The Beautiful Whisper

Posted on by luraquandt

Ever since I was little, I had always pictured God as this big man sitting on a throne up in heaven with a really long, white beard. I had pictured him sitting there every single day and simply watching over all that He had created. I had this image in my head for the longest time. It wasn’t until I grew up that I began to realize that God was so much more. As I went to countless youth groups, retreats, and church services, I was taught that God spoke to us. Every single day. Now this really blew me away. The fact that the God of the universe could SPEAK to ME was baffling. However, I believed it with all of my heart.

There was only one problem. I went days, weeks, and sometimes even months without ever “hearing” God. I would get on my knees, fold my hands the proper way, and begin my prayer. I would get all of the way through my prayer and still, nothing. What? Am I doing this whole thing wrong? Is God angry with me? Or worse, is He ignoring me? These were just some of the many questions I asked myself when I didn’t “hear” God speak to me. I blamed everything I could. I placed blame on the way I prayed. I even blamed God. I cannot tell you how many nights I cried myself to sleep because I felt like God had abandoned me. It was by far the most lonely period in my life. I truly believe, however, God was with me that whole time

I failed to realize that the problem could be with me. I was not “tuned” into God and his beautiful whispers. Think about a radio. When you want to listen to country music, you wouldn’t tune your radio to a pop station, now would you? Its the same way with God. If we are not constantly searching for God and tuning into what He has to say and his will for our lives, how can we expect to hear anything He has to say?

Also, if we are not diving head first into God’s Word every single day, how can we expect to hear what He has to say? Are you getting this? If scripture is God breathed and is the WORD of GOD, if we ever want to hear from God, we must read the words that came from Him and Him alone. This seems like a very simple thing to comprehend but it is actually something many people struggle with, including myself. Maybe you think you are “too busy” to spend a good chunk of your time in God’s word. Let me ask you this though. What is more important? Spending time with the God who knit you together in your mother’s womb, who breaths life into you every second you inhale, who knows every single hair atop your head, who can move  mountains when He speaks or putting more of your time into worldly things that are temporary and which are a blessing from your Heavenly Father himself? Is it more important to appreciate the gift more or the giver? The answer is simple and clear. The giver will always deserve all of the praise. The ultimate giver gave the ultimate sacrifice. We owe him everything, including all of our attention and time.

We will not hear God in a loud, booming voice coming down from heaven, telling us exactly what to do and when to do it. We will hear him in the beautiful whispers. The gentle tug on our heartstrings means that God is orchestrating a grand plan for our lives and He is trying to pull us more towards that plan for our lives. He ultimately knows whats best. We can place all of our trust in those beautiful whispers because we know God loves us far more than we can comprehend. We know that He will never leave us nor forsake us. So, next time you are feeling like God has abandoned you, next time you are at your lowest point, next time you are feeling all alone, know that you have a Savior, you have a Shepherd, you have a Father who will NEVER leave you. Rest in that amazing truth.

“The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

1 Kings 19:11-12

We must stand firm in the faith, even when we may not know what lies ahead. For we may not know our future, but we can rest in knowing who holds it. We must come boldly into the presence of our Lord and Savior. The Lord will show up in amazing ways in each and every single one of your lives. It may not be in the ways you had hoped for. It may not be very clear to us. But if we listen for the whisper, we will never be disappointed. Keep the faith, and keep running the race that has been set before us.

Rescue

Posted on by luraquandt

Life can get very difficult. The storms of life can come and knock us down with such a tremendous force we feel as though we can never get back up. I know the feeling. You feel so utterly alone and helpless. You feel as though everything is out of control. You feel as though there is no purpose in your pain and suffering. Life is messy. But never doubt for a second that messy things cannot be made beautiful.

I’ve been where you are you. I thought things would never get better. I cried myself to sleep countless nights, crying out to God and asking him to take the pain away. I thought that I had lost all hope. However, it was quite the opposite. I was simply clinging onto the wrong hope. I would hope in the things of this world. I would hope that I would find someone to call my own. I would hope that I would get a certain grade on a test or get onto a certain sports team. These things were completely temporary. I was putting all of my hope in temporary emotions that would always fade away.

