'Perspective That Brings Peace' by Jeremiah Storkson

One of our son's, Jeremiah, posted this to his own blog today, and I thought is was so good, I had to re-post it here.  Enjoy and be blessed! -Perry

 



As I write this, I am sitting in a Starbucks, working on a white chocolate mocha, and well, this. It is a busy morning here, as there is a steady line of people ordering their coffee. I really enjoy observing people, and how they interact in different situations. That may sound creepy, but please, let me explain.

In order to capture the full picture of how these people work, let’s look at the ordering process. Right now, there is a man that looks casual, probably rested, ordering his grande’ drink and calmly putting his milk in. He is very patient and slow to speak. I am going to guess that he lives modestly and goes to a job that he loves. He is pretty satisfied with life right now. Next, we see a man that is a bit different. He is probably in his mid to late 40’s, has gray hair, and is dressed very nicely. He has a business suit on. He looks very successful. My estimation is that he leads people. This man has a very specific, and focused vision, and has that on his mind. He is in a hurry, but his mind seems to be moving faster than his body. By the time he orders and pays, in his mind he is in his car. He is ready to attack the day. I hear the ladies sitting behind me. They may not know that I hear them, but, yes, in my nosy ears, I hear them. What I hear is life, Normal life. They are talking about kids, soccer, teenagers, husbands, money, and of course, since they are females, all of their inner thoughts. I see a 20 something dreaming of changing the world as they work through college, and of course your occasional hipster.

It’s interesting, if I wanted to customize a human being, I think I would want to add some things from each of these people. I would want to have the peace of the first person, and the drive and focus of the second guy. I would add the community, and authenticity of the ladies behind me, and the boundless, dreamers mindset of the 20 something college student. I am still contemplating on the hipster.
Now, I turn to myself. As I look around, I see a pretty girl. I choose not to start a conversation with her as a result of my fear of being rejected, or of being awkward. I want to be focused, but I sometimes find myself distracted. I want to change the world, but belief and desire are two different things. I would be authentic, but I fear of being judged. I wish I had peace, but I am so caught up in the things I just mentioned that my mind is constantly in conflict.

But aren’t we all like that in ways? Aren’t we all in some ways enabling a boxing match between what we desire for ourselves, vs. our actual beliefs about who we are? Don’t we all tend to look at things from a perspective that is negative about who we are, where we are, and the situation we are in? Notice something, I picked out everything that was bad about me, and my situation, and highlighted it. This was intentional. If we look at each of those people mentioned, they each had qualities that we would all probably like. But they also have their share of weaknesses and issues that we don’t see. They each have a wrestling match. So, what is winning? How do you view yourself? Do you desire to be a certain way but don’t believe you can get there?

What is the common denominator in all of this? I am writing this, and thinking through this from my point of view. I see those people in the coffee shop from what I see in them. I look at myself, and see what I choose to see. It’s all from my own perspective. This is where the problem is. It is all from my limited view. What if I flipped the script, and looked at what God sees? When I do that, I see something totally different. I see a God who is madly in love with me, knows my problems, and knows what is best for me. I see a God who values me (Ephesians 2:10), and has a plan for my life (Proverbs 16:9).

Do you have a favorite trilogy of books? The author of those books has a plan. He or she knows the end of the story before it is put into effect, because the author created the plot. God knows your story. He knows the end. It is written. You can only see what has been made available for you to see. So why, when we serve such a powerful, loving, and involved God, do we choose to rely on our limited, and generally flawed view of ourselves, and our circumstances. What if we chose to trust in God, knowing that He is good, and loves you like crazy?

Today, we all have a choice. Whose eyes will we look through? God’s eyes, or our own? Only One has perfect vision, and only one sees the whole picture. When you choose to see through God’s eyes, instead of your own, that is when the conflict in your soul will turn to peace. It is a complete change of mindset, but it will bring true peace. It takes knowing Christ intimately, and seeking Him through Prayer, His word, and just resting in His presence.

Choose to let God’s perspective take the lead in your life. Choose to completely submit to, and trust in His promises, and His truth.

