Count It ALL As Loss

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing VALUE of KNOWING Christ Jesus my Lord." Philippians 3:7-8

The surpassing value of knowing Christ! Yet what is this value?

I took a minute this week to list many of the things I have lost in this last year and a half. The list included things like....

• my husband, love of my life, and best friend
• the primary bread winner of the family
• my home
• most of my earthly possesions
• the ability to stay home with my babies
• my dreams, since I was 12 years old, of church planting and being on the mission field
• my identity, who I was, my self worth

As I looked over this list I realized that all of these things were very valuable things to my heart - to my life. Sometimes it takes loosing something to really see its value. In so many ways I would give anything in the world to have some of these things on this list back.

And yet as I read Philippians 3:7-8 I can't help but see something that I never really saw before. Tonight it all became so real. For Christ we suffer the loss of ALL things and we count them all as rubbish. These things that I held in such value - they are nothing compared to the surpassing value of knowing Jesus. Sometimes it takes us loosing it all, in order to gain more of Jesus. Now that I have gone through the loss of many valuable things in my life, I think my heart can truly say that knowing Christ and gaining an even deeper and more intimate relationship with him, is worth far more than everything that I have lost. That is the value of knowing Him. It exceeds anything we might hold dear here on this earth.

All of us go through loss in one way or another. I challenge you to do what I did and make a list of the things you have really lost. I'm sure that for you, as they were for me, the things on your list will be very valuable things. As you look at your list - let it sink into your heart that all that you have lost doesn't even compare to the surpassing value of knowing Jesus.

I praise God for my loss, because it is through my loss, that I have gained more of Chirst!

A Contented Heart Is An Even Sea In The Midst Of All The Storms

Peace - tranquility, contentment, a heart that can be still before its savior.

Joy - a state of being, an inward delight found in resting in the arms of Jesus.

Trust - Reliance, hope, having a confident expectation of who God is and what He can do.

God has been opening my eyes to see that my peace, my joy, and my trust are all connected to one action of my heart - contentment. All too often I let my mind and heart dwell on the past, on what my life was, what I had, and how badly I want it back, or else I dwell on the future and how quickly can I change how things are now. There isn't any peace or joy when I dwell on those things and I quickly loose trust because I take my eyes off of Jesus and onto my circumstances. Yet when I make the conscious effort to embrace today for what it is - I find that my day, my thoughts, my life are full to overflowing with peace and joy.

As I am typing this it sounds so simple - so elementary - but I have never experienced life the way I do now. To be perfectly honest with you, the kids and I are probably in the midst of one of the toughest seasons right now. We are lonelier than we have ever been up to this point, financially things are very difficult, and when I look at my future I don't see the end of this dark, dark tunnel. And yet with learning to embrace every single day, I can honestly say that I truly smile at life. I am content with where we are and what we are doing. I have an incredible amount of peace and trust that God is completely in control of my life. I make the choice every morning - when I get up before the sun to get ready for work, get the kids all up, dressed, fed and out the door by 6:45 - to say, "God, today, I am a single mom of these four beautiful kids. Give me the strength I need today God to mother these kids and everything else I have to do. God, I trust that you have me and the kids in your hands and that you will work out our future, so I choose to rest in you today. God, let me be a light for you today as I go about my tasks. I want to bring you glory with all I do." And with that simple prayer I still and quiet my mind and focus, not on the past, not on the future, but on today. I can't tell you how contended I am when I embrace today. I can't begin to explain to you the peace and joy that floods my soul. It is like finding a hidden treasure in heaven!

Amazingly enough even the kids can see the results of choosing joy and contentment. They notice when we have bad weeks and good weeks and how it is connected to the attitudes of our hearts. I often talk to them about focusing on the blessings that God is giving us today. They are beginning to see the small blessings from God for themselves and often point them out to me. Sometimes they are as simple as "Mama look, God blessed us with a close parking spot into the store, so we don't have to walk very far." =) to things like "Mama God knew that we needed Joshua in this family because he brings us all so much joy when life has been so sad." By all of us just embracing today, we are finding the sadness in our life slowly fading away.

Although the journey I have been on has been incredibly hard and often times unbearable, I don't think I would trade it for anything. To be able to learn this lesson of embracing today and learning to find peace and joy even when the storm is still raging, is truly worth having to walk through the darkest nights of my soul.