.m., class at 2, meeting at 4:30, worship service at 7, again attempting the video editing program, studying for a test I had early this morning, and again going to bed at 1 a.m. Not a lot of time to spend remembering how awesome God is right?


Well, God made sure He still reminded me. For starters, he gave me about fifteen minutes of relaxation in the midst of all my journalism assignments Monday night, because He gave me an amazing friend who will bring me a patty melt whenever I ask as long as she's awake. Tuesday, when I woke up, I had a headache and a dry throat. Almost as soon as I started singing a worship song ("Never Let Go" by Matt Redman), He healed me (which somehow took me about fifteen minutes to realize). On top of the whole not feeling well, I was also really tired from going to bed so late and because of it seriously considered asking a friend to pray for me so I could make it through the day. I decided to not overwork my phone texting a friend to ask, but three hours later, the same friend I had thought about asking sent me this text:

"Well I'm glad you're not stressed out about it. God I pray that You just continue to help Nicole keep the stress away and just take things a little at a time. God I pray You allow her sometime even if it's just walking to class to just spend talking to you and getting refilled. I praise you for the wonderful woman you have made Nicole and for how you are ever increasing the masterpiece that she is. Yay Jesus. Amen :) love you girly :)"

Even though I was already having a decent day by that point, that text made my day. God had sent me a little present - in the form of a text message - to say He was thinking about me. Even though I hadn't said anything to anybody about wanting or needing prayer, someone prayed for me. I was so overwhelmed thinking about His goodness that all I wanted to do was cry.

He didn't have to do anything big. Sure, He does big things sometimes, but He's normally behind the small stuff - the stuff that seems insignificant but really makes a big difference, the everyday things. For me, this week, it was drive-by patty melt service and a text message. For you, it could be hearing your favorite song on the radio. It could be a hug or a smile from someone important to you.

Look for God in the little things. He likes to give us those - small packages that change our world. After all, His first gift to us was only a baby. And that gift changed the entire course of history.

Throw Your Mirrors Down

When you look in a mirror, what do you see? This is not a rhetorical question. I really want you to answer it (even though I am going to give you the most obvious answer). You don't have to tell me your answer, but at least tell yourself. You see yourself. Don't you? I mean, that is what a mirror is for isn't it? Now, I have another question, how do you see yourself? Do you see beauty? Do you see your character? Or do you see all the imperfections? The one tiny little zit that nobody else in the world would notice? The one hair that is out of place?

Now, think about this. The greatest artist in the world has painted a picture of you. He used the best canvas with the highest quality paints. He gives every detail the greatest attention while still focusing on the big picture. When you look at that painting, what do you see? Do you see a reflection of yourself? Or do you see yourself as the artist sees you?

Here's the most important question. When you ask that artist to show you how he or she sees you, who is it? Who is the greatest artist in the world in your opinion? Whose artistic eye are you going to trust? If it's yourself, the picture you get is going to be the exact same as the reflection you see in the mirror. If it's another human being, he or she will probably include at least one imperfection in the painting, one that you'll never be able to erase, no matter how hard you try. If it's the one who created you and molded you, all you're going to see in that painting is what is beautiful about you.

I am part of a small group Bible study here on my college campus. This semester, our leaders give us a challenge every week that we are supposed to complete by the next week. Last week, our challenge was to write down how we think God sees us. I'll be honest, I didn't really take the time to write it down, but I did spend a lot of time thinking about it.

For years, I have been hearing, "God thinks you're beautiful. He always has. He always will. He created you. Who are you to say He messed up?" Honestly, it took me a while to grasp that, but I did finally get it about a year ago. I heard this Barlow Girl song. Two lines of this song say, "I'm looking into the eyes of who made me. And to Him, I am beauty beyond compare." After many times of hearing that song, something clicked. No matter how well I know that God sees me as beautiful, looking at my own depiction of myself doesn't work. I have to see through His eyes. Since then, I have done a pretty good job seeing myself as beautiful. There are still times when it's hard, but it's easier.

Recently, though, I have had some much bigger issues come up. I have questioned why God still loves me. I have questioned why He wants me to do what He wants me to do. I have questioned my qualifications for His love and His call basically.

When I looked in a mirror, this is the reflection I saw. I saw someone who no matter how much of God's love she had seen in the past week, still paid extra special attention to someone who didn't have the same love for her. I saw someone who wasn't strong enough to fix her own issues, let alone help other people through theirs. I saw someone who was always taking a step back instead of more steps forward.

Then, my Creator caused me to snap out of it. Through some very important people in my life, He let me know the reflection I was seeing was flawed. Over the last few weeks, He has shown me His picture, what He sees when He looks at me.

This is the picture He has shown me. He sees someone who is growing. Growing in love, growing in maturity, just growing. He's proud of where she's come and not where she's been. He sees those special moments when she is completely in love with Him, not the few when she is distracted by someone else. He sees His little girl, dependent on Him whether she acknowledges it or not, His precious child who means more to Him than anything on this earth. His little girl, who is always, always growing. He sees someone, who has had her share of mistakes in the past, but can now use those to lead other people. She can show them how to get out of those same situations. He sees a beautiful, still-developing leader.

Honestly, it's hard to remember to look at God's picture of me instead of my own reflection. It's a daily choice at minimum. On the really rough days, it can be a minute-by-minute decision. But it is always so worth it! It makes the day (or the minute) so much better!

So, in the words of Tenth Avenue North, "Throw your mirrors down." Instead, pick up the masterpiece the world's greatest artist has created. Look through His eyes and not your own. I promise you. It will be worth it.

Deeply In Love

Every waking moment is consumed with thoughts of that special someone. Your closest friends, no matter how much they approve of the person, get tired of hearing about him or her. When you watch that romance movie, your mind replaces the two leads with the two of you. Every country song you hear makes you smile or hope you never have to sing it about this important person.