So today, how will you let God’s perspective overrule yours? Will you choose to believe what God says about you, instead of your messed up view? Will you trust that He has a plan that is much better than yours? When you are living out of God’s perspective instead of your own, you will be filled with true peace.

-Jeremiah Storkson

'Riding the Waves With God' by Michele Storkson

Introduction
by Perry D. Storkson
My beautiful and precious wife, Michele, was recently asked to write a post for the 'Sisters' blog from our church, LifeChurch.tv.  She was asked to write on the topic of 'embracing your season'. Michele had never written a post before, so she was humbly hesitant to accept the challenge and it took awhile to convince her; but, after some nudging from her family, this is what she submitted.  It is an engaging and encouraging article and, once you've read it, you will understand why I am so proud of this amazing woman and so incredibly blessed to be her man!
PDS
Edmond, OK

Riding the Waves With God

August 17, 2015 / lcsisters

by Michele Storkson




When I was younger, I lived near the beach and spent a lot of time there—even surfed a bit.  It wasn’t uncommon for the water to be very quiet maybe not smooth, but rolling and peaceful.  Then, the big waves would come. They’d come in sets, and we’d paddle hard and fast to be the one to catch the best wave of the day!

Sometimes though, I’d get knocked off my board by a big wave that would throw me violently under the water and tumble me until I couldn’t tell which way was up! I’d struggle to get to the surface and gasp some air, just to get hit by another wave and tumbled all over again. This would continue repeatedly and, with each successive wave, I’d become more exhausted trying to fight against the current until, finally, the set would end and I could get back to the surface and, most importantly, back in control. That’s when I’d climb back on my board, turn around, and paddle back out to wait for the next set because with experience, I had learned that, while scary and unsettling at times, finishing a ride came with an awesome feeling of accomplishment—even victory!

Now that life has put a few years and six children between me and my surfboard, I’ve come to realize that, like those waves, life’s trials can knock me out of control and leave me gasping for air, exhausted and fighting for strength, getting knocked down over and over, and feeling like the ‘set’ will never end.

Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever been at that place—a season when the trials just keep coming and coming and you feel burdened and exhausted? It’s a really hard place to be and an even harder place to find strength, especially when you’re someone who, like me, has trouble finding peace while I’m tumbling around ‘under the waves.’

I went through one of those seasons a couple years ago when one of our adult kids made, what we knew would be a significantly painful, life-changing decision, and when we tried to give them guidance, they estranged themselves from us. Then, some months later, another one of our adult kids also disowned us for similar reasons. As if that weren’t enough, not long after this second painful event, my husband lost his job. These three ‘waves’ knocked me down and left me gasping for air, feeling like our family was coming apart, and longing for nothing more than peace in our home and the love of my children.

During this difficult time, I cried out to God, and I mean cried. Have you ever found yourself crying out for the healing power of the Holy Spirit? That’s the place I was in, where I just couldn’t see past my circumstances.I thought things would never get better and felt like my heart would never stop hurting.

I can remember feeling so worn and just wanting the hurt to stop; my heart just ached and ached.  I remember praying, “Why, Lord, why?” I felt like I had tried so hard to follow His ways and be a good parent, but the waves just kept crashing down. I remember feeling so tired of it, but not knowing what to do! I couldn’t change anything about the circumstances at all! I had no control over it.

My heart was utterly broken, but in spite of all that pain, God reminded me that He is in control and that He really does know what He is doing.

I thought I already knew that, but apparently I needed a reminder! That reminder came to me in the form of a very simple message one Sunday, and, to this day, I have what our pastor said handwritten on a piece of paper  on the wall above my desk. It reads:

“Prayer reminds me that I’m not in control, and it keeps me close to the One who is.”
Such an amazing statement!  It’s so simple, but that is exactly what God used to lead me to an understanding of how to embrace the painful season I was in as well as to help me understand that it was just that—a season; a set of waves that would eventually come to an end.

Through prayer, The Lord reminded me of His ever-present Holy Spirit, and I began to seek Him in far deeper ways than ever before.

