Actions Speak Loudly

Today I did a 'Bible flip' to decide what to write about in this blog. I landed in Isaiah 52 and found verses 13-15: "See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him - his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness - so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand."

Once I got to the last half of verse 15 - I was completely struck by what it said: "For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand."

Read that over a few times.

"They" in that verse is to be the kings, but think about that verse in our own lives…our actions, our decisions, what people see from afar - these things speak to those around us. We are not always able to share our faith with those around us, but we should always strive to have our actions do as much as possible to express our faith. In that way, although we may not have 'told' others, they will see, and even though they may have not 'heard', they might have the ability to understand.

One of my friends from high school is a very friendly, bubbly person; and one day she was talking at youth group and shared a story about how a non-believing friend of hers asked her why she was always so happy. (I'm not sure if "happy" is the exact word, but he at least asked why she was always so joyful, energized, etc) She expressed regret when retelling that story, because her reply was: "I don't know." In hindsight, she wishes she would have said that her faith in God is what gave her that energy.

Although her words to her friend that day may not have properly expressed where her joy came from -- her actions did. This person saw a difference, they saw a light in my friend that they couldn't explain or understand where it came from. We should be living our lives to express this joy everyday - and I hope that one day I am as fortunate to have someone walk up to me and ask where my joy/happiness/etc comes from. Luckily, I will be prepared to share something besides "I don't know," but I am only prepared because I have heard this story (and obviously it stuck with me, since this was about 9 years ago now!).

I hope that all of you have found that joy - and if you haven't, re-examine your life and try to see why you are not feeling God's peace within you. Maybe there's a leap or a step that you need/want to take that's holding you back from being content, and I firmly believe that following the path that God is calling you to will always reap many benefits (even if they are not the benefits that you may foresee).

Have a good weekend - I hope to see many of your beautiful faces at one of the masses! I will be there finishing up the DCYC sign-up and continuing the Jr High Youth Rally sign-up. Also, there's Youth Band practice on Sunday from 6:00-7:30 in the music room!!