If you haven't felt this at some point in your life about someone, be prepared. It will probably happen to you too. It's a feeling that's hard to control, mainly because it feels so good. At the risk of sounding cliche, it's the most wonderful feeling in the whole world. If it's returned, it's even better.

It's love.

Recently, I have found myself experiencing this. Not that being in love is new to me. I have had some pretty major crushes in the past (just ask the friends who have had to listen to me over the years). But this. This is different. This is real love. This is something I never want to lose.

I have found myself in love with the most amazing person ever. In the words of Carrie Underwood, "He makes promises He keeps. No, He's never gonna leave." He loves me as much as I love Him, and I know that will never change. Even when I'm not giving Him all the attention He deserves, He still waits on me.

He's God.

To be honest, in comparison to how long I have known Him, this extreme passion for my Creator is new. I've always known He loves me. I've always thought I loved Him, too. But it has never been like this. In fact, I have spent years searching for love from someone else, someone else to give my love.

Actually, this passion is slowly but surely overcoming my most recent crush on a guy. For almost a week, I spent more time than normal with Him - reading my Bible, journaling (basically, writing love letters to God), and worshipping Him. For one of the first times, I found myself yearning to spend more time reading His love letter to me and return that love.

Then, last week, I hit a high point. I was with a big group of people who are falling in love with God like I am. But instead of knowing what everyone else was doing and saying, I was in my own little world, focusing on the love of my life.

As I thought about how I was falling in love with God, I thought about the crush this passion is replacing. I thought about how the next time I would see the person that I had been focused on, the attraction would not be completely gone. I knew I wanted it to be gone. I knew I wanted this newfound passion to consume me more than the immature crush.

The group began to sing the song "Empty Me" by Jeremy Camp. I very, very quickly made that song my prayer for the night. I told God I didn't want to have anything to do with that crush. I told God I wanted Him to fill my heart. Then I just sat there and let Him pour into me. It was the most refreshing, peaceful time I remember ever experiencing.

By that time I knew God was the center of my thoughts and would be as long as I let Him be, but I was still trying to figure out how I was going to deal with any left over attraction to the guy. It was then that a friend and mentor of mine started speaking. She said that she had seen a picture of a vase. The vase looked like a plant had once been in it and moved, because there were still some little specks of dirt stuck to the side. Then she saw water pouring into the vase. At first, the water got dirty because of the little bit of dirt still in there, but as the water continued to pour into the vase, it eventually overflowed and carried the dirt away. What she said the picture meant was that there is always still junk in our life - distractions, sin, anything that keeps us from God.

But... when we spend more time with God, He pours into us. He washes away all that stuff that would try to separate us from Him, that would try to steal our love from Him. That was my answer. I knew. All I have to do is spend time with God. Then this passion for Him would never go away.

So, what do I do now? I make sure I let people know who I am in love with. I talk about Him all the time. My thoughts are focusing more and more on Him. I always want to spend time with Him (which is not benefitting my homework at all), and I do it. I make time for Him no matter what.

And you know what's really great about God? He can give all His love to everybody at the same time. So, if you want to fall in love with somebody who will give you everything you need, somebody who listens to you, somebody who is happy when you're happy, somebody who will comfort you when you're down, someone who will always be waiting on you no matter what, then I suggest falling in love with God. Give HIM your heart. Spend time with Him. Read His love letter to you (otherwise known as the Bible). If you want, write your own love letter to God. I promise, it's the best thing you'll ever do.

After all, what could be better than falling in love with Love Himself?

The Time Has Come

Your best friend just called you and told you she has a million dollars somewhere. She is hiding somewhere in your town, and as soon as you find her, you can have the money. What do you do? I'm going to assume that you're like me and begin running around town. In your mind, you run through the list of every place your friend could be, going first to the most likely location.

To most of us, this seems like a no brainer. If all it takes to win such a prize is finding your best friend, why not?

But guess what!

There's a far better prize out there! All it takes to receive the prize is searching. In everyday life, God is the best friend calling out to you. When we seek Him, He promises amazing things. He promises that all the things we would otherwise be seeking such as a car, a relationship, money, or whatever else you can think of will be given to us. Then He promises that we'll find Him! (I'd say that's way better than a million dollars!) Plus, we get to do something for Him in the process. We allow Him to spend time with us. Then, when we're done, and we go out into our world, we are so full of Him that we bring other people into His kingdom! Is that cool or what? Then why don't we all search for Him?

I know that in my life, time is a big issue. I have so much going on all the time. I'm either in class, doing homework, doing something with Chi Alpha (when I'm at school, otherwise church fills that time), or running around with friends, with an occasional chore thrown in the mix. Another problem I tend to face is exhaustion. With my busy schedule, by the time I get back to my room and don't have homework, all I want to do is watch a movie or chat on Facebook. Or, even better, sleep!

However, as my first year of college has passed by, I have realized something. That stuff is not important. First of all, spending time with God is way better. Second, just like He promised, I have time for my busy schedule and relaxation when I find Him. Third, and most importantly, God should always come first. Even if what you're doing is something He wants you to do, if it takes His place as first priority in your life, if everything else revolves around that work and not Him, it's just not going to work. Even if you think it's His work, if He's not part of your life, He's not part of the work either. It would be so much more effective if you just included Him in the planning and execution.

So, although I'm going to be in class in 20 minutes, guess what. I'm going to be making sure I include God. (After all, He did tell me which majors to pursue.) I'm going to seek Him.

Why don't you join me? Why don't you seek God and let Him put everything else in order? And while you're at it, lead other people to Him by following Him yourself.