Fearing the Lord

This was written for the FromMissToMrs blog-but I wanted to share it on here as well:

Fearing the Lord-What does that look like?

Last semester I had the privilege of being in a Bible study based on Proverbs 31:10-31. These verses are all about what it looks like to be a wife of noble character. Yet, I was discovering that God wants us as women to always be noble-throughout our life-not just when we get married. What about the women who never get married? Are they not allowed to strive after a life of nobility just because their relationship status isn’t that of: married? I strongly believe that ALL women should. In a sense, as a Christian woman, you are kind of in a relationship. A relationship with your creator!! There is something so beautiful about that.

One of my favorite things about the English Bible is that it has been translated from an original language into one we can comprehend. Along with that comes different types of translations. So here is Proverbs 31:30 in a couple of different translations.

NIV: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

NLT: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.”

KJV: “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.”

ESV: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

With this verse, the translations are all very similar. I’m NOT saying our goal as women is to be praised. I’m saying there is something important in that of fearing the Lord.

So what does it look like? Women, we need to be in conversation with God. Not just when you’re struggling or when you want something. We need to daily be talking with God, listening for Him, and pursuing a relationship with Him. We also need to respect God by being obedient to His will for our life. More importantly, we need to be pursuing holiness by seeking Christ in all things. I think one of the girls in my study said this, “If you really fear the Lord, you will turn around and hug him, clinging to his neck for dear life.” Our Bible study leaders were Johanna and Becca. They are wonderful, wonderful women. Johanna actually wrote a book on Proverbs 31-which I’m currently letting my sister borrow. During our study one of them pointed out this quote from a sermon by John Piper, given on Mother’s Day in 1981. I love this quote.

“First of all, a woman who fears the Lord is not anxious about the future. Look at verse 25 [Proverbs 31:25] . I love this line, and I praise all you women who are like this: “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” Satan dangles in front of her the specter of tomorrow’s troubles, but she glances up at the almighty God at her right hand (her magnificent German Shepherd!) and laughs at Satan’s folly. She fulfills in her own life Proverbs 14:26, “In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.” -John Piper

I seriously love this. Being a strong and confident woman. Along with all this, a woman who fears the Lord will do the following: she will wait on the Lord, she will find her hope in Christ, she won’t run away, and she will stay close to the heart of God and trust in His promises. Check out these other verses about fearing the Lord.

Psalm 31: 19 ”How abundant are the good things
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you.”

Psalm 103:11 ”For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him…”

I’ll be honest in saying that I have had a really hard time fearing the Lord in the past. There were times where I just completely questioned His will for my life and kind of just pushed aside everything that should have been important. My love for God is growing and along with that my fear for Him. I’m not scared of God. I’m completely terrified of life without God. I’m clinging to God’s neck.

As a recap of sorts, what does this woman look like?

1. She is not anxious about the future.

2. She has practical wisdom. (This includes hope in the Lord.)

3. She is STRONG. (Morally, intellectually, physically. She challenges herself.)

4. She won’t live for herself alone, but for God.

My prayer is this: As women of God, we will fall more in love with our Creator, glorifying Him in all that we do, say, think or feel. It doesn’t matter what your relationship status is. If you are seeking after God’s will for your life, clinging to Him with all that you are, then you are fearing the Lord. I pray that by living our lives like this, we can be examples to the women around us, with them wanting to live their lives in similar ways.

Here’s the link to John Piper’s sermon. Click here. I just downloaded the sermon to listen to sometime this week! I’m excited about that. I’m sure he is more wise than I in this area so I challenge you to along with me, read/listen to the sermon and see what you find. I love different perspectives. Ask God to show you His will for your life!

a sweet reminder

Her voice is phenomenal. The power and peacefulness of it all housed in one beautiful voice. The music started for her first song and I was already fighting back tears. Then the opening lyrics-"My heart beats, standing on the edge, but my feet have finally left the ledge..."-brought forth a rush of emotions and memories to me. More importantly it brought back the memory of one of the most important lessons I learned over the past few years.

Over the weekend I went to Winter Jam-a touring Christian music show-with two of my great friends from FLI. I also ran into one of my best friends from Taylor-Heidi. I love her so much. She recognize my car in the parking lot and texted me that she was there. :) I was beyond excited about hearing some of my favorite music artists. One of those was Francesca Battistelli. She is such a sweet woman of God. One of her songs, "I'm Letting Go," is one of my favorites. The lyrics brought me to a huge recognition during a really hard time. I was frustrated with transferring home from Taylor and couldn't figure out how to handle the whole thing. I knew I was following God and His plan for me, but it was still really hard. Here are the lyrics that really get me:

I’m letting go
Of the life I planned for me
And my dreams
Losing control
Of my destiny
Feels like I’m falling and that’s what it’s like to believe
So I’m letting go

Oh my goodness. It's so great to know that when you just let go of what YOU want, and embrace what GOD wants, it's just wonderful. I love it.

Here is the best part-the past few years since transferring have been beyond anything I ever imagined. I learned things I never expected, went places I didn't plan, and I have dreams I know God placed on my heart because of all this. I love it. Once again, John 3:30, "He must become greater, I must become less."

