God Is Good All The Time

ALL Bible Study

By Kristen Entwistle

Sometimes when we’re in the midst of a tough circumstance, a difficult season of life, or when something terrible happens – the death of a child, a senseless bombing, or a national disaster – it is hard to see God working it out for good.

god is good

I’ll be the first to say that I’ve asked God why He allowed me to have CF, and what He’s doing with it.

I’ve finally given God control and said, “Do with me what you will.  Not my will, but yours be done.”

I’ve seen some of God’s goodness in recent years, and begun to see a little bit of His plan for me.  But there are times when I still get sucked into the dark, deep pit of despair.  Recently it has come in waves rather than drops of rain, but this particular pit has been in my work.

I have the unique privilege to work and study an aspect of my own disease.  As you can imagine, there are good and bad things about working on my own disease.

There are days when the bad outweighs the good. There are days when the good outweighs the bad.

Lately, the bad has outweighed the good. 

It’s just been hard, for a number of reasons that I don’t want to elaborate right now.  Suffice it to say that I’ve wondered if I can do research in this field long-term.

Whenever I see a talk or poster at a conference that deals with CF research, I make a point of saying, ‘Thank you’ to the researcher. 

I usually say something along the lines of, ‘Thank you for the research you do.  It means so much to patients, parents, doctors and nurses that are affected by CF.  Thank you for doing what you do.’

Today, I was at a CF clinic routine visit, and one of the nurses asked me how my research was going.  The staff knows that I work on CFRD, and so I told her that I had some exciting results that I just presented at a conference.  She got really excited and asked to see one of the devices that I had in my purse from the conference, and took it out into the offices for show and tell.

The doctor came in, asked how my research was, and so I told him the same thing that I’d told the nurse.

And you know what he said? 

“That’s amazing!  On behalf of patients, doctors, and families affected by CF, thank you for doing this work.  Thank you.”

God truly is good.  All the time. 

When I’m sitting here wondering how God is using me, how to get out of this particular pit, how He is using it for good: He brings me into places like this.

He uses other people to encourage me.  Just from a few simple words from my doctor, I was reminded that God really is good, and that He does have a plan.  That what He has called me to do right now, He will give me the strength to do.  That where He has called me to be right now, He will be with me.  That even when it seems impossible, nothing is impossible with Him. 

I still don’t have all the answers to my questions.  I still don’t understand so much of His plan.

But I do know this:  God is good.  All the time. 

Surrender

ALL Bible Study

By Kristen Entwistle

Lent is not about giving up coffee so that you can kick that caffeine addiction or chocolate so that you can lose weight or Facebook so that you can spend less time addicted to your phone.  Don’t get me wrong, all those things are good.  But lent isn’t about giving things up that will make your life better, healthier.

Lent is about surrender.

 From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus surrendered to the will of the Father.  In the days and hours leading up to the garden of Gethsemane, even Jesus struggled to surrender to the will of the Father.  He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will,” and then, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Matthew 26:39, 42).  But surrender He did.

 

He surrendered to the will of the Father, by saying, “Not my will, but yours be done.”  He surrendered His whole life, His entire ministry to the Father – all of it, every last minute of it.  He surrendered control of His situation to the Father, knowing that His plan was greater.  He surrendered to the cross, to the most brutal death known to man.  Lent is about surrender.

 

Surrendering all of our lives to Christ, not just part of it. 

Surrendering our plans for our lives, letting God’s will prevail.

Surrendering the illusion of control, giving God control of our lives.

Surrendering to the cross. 

 

Lent is about surrender.  When was the last time that you surrendered your entire life to Christ – not just the parts that are easy?  When was the last time you surrendered to the will of Christ, His good, pleasing, and perfect will?  When was the last time you surrendered control to the One in control of it all?

 

What if, this Lenten season and all the days after it, we strove to do what Jesus did – surrender?  What if we gave up coffee so that, instead of spending the time making it in the morning, we used that time to pray for the strength to surrender?  What if we cave up chocolate so that every time we thought about eating it, we instead prayed for God to help us give up control of our lives?  What if we gave up Facebook so that we could use that data and time to read the Word on our lunch break, praying for the will of God to be evident in our lives?

 

I think we’d see a big change in the way we live our lives, in how we see God working in our lives.  Because surrender is what we have been called to, and it’s hard.  Christ, our example, surrendered to the Father, to the cross.  With His help, surrender is possible.  Surrender.

