My God is so big...

I've been gently nudged by a few people to update this blog- sorry..! I've felt quite busy especially with big essays due every 2 weeks. I feel that 2 weeks (during normal lecture time) is just enough to research and write an essay- it takes me one week to properly research and structure my essay and one week to write it.. although even that doesn't feel enough to really understand the topics I've been doing. The essays I've written recently include: What is the relationship between joy and suffering in Philippians? and What is the role of the Holy Spirit in sanctification? I'll add them to my essays blog soon.

God has shown me such amazing things about Him lately.. through that first essay, He taught me that my joy should be completely grounded in Christ and the gospel and not in our external circumstances. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm living this way. I feel I have been blessed so abundantly lately that I can't help but have joy in Him. But I wonder how much that joy would waver if my circumstances were to change.

Through the second essay mentioned, God has shown me how integral the Holy Spirit is in our sanctification (our progessive holiness in particular). Yes we have an active role in being obedient and striving for holiness, but it's still the Holy Spirit who enables us to be obedient. As I reflect on my life as a Christian and see how much He has changed me from my past life, how can I not realise how much He does for me? My eyes well up at the thought of how far He's brought me and how far I know He will still take me.

Some other huge things I've been learning about lately: God is so big! I need to pray bigger prayers and trust that He is capable of amazing things and is gracious to show Himself to me through big ways. A reflection on these past few weeks show this:

After spending Mother's Day morning at a Hillsong Service, J and I walked away wondering what we could learn from our time there. We didn't get a lot out of the service itself but we had some great conversations afterwards. The people we spoke with weren't afraid to attribute everything -big or small- that happened in their life to God alone. Of course there may be a danger in seeing a "sign from God" in every single thing that happens in life but it rebuked J and I as we realised we rarely attribute anything to God at all! After that experience, God was gracious in revealing Himself to me through different ways but two major events stand out.

Some dear friends have been in serious car accidents recently (4 friends have had cars written off) but all have survived with very minor injuries. After M's car accident, we spent some time praying together praising God for protecting M and being one who shows us that He cares for us. He doesn't need to show us in these physical ways that He cares, it's written throughout the Bible. But in His grace to us, He chooses to.

The 2nd event that happened is a bit embarrassing but you're all great friends..ha! After a 2.5hr bike ride one day, my back, hips and legs were aching and I couldn't sleep. I was really afraid of being sore the next day as I had a day girls breakfast at college that L and I were in charge of. I woke up in tears, partly from pain and partly from anxiety about how I'd feel the next day, knowing from experience that the 2nd day is usually worse. (My mind was cast back to the week after I ran the City to Surf and remembering how I could barely walk up and down the ward at work!) So I got out of bed at 1am, took a couple of ibuprofen, got back into bed, did some stretches and prayed and prayed repeatedly pleading with God to take away my aches and make me ok for the next day.. I eventually fell asleep without pain and woke up with absolutely no pain..!!! It was amazing. I've been reminded about God's grace recently, particularly the wonderful grace He shows us in Jesus, but I've also been learning that God shows us grace in choosing to reveal Himself to us in real events in our lives. As the sovereign God of the universe, He doesn't need to do any such thing! But He chooses to and it blows me away.