Submit and Simply Trust
Savvy Saturdays - 4/18/20
Hello friends,
Greetings from Austin!
Last week, I discovered that spreading mayonnaise on the bread of my grilled cheese sandwiches before making them would add a crisp touch to it. Excited, I shared this with my friends, and I was bashed with words because apparently that’s common knowledge when it comes to making grilled cheeses.
I can’t believe I lived 23 years of my life not knowing the proper way of making grilled cheeses correctly. 😢 (Granted, I didn’t make grilled cheeses till this past year *shrugs).
Anyways, quarantine food aside, being physically distanced from people brings about a lot of reflection.
Since last weekend was Easter, I spent some time pondering over the importance of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday, and realized how these days are foundational to the Christian faith.
In fact, if the resurrection did not occur, our faith would be meaningless.
I wrote out more of my thoughts in this Medium post, which you can read here if you’re interested - The Compounding Declaration of Easter Weekend.
I’ve also been reflecting over what it means to submit more of my life to God.
I realize that if I cannot live out the biblical concept of submission, (placing myself under the authority of another), there are some heart issues within my faith and gaps in my understanding of the Gospel.
Through that process, I’ve learned that I’ve lost a lot of my childlike-faith that accepts God for who He is.
Instead, I became like a newfound teenager defying his parents. I needed sound logic and a reasonable explanation before I could accept anything. Essentially, I wanted to overcomplicate things in my faith.
But the truth is in the process of taking ownership of my faith, I started to distance myself from God, cutting out the personal relationship that I desperately sought for.
In this quarantine, though, God has been redeeming me as I recognize these flaws.
After allowing me to spend quite a few years wandering as a teenager (in college) carving out his own path in faith, this time “forced at home” has given me a lot of time with my spiritual Father. As I rest in Him and submit my lack of trust to Him, He is slowly reigniting the fire of childlike-faith in me once again.
This trust removed many layers of complexity that clouded the beauty of God. It allowed for greater transparency in my relationship with Him.
And as I’m slowly learning to trust in God again, I see how it impacts my relationships with others and rebuilds trust with other people that I’ve closed myself off to.
I’m looking forward to this process as time goes on! I know I’m going to be disappointed, feel helpless many times, and still figuring out things as they come, but I know God’s in control.
With that, I hope y’all are pushing through in this isolated time.
Whether it’s challenging times with family, quiet times with God, or growing times with roommates & companions, this time is happening for a reason so don’t let this opportunity pass by!
You’ll never know the joyous (and hard) moments you missed until it’s too late.
Anyways, thanks for following along.
Wear face masks if your city orders it, try to tidy up that quarantine hair and (for guys) shave that stubble (it ain’t pretty), and I’ll see y'all in the next update! 😊
Weekly Collections
Faith
Watched this sermon, and it challenged me on living out God’s love and grace and reminded me that:
1. The best way to bless someone who gives a gift is to fully enjoy the gift.
2. The only people who have your “yes” in life are the ones who have your authority and your love.“God loves messed up people. God delights in rescuing lost people. He loves the lost. He loves the shameful.
God's heart breaks for the broken.”
"You don't have to clean yourself up to come home, you just have to admit your dirty."
Productivity
Why Do Smart People Do Foolish Things?
"The advantages of being intelligent are undeniable. Intelligent people are more likely to get better grades and go farther in school. They are more likely to be successful at work. And they are less likely to get into trouble (for example, commit crimes) as adolescents.
... but several large-scale studies have failed to find evidence that IQ impacts life satisfaction or longevity.
The ability to think critically, on the other hand, has been associated with wellness and longevity.
Critical thinking is a collection of cognitive skills that allow us to think rationally in a goal-orientated fashion and a disposition to use those skills when appropriate.
Critical thinkers are amiable skeptics.
They are flexible thinkers who require evidence to support their beliefs and recognize fallacious attempts to persuade them.
Critical thinking means overcoming all kinds of cognitive biases (for instance, hindsight bias or confirmation bias).
Is it better to be a critical thinker or to be intelligent? My latest research pitted critical thinking and intelligence against each other to see which was associated with fewer negative life events. People who were strong on either intelligence or critical thinking experienced fewer negative events, but critical thinkers did better.”
Verse of the Week
"So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom."
- Psalm 90:12
Challenging Quote
“Even if all you did today was live, I would still love you”
- Anonymous