 

Also published at BrokenBeautifulBOLD.com

Spiritual Strength Requires Exercise

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By Kristen Entwistle

I have many friends who are fitness fanatics.  They have Facebook groups and workout groups and fitness families and are committed to eating healthier, staying fit, and encouraging others to do the same.  It’s a great thing, and I’m grateful for these friends and their enthusiasm for living better physical lives.

It’s not just our physical bodies that we need to work out, though.  We need to strengthen our Spiritual lives as well.

exercise

Jesus’ proclamation of the greatest commandment that we’ve been studying this week is found in almost all of the Gospels, but the one we’ve been in is in Mark 12.  There are four parts to the greatest commandment, but the one we’re going to focus on today is the fourth: loving the Lord with all of our strength

Consider the disciples for a moment.  Matthew 4 records Jesus calling James, John, Peter, and Andrew to be His disciples.  All that the Gospel records Jesus telling them is this: “Follow me!  I will make you fishers of men.”

I don’t know about you, but when Jesus called me to follow Him, and pretty much every day since, I’ve questioned His plan.  I’ve said, “Wait a minute, God.  Do you really mean for me to do that?  Are you sure you don’t mean this instead?”  If I had been even just a fly on the wall on those boats with Peter, James, John and Andrew, I think I would have had a few questions before I just up and left my nets, my boat, and my dad.  Oh, and my job, my way to live, the only thing I’d really ever known – to follow this guy who was just starting His ministry.

The disciples left everything they had, everything they knew, to follow Christ.  And the Gospels record no hesitation on their part.  No questions.  Just obedience.  I’d like to suggest that this action by the disciples, of giving up everything they had, knew and wanted to follow Christ is the best example of loving the Lord with all of our strength.  The disciples’ strength was what they knew, what they were good at: for Peter, Andrew, James, and John, it was fishing.  They turned their talents from fishing for fish, to fishing for men.  They gave Christ everything they had.  But they didn’t turn from fishing for fish to fishing for men overnight.  They had to learn how to do it, to walk with Christ along the dusty road, see Him heal people and teach and turn over tables in the Temple and feed five thousand people with just a few loaves and fish.  They had to exercise and learn their strength in order to love God with all of their strength.

It’s not necessarily about what you bring to the table, what you’re good at, or what your job is.  Those may be part of your strength, but there’s more to it than that.  You’ve got to walk with Christ and let Him teach you, help you to build up your strength so that you can love Him with it, serve Him with it.

Think of it like my fitness friends think about staying in shape – you have to keep at it, do it day after day.  You have to go to the gym in order to build up those muscles.  If you’re going to run a marathon, you have to train.

If you’re going to love the Lord with all of your strength, you’ve got to build up that strength.  So read the Word of God, study it, memorize it, let it permeate your speech and your actions.  Pray unceasingly.  Give thanks.  Put on the armor of God every morning.

And with His strength, you will be able to love the Lord with all of your strength. 

Be sure to check out the Study Resources tab for all of this week’s Bible study materials including the video and discussion questions!

ALL: Bible Study Starts March 2

ALL Bible Study

By Kristen Entwistle

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:28-31

You’ve probably read this verse in one the Gospels many, many times.  And there’s one word that shows up four times in the greatest commandment that we like to gloss over – that tiny little three letter word: all.  Let me tell you what this verse doesn’t say.  It doesn’t say, “Love the Lord your God with some of your heart, with a little of your soul, with as much of your mind as you can spare, and with a bit of your strength.”

No, it says:

ALL your heart,

ALL your soul,

ALL your mind, and

ALL your strength.  

How do we do that?  In a world where we struggle to give ALL of our attention to anything, let alone ALL of our strength to Christ?  Why are we called to love Him with ALL of our lives?  What did He give to us that we should give Him not only ALL of our heart, but ALL of our lives?  Is God really good ALL the time, or only when things are going well?

Join us for a four week study on this very topic starting March 2:

On Monday, I’ll post the video for the week (it’s short, you don’t have to listen to me for very long!!) with a listening guide.

On Tuesday, I’ll post some questions and other Scriptures for you to ponder during the remainder of the week.

On Wednesday, I’ll post a blog here related to that week’s topic.

On Thursday, I’ll post a reflection on that week’s topic- either in video or text format.

On Friday, I’ll post a graphic that will relate to the week’s topic.

Would you consider joining us for this study?  I pray that you will engage with the material, and start a conversation with your friends, family, and with me about what God is teaching you through this study and through the challenges of life.

All of the materials for this study will be found on the blog as well as under the Study Resources tab.

Even If…

Testimony, Truth, ,

By Kristen Entwistle

Have you ever prayed for something, something big – and waited and waited and waited for God to grant your request, and then been devastated when it felt like He didn’t come through?  Maybe you’ve been praying for the financial means to buy a house, healing for a child or a parent or yourself, for the opportunity to change jobs, for God to bless your family with a child, for God to bring a friend into your life that might become something more, for that ministry event you’re planning to be well-attended.

Let me be abundantly clear:

God ALWAYS answers your prayers.  

ALWAYS.  

It’s just that He doesn’t always answer

the way that we want Him to.  

Sometimes the answer we get isn’t what we think we need.  But it’s what God knows we need.  With whatever is going on in your life right now – whether it is big or small, wonderful or difficult – take heart that He does hear your prayers, your cries, your praise.  Remember that His time is not ours, and that He has a bigger plan.

Kutless sings a song called Even If.  The chorus says these words:

Even if the healing doesn’t come

And life falls apart

And dreams are still undone

You are God, You are good,

Forever faithful One

Even if the healing,

Even if the healing doesn’t come.

Even if…

…you’re still renting an apartment and can’t afford a house right now, He is working in it for His glory.

Even if…

…the new job doesn’t pan out right now, ask for God to use you where you are right now.

Even if…

…God doesn’t heal your son or daughter, put your trust in Him and ask for His strength to get you through each day, and to see the good that comes of your struggle.

Even if…

…you’re still single and alone, God’s got a plan.  And His love is one that will never fail, never disappoint you, and never run away.

Even if…

…you haven’t been blessed with a child, run to God, who has it all in His hands.  Find comfort in Him today.

Even if…

…one person shows up to that ministry event, remember that God has used you in that person’s life.  And that was worth it.

Even if…

I will still praise You, because You are good.  I will still trust You, because You are faithful.

And I will actively look for the ways that You are working ALL things for the good of we who love you.  I will let you use my circumstances, my struggles, my life to bless others, and to work out Your plan in their lives and in mine.  Even when the healing doesn’t come.

even if

Messy Canvas Of Life

Broken, God's love, , ,

By Kristen Entwistle

I’m not a super-crafty person.  For example, when I try to paint something, it usually ends up looking like a 2-year-old’s art project that you hang on the fridge – which is cute from a 2-year-old, but not from a 24-year old.  Needless to say, my ‘art’ is usually recycled with the cardboard boxes.

Think of your life as a canvas.  Everything shows up on it – the good, the bad, and the ugly.   You try to cover up the things that you don’t want others to see – which usually ends up just making it look messy.  You try to paint over the mistakes – sometimes it works, but then the paint starts peeling.  Maybe there’s a corner of your canvas that you’ve tried to keep white.  And now it’s got smudges.  Maybe your canvas, like mine, ends up looking more like a mess than a beautiful picture.  Maybe your life, like mine, ends up looking a little messy.  You begin to wonder if God wants your mess, your brokenness.  Your messy canvas of life. But, my friend,

It’s those messes that God uses in His glorious masterpiece.  

Up close, the giant canvas of God’s plan looks a little splotchy, a little messy, a little disjointed.  Up close, it looks like it doesn’t all fit together.  But as you step further away, you begin to see it.

All of the broken pieces fit together perfectly.

All of the smudges look like they were meant to be.

All of the colors blend seamlessly together.

But it’s all made up of messy pieces.  Messy canvases.  My life.  Your life.

The great grace of God brings together all of our broken, scratched, smudged, messy pieces and puts them together in just the right way to bring about His plan, His masterpiece.

He wipes our canvas clean when we accept Him as Savior. 

And then He starts painting. 

Our canvas may still look like a mess to us.  But when God is done, when we see ourselves in the bigger picture, our messy life fits perfectly into exactly what He wanted us to be: His children.

messy canvas

The Next Big Thing

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By Kristen Entwistle

Wondering why you haven’t seen anything on this blog for a while?  Well, it’s because God has been at work, and all of the content that was here is MOVING!  Long story short, God has been pressing on my heart to start offering FREE Online Bible Studies and to open up my blog to a larger audience.  The first Bible Study will launch in March, so don’t miss it!

Where to subscribe: Website, Facebook, or Twitter.

Why to subscribe: Well, you don’t have to.  But I’d love it if you did.  🙂  And share it with your friends, family, etc.

Thanks!

 

To You, No Matter Where You Are Today

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By Kristen Entwistle

Walking down the street, I see people hurting.  I see people putting on a smile even though their heart is breaking.  I see people who are in trouble.  I see people who are incredibly and indescribably happy.  I see people who are searching for something.  I see people who need a word of encouragement today.

Maybe you’re one of those people I passed on the street this morning (figuratively, of course) and you need to hear that you are not alone.  You are not the only one who is struggling.  You are not the only one who is hurting.  You are not the only one who is smiling through tears.  You are not the only one who needs Jesus.  May these words encourage you today, wherever you may be walking, whatever your circumstances, and whenever you may be feeling these emotions.

To the weary and overwhelmed, you are not alone.  It may seem like there is no end to this tunnel right now.  It probably seems like your world is crashing down around you and that nothing is ever going to change.  Rest assured, you are not alone.  Christ has offered us rest in Him.  Take your cares to Him, lay your burdens at His feet.  He will care for you in this time of need, even though it may not be what you are expecting.  When you are overwhelmed, run to Jesus.  His perfect peace will wash over you – maybe as a gentle whisper, maybe as the crashing of the waves on the sea.  But He will give you rest, and He will give you His peace.  You need only come to the feet of Jesus.

To the joyful and happy, you are not alone.  It’s clear from your face that you are enjoying a time of plenty right now.  Share it with others, if you can.  Be the person who brings a smile to someone else’s face because you are just so joyful that it’s contagious.  Share what God has done in your life and praise Him for it.  Praise Him now, and praise Him when the happiness fades and the true joy remains.

To the sick and sorrowing, you are not alone.  Maybe you are physically sick right now, and you can’t seem to even get out of bed.  Perhaps it is your heart that is sorrowful, mourning the loss of a child, a parent, a friend.  It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick; not the blue skies that need the sun, but the grey.  Christ is the great healer, the Son that we need.  He may not physically heal you or bring your loved one back to you right now, but He has promised us a better future where there will be no more sickness, and we will be with Him forever.  Have faith that there are better things coming, friend.  Hold on, because better days are coming.

To the blessed and in awe, you are not alone.  Share your awe with those around you.  Perhaps it is the birth of a child or the new job that you didn’t expect, or the expectation of a bright future with the person you love of which you are in awe.  Shout it from the mountaintops that Christ is good, that His love endures forever!  Share it with your church, your friends, the person on the corner.  Don’t hold you joy and awe inside, tell the world what Christ has done in your life.

To the battered and broken, you are not alone.  It may seem like this time of trial won’t ever come to an end.  It may seem like nothing good could ever come of it.  But take heart, friend, for He has overcome the world.   Nothing escapes His perfect plan, no rain returns to the sky without first watering the Earth.  These trials are only going to make you into more of the person that He is shaping you to be.  Take this time of molding to come to the cross and remember that Christ died for you.  He died to save your soul, and better days are coming.  Keep praying for that rain upon your life.  It will come.

To the confident and assured, you are not alone.  It seems like everything has fallen into place lately, the future is certain.  Keep the door open, though, because something that God has planned for you might come along, and you certainly don’t want to miss it.  Enjoy this time of certainty, and be sure to praise Him for it.  Share it with the friends and family around you, and tell the world that He is good.

To the unsure and apprehensive, you are not alone.  In this time of the unknown, rest in the peace that God has a plan, and that He will carry it out in His perfect time.  That doesn’t make it any easier now, but pray for peace, comfort, and wisdom.  He will surely grant it to you.

When Your Walls Fall Down

Broken, Faithful, Testimony, Walls, , ,

By Kristen Entwistle

When you were a kid, did you build towers with the big cardboard blocks?  Maybe you built the highest tower possible, or maybe you were the kid that ran around knocking down everyone else’s towers.

When I was a kid, I liked to build walls around myself.  Enclose myself in so that the walls were all around me.

And I’ve done the same thing with my life.

Maybe, like me, you’ve built walls around your life.  You convince yourself that they keep your heart safe.  You convince yourself that the higher your walls, the safer you are.  You convince yourself that the thicker your walls, the less people can see of the real you, and that’s a good thing.  Because if they were really to see your sin, your hurt, your brokenness, your pain – they wouldn’t want to know you.  They’d run in the other direction.

I used to think that my walls were my security, my protection from the world, from the hurt. 

That if I had higher, thicker walls, no one could see the real me: the ugly, torn, and worn girl who does not see herself as beautiful; the girl who struggles with feelings of worth and inadequacy; the girl with the life-shortening illness; the girl who is alone; the hurt, broken, sinner in desperate need of a Savior.

When we build up our walls, we end up pretending.  Pretending to be someone we’re not.  Pretending that those words didn’t hurt; that being rejected…again…wasn’t painful.  Pretending that it’s all okay on the outside but falling hopelessly apart on the inside.  Pretending that we don’t struggle with things, too.  Pretending that our past isn’t as checkered as the flag at the end of the race.  Pretending that we don’t have secrets we’d rather keep hidden.

Take a few minutes and listen to this song, from Tenth Avenue North, Healing begins:

So let ‘em fall down,

There’s freedom waiting in the sound,

When you let your walls fall to the ground.

We’re here now.

This is where the healing begins,

This is where the healing starts. 

When you come to where you’re broken within,

The light meets the dark.

So you’re telling me that if I let my walls down, let down my guard, let people see the real me, the messed up, broken me – that it will bring freedom?  Oh, more than that, dear friend.  It will bring healing.  Healing from the heartache, the guilt, and the pain.  As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed your sins from you (Psalm 103:12).  All of your scars, all of your sins – they are forgotten to Him.

The walls you and I hide behind aren’t doing us any favors.  They aren’t helping us or anyone else.  In fact, when people see the real you – the struggles, the brokenness, the weakness, the imperfection – they see the grace of our Savior.  They see a God whose power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).  They see that they are not alone in their struggles.  They are reminded that He is faithful.

And letting your walls down reminds you that you are not alone.

Your Testimony

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By Kristen EntwistleYour-testimony-300x150Sharing your testimony is a phrase that we throw around a lot in Christian circles.  For a long time, I didn’t think that I had a testimony.  When people shared their testimonies at summer camp, retreats, or from the pulpit, they were always testimonies that were so heart-breaking yet so powerful and moving that they spoke of a great God.  I didn’t think there was any way that I could measure up to that.

It was at a Christian summer camp in middle school that started to change my mind. Our group traveled into the city to a park, where we were asked to share our testimony with some inner city kids.

The guy before me pulled out one of those perfect testimonies
that left my heart in pieces on the floor
and my hands raised to our eternal God. 

His story: being misdiagnosed at birth with the very disease that I have.

Well, that put my “testimony” in the trash.  I took the paper out of my pocket and ripped it up.  I don’t remember what I said.  The one thing I remember is that I told them that I had Cystic Fibrosis (CF).  I’m pretty sure I started crying at that point and sat down.

But I still was convinced that other people’s testimonies
were better than my nonexistent one. 

It wasn’t until my senior year in college that God showed me how very wrong I was.  My pastor at the time asked if I would be willing to share my testimony during the service one Sunday.

I said no.

He kept asking, and eventually I said yes, just so that he would quit asking.  Having no clue what to say, I prayed and then sat down and started to write.  And as I wrote, I found myself being honest and vulnerable and I saw God’s hand in my life, leading me from before I was conceived until now.

I thought that I was just a person with an early expiration date that couldn’t do anything for the Kingdom.

I thought that my struggles were my own and that no one else struggled with them too.

I thought that God could never use a person so broken as me.

I thought that that I didn’t have a testimony to share.

I thought that my testimony was about me. 

But here’s the thing:

Your testimony is not about what you have overcome in life, though that is part of it.

Your testimony is not about what you have suffered in life, though that is part of it.

Your testimony is not about you, though you are the vessel through which it is brought to others.

Your testimony is about a God who has known you from before you were born.

Your testimony is about a God who has brought you through the fire so that you can be refined.  Your testimony is about a God who has been by your side and who has loved you even when you have walked away from Him.  Your testimony is about a God who sent His one and only Son to redeem the world.  Your testimony is about a God who chose you: a broken, beautiful, bold child of God.

So no matter how broken you think you are, no matter how far you have strayed, no matter how boring you may think your life is, God has done something in you.  He has redeemed you, and He is working out your testimony in His time.  You may not be able to see it right now.  God’s not done with you yet.  But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a testimony right now.

So share your life with people, share with them the God that has redeemed you.  Share with them the power of our great God.

Share with them the God who knows you and loves you no matter what. 

Because you are a testament to God’s great love, and that is a powerful testimony.  It’s your testimony.  

*This post first appeared at brokenbeautifulbold.com*