God Is Bigger Than…..
As we walk through this crazy beautiful journey, remember God is bigger than…
Our Fears
Our Disappointments
Our Health Issues
Our Failures
Our Enemies
Our Relationships
Our Jobs
Our Social Media Pages
Our Successes
Our Churches
Our Standing In The World
Living In Peace
Along this journey called life, we all deal with fear. Fear can hit us during what we thought would be a routine doctors appointment. Fear can hit us when test result comes back with more questions than answers. Fear can hit us when we watch the news or scroll through social media. We have all experienced fear in our lives.
Back in 2003, one of my doctors called me early one morning and shared he needed to see me right away. Oh, make sure you bring your wife. A little fear hit me at that moment. Later when the doctor shared I had a tumor, the fear grew a little deeper. Fear, Worry and Anxiety. My wife and I experienced all those feelings sitting in that doctors office.
A few weeks later a biopsy revealed the tumor was the size of golfball. A few weeks after that, surgery revealed the tumor was cancerous. Once again, Fear, Worry and Anxiety smacked me in the face. Things seemed overwhelming at that point.
Then something amazing happened. As I laid in ICU hooked up to several machines, God took away the fear, worry and anxiety. Those feelings were replaced by peace, calmness and even joy. Yes, joy. What changed?
God reminded me of the week long fast I had done a year earlier during a missions trip. He shared the reason I had fasted was to prepare me for this very moment. Peace flooded my room and heart at that moment. At that moment, I completely turned my heart toward Jesus and trusted Him to walk me through this journey.
Even though I had been filled with fear, anxiety and worry, Jesus was right there with me. He welcomed me into His presence, even as I was filled with fear. He never abandoned me in my time of need.
During that moment, I still had to deal with life as a cancer patient. But that unknown did not overwhelm me anymore. Jesus reminded me that He was bigger than any health issue I would ever face. I am thankful, I did not know my future would be full of more health issues, test, multiple doctors appointments and hospital stays. No, at that moment I was just filled with peace.
Here I am in 2019, still fighting multiple health issues. Still fighting for my life every day. Still living in the unknown regarding my health. But I am still experiencing that same peace and joy, I experienced in that ICU room so many years ago. Knowing that Jesus is still bigger than anything life throws at me. Still living life with a thankful heart. ~OC
Jesus Looks Past Our Messiness
Even in the middle of our mess, Jesus sees the beauty. ~OC
Finding Beauty In The Mess
I wanted to share a little about my Season of Suffering. I pray this video will encourage you, as you walk through your own season of suffering. ~OC
Put The Stones Down
In this day and age, it is very easy to throw stones. All you have to do is scroll through social media for a few minutes and you will see all kinds of stones being thrown.
My prayer is that we will drop the stones from our hands and extend our open hands to those in need. To love on people instead of throwing stones at them. To throw some grace their way instead of stones.
Remember, the only one qualified to throw stones didn’t. Instead He gave His life on the cross for us. ~OC
Are You Thriving In Life?
The word Thriving is a powerful word. To thrive means to prosper and flourish.
Several years ago as I was reflecting on my crazy beautiful health journey, God asked me a question I had never heard before. It was a question I was not sure how to answer. One early morning, God asked me if I was surviving or thriving in life? Of course, I thought I was thriving. I was busy trying to navigate this crazy beautiful journey. I was sharing the story God had given me to tell. But after thinking and praying about this question, I realized I was busy living life, but was I thriving in life? Big difference.
So I started asking myself some tough questions. Do I feel good about myself? Am I living with purpose? Am I satisfied with where my life is at this moment? Am I all that God is calling me to be? Truly answering these questions, put me on a path to truly thriving in life.
God wants each of us to thrive in life. We were created for a purpose. We were created for community. We were created to overcome the obstacles in life. We were created to be fully alive. Let’s take a look at a few of these points.
Created For A Purpose. God created each of us for a purpose in life. We were not created to just walk through life like zombies. No, God has amazing plans for each of our lives. Some people find their purpose early in life. For others, it takes awhile to truly find your purpose. That’s okay. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. I would encourage each of us to spend some time today, asking ourselves “Am I living life with purpose?”
Created For Community. Have there been times in your life, that you have been so busy that you felt disconnected from your community? I know I have experienced those moments. We were not created to be alone. No, we were created to do life together. How would you answer the following questions? Do you have a community of support in your life? Is this community building you up or keeping you from your purpose in life? Are you willing to make changes in life to belong to a positive and life building community? Life is too short to be surrounded by a negative community.
Created To Be Fully Alive. As I walked through this question of surviving or thriving, God reminded me He created us to be fully alive in life. God wants us to experience freedom and complete fullness. Unfortunately, we will all walk through seasons of life where we are just surviving. This is just part of life. Part of the marathon. I would encourage each of us to not stay in that season of just surviving for long. This is where you Community comes into play. God gives us all passions that are meant to drive us. What are you passionate about? When you find the answer to that question, you will be fully alive.
Created to Overcome. There is nothing we face in life, that we cannot overcome with the help of God. But OC, you have no idea what I am facing in life. True, I do not know what your currently facing in life, but I do know that God is bigger than any storm we will ever face in life. I know that is easy to say, but not always easy to live out. I have been striving to live out the Overcoming Life, for the past 17 years with my ongoing health issues. It has not always been easy, but God has been with me every step of the way.
Deciding to live a life of Thriving will not always be easy. There will be seasons where we fall back into the just surviving mode. That’s okay. As we discussed above, just don’t stay in the surviving mode. Seek after God, reach out to your community, make the choice to overcome. Decide that being fully alive is more important than just surviving in life. ~OC
Always Wrecks Me
This video always wrecks me. ~OC
My Story
Several friends suggested I should share my video. So here you go. This is part of my story. ~OC
Living Wholeheartedly
What is keeping us from living the complete life? I know that is a big question, with many potential answers. But God designed each of us to live a complete whole life.
Here are a few things, I believe can help us live out the life God created for each of us.
A New Chapter. Too many of us are living in the past. We continue to relive past disappointments. Past failures. Or sometimes we live in past successes. We all know someone, who is eager to tell us about winning the 5th grade all county championship thirty years ago. Don’t get me wrong, we should celebrate past successes. We should learn from past mistakes. But we cannot live in the past. The great thing is, we have the opportunity to start a new chapter each morning. So close the chapter on your past and start writing a new one.
Worthy. Has anyone told you lately you are worthy? That you are important. No matter your past, God finds you worthy. He sent his Son down from heaven to die for us. I think that proves how worthy we are in God’s eyes.
Comfort Zone. I believe to live the whole life that God created for us, we have to step out of our comfort zones. We have to be willing to take some chances in life. God designed us to be creative. To be adventurous. We cannot truly experience life, if we stay in our nice comfortable zones.
Labels. Stop wearing the labels the world puts on us. How many people continue to wear the labels put on them as a child? Not smart enough. Too short. Too weird. Too heavy. Too tall. Your from the wrong