I finally realized something (or rather I started listening to God’s gentle whisper). He taught me that I could place all of my hope in the unshakable anchor that is Jesus Christ. Everything of this world is temporary. How could I possibly place my hope in temporary things and expect them to be eternal? God works through your pain. All of it. You may not see the purpose of your suffering, and believe me, I didn’t either when I was experiencing it. Pain and suffering makes us blind in a way. We only see whats right in front of us, the momentary suffering, and we fail to realize that God is working everything out for our good.

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

1 Peter 5:10

He knows you. He knows you because he created you. He will always know you better than you know yourself. That is why we can place all of our hope and trust in our Father. He knows what is best for us, and he holds the book of our life. We are not able to see what lies ahead on the next page, the next sentence, or the next word. However, God holds it all in his hands. He holds the pen of our lives in his hand, and we can rest easy knowing that everything is all in his control, even when we feel it is completely out of control.

It is when God is all we have, that we find God will always be all that we need. Even on the darkest days, God will always rescue us and deliver us. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Everything is working out for God’s glory. Keep placing your hope in the anchor, in the King of glory, in the author, in the perfecter, in the rock, in the king of the ages, in the shepherd, in the Lord Almighty because he will never ever fail you.

Fearing God

Posted on by luraquandt

Fearing God. About a week ago, I was at youth group listening to one of the missionaries we get the pleasure of working with while down in New Orleans. The day was pretty normal and just winding down. As he spoke, he mentioned the idea of “fearing God”. Now this was a concept I never truly understand. I had always wanted to know more about it, I just never took the time to research the topic in the Bible. Just as I was thinking about that, it began to rain. I could hear the rain drops hitting the windows on the ceiling like tiny pellets. Each one hitting the glass at a faster tempo as the minutes passed. The clouds became very dark and the thunder and lightening came next. When I was younger, my mom always told me that the angels were bowling, and that was why the thunder was so loud and the lightening was so bright. To give you all some background, I am terrified of storms. Not just storms, but specifically tornadoes. As youth group was finishing, the rain subsided. My friend and I had just walked outside. All of a sudden, I heard sirens. I knew exactly what they were My worst nightmare. I knew there was going to be a storm, I just had no idea how bad it would be. I then got an alert on my phone saying there was a Tornado Warning for me area and that we needed to take shelter. Just then, the lights began to flicker and the power went out. We all rushed into one of the hallways within the church and covered our heads. I was having a panic attack and I didn’t really understand how people could be taking this so tightly. People were laughing and talking casually with each other like it was no big deal. I was absolutely terrified. I cried out to God and asked him to protect me and help me to find peace amidst the storm. Once it was okay for us to leave the hallway, we learned about how the tornado had ripped part of the roof off of the school I attend and it had made a mess of the neighborhood right next to the church, as well as the community pool and park.

As I got into my friends car, I realized God had taught me such a valuable lesson. First and most importantly, he taught me exactly how He wants us to fear him. Fearing God doesn’t mean we are afraid to talk to him or trust him. Fearing God ultimately means that we are aware of his power, we are aware that he is able to completely wipe us all out, we are aware that He can control every aspect of our lives, and that alone should make us change our ways immediately. But it doesn’t stop there. We are aware of all of those things, yet we also understand that because of his love and his plan for our lives, he chooses to cover us with his grace and to love us unconditionally all of the days of our lives. After a few days passed after the tornado, we were able to look at the path it took. It was incredible. The tornado path went directly around the church. God protected me and everyone in the church. He has a plan for everyone. If you have breath in your lungs, he has an amazing plan for you. It doesn’t matter where you come from, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, and you are absolutely never too far gone to receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your Lord and Savior. He will protect you and sustain you. Because Jesus is everything. Will always be everything. Has always been everything you’ve ever wanted and needed in your life. He WILL bring peace beyond the depths of your understanding. He will sustain you and satisfy you all the days of your life. Never give up hope. God is working out his plan for your life right now. As you read this. God is working. He will always come through. He will never EVER fail. God is always in control. No matter how dark the storms of life may look, he will bring you through it. He is and will always be the light in the darkness you are longing for.

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5

Waiting

Posted on by luraquandt

It feels like everywhere we go now, everything is faster, bigger, or better. However, as things get faster, we become a lot more impatient. We have become immune to the idea of impatience. It is just something that we all accept that has become who we are. For example, if we are downloading something on our computers, we can’t wait more than 20 seconds before getting upset. We begin to complain about how dumb that “computer” is being and how slow it is. However. it is actually us being oblivious to the relevance of our impatience.

“Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord”

Psalm 27:14

The other night, I was curled up on the couch watching TV when I happened to glance out the window. The sun was just beginning to set. I looked at the big ball of red and orange in the sky amidst many clouds and thought to myself, ” It’s just like every other sunset. It won’t be anything special”. I went back to watching my TV show, not thinking anything of it.IMG_1925

About 10 minutes passed, and I glanced out my window again. The tides were changing. The sky was suddenly very pretty and full of shades of yellow and orange. I ran outside to take a picture, figuring I might as well savor this moment. I ran back inside to make sure I didn’t miss much of my TV show.IMG_1933 (1)

Another 7 minutes passed. I decided to look to see what the sky looked like now.I was amazed. The sky looked like a painting. The sky was the canvas, and God was the artist. In that moment, I stood in awe of the beauty God had revealed to me. I didn’t care how much I was missing of my TV show  or if I was missing texts or phone calls. All that mattered was savoring each and every moment of this beautiful gift from God.IMG_1939

In that single moment. God taught me such a valuable lesson. Sometimes, I am in such a hurry to get on with things in my life that I miss what God is trying to do. I look at things from my perspective rather than Gods. I ask myself, “How could God make something beautiful or something new out of that situation?” I doubt Gods power and abilities. I never understood the saying “God has a great sense of humor” until last night. God really showed me what he is capable of. In life, it may seem like things are out of control. It may feel like you are completely faithless. However, when you are faithless, he is faithful. Always. If you trust in the lord with all your heart, leaning not on your own understanding, =He will reveal to you the beauty that he is truly capable of creating through any storm, any trial, any difficulty in your life. He will ALWAYS come through. We need to trust him fully without doubting his capabilities. We can always be reassured that God will remain faithful. We can have hope that God will never fail us. He will take your broken things or situations… and make them absolutely beautiful.

“but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:31

The Prodigal Sons & Daughters

Posted on by luraquandt

The title to this post may be a little confusing to those of you who are well versed in the story of the prodigal son in the Bible. However, God is trying to convey a serious message to us all, and it should not be overlooked.

First, for those who aren’t familiar with the prodigal son, lets dive into this beautiful story.

In Luke 15:11-33, Jesus tells this story. It begins with a Father who had two sons. He divided his inheritance among both of them equally. The younger of the two sons then went off into a path of wild living and soon spent all that He had received from his Father. A famine came over the land and soon the younger son was desperately in need. He then received a job from a citizen of that country, helping him to feed pigs. The son was so hungry He even longed to fill his stomach with the pods the pigs were eating. The son then came to his senses and decided that He would go back to his Father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.

As the son was walking home, his Father saw him still a long ways off and ran to him and was overjoyed and filled with compassion for him. He threw his arms around him and kissed him. The Father then told his servants to bring him an expensive robe to wrap around him. He placed a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. The Father had a huge feast to celebrate the coming home of his son. The older brother became very angry because all these years he had been loyal to his father and had been working for him. He did not believe the younger son deserved all of this. Yet, the Father assured the older son that the coming home of this once lost son is to be lavishly celebrated.

This story never really held any significance in my head and heart until recently. This younger Son is much like so many of us. We receive with open arms the blessings our heavenly Father generously gives to us, yet we run away from Him. Something else entices us and we no longer feel the need to stay close to our Father. Once we finally come to our senses, we are absolutely mortified at what we have done and how we have ran away from our Creator. We expect and we deserve to be given up on and rejected. Yet, when we decide to come back to our heavenly Father, He is waiting with open arms with a huge smile on his face.

We deserve to be punished for everything we do against the Fathers will. However, He chooses to forgive us of ALL of our sins. We are never too far gone. In Gods eyes. nothing can separate us from his love. He is waiting with open arms for you to fall into him and allow him to hold you and protect you. God will meet you EXACTLY right where you are, and HE will love you. So come running back to the Father. He is waiting for you to leap into his arms, holding nothing back. With open arms.

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:37-39

Tragedy

Posted on by luraquandt

Before my brother and I were born, my mother gave birth to triplets just a year before. They were extremely premature. Each one weighed well under the healthy weight a baby should be. The weight was light, but the burden was heavy. As the days passed after their birth, one by one each took their last breath here on earth. Whether it’s cancer, losing a loved one, failing health, a shattered relationship, or mental illness, we never quite are able to grasp why these sort of tragedies happen to us. The number one question people ask me when attempting to understand why I follow Jesus is: If God really loved us, why would he allow such terrible things to happen in our lives?

Well, first off, I would just like to say that we may NEVER fully understand the reason God allows certain things to happen to us. I know this may come off harsh, but it is just something we
ought to recognize and start to accept. Life here on earth will never become any easier. However, we can hold onto a certain promise. The promise given to us by our Creator, our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ.

de246d4abe6cc087df86e08c9a044ac7“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

God clearly tells us that his ways are higher than our ways. We may see this tragedy in our lives as the end of the road. God sees the bigger picture though. He has planned out your ENTIRE life. God only wants what is best for us. That is a statement that I know many will fight against. But if God is our Creator and if HE truly is who He says HE is, then why would we expect anything less? Cancer is not right. Depression should not be wished upon even the most evil soul.  Losing a loved one feels like you have lost everything you have ever known. However, there is a hope we can always put our faith in. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

He will walk with you through the fire and help you through whatever difficult season of life you may be facing. Recently I have had to learn what it truly means to trust God with every aspect of my life. In the past, I was so afraid of what God may do with my life, but since God is always for me, I know that I can always trust in him and that he will ultimately NEVER fail me. You can place all of your trust in Him because he knows you better than you know yourself. He will love you better than anyone else can here on earth. If you never had that relationship you’ve always wanted with your earthly father, you can be assured that your heavenly Father will love you like no other. He will wrap you in his arms and shelter you from the storms of life.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.”

Isaiah 43:2

Life may feel so overwhelming right now. It feels like everything and everyone is against you. I know that feeling all too well. But it is not until we hit the ground that we finally start looking up. When we go through difficult times in life, we can be comforted by the fact that God is always with us. Nothing in life will be able to take us away from the love of our heavenly father. God never said life here on earth would be easy. In fact, He said it is going to be extremely difficult and full of sorrow at times. However, if we choose to follow Him through it all, we will be rewarded beyond our wildest dreams. It will all be worth it. I promise. Just hold on to that hope. The hope that never fails. Jesus Christ is with you right now. Waiting for you to grab his hand. To take you through this difficult time and to bring you closer to him. Everything will work together for the good of those who love God.

Beauty: the word whose definition we have greatly confused

Posted on by luraquandt

Ever since I was a little girl, beauty was something I noticed each and every women strived towards gaining more of. Make up. Plastic Surgery. Highlights. The list could go on and on. Beauty is something that we have greatly confused. Somehow over the years, beauty has taken on this artificial mold. It is something now that some can only dream of fitting into. However, most people who try to achieve this certain “beauty” can never possibly live up to its standards based on the simple idea that the type of beauty our society conveys is near to impossible. Beauty is no longer something each and every person possesses but is something for the elite few. Those with “the right genes”. Yet, this is completely far from the truth.

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight”

1 Peter 3:3-4

Unfading beauty. Now doesn’t that sound wonderful. Beauty that comes not from outward adornment. We don’t need to worry about what our hair looks like, whether we are skinny enough to fit into that dress, or whether our clothes match the right “style”. Because we have a heavenly Father who made each and every one of us in his image. The image of absolute perfection. Now, I don’t know about you, but this comes as a HUGE relief to me. To know that a gentle and quite spirit is what pure beauty looks like is completely contrary to what we have all been taught growing up by the media. If we place our standards in God’s eyes and not in the eyes of the media, we will begin to see that our true beauty, the kind of beauty that comes from an inward heart change, is the one we should all be striving towards. Because with God, each and every single one of you are beautiful. You are loved. God made you and he thinks you are absolutely gorgeous just the way He made you. God looks at the heart. He recognizes that we will all fall short of the glory of God. Yet, He wants us. He wants YOU. Each and every second of every day. There is not a moment that passes that God doesn’t want you. It doesn’t matter how many times you have messed up, He didn’t send his one and only Son down to die for all of the sins of mankind for nothinglarge.

God will never regret saving you. You are precious and dearly dearly loved. You are BEAUTIFUL exactly the way you are and your true worth is placed in the Creator of the universe. Your true beauty comes from within. And let me just tell you… you are gorgeous.

The power of the cross.

Posted on by luraquandt

Recently I listened to a sermon on the power of the Gospel and how it could radically change our lives. I listened closely to each word that particular pastor was saying and i couldn’t help but question myself. Did I REALLY believe that? Did I really believe in the Gospel? It is a very tough question to answer. Because the Gospel is so much bigger than many people have always thought it to be.

“ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

John 3:16

This is the verse many of us are taught countless times to memorize, right? But here is the problem. We are taught to memorize it and it has been drilled into our heads that Jesus came into the world, died for our sins, and then rose again. There is so much more, though, that lay beneath the surface of that simple statement. Jesus. A perfect man. Many will try to argue against that statement but if they read the bible they can see clearly that Jesus was without fault and without blame. Jesus. A miracle worker. A healer. And yet, what did WE do to him? I say WE because as he hung there on that cross it was our sins that were holding him up. The weight of our sins hung upon him. He thought of YOU and everything YOU would do. Yes, YOU, whoever is reading this,  He knew every sin that you would ever commit against him. And yet… he loves you. He wouldn’t have died for you if he didn’t love you. He loved you then as he hung on that cross, paying the penalty for our sins, and he loves you RIGHT NOW. He loves you just as you are. Jesus not only died, but he rose again. Proving that the grave could not hold him. Sin was broken as Jesus’ blood poured out the grave was no match for the true King. We can place all of our hope and faith in Him because he has more then proven it to us that he will never fail us. Let that soak in for just a moment…He will NEVER fail us.

Every sin that you will ever commit is no surprise to the God of the universe who knit you together in your mothers womb. Every flaw YOU see, he sees as perfection. Every unique and special thing about you was intricately designed by your heavenly father. So we can live with joy. Because our sins are paid IN FULL! How exciting is that?? We owe absolutely EVERYTHING to our Lord and Savior. So we should live in joy and peace, holding nothing back from our heavenly Father. He will meet you right where you are, in all of the pain, in the joy, in the suffering, in the tears. He will come and wrap his arms around you and He will never ever fail. Because He displayed his perfect love for us on that cross. Now that… is the power of the cross.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

Romans 5:6-8

The weight of it all.

Posted on by luraquandt

I know the feeling. The weight of anxiety can creep up when you least expect it and then… bam. It hits you like a rock. Wave after wave of sheer panic come over you. Your heart begins to race. Sweat begins to drip from your hairline. This is the start of something bad. I know that feeling all too well. Over the past year or so I’ve had my fair share of struggles that I’ve had to overcome. Anxiety has certainly been one of the biggest. I am not going to tell you overcoming this terrible obstacle in your life is going to be easy. But who needs easy in this lifetime? I certainly don’t. I just need possible. And isn’t that all anyone needs? If we know it is possible, if we have even that tiny sliver of hope, we will always try to achieve that goal we are striving towards.

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

Sometimes we forget that God never said life here on earth would be easy. In fact, we see in this verse that He has made it pretty clear that we will face many trials here on earth. When I first read the first part of that verse I became very sad. I knew time on earth would be temporary and that I would be with my heavenly Father for eternity, but I wanted to live a life that was worry free and full of happiness. But as I began to examine that verse after many years of just briefly skimming over it, I realized something extremely powerful. First, that God wants us to live in peace. He wants that with all of his heart. However, we can never achieve that peace apart from Him. He wants us to be close with Him so that we may grow in peace and in love. He knows us way better than we know ourselves. And that statement itself is extremely comforting to me. You may be going through something that you think is the worst thing in the entire world, yet God is working everything out for your good. He knows exactly what you’re going through. Each and every breath you take on earth is no surprise to him. Because he knows every hair on your head. He knows every move that you make. He is walking with you through it all. When you mess up, He already knew you would do that before you were born. God choose you for a REASON. You matter to this world and nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever be able to separate you from that fact. Lastly, we also forget that nothing can actually be “that bad”. Jesus has overcome the world. The battle is already won! We can celebrate and live our lives out in joy! We have the blessed assurance that Jesus Christ will walk with us all of the days of our life if we just let him into our lives and let him transform us and our hearts from the inside out.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love”

Romans 8:38

Welcome!

Posted on by luraquandt

To everyone who may have stumbled upon this blog, hello! I am so glad you are here:) On this blog you will get a whole lot of everything. From advice to deep deep posts, you will get the best of everything. Thank you for tagging along with me on this wonderful journey! Let’s see where this blessing of an adventure takes us!:)