"Getting to the Other Side"

For many months now I have felt that on any given day (heck, any given moment) I'm being submerged in 2 completely separate "furnaces" simultaneously. There have been some very dark moments, days and weeks. I've been so overwhelmed about life and so indifferent to life all at the same time. Really, there have been too many emotions, feelings, thoughts to even keep track of.

I know that I am not alone in this. Life is hard for everyone at some point. It just so happens that right now is the hardest time in my life and I've been feeling like there is no way out. I take that back. I know that there will be an end to it, I've just been wondering if I'm going to be able to survive it.

*** Enter God's grace and love ***

Our church had been advertising the "Fresh Grounded Faith" women's conference with Jennifer Rothschild and Kathy Trocolli for quite a while. I had wanted to go, but because of other things decided it wasn't the best idea. However, a couple weeks ago a sweet friend insisted I attend and told me I had a place to stay too :) After talking with Danny, he also insisted I go. It had been one of the roughest weeks to date and as always God's timing was impeccable.

So Friday night and Saturday morning I (along with a thousand other women) go to hear Jennifer talk about "Steps to getting to the other side (of whatever hardship you are in)". It was exactly the message I needed to hear at exactly the right time. God had readied my heart and my mind to speak His words of love and instruction to me. The passage she was teaching from was Mark 4:35-5:1. You may not be interested in all the steps, but I'm sharing anyway because someone else might need to hear this message also.

1. Accept Jesus Invitation (v. 35)

He asked the disciples to go to the other side of the sea. He always initiates the spiritual change in our lives. We may think we are doing it, but it's Him who actually is. He has always been the pursuer and He always will be. He doesn't "send us" to the other side. He wants to go with us.

2. Leave the Crowd Behind (v.36)

Our "crowd" of anger, bitterness, busyness, drama, victim mentality, fear, bad habits, insecurity, negative attitudes, perfectionism, etc... manipulates our hearts and our mind. It is the personification of faulty thinking.  We were asked that if we had friends like these would we really stay their friend? So why do we keep them so close to us? She encouraged us to trust God more than our feelings.

3. Journey With Others (v.36)

Jesus didn't tell His disciples to go alone and He doesn't want us to go alone either.

4. "Take Jesus As He Is" (v.36)

We were asked to look at our lives an ask if we have created a God who fits our own needs and desires. We need to be willing to embrace Him for everything He is. One of the best quotes of the weekend was "Jesus isn't 'I feel', 'I wish', or 'I think'...He is I AM"
We may not want the God that He is, but we need him to be the God that He is.
And when we question why God hasn't changed a circumstance in our life, this was what Jennifer told us (and I loved this!!) "Even though he could do something about it, His authority has not deemed it the best thing for you."

5. "Expect Storms" (v.37) 

We should never be surprised that storms hit our life. It's a part of being alive on this sin cursed world. Sometimes the only way to get to the other side is to encounter a storm. This goes along with the theme of my blog...she said "sometimes He uses the rain from the storm to cleanse us and uses the wind from the storm to propel us forward." When the storm comes, it's only because He knows you need to be cleansed and carried forward. This was another key statement (that our pastor actually touched on today)..."sometimes we try to take ourselves to the other side - but we need to let Him carry us".
In the story the disciples asked Jesus "do you not care?" She talked about how that question is very different from "do you care?". The first one is an accusation, the second is just a question. And I know how very guilty I am of being accusatory. And from reading this story we can see very clearly that He cares, because he was IN THE BOAT WITH THEM!! Just like He is with us.

6. "Look for Jesus" (v.38)

In the original Greek the word compassion was "com" = together with  "pati" = to suffer.

7. "Have the Right Kind of Fear" (v.39-41)

Jesus could have rebuked the men for being afraid, but he didn't. Instead He rebuked the waves!! (loved that part too)

There are 2 kinds of fear in any storm we go through:

1. Natural panic (it's appropriate, we are human)
2. A reverence and awe of who God is. (that is the right kind of fear to have)

When we have the right kind of fear, the other kind doesn't seem so important,
Another of my favorite snippets was "we can have fear and faith at the same time". That really released me from a lot of guilt I think. And that even though He may not calm the storm that you are in, He will calm your heart during it.

Then she went ahead to Mark 5:1 when we see that the disciples made it safely to the other side.:):) I love that the Word of God finishes the story. It's such an encouragement to me.

I had never seen Kathy Trocolli before and even though I may not have enjoyed her music style very much, I loved her testimony and her message. Probably my VERY favorite thing all weekend was something she said very early on Friday night:

"Sometimes we don't want to go through the 'passion' to get to the 'Resurrection' "

I am always in such a hurry and I don't want to go through the suffering to get to the glory that's in store for me.

After the conference I went to lunch with some sweet friends and it was just a continuation of the conference. We shared our struggles, our victories, our tears and lots of laughter. It was a wonderful time to see how God has worked in each others lives. And to lighten our loads just a little bit by letting each other carry some of the burden. I've grown to love women so deeply in the last few years. I am so glad that God made me a woman (even with all the stuff that goes along with it)

I thought my "high" was over...but Sunday was coming.

This morning's service was one of the best services I have ever been a part of. I'm sure my own willing heart had something to do with it, but I was really so drawn in to worship in a way I haven't been in a long time. The sermon, while not entirely related to my struggles, still encouraged, strengthened and challenged me deeply. I am so grateful to have a pastor who cares about God's people and is willing to follow the Spirit's prompting and change things up as needed. He asked if there were people who needed to take that step of faith to trust God and I could feel what Kathy Trocolli had called "the holy twist" in my gut. I knew that it was me God was talking to. I'm still scared, but like we learned this weekend...it's ok to have that fear and have faith at the same time.


So as I'm continuing on my journey "to the other side" I am thankful for my husband, family and friends who have come along side me, but more than anything I am thankful for a Father who truly has pursued me my entire life and that He wants to go with me and carry me through this storm. My prayer is that I will let Him and stop trying to do everything myself.