Isaiah 7

Isaiah 7 talks a lot about God's wrath. I think I am more comfortable and used to talking about the opposite attribute of God, His love. But the reality is He is both. He definitely deserves our reverent fear. In fact so much so that anything else comes nowhere close to deserving fear. Logically this makes sense, but I struggle with living like I believe it. In the last week I've developed this fear and intimidation about doing what I'm not naturally good at, doing something new, and it's almost paralyzing. But this is living by fear based on things that don't deserve fear. My challenge is to realize God is the only one worthy of fear and then actually fear Him, and as a result I have no reason to fear anything else.

processing

There are a number of differences between introverts and extroverts. One of which is the way they process things. Introverts tend to process internally before they speak. Whereas extroverts tend to process as they talk things out. In general I fall more on the introvert side ... with the exception of processing things that I read. If I don't talk or write about what I read it is almost as if I never read the words.

One of the best ways to draw closer to Christ is reading the words he's given us. In the last week or so I've been reading some in the book of Isaiah. But guess what, I can't remember anything that I've read or what it said to me as I was reading. And that is why I need to blog. It's hard to always talk about what I've read and then within an hour I've forgotten it. So as much as I am able to discipline myself, I hope to write out some of the things I am learning and discovering as I read the Bible and other books.

Today I didn't read anything. However I am being challenged in a tough area. I'm trying to start a high school ministry, yet I have a really hard time going out and meeting new students. Why? The only reason I can think of is fear. Fear of what? I'm not really sure. I've met many new people in my life and have enjoyed getting to know many of those people better. But the idea of going out and purposefully trying to meet people seems scary, which sounds sissyish. God tells us that He doesn't want us to have a spirit of fear and timidity. Coming from the person who has all power and all control, that should be comforting. I should be confident in Him. But it's hard, it's not comfortable. It's the process of being stretched and pruned. I have to be willing to to face the challenge and discomfort, otherwise I'm done growing.