Conflict Continued. August 9, 2015.

August 9, 2015

Thank you all for the support yesterday! Today was a much better day. I hit the road at 4am this morning and made it to Seattle with no traffic, no gps, and no bathroom breaks in 4 hours! Sis and I took some time to sleep before we went to the “hipster” side of Seattle and ate at Linda’s Tavern. Apparently it was the last place Kurt Cobain from Nirvana, was seen alive. Then we found our way to Bill and Syd Sliker’s where they have graciously allowed us to stay for the duration of our visit. Once again I have to proclaim, “There may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning!”

To continue the blog post about conflict…

Number 5. Access the invincible power of Christ. How many times is your first instinct to pray in the heat of conflict? How many times are you firing up your weapon and decide to take a few seconds to ask the Lord for help? I wonder how that would change the conflict. I mean I really think we take for granted how amazing prayer is. That our God would give us the freedom to at any time talk to Him, excuse me what! So cool!

Now the pastor continued on preaching a really awesome sermon but there were a few more things that really jumped out to me. The first being, “Remember that Christ was fully human and he experienced the deepest insults and injustice.” He didn’t have to do that. He’s God, He could have just poofed into oblivion and then expected us to deal with the hardships on Earth. He was KILLED, He was TORTURED, and He was INNOCENT. And you know what He said, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they have done.” Forgive them He prayed as the crown of thorns pierced His skull and as His hands throbbed at the sharpness of the nails. I don’t even want to say that when my Sister and I are arguing over who should drive! Wow, talk about a humbling example and one that would make any person think twice about their anger in a fight.

The second being, “All of the injustices are a loving gift of God’s hand to transform you to the image of Christ, not an accident and not to change the situation so you can be happy.”  Oh, wait, it’s not about us? It’s not about what we want, what we think is best, or about what makes us happy? Huh shocker! Considering that absolutely goes against our human nature and our society! But wow, talk about a perspective change, the injustices against you are to transform you into the image of Christ. He gives us the opportunity to act in love and become more Christ-like during conflict. No it’s not easy, but these things take time and hard work.

The last being, “Difficult people and circumstances are God’s reminder that they can’t satisfy your soul.”  Imagine a world where no one let you down, where your circumstances were perfect and there was no disappointment or conflict. You just cruised through life easy and comfortable. Your soul would be satisfied and why would you need God? You’d do perfectly fine on your own so why ask for help, or cry out in frustration, or step out of your comfort zone, or lean on Him in faith, or worship Him, or look to the Bible for answers, or pray? We would be perfect robots. God uses these things in our lives, I’m not saying He sends these things to us, but He uses these things as a reminder that only He can satisfy. 

Hopefully I get some info tomorrow about what tests I will be getting here in Seattle, love ya!