Loyal to the Lord

Hey readers, it's Bailee back on the blog today. I'm coming to you today with what's probably my last post before college starts back up next week.

First off, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reads these. I started this blog shortly after graduating high school and then decided to let Bre "co-host" it with me. After a little over a year of posting, I love that it's getting more exposure. What a privilege we have to help share the good news of Christ through writing. It's really cool to see what the Lord can do with just a small seed of faith.

Writing

I have enjoyed writing since I was a little girl. Bre and I loved the creative writing, ready writing, and editorial UIL contests even as early as elementary school. English and grammar have always come naturally to us- perhaps even more so than science and math. In saying this, it's honestly kind of funny that we're in a heavily science-based major. But hey, it's worth the challenge, and I still get to write- it's just not for a grade!

I think about writing a lot- truly. My notes app is full of short phrases the Lord has put on my heart that will one day be future blog topics.

Sometimes it's hard to muster the emotional energy and capacity to sit with the Lord, calm my mind, process my emotions, and put pen to paper (or shall I say words on a google doc) in a way that I feel honors God and expresses the message the Lord wants to share through me.

In a way, the feeling of writing a blog post resembles the feeling I used to get going into a state FFA contest. I can sense something great is on the horizon, but I have to clear my mind and remain focused on the task at hand lest I get caught up in the hype of it all.

An excerpt from a poetry book I found at a bookstore earlier this summer. The rawness of the words made it so relatable.

Audience of One

Yesterday, Breanna and I had the privilege of speaking to our youth group at church about the "Changing Seasons"- inspired by the last blog post Breanna wrote.

We hadn't done any public speaking in quite some time, so we were a bit nervous going into it. As Breanna and I sat in the front row of the room waiting for our time to speak, I told Breanna to just pretend like there was no one in the room- just as it had been when we were practicing the day before. Even though I was telling her this, I was honestly encouraging myself more than I was her 😅

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10 (NIV)

In that moment, I found myself thinking how much easier it would be if we truly lived for an audience of One each day. I know I'm not the only one who struggles with caring what others think, and thankfully the Lord speaks to this struggle. How freeing it is to accept the brevity of our life while also understanding its profound purposefulness.

"Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

James 4:14 (NIV)

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is."

Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)

In the scariest circumstances I've been through in my life, I have had my twin sister beside me to go through it with me. This was true during our graduation speeches, freshman year of college, and almost every challenge in between. I definitely recognize that I'm privileged to have a built-in best friend. Having someone beside you going through the same thing helps lessen the loneliness that accompanies exploring uncharted territory.

As I've gotten older, I have come to truly value my sister's presence, as well as the crucially of community in life.

The Storms of Life

During our second semester at TAMU, a big storm came through College Station. Because my mom, sister, and I are fearful (to a fault) of severe weather, we had been keeping an eye on the forecast for many days leading up to the potential storm and were making plans accordingly.

Since Breanna and I knew the storm was coming and that we would likely be experiencing some anxiety as it passed through, we decided to invite our friend Alise to spend the night with us to help lighten the mood and distract us from the bad weather.

The night started off fun with dinner and a card game but soon escalated to a state of chaos as Texas A&M notified the campus of a tornado warning- Breanna and I's worst nightmare hahaha 😂

Curious to see how our dormmates were handling the news, we decided to go out into the hallway. It was comically chaotic out there. The hallway was flooded with scrambling students- some fearful, some excited, and others just trying to finish their engineering homework before the electricity went out 🙃 #reality

After deciding to take refuge in one of our friends' bathrooms, we sat with pillows over our heads and prayed for the best.

Luckily, the tornado never hit our dorm, and everything settled down after about an hour or so- praise Jesus!

Looking back, I wish I had taken the situation at face value. I remember posting a funny video on social media of us with pillows over our heads and someone sliding up saying they had fallen asleep and had no idea a storm was even coming.

Honestly, that would have made for a more peaceful night- but instead, I allowed the news, the people around me, and even random individuals in my chemistry class group chat influence my emotions more than I chose to rest in God. I'm not saying we shouldn't be wise and prepare, but we shouldn't let fear consume us. Nor should we should we look to others for the security that God freely gives us.

How often do we look to the world to dictate our state of being rather than holding on to hope from the Lord? 

Yes, community is important and can ease the discomfort of unideal situations, but how often do we seek refuge in mere humans rather than first going to our Heavenly Father?

As a person of faith, I'm perplexed by the fact that I sometimes appear more anxious than nonbelievers when in reality, we as Christians, should be the most joyful. As my pastor always says, "we've read the back of the Book, and we know who wins."

Storm or no storm, I should trust in Jesus's sovereignty, ability to redeem situations, and track record of faithfulness.

Sometimes the forecast calls for a storm, but God surprises you with a beautiful sunset.

picture from yesterday of the beautiful sunset when the clouds initially promised rain

How much more free would we be if we left some room in our hearts for the unimaginable to happen.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV)

1 Kings Study

My time with God looks different every day and usually consists of reading the Word, diving into a devotional, prayer journaling, or simply sitting with God and listening to what He wants to speak to my heart.

I felt the urge to study something in the Old Testament recently, so I started reading the book of 1 Kings a couple of days ago.

The beginning of the book traces the rule of King Solomon. If you don't know, King Solomon had quite an admirable reputation at first. When visited by God in a dream and ask what he desired, Solomon humbly asked for an "understanding heart."

Give you Your servant an understanding heart… that I may discern between good and evil.

1 Kings 3:9 (NJKV)

Because Solomon had a pure heart and asked for wisdom rather than something materialistic, the Lord blessed him immensely.

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.

1 Kings 3:10-13 (NIV)

Things were obviously going great for Solomon, a true testament to Mathew 6:33 (NIV)

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Half-hearted Pursuit

Solomon continues to experience blessings and prosperity all the way up until 1 Kings Chapter 11.

In my Bible, the headline says Solomon's Heart Turns From the Lord.

1 Kings 11:4 (NKJV) reads,

For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

This rightfully made the Lord angry, for He had appeared to Solomon twice and given him specific instructions, and he STILL turned from him.

So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

1 Kings 11:9 (NKJV)

I draw inspiration from King Solomon's faith in the beginning of the story for sure, but I am even more challenged to keep running the race to completion- something Solomon failed to do.

I don't want my story to be something along the lines of "Bailee started out on fire for the Lord, but as she experienced more of life, she fell away from her faith."

I pray that I remain grounded in, not just good, but Godly things and run the race to which I have been called to completion.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

Gosh, 1 Kings has so many other good nuggets of wisdom, especially concerning the plans we devise in our own hearts (chapter 12 v. 33) and valuing God's voice first and foremost (chapter 13) !!

I could probably write an individual blog on each of these, and maybe I will! I don't want to make this one toooo long hehe, so I'll wrap it up here :)

Challenges:

• Intentionally strive to live for an audience of One

• In the storms of life, look to Jesus for comfort and direction rather than the world

• Strive for loyalty to the Lord and make devotion to Him a life-long pursuit

thank you for allowing me to touch base with you once again, i'm happy you're here :)

love,

bailee