Category: Trust

Budgeting, Fruitfulness, Giving, Identity, Love, Trust

The Heart of Giving

by hcfwomenLeave a Comment on The Heart of Giving

give love liveOver a year ago, God placed some specific financial goals on the hearts of both Derek and I, so that we could ultimately give to others. Since the very get-go of this journey, I hunkered down and decided to give my very best.

Recently, God revealed to me the true motivation of my heart in deciding to give my best. It came about when Derek decided that we needed to wait on purchasing something I’ve wanted for a while. We had the ability to walk out of the store with my “toy” in hand, but all I walked out with was a crummy attitude.

I knew the reaction in my heart wasn’t due to just being told “No.” There was a deeper reason for why I truly believed I needed that item. Not even just needed, but deserved it. God showed me that deep down the true reason of why I worked so hard in meeting our goals wasn’t the freedom to give to others, but the freedom to consume things on myself. Instantly my heart turned to repentance and an honest prayer came out: “God, I want to have the heart of a true giver.”

The next morning, God took me to 2 Corinthians 9:6-9, 11:
“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work…He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way.”

God showed me that the theme of this passage isn’t finances, but it’s the heart of giving. Realizing this, I read it again. This time, the words grace, sufficiency and righteousness stood out. Understanding that my righteousness in Christ means I’m complete, whole and lacking nothing, and that grace (God’s ability or power) reigns through righteousness, the passage came alive. God says that when we give from a heart that believes in its true state of righteousness, he will make all grace abound so we can ultimately give to others.

If I give from a heart of lack, then I will be reluctant to give. I will want to keep my resources for myself so as to meet my own needs. If in that attitude I choose to not give at all, I’m saying no to more than just the giving of my resources. I’m saying no to grace abounding in my life and an increase to the harvest of my righteousness.

Whether it’s giving time to a friend in need, genuine love to those in our family, or full surrender to God in our moments of pain, we all have something to give.

This post was written by Abbie Kellum. To read more about her, click here. 

Faith, Trust

A New Season

by hcfwomen7 Comments on A New Season

In this season of my life, God has been working on some very deep roots of fear in my heart.

As a child, I experienced rejection from my biological family. Because of this, I think the hardest thing for me to do is receive unconditional love. I have always had this fear that as soon as I begin to trust someone, and let myself believe that I am loved, they will turn around and abandon me. Sadly, not only do I have this fear in my relationships with the people in my life, but I also have it in my relationship with the Lord.

However, I am learning that God’s love is very different from my love. I love the only way I know how to love, and my love language is quality time. However, God doesn’t have any one love language, nor does he show love in the same ways that I would. So, every time I begin to look at a situation and I cannot see God’s love in it, I have to remind myself to sit back and try to see how He wants to tell me He loves me, rather than how I want Him to tell me.

This is so hard for me to do because I’m afraid. What if I choose to believe he loves me and it ends up not being true, like how I believed that my biological family would never reject me? However, I’ve just had to learn that the only way that I can even begin to trust God completely is to meditate on the truths in His word about His faithfulness and unconditional love for me. All my life I have let others simply tell me that God is faithful and let that be enough, rather than seek that truth out for myself and believe it in my heart. So, now, I have to make the decision to trust Him, because I know that God is calling me to live a life that’s so much more than fear and a guarded heart.

In the past, I have felt as though I were Peter, a reed tossed to and fro in the storm. Anytime a situation would come along and I would feel as if God had abandoned me, I simply ran away from Him. I thought I would much rather be without Him than to “draw boldly to His throne of grace with confidence” as it says we should in Hebrews. If I did that, it would give God the opportunity to reject me and that was too big of a risk for me to take!

Nowadays, God has been molding me into Simon Peter: not the reed, but the rock. I was made to be someone who can stand firm when storms come and always trust in the love of God, no matter what I may have done or what my circumstance may look like. I know that He is calling out for me to trust Him and surrender my heart completely to Him.

This post was written by Erica Bright. 

SaveSave

Faith, Parenting, Trust

A New Perspective

by hcfwomen2 Comments on A New Perspective

As I sit here watching my precious baby in a painful situation from the world’s view I write this with a new perspective. Almost a year ago we began a journey of one of God’s greatest miracles. Weeks later our doctors noticed something abnormal on an ultrasound; our little miracle had a congenital heart defect. At this time we had total peace and no uneasiness because of the reassurance of our Father. We had complete confidence that God has great plans to give our sweet girl a hope and a future. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, Jeremiah 29:11 NIV. On October 25, 2011, we were blessed with the gift of our precious daughter. Holding our little miracle for the first time was so amazing, but quickly interrupted by nurses whisking our sweet baby away to her 15-day stay in her NICU suite. Oh, how I just wanted to have my sweet baby girl in my arms at all times! God just kept reassuring me that this was just for a moment in the grand scheme of life. And sure enough our baby was soon home with us. Thriving and blessing everyone she encountered, she rocked the next few months of her life. We enjoyed every single minute with this little precious one. Then, January 23, 2012, it was time to repair her tiny heart. While in surgery, God spoke to one of my good friends, telling her that He has Tenlee in the palm of His hand. That He is covering her with His feathers of protection. “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart,” Psalm 91:4 NIV. She came through surgery like the little warrior princess she is, shocking doctors every step of the way. Then, early morning on Jan 25th, ‘how precious life is’ was really put into perspective. Our little miracle received CPR for 2 1/2 hours. In this moment, we started questioning the plans God had on her life. A nurse came to me asking if we wanted them to stop CPR. I immediately said no. Later that morning, one of my good friends asked me if I had prayed about that decision, my answer was no. I later was praying about that, wondering if I had made that decision out of selfishness. God quickly told me that I had prayed about it. I have prayed for it for years. I had prayed for this child and the miracle of life. From that day forward, God has given me a new perspective on life. The gift of life. Every day is a gift from our Father who loves us so. God reminds me that He gets us safely through the days. He reminds me to let thankfulness and trust guide me throughout the days. He reminds me that the most persistent choice I can make is to trust Him. He reminds me to breathe Him in with each breath. I’m in absolute awe of what an amazing Father God we have and have a new perspective on this thing we call life, the gift of life. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal,” 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV. Through our precious baby girl, God has brought people to Him, mended relationships, strengthened friendships, shown his goodness, revealed His strength and forever changed people’s lives. We call her our “little world changer” and we are seeing more and more of this lived out daily.

This post was written by Kisa Luther.