Faith in the Future

Faith is choosing to believe that the Bible is true, regardless of circumstances, emotions, or cultural trends.

My professor would quiz us on this phrase EVERY WEEK last semester. I didn’t understand why it was so important… until I had to explain it. Since that class, God has been using this “one-liner” to grow me in ways I would have never grown on my own. (If you giggled at the word “one-liner”, thank you. Welcome to “A day in the life of Brindley”, where one word can bring a smile to your face. )

At my age, (No comments please…) it seems like EVERYONE is in a relationship, getting engaged or married. Maybe that is just because I live on a college campus… But I can’t help but wonder, “Am I missing something?” Is there something wrong with me if I don’t have guys asking me to go on dates with them? THIS is what culture and the circumstances around me preach.

I will admit I am 21 years old and never dated. Can I say I am happy with that fact? Well, some days I am happier than others, but I have learned so much about life and happiness in my singleness and I wouldn’t change it even if I could. Here are some of the lessons God has been teaching me:

1. If you are not content being single, you will NEVER be content in a relationship. Ask anyone married or that have been dating a while. No matter how bad you want a boyfriend/girlfriend, they will never satisfy you. You will always be disappointed when they can’t meet your needs. We all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts, and no matter how hard we try to fit another person in it, they will never fit. God is the only one that will satisfy you. Period.
2. All of the things that are happening in your life right now have a purpose to grow and strengthen you. They may not be pleasant, but they are essential. For example, I hate conflict, but I also hate confrontation. However, in order to handle conflict, you have to be willing to confront it. My roommate and I had a confrontation/conflict resolution session last week about some disagreements we had. It was not fun at the time, but it was essential to repair our friendship. There is a right way to handle conflict and a wrong way (OBVIOUSLY). This is a lesson I needed to learn and practice for marriage one day and God used me and my roommate as an example. I praise God for that!
3. There are so many benefits and things to do while you are single! Yes, there is a loooong list of things you can do to take advantage of being single. Learn a new sport, make new friends, and travel around the world, (always on my bucket list... So far it’s going well!) During my singleness, I have learned so many new things (like how to play lacrosse and how to bowl like a pro), been so many new places, (6 different countries in Africa so far), and met so many new friends (guys and girls alike). Take advantage of this time of your life, because you will never get to do it again!

I am starting to see how God has used the things around me to prepare me for the rest of my life. My good friend Shelby said to me one day, “You know, in those moments we can’t figure out what or why God is teaching us things, we don’t find out until much later and we say ‘Oh! That is what He was doing there!’”

How does faith fit into all of this? Faith is CHOOSING to believe what the Bible says. Scripture says in Jeremiah 29:11 that He has a plan for us, plans for a future and hope. So living by faith is choosing to believe that God does have a plan for my future and I can put my trust and my hope in Him; regardless of the circumstances around me (where all my friends are getting engaged) regardless of emotions (no matter how I feel), and regardless of what culture tells me (it is not my job to pursue the guy).

This weekend God keeps bringing this subject up in different places in His Word. My favorite is Romans 4:20-21. “No unbelief made him/(her) waver concerning the promise of God (Jeremiah 29:11), but he/(she) grew in his/(her) faith as he/(she)  gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” Abraham thought God was crazy when he said he would be a father of a nation in his old age. But he believed what God told him, and he was considered to have a good relationship with God.

When I choose to live by faith, by choosing to believe everything that God has said to be true, I am considered to have a good relationship with God. Therefore I don’t have to pursue a relationship myself because he already has a plan. He has the pen to write my love story. He will do a much better job than me.

So, live by faith and give God the pen to write your love story!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKcImiTxqKg 

Why Kenya?

Last weekend I was invited by a couple friends to an African party the African Student Union was having. There would be African food, games, and dancing. At the party, a friend of mine asked me, “Why do you love Kenya so much? What is it about Kenya that you like the most?” I replied, “ I love the people, they are so kind and hungry for the Gospel.” Apparently, my answer was not good enough for him so he pressed on for another answer. Honestly, I listed a bunch of other things, but that challenged me to go deeper into his question. “Why do I love Kenya so much?”

Why Kenya?

• ·        I love how inviting and friendly the people are. They are so interested in you, and will always take time out of their day to talk with you. They are very inviting and humbly generous. They will do their best to make you feel welcome in their homes, even if it meant offering you something to eat, which may be their one meal that day. They are so selfless, yet so happy. I wish I could be more like them.
• ·         I love their everyday life. Life is so simple in Kenya. You wake up in the morning, maybe do some laundry and hang them outside to dry, usually the house worker comes in and cleans the floors and dishes, you might sit down in the shade and read a book or watch the world go by, maybe walk down to the corner vender to buy some vegetables for dinner. Start making dinner, which could take a few hours, sit and chat in the shade with a neighbor, and go to bed when it gets dark. So simple.  You may plan to do three things in one day, but usually you only get around to doing one of them, and it’s ok! At least you got something done!
• ·         I love the experience. I mean, doesn’t everyone want to say, “When I lived in Africa…” or “When I went on a safari in Africa…” It is quite an adventure! Thankfully, I have been to multiple game parks, got to feed and kiss a giraffe, pet a lion cub, be chased on foot by a buffalo, feed chickens, eat vegetable from the garden, ride the public bus, be treated like a celebrity walking downtown, watching African kids experience bubbles for the first time, learning new games, going new places, watching the beautiful sunsets… The list goes on and on!

But is it more and than that? Does Kenya represent something in my life? Does it represent my obedience to God’s call? Does it represent a pilgrimage of faith? I believe I love Kenya so much because it symbolizes a huge growth spurt of my faith. God taught me the weight of his call and the cost of following him. It costs us everything. I left everything I knew, everything I was familiar and comfortable with, my family, my independence and I jumped into the unknown, literally. It was exhilarating!

 Like sky diving, you are strapped to a professional , who has seen the world from the air, knows what to do, and where to go. You, on the other hand, have no idea what it is going to be like or where you are going to land. Your job is to trust the professional, and jump.

That was my jump. Where I put all my trust in him and jumped into his will. God knew what he was doing all along. When I was free falling, I had to depend on God for everything. The courage to jump, the ability to trust, the next breath I need, and the open landing spot. My job was to say goodbye to my family, to jump on the plane, to trust God to provide safety, a place to live, and food to eat. That kind of dependence showed me who God is.  

God provided the Israelites the opportunity to leave Egypt and food to eat in the wilderness for 40+ years! They trust God through the good times and bad. Kenya wasn't all sunshine, roses, and ice cream. It was tough living there for 5 months too. There was culture shock, adjusting to different ways of life, people breaking into our compound, taking public transportation, walking 2 miles to the grocery store and having to carry groceries back. There were days I loved Kenya and never wanted to leave, and there were days when I ached to be home with my family, driving my own car and spending time with my friends. There are days when I cried myself to sleep. There were days I didn't know why God would pick me to come here to tell people about him.

However, I wouldn't have traded that experience for the world. God taught me so much about myself, about life and about himself. It changed my life. It changed how I look at people, and my everyday life.

Is God asking you to jump and free fall into his arms? Is he asking YOU to let go, give up control, and trust him to provide? Will you trust him?