Through prayer, He reminded me that it’s not about what I do, it’s about what He wants even if I don’t like or understand His timing or the circumstances. He knows what He’s doing!

Through prayer, the Holy Spirit breathed new life into my tired, saddened heart and “renewed in me the joy of His Salvation!”

Eventually, that set of waves did come to an end and with that end came a new strength and a new perspective of faith that God had given me through His Faithfulness. This enabled me to climb back on my board, turn around, and get back into enjoying the amazing life and family He has blessed me with.

Our pastor also said:
“Never let the presence of a storm keep you from the presence of God.”  
Now, when the next sets of waves come, and they WILL come, we can know that in His Strength, we can ride those waves and once again realize the awesome feeling of victory when the set is over!
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  James 1:2-4

SISTERS CHALLENGE:
Sisters, seek the Lord; He is where the healing is! He will bring back your joy, bring you peace, and draw you closer to Him as you seek Him and experience His healing power.

WHY?!

I recently heard someone say that, when we have trouble in our lives, it's because we aren't walking right with God.

Now, while this may SOMETIMES be true, it just as often is not; and we in the Church need to understand, proclaim and protect this distinction, without equivocation or apology; we need to exercise a true compassion, lovingly share in their burden (1 Cor 12:26) and quit repeating the sin of Job's "friends" by using other people's suffering as an excuse for judging their faith and walk.

I am reminded of John 9:1-3, As he [Jesus] went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

This gets me thinking about some things, one of which is the "WHY?!" we all experience when, as believers, we (or someone we love) suffer some manner of harm, hurt, loss or tragedy. We want to know, sometimes even demanding from God, "WHY?!" He would allow such things when we, as faulty as we are, try so hard to be faithful and live right?

While we may not receive the answer we so desperately seek (at least in this lifetime), I have observed over the years, a recurring theme, that illustrates the very real and practical truth of what Jesus told his disciples.

I'll explain by way of example.

Back in the eighties, someone very close to me was raped. She wrestled and agonized with the "WHY?!" for years. One day, when she was crying out "WHY?!", someone who loves her told her that she was allowed to experience this awful, horrible violation, so that she would be able to minister to others who have experienced similar pain, in a way that only someone who has known that pain ever could. She listened, but was only nominally comforted by this.

Some months later, after counseling with her pastor, she was blessed with the miraculous ability to truly forgive her attackers and from there, she began to grow rapidly in her faith, with a heart more peaceful than she could have imagined.

A couple years later, she was attending a fund-raising event for a local crisis pregnancy center, when she was struck powerfully with the calling that she belonged in that ministry. She began first as a volunteer peer-counselor, where she was able to openly share about her experience, comforting hurting women and girls; sharing the Word of our Lord freely and experiencing the joy of having some of them come back months later, bringing their new babies to share with her!

The healing she experienced in this ministry was beyond words and surpassed in significance only by the lives changed through it.

After some time, she was asked to take the lead in developing, coordinating and presenting a new Abstinence Education program for the center, to take into the local schools, churches and community youth programs.  She was NEVER a person that could speak in so much as a room full of friends without getting nervous, but God empowered and nurtured her abilities to become an effective and passionate speaker, presenting her testimony to groups both large (hundreds) and small.

(On a side note: she learned through her counseling that one of the first places we NEED abstinence education is in our churches. An alarming number of the teenagers that came to the center were from active Christian homes and were active in their church's youth programs. Some were even pastor's kids. But, many of the churches blindly, pridefully rejected the program as "unnecessary". Anyway...back to the story.)

Word of her powerful, presentation spread rapidly and soon she was invited to speak all over Southern California, at community (troubled) youth programs, Native American/Tribal youth programs and even some public high schools and "continuation" high schools for the violent and legally troubled students (an amazing and providential feat, in the fiercely liberal and anti-Christian public school systems of California).

Some of these places and groups were so rough that she was provided armed security during her visits!  Yet, even from the toughest, gang-infested audiences, she would often have girls (and sometimes even guys) come to her afterward and share horrific, heart-wrenching stories, tearfully exclaiming their longing to regain their "purity" and get right with God.