I also learned how to cook at FLI...

Minus the fact that I have a fever and a cold, today was pretty productive. My software finally came, I FINALLY finished my support letter thank you note update thing, (now I just have to make the right amount of copies, address envelopes, and mail them) I cleaned the kitchen, and made dinner. yaaaaaay. I'm mainly just proud of the dinner thing right now. :)

(cue flashbacks of last semester when i made this and was GAGGING at the sight of raw meat...my roommates were pleading with me not to get sick...i hate raw meat)

(so colorful!!!)

(dinner is served)

School starts tomorrow :)

Random thoughts from my day: Sometimes life calls for footie pajamas. Right now is one of those times. I love potato bread more than any other bread. Except maybe for Panera's Asiago Cheese Bread. Hitting the ceiling when going through yellow lights is sure to get weird looks but the habit has yet to die. So many memories tied into it over the years. :)

Take Me Back to Creative.

Ahhhh!!! Classes start back up in a week and I am EXCITED!! I'm ready to take my major head on and hopefully create fantastic stuff. I've been busy getting stuff together for school-including meeting with the administrative people, getting software, etc. I also finally started contacting people for two different group things that I feel God really layed on my heart at FLI. I'm excited. Now I just wait and pray!!

Yesterday my friend Tabs and I went out on a photo adventure. I am so rusty but it was SO much fun!! Here are some pictures. I'll put them on my photo blog later. That thing seriously needs an update!!!

(my lens doesn't have an auto-focus function-so I've been trying really hard to get better at manually focusing-which is really hard since my eyes are kind of not fantastic)

i love detail

cute alley :)

see the reflection?

train. typical.

I need to take pictures more. Taking another class would probably be good too. :)

It's hitting...

It's finally hitting me. I'm home. I am back. God has me HERE in Northern Illinois for a purpose unlike anything I've done before. Oh my goodness.

This is a picture of my classmates from the past semester. We did EVERYTHING together. Laughed, cried, climbed mountains, tried new things, studied, read thousands of pages, sat through class, ate, played games, and so much more. Basically, collectively we are EPIC. We are "heroic or grand in scale or character". Love it. The lessons I learned through my classmates and professors were beyond anything I expected for the semester. People at home keep asking me what the best part was, if I got everything out of it that I expected, what the worst part was, how I feel being home, etc. I simply don't have answers yet. I'm floating on the clouds of thankfulness. I am beyond thankful for everything I learned, everything I experienced, everyone I met, everything I did. Everything.

Here is to you Focus Leadership Institute-Class of Fall 2010. You all have impacted my life. The honesty you spoke with, the advice, the vulnerability. Everything you gave to the experience. You are all phenomenal.

Marsh-what?

This past weekend I had the joy of visiting one of my roommates from FLI!!! And I got to see my practicum buddy for about 45 min-which was also awesome. But. Oh my goodness. So refreshing seeing Janae!! Loved catching up on life and also just reflecting on the semester-the good and the bad. Time for a picture story.

(this suitcase is a beast. janae took it home for me and it was a struggle to pick up...basically it had all my books in there. today i bought a new bookshelf so i could actually FIT all my books in my room!! crazy)

(starbucks date)

(janae might have found the best game ever)

(best part? there is a biebs face for each lovely woman in 1038!)

(saying "so long and see you sooooon")

On the drive home I was pressing scan on the radio and found a Christian station-and this song just captured my attention. I rarely just LISTEN to a song. For some reason I think it's perfect that this one was just there for me to hear. It's called "Restless" by Audrey Assad. Click here to listen to it!! The lyrics are on the video.

My life since getting back to Illinois (all 8 days of it) have been crazy. Hanging out with people (which i LOVE) looking for a job (eeeeh) and organizing my life (oh man) have been really interesting. Plus having oral surgery last week and trying so hard to learn to talk with my dang retainer has been testing my patience. I feel like I'm always learning patience. I love people! I just keep praying God will transform my heart through this. Pray for me.

Two weeks till school starts.

Exodus 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

T.E.X.A.S.

T.E.X.A.S. doesn't really stand for anything. I just like spelling out "Texas." Anyway. I love that my dad's side of the family lives in the Lone Star State. I love that I was born there. Someday I might move back there. Although I'm not a fan of not having a white Christmas. I'm back in Illinois for New Years and it RAINED. What is with the weather in America this year?!

this is my family. we're crazy.

we can also be normal. (missing laura and ryan)

she wanted my purse. I got her one of her own.

grandparents. :)

sisters :)

my mother and me

we were dancing...a lot...

baking cookies!!!

finding girl scout cookies. yum.

pop was showing us something in the country. i love the family country place.

the new country house. i miss the old big one that everyone could stay in-but this one is quaint.

country.

loving life :)

It's always wonderful to see my family. Especially since we hadn't been back down to Texas since before I started college. It's crazy. And now the song is stuck in my head, "The stars at night are big and bright (clap clap clap) deep in the heart of Texas!!!"

Yes. :)