Even When It Hurts

It is currently 4;14 AM and it’s another sleepless night. I was pondering around on YouTube and stumbled across a song titled Even When It Hurts by Hillsong. I felt almost compelled to create a blog post and share this song with some of my readers. Let me tell you, the live version brought me to tears. It takes a lot for me to cry, and this song did it. I sat for an honest 15 minutes crying and digesting what I’ve heard. What I’m gonna do is take the verses and choruses and dissect them to gain further knowledge on the song and it’s meaning.

Take this fainted heart

Take these tainted hands

Wash me in Your love

Come like grace again

Dear Father, I’m asking You to take me in my brokenness and make me new. I ask that You wash me in Your unending love, teach me who I am and who I need to be.

Even when my strength is lost

I’ll praise You

Even when I have no song

I’ll praise You

Even when it’s hard to find the words

Louder then I’ll sing Your praise

I praise You at all times. In my brokenness You show me the way. Through out all of the trials You’ve remained faithful, so I send You my everlasting love.

Take this mountain weight

Take these ocean tears

Hold me through the trial

Come like hope again

I ask that You make sure that the path I travel is the path You want me to travel. Guide me to where I need to be. Without Your love and guidance, I would be lost.

Even when the fight seems lost

I’ll praise You

Even when it hurts like hell

I’ll praise You

Even when it makes no sense to sing

Louder then I’ll sing Your praise

When I’m doubting Your love, I ask that You put me on the right path straight to Your heart. When I’ve fallen on my knees and need You, I know You’ll be there. When I’m stuck in my path, You’ll be there.

Now this is just some of the song, but I highly recommend you take a listen and let it speak to you. The song 🙂

My God is a God who never fails. He leads me through my trials and temptations, and always makes me new. For all that He’s done, I have but no choice to praise Him in the highest.

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Change

Change is something that has always made me uncomfortable. I find happiness in the things that are certain. I completely understand that change is inevitable and there is literally nothing I can do about. Change makes me a better person. I tend to get over comfortable with the way things go, and normally am in need of a change up, although I don’t want it. There haven’t been many things that have drastically changed in my life. The thought of change is what scares me.

In a few weeks, I’ll be turning 16. I’ve never really been a fan of celebrating my own birthday. The anxiety of having all eyes on me for a few hours isn’t my cup of tea. 16 is a scary age. You gain a lot of freedom, which comes with the bad side. Freedom is something that is definitely earned and is easily revoked. It’s some scary business, if you ask me.

It would be easy to say that I’m scared of growing up, because simply that is one of the biggest changes that has yet to come. From a young age, I’ve always been more in touch with those of my older peers. I find it easier to carry a conversation with adults than with those my age. The problem is that I’m afraid to be on my own. In nearly 2 years I will be embarking on “adulthood.” I will move out and go to college, hopefully. I already have my plan, which I’m fairly confident in. I’m afraid to fail in that plan though. I know that I’m supposed to put my trust into God, and know that He knows exactly what I need. I don’t doubt that He knows what to do, it’s just I’m afraid of things not working out as I planned. Faith is something that is scary, the only certain thing is that God knows what he’s doing. Regardless of whether you like it or not, God knows how things are supposed to be for you. The craziness of faith is one of the things that makes it so beautiful.

I have faith in God that he will make my path in life the one that is most necessary for me. With age, I hope on embarking on adventures that I couldn’t imagine myself achieving. Although change is scary, I want to take it head on with full confidence. As I mature, I plan on letting go and letting God. He is ultimately the only one with the greatest intentions for me, and I whole heartedly accept it.

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Reflection

Hey there. My name is Maggie, and I’m a flawed human.

This is my reflection, just in case you were unaware. *wink, wink*

“When will my reflection show, who I am inside?” Well Mulan, it should already be showing. 

Your reflection tends to say a lot about you. In your reflection you can see several things. What you look like, what you love, your favorite outfit, etc. Having a mirror is a great thing, being that you’re able to see what you look like before you leave your house, able to fix the silly hair poking up, or even the huge stain on your shirt. It’s a blessing.

As a Christian, you tend to hear these 3 things repeated. Love your God, love your neighbor, and love yourself. Normally, in order to love your God and your neighbor, you have to be able to love yourself first. You are a creation beautifully thrown together by a loving Father, there’s not much you shouldn’t love. Sure, every living human being has things they’re insecure about, but learning to embrace your insecurities is one of the biggest accomplishments anyone can check off of their to-do list. *I know, I know. I need to chill with all the cliches:-)* By loving your neighbor, you’re simply putting their needs before yours. Loving your neighbor is tough and has no exceptions, you should love everyone regardless of their views and interests, God made them just as he made you.

All the things you love should become apart of you. One of the biggest compliments I’ve ever received was regarding my loving nature. One of the biggest qualities I strive for is being able to love everyone, regardless of their background.

I’m gonna reiterate a point I’ve already made, all the things you love should become apart of you. If these things are apart of you, they should be fairly visible. Maybe you see all of these things in your smile, meaning they give you a reason to smile. It can be anything.

So basically what I’m getting at here is when you look in the mirror you should see the overwhelming love for your God, your neighbor, and yourself. All of these things become one in you.

Flaws and All

My name is Maggie and I’m a flawed human being.

It’s hard to live in a world where beauty is held on a very high pedestal. From a young age, I’ve always torn myself apart for features that I can’t control. For one, I don’t enjoy my tubby stomach; it’s just gross. My legs always tend to be an issue as well, they’re very long and pasty white. From there, my pasty whiteness has always been horrible; girlfriend burns like crazy.

One thing I’ve learned in my 15 years of life is that some things are beyond my control. For example, there’s nothing I can do about my melanin levels, being pasty white is just a genetic thing. There is no way possible that I can change my genetic makeup, which I love. My body does some incredible things, which is completely worth loving. In Ephesians 2:10– “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” How am I gonna sit here and tear myself apart when I was made my a loving God? I am what He wants me to be, and I need to embrace it. All of my flaws are apart of me. Fortunately enough, they’re not going anywhere because the big guy upstairs has a plan for all of it. Maybe my incredibly pasty skin is putting me just a little bit closer to Jesus. There are things that I’ll never understand, and my flaws are one of them. One thing I do know is that I need to start appreciating my flaws because they were all thrown together in a beautiful combination by a beautiful and loving Christ.

Learning to love myself is something that I plan on achieving. It’s not something that happens in one night, but it’s something that is completely worth working towards. I love myself because I was made with intentions of being put to work to serve a loving Father.

 

God With Us

I’m gonna start this out by saying, I’ve always had a deep love with music. When I was introduced to Christian Contemporary I absolutely fell in love. I’m all about a good acoustic version of almost anything, I whole heartedly believe that everything sounds better acoustic. Some of my favorite artists include; for KING & COUNTRY, Kari Jobe, The Oh Hello’s, Crowder, NEEDTOBREATHE, etc. Lately, I’ve fallen in love with All Sons & Daughters. They bring something new to every song they have. One song that speaks to me is God With Us. I’ve decided for this post I’m gonna dissect parts of this song to really understand the meaning. It seems that with most songs I’m interested in the sound more than the meaning, and I’d like to change that.

“You’ve come
To bring peace
To be love
To be nearer to us”

God sent his one and only son, Jesus, to die for our sins. He was sent for peace, love, and to guide us. There is no greater gift.

“You’ve come
To bring life
To be light
To shine brighter in us”

Jesus was sent to be the everlasting light. As a Christian, I plan to shine the light of Jesus with everything I do. He shines so bright.

“Oh Emmanuel
God with us”

Here is when the goosebumps started coming. Honestly, this just speaks for itself. He is Emmanuel, God with us.

“Our Deliverer
You are Savior
In Your presence we find our strength

Over everything
Our redemption
God with us
You are God with us”

Now, this is where I lost it.  In God, I find my strength. He gives me faith to push through each and every day. I know that with God, I can conquer anything. Jesus was sent for our redemption, so we hold him high over everything. God with us.

This is just a small part of this incredible song. It speaks a multitude. Through music I find a way to speak the word of Christ, in ways I never would have been able to before. I hope that this song speaks to someone as much as it does to me. Music is one of those crazy things that I can never wrap my head around completely.

(Here’s a link to the song if anyone is interested, I highly recommend you check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRgSk_-U3Oc)

 

Stress

Tomorrow marks the beginning of one of the most stressful events in a high-schoolers career; final exams. Now, I’m blessed that I only have 4 classes in each semester; in turn having only 4 exams. I’ve always been a stresser when it comes to standardized testing. Everything I’ve learned in the period of 12 years, pre-school to 10th, is being questioned. My biggest fear is completely blanking and forgetting everything. In Romans 8;31 it says, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” I feel like I need to have this quote written everywhere so I can utilize it’s strength. Why should I stress out about things that determine my future? That may sound like a loaded question, but if I put my faith in Jesus to the test everything will work out as it should. God knows what to do. He has the strength to guide me through the stress and have everything work together for my good. In events like these, I’m completely and utterly amazed by the glory of God.

Life Gets Messy

As of lately, it seems that life has been rough. Things seem to fall apart too often. As a human, I suffer from this crazy thing called “disappointment.” It seems that more often than not, my expectations have been set to an insanely high standard, only to see them plummet at my feet. Looking back, the things I get disappointed about are minuscule. How is it that my standards are set so high? It seems that in today’s world nothing is ever good enough. As a Christian, how do I get blinded by the things that hold little to no significance in the future I have guided by Christ? In Romans 8;28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” I’ve had this quote highlighted in my bible for a few months now, knowing that I would eventually need it— now is that time. God has a plan for me, and I don’t need to question it. I tend to forget that things will eventually work out because God knows what he’s doing; this isn’t his first rodeo. Disappointment is something that sets me back, in the fact that I get blinded by all my hardships, and I forget what I was created to do; share the gospel of Christ to those who need it. As a Jesus lover, I plan to use my life to it’s highest purpose and share the word of God. God has everything set up for me, all I need to do is open my eyes and see that things will all fall into place. Instead of disappointment, I need to realize that things happen for a reason, there is no need to be set back by things that weren’t meant to be. When in doubt, I intend to pray it out. God knows what he’s doing; all I need to do is hand the microphone to him, pipe down, and listen.