He Shut The Mouths Of The Lions

Genesis 3:8-10

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

All the Lord wants for me is to be filled with joy and living a carefree life.  However, every day I sin, I feel more and more naked.  Before I committed my life to serving God I was hiding among the trees hoping they might hide my mistakes.  I still find myself falling in this trap all the time, but…

Genesis 3:21

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

God constantly puts clothes on me, over and over again, no matter how badly and often I mess up.

pro·tec·tion [pruh-tek-shuhn]
noun
1.  the act of protecting or the state of being protected; preservation from injury or harm.

Hoping to spend less time ranting and providing humanly opinions (like I did in my last post) I am going to focus more on the lessons God is teaching me.  Plus, I don’t want to bore anyone to death :-p

Long story short, I spent this past weekend at OakBridge Wyldlife camp listening to a wonderful Theologian speak named Cherith. 

One thing I came home knowing is that I need to dig much deeper into understanding the background and context of scripture as well as the timeline/character sketches that go along with it. 

Over the next year I am going to be changing up my daily devotional plan and start reading the Bible from cover to cover starting with Genesis and ending with Revelations while hopefully reviewing 2-4 chapters a day depending on length.

Today began with Genesis 1-2 and in those two chapters this is a main portion I came away smiling about.

Genesis 2:18

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

and then…

Genesis 2: 20-24

20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.  But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Reflection:

I’m 20 years old and I’ve yet to have a truly serious relationship with a woman.   I would be lying if I didn’t say I’ve lost a lot of hope and confidence within those 20 years in finding the “right” woman for me.

After reading this passage I think I realized something.   When I went through Genesis in the past I read in detail about the early creation, then heard Man was created, and then skipped to the part where we do everything to screw it up.  Whether that’s me being more focused on myself (man) or simple coincidence I don’t quite know. 

Tonight while reading through the creation, I seriously said out loud in my room, “WOW, this is refreshing!”

A small part of me was taken out by God to create the one woman who I am to destined enjoy the majority of my life.  However, it doesn’t stop there.  The small part of me that God used was one of many small pieces (24 to be exact).  

The ribcage provides the human body three main functions; protection (your heart), support (make sure what keeps you alive lungs/heart/etc. doesn’t fall out of place), and respiratory (gives you a fresh breath of air all day).  Those three characteristics are exactly what I am looking for in my life from the woman God created me to be with. 

The most amazing thing of all?  There is a beautiful, indescribable woman out there for me, that was built with my rib.  I have a missing piece to an incomplete version of a  important line of defense in my body.  I can’t ENTIRELY protect my heart, support myself from falling, and give fresh air to myself without this missing piece.  Verse 24 does say that God placed a mother and father in my life to help ease the pain until this retention process is complete for the one God took out of me.  The most refreshing piece of this entire passage is the end of verse 22 in which God tells me that I don’t have to rush around searching for this missing part but instead He will bring her to me so she can pump life into me just like the heart in which she protects.

Love,

Carter

Quote On My Mind:

“A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.” 

― Max Lucado

re·spon·si·ble  [ri-spon-suh-buhl]  adjective
1. answerable or accountable, as for something within one’s power, control, or management

Throughout my life God has trusted me with great responsibilities.  One I am most thankful for is the privilege to be a Young Life/WyldLife leader in the Scottsdale area.  I have the opportunity every week to share the amazing truth of God with some pretty legit kids at Desert Mountain High School and Mountainside Middle School.  I mentioned in the first post that when I sat down with my uncle I told him all about my interests and adventures.  Well Young Life is definitely my most time consuming interest and has delivered more unforgettable adventures then one should probably experience in a life time.  On top of all the adventures I’ve experienced, it has been a blessing every day being surrounded by such inspiring people.  Some of these inspiring people have had a commitment to God a whole lot longer then I’ve even been alive for, while others are just stepping into a Young Life Club for the first time without ever knowing how awesome God is.  And then there is all the people, students and adults in-between! 

I gave my life to Christ at Lost Canyon Young Life winter camp in 2009 while I was a senior at Arcadia High School.  At the time I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into, but for some reason I knew it HAD to be better then the life I had been living then.  I was depressed and felt incomplete, nothing seemed to be going my way.  In 2008 I believed in God because I NEEDED it to be true.  I had my doubts, but I figured at the time if I kept on telling myself that God was real, and that He loved me that I would hopefully start believing it.  Now, I sit here today stronger spiritually and mentally then ever.  Four years later I KNOW God is way more colossal and powerful then I even imagined Him being then.  Mostly because in my three years of leading Young Life I have seen, heard, and experienced so many miraculous stories that I sit there and ask myself, “How could that possibly happen without God?”  Through my Young Life community I have learned that God is indescribable and now you can understand how much Young Life has meant to me as a person.

***Disclaimer from this point forward… I do not mean to offend anyone by any of these comments.  Just my own personal beliefs and hoping to create discussion.  Please, don’t just stop reading, but at the very least read the last paragraph.***

Every Thursday Desert Mountain Young Life has an event called Campaigners which is essentially a Bible Study mixed with worship and awesome community.  Tonight was no different as one of our fellow leaders Steve tackled the controversial topic of partying and everything falls underneath it mostly alcohol and drugs.  It’s been a topic I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, mostly due to the fact that as of forty-two minutes ago I am officially fifteen days away from being 21.  Which means in just over two weeks I can legally walk into ANY bar on Mill Avenue and drink ANYTHING I want.  Meanwhile, a mere 360 hours earlier (as in right now) if I walked into a bar and ordered an alcoholic drink I could technically be arrested.  Right now it’s frowned down upon, in two weeks it almost seems expected.   I am so interested to see how more mature I am going to be in 360 hours.  Talk about responsibility. 

I have never been a drinker, and never been into drugs.  I am not against drinking when you are the legal age, but I believe limits need to be set so it doesn’t consume you.  However, it is interesting to me that by me not breaking the law in high school and drinking on a weekendly basis it made me different, or unique.  What surprises me the most is after telling friends and peers I had never drank before the most often response I received was that they were jealous of my decision making and strength to never even try it once.  Why do they stop at jealousy?  Why can’t we all make our own decisions and not lose to peer pressure? 

Sure, the exterior of partying and filling your life with alcohol and drugs sounds/looks fun.  In high school/college maybe it’s just gullible kids trying to live their lives like celebrities and movies portray.  But in my life I’ve seen far too much pain and suffering be the result of alcohol and drugs.  Eventually, if you allow it, it turns into your life.  Throughout high school I was able to stay away from that scene because I had a commitment to baseball and the goal to earn a scholarship.  I valued baseball higher then anything else in my life and couldn’t imagine my life without it.  I’ve also seen far too many people value alcohol and drugs higher then then anything else in their life.  I’ve quit baseball and found a new fulfillment, not in a fake partying scene, but a wholesome God.  Their buzz lasts for hours, mine has lasted since the day I committed myself to serving God.

One person at campaigners tonight suggested that a likely reason that a Desert Mountain student might promote the usage of alcohol and drugs is to escape from the pressure from the world.  Do you have stress in your life?  Does it seem like nothing else can help you get through it other then getting away?  If you don’t get away artificially is your entire world seem like it will collapse down onto you?  These are trials.  Not reasons to escape and hide but, reasons to take them head on.  Mother Teresa once said, “I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle.  I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”  The reason why you have trials in your life… because God trusts you can handle them.  You are strong enough to handle them without escaping.  The longer you run from your problems the faster they expand and consume your life.  The responsibilities God blesses you with aren’t to make you feel weak or incapable, they happen so someday you will feel strong and fearless.  You ARE capable, and the all powerful God who created this entire world trusts YOU with everything that Satan or life in general throws in your path.  Don’t hide from your responsibilities, embrace them.

Praying,

Carter

Quote On My Mind:

“I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.” 

― Mother Teresa

be·gin·ning  [bih-gin-ing] noun
1. an act or circumstance of entering upon an action or state

I’ve started this post at least ten times and then gone ahead and deleted it then started re-writing again.  For some odd reason I’ve just had difficulty putting into words what I want this first post to be about, or really what type of posts I want this entire blog to be about.  I’m diving right into this blindly with only a few things for certain and hoping my heart and God takes care of the rest.

Around seven months ago I sat down with my uncle who recently moved back to Phoenix after living in a different state for the past couple years.  We hadn’t talked or seen each other recently so it was nice to sit down and catch up.  It started with the basic questions about what I had been doing with my life and I told him all about the crazy interests keeping me busy.  He mentioned something to me that I sort of shrugged off and didn’t pay attention to at the time.  He basically asked me if I had ever thought about starting a blog to write down and share all of these crazy, fun college adventures with the world.

Seven months later I’m starting a Tumblr with absolutely no expectations.  I had a Tumblr before and used it rarely, mostly just to post funny pictures and every once in a while an inspirational quote.  However, today I have a goal in mind to really pay attention to the lessons God is teaching me on a daily basis and be vulnerable about them.  It’s an idea that I’m heading into hesitantly, but at the same I’m excited at the thoughts God and perhaps other people bring to this page. 

This isn’t a place for believers, non-believers, Christians, atheists, agnostics, or any other churchy label.  It’s a place for the curious to better understand the God that created the beautiful world and the truthful Word.  Every day, or as often as I possibly can I am going to evaluate my day and give it a singular word that best describes it, and go from there.  You’ll find this word in the subject line above the post typed in all caps.  Fittingly, today is BEGINNING because I aim to create something special with this blog.  Whether I actually reach the world like my uncle suggests or my posts sit out in cyber-space, I am confident God will use this to change hearts, most likely my own. 

It’s an idea I’m treading into hesitantly, but at the same time excited to see what God has in store.  I don’t view myself as some important sensation in which everyone’s life will be better off after reading this blog.  I’m about as average as a college student gets and you could find much more theological profound ideas in a Timothy Keller or John Piper sermon but perhaps being average is what will make this blog unique.  I could keep these words secret in a journal, but instead I’m deciding to listen to my uncle’s advice and share my adventures with the world.  If there’s even the slightest chance that I can affect someone out there who’s reading and ultimately be a pawn in God’s glorious kingdom, I consider it time well spent. 

Until next time,

Carter

Quote On My Mind:

“The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become - because He made us. He invented us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be… It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.”

― C.S. Lewis