In case you’d forgotten, God is bigger than whatever you’re facing right now. In fact, there is nothing that you have ever faced or will ever face that Jesus hasn’t already overcome on the cross. So the next time you feel overwhelmed or anxious about your problems, remind yourself and your problems that God is bigger.

I know for a fact that what people need to see in Christians isn’t perfection but authenticity. They don’t need to see polished as much as they need to see real. That’s why your mistakes and failures don’t disqualify you from being a witness. They validate and affirm the saving power of God.

I’ve seen over and over where sharing your story does bring you healing. It brings healing to others. There’s something miraculous and powerful when that one part of your past that you swore you’d never share with anybody becomes the first line of your testimony.

I read today that when most people throw away broken things, God intentionally goes after and chooses to use broken circumstances and broken people. In fact, sometimes God does the breaking if only so that we will have no choice but to look beyond ourselves and look up.

That doesn’t mean that your testimony has to be dramatic to be valid. You don’t need to have been rescued from addiction to have a story worth sharing. Sometimes the best stories are the ones where you see God working in you in little ways each day to make you less selfish, less fearful, and more like Jesus. The best testimonies are always the ones in progress.

As I’ve said before, people can argue with your theology and your doctrine, but no one can ever argue your own story. No one can ever deny your testimony of a life transformed by the power of Christ.

Before you get too excited, we’re not quite there yet. There are 12 more days until the official start of what I like to call the ‘ber months. That includes SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, and DecemBER. Typically, those months involve brisk temperatures and chilly breezes, but since this is the South, those don’t come until midway through October. But still.

This is my favorite time of the year. All my favorite holidays are there. So many happy memories come from there. Plus, you get things like pumpkin spice, pumpkins, apple cider, flannel, bonfires, smores . . . the list goes on.

The last few days have felt almost like a sneak preview of the coming season. Slightly cooler, slightly less humid means slightly happier me. And slightly less sweaty me, which makes everyone else happier.

But I’m not going to rush past this current season. I want to savor it and get all I can out of it and not miss anything from looking too far ahead. And it’s not like I’m counting down the days until fall (only 33 days).

“God does not desire suffering as an end in itself, I am sure. But all suffering is so expensive he will not let it be wasted. He will use it for his children’s growth. The first purpose of our lives must be, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” This is never a passive statement of endurance or of mere agreement to submit to whatever happens. It is a positive statement of the will to reach out for that which will bring glory to God. I am also sure that the greatest prayer we can pray is, “Whatever brings the greatest glory to God, I want it, even if it brings suffering and loss to me” (Anna Mow).

I don’t think the Bible ever teaches us to seek out ways to suffer. It never tells us to run after pain and hardship. But it say that those things will come. Jesus promised that in this life you will have suffering. But He didn’t end it there.

He also said that I have overcome the world. Not I WILL overcome, but I HAVE overcome. The deed is done. Your suffering serves a purpose and will never be wasted. It leads to somewhere better than your comfort and security or prosperity could ever have led you.

The best way is to pray, “Thy will be done,” whether it leads to sunshine or suffering. Any success apart from the will of God will be empty and meaningless. Even the suffering of going through the valley of the shadow of death is worth it if God is with you and you can see Him and know Him better through your trials.

“I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13, NLT).

In honor of the passing of Frederick Buechner on August 15, I’m sharing a bit of his wisdom. He remains one of my very favorite writers ever:

“IT IS NOT A place, of course, but a condition. Kingship might be a better word. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” Jesus prayed. The two are in apposition.

Insofar as here and there, and now and then, God’s kingly will is being done in various odd ways among us even at this moment, the kingdom has come already. Insofar as all the odd ways we do his will at this moment are at best half-baked and halfhearted, the kingdom is still a long way off—a hell of a long way off, to be more precise and theological.

As a poet, Jesus is maybe at his best in describing the feeling you get when you glimpse the Thing Itself—the kingship of the king official at last and all the world his coronation. It’s like finding a million dollars in a field, he says, or a jewel worth a king’s ransom. It’s like finding something you hated to lose and thought you’d never find again—an old keepsake, a stray sheep, a missing child. When the kingdom really comes, it’s as if the thing you lost and thought you’d never find again is you” (Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking).

Not every day will be a good day. Some days everything just seems to go wrong. Some days you’re the one who seems to go wrong. There will be days where you’re just glad to say that they’re over.

But there is always something good in every day. It may not be much, like a stranger smiling at you or the way that first sip of coffee warms your soul, but the good is there. Some days you have to look harder for it than others.

But if you seek the good in every day, you will find it.

And the best way to put yourself in a position to see the good is to be the good. The best way to see the good is to live gratefully and with thanksgiving. You can give thanks for the fact that you’re alive and breathing, for that cup of coffee, for the sunrise on your way into work.

If there is nothing for which you can give thanks, then you haven’t paid attention to your life. You’ve only seen the bad and neglected to look for the good. Because there is always good. Always.

Have you ever been in a social situation, whether at work or in a casual setting, where everyone else is chatting and having a good time, and they all seem to gave forgotten about you? Do you ever feel invisible?

Take heart. God has not forgotten you. Remember that He not only knows who you are but knows you by name. He has not taken His eye off you for one moment. You have never left His mind or His heart.

Ultimately, how other people at work or at a party or in any setting view you doesn’t matter as long as you know that God delights in you. When others can’t or won’t see you, God sees you.

Remember, the most powerful words that anyone can hear are “I see you.” You can treat others the way you wish you could be treated by others, the way God has treated you. You can choose to see and validate and bless others the way God has seen and validated and blessed you.

Above all, you are not alone. God sees you. God knows you. God loves you.

Just to be clear, I like ’em both. I just thought this was funny. And somewhat accurate.

“Most Christians are educated
beyond their own obedience.
Could it be that you do not need
another Bible study, but you need
to obey the lessons from the previous ones you have heard?” (Daniel Dickard).

Oof.

That one stung a bit.

I’m a big fan of Bible studies and learning, but at some point, you and I need to put that knowledge into practice.

But isn’t that what wisdom is? Just applied knowledge that goes from cerebral to practical?

I would never say to anyone not to go to any more Bible studies? I would never say to close your Bible and not read it.

I would say not to stop at reading and learning.

Find one way you can apply what you learned from each lesson to an aspect of your life. Make it real by making it tangible. After all, as a pastor I know once said, if you don’t live it, you don’t really believe it.

Also, I’d say to find a way to teach it to someone else. That way, they get the benefit and the knowledge and wisdom you’ve acquired becomes ingrained in you. Then you have truly learned.

If you want to know God’s will, start with being faithful where you are instead of waiting for God to move you somewhere better to obey. See your current place as an altar where you can make your life, your very self, an offering to God as an act of worship.

Imagine that. You worship not just by singing and raising your hands but by doing your job well, even when you don’t really like your job. You worship well by showing up on time, giving your best, and helping others to be their best.

Then you will see God moving and working in your life. Maybe He will move you somewhere else. Or maybe He will move in you to become someone more like Him. Maybe He will change your circumstances. Or maybe He will change you and transform you in the midst of your circumstances.

Either way, trust God and bloom where you’re planted.