A New Song

I waited patiently for the Lord;

and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit,

out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock,

and established my goings.

And he hath put a new song in my mouth,

even praise unto our God:

many shall see it, and fear,

and shall trust in the Lord.

-Psalm 40:1-3 (KJV)

This passage is one that has really helped me in the moments when I feel stuck in a pit because of my experiences in life. I began this blog to share with others what God is doing in my life, in hopes that as God pulls me out of this pit, that He can take my “new song” and that many will see how powerful God is.

Writing and sharing this is not easy for me. Last night, it scared me a lot actually. I am not a minister and I do not pretend to be. I continually pray to God for discernment on what to say or if I am doing and saying the right things.

Do Christians have to be ordained in order to share how God is helping them through their struggles?

Not necessarily.

Something that has been so incredibly important to me as I share my experiences and lessons from God is that everything that I have shared about what God is teaching me is Biblically-based. Our greatest discernment of the truth comes from the truth in God’s Word.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” 

–Psalm 119:105 (KJV)

One of the reasons my faith is so strong is that I spent so many years of my life alone, praying and reading Scripture when my family was falling apart, when I was alone because I was neglected… It was through His Word that I learned about the struggles and obstacles of those who lived many years ago who went through similar experiences, similar emotions. It was through the words of Scripture that I am able to stand these attacks. It does not surprise me that when I am struggling the most, a verse comes into my head out of nowhere that is exactly what I needed.

Does my strong faith make me special? Does it mean that I have something different that others do not have? Does it mean that I’m closer to God than most people?

I do not think so at all and I believe that if someone does believe that, then it is deceit. I completely believe that anybody who is willing to open their ears, eyes and hearts to God can become close to Him. And the wisdom that comes from listening to what God tells us does not make us closer to Him than He is to any other person. It also doesn’t make us into God.

I can say I know God. But I do not fully know everything about Him. That is impossible on this earth. Just like it is impossible to know everyone and everything on this earth, our God is so complex and so complicated that we cannot know everything about Him.

I honestly do not mind if people question something I say about God, because first, it gets people thinking about who God is. Second, I would sincerely hope that just because a human says something about God that people would not blindly take it as truth. We are not God, so we cannot possibly know everything about Him. Just like people who know you or me cannot know everything we deal with. People may see us on the outside and think they know everything we feel or that is happening within us.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” -1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)

I hope that through sharing my journey that God will take what I say and help others to draw closer to Him. Some of the things I have written about are things that I am still struggling with and learning. I cannot say, “Oh all of a sudden I am fine and I know everything someone can know about God!” Because that would not be true. Life is a journey and walking with God is a process.