You see, God had built a powerful and effective ministry out of that pain; A modern-day repetition of "What man has intended for evil, God has used for good" (Genesis 50:20, PerryPhrased).

So, while God does indeed use painful, even tragic events to rattle our cage and get us back on track when we stray, it does not always mean that pain or difficulty in our lives is the result of our personal sin or faithlessness.

Sometimes, when it just doesn't make any sense, the best thing we can do is to trust Romans 8:28 more than we trust our own understanding: "And we know that in ALL THINGS God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (NIV, emphasis mine)

 

I hope and pray that this story helps and encourages someone today.

Blessings!

Perry

Salt

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13 NIV

Michele and I have had the privilege of sharing the Gospel in "closed" countries a few times over the years.  In these contexts, it is sometimes only legal to talk about "religion" if the listener first asks questions about it.  So, our challenge was to ‘steer’ the conversation in such a way that they would ask questions of a spiritual nature.

This is where salt comes in. An old saying is, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." While this is true, you CAN feed him salt until he is thirsty and, because it makes one thirsty, salt became an analogy for the type of questions we would ask.  Our goal was to phrase "salty" conversation that would create a 'thirst' for more information in the listener, therefore opening the door of legality for us to be able to freely share Christ with them.  This strategy has been very successful.

Whether we are a missionary, an employer, an employee, or a student, there is a correlation between this illustration, the words of Jesus (in Matthew 5) and our daily work.  Are we 'salty' enough (in our attitude toward our work, the quality of our product and how we interact with our peers, superiors and subordinates), that we create a 'thirst' in others to know more about why we are the way we are?

Jesus said “YOU" (that's us; me AND you) "are the salt of the earth.”  So act like it…be salty!  Spice up your work place, school, gym, etc!  Live and work so that everyone you meet thirsts for Christ! 

But, can we be TOO salty?

A while back, Michele and I went out for dinner at a very nice Mexican restaurant downtown.  After finishing a wonderful meal, we ordered 'flan' for dessert.  Flan is a sweet, custard ‘pie’, topped with a light caramel sauce.  It's the perfect complement to a big, spicy meal and we were eager to enjoy!

When Michele took the first bite, her face twisted and she urgently excused herself to the restroom.  I tried a bite of the flan and instantly understood her reaction.  It seems that whoever had made the dessert used salt instead of sugar. The result was a concoction so putrid that its taste turned our stomachs and ruined everything good about the meal (and almost the rest of the evening!)

Salt is a remarkable thing! When used for what its intended and in the proper quantity, it adds flavor, preserves and disinfects. Salt is indeed, a miracle of God's Creation for its valuable and simple usefulness.  But, that same element, when used in excess, or misused, becomes a deadly, acidic poison that embitters and corrodes.

I am reminded of a church group where we used to live; they would go to one of the busiest intersections in town and literally scream (using bullhorns!) messages of “God’s wrath” and the “coming judgment” at the drivers as they sat waiting for the light to change.  Yeah…that’s too salty for sure!  But most of us aren’t out on the corner with a bullhorn so, how salty is too salty?

A sprinkle of salt on French fries enhances the flavor of the potato.  But, if we dump a fist full of salt on them, they’d be ruined!  Likewise, if we live out our walk, ‘sprinkling’ the Spirit carefully throughout our days, we enhance all we do and say.  But, if we go around bragging about our “Christian” lifestyle (for example; making sure everyone knows that we NEVER listen the “that” kind of music), or arrogantly telling anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot, that they are going to Hell if they _____ (fill in the blank)…..well, we’ll have pretty much the same effect as dumping all that salt on the fries, or screaming through a bullhorn:  We will repel people from Christ, not attract them to Him.

Let’s ‘sprinkle’, not ‘dump’, our salt on the earth!  And always, ALWAYS sprinkle with love.

Dear Lord, in your Grace and Sovereignty, make us that salty and teach us how to sprinkle the salt of your loving Spirit throughout our day, in a way that brings glory to you and invokes a thirst for you within the hearts of those around us, without allowing us to pridefully dump salt on anyone.  To your glory and in your Name.  Amen

PDS - July 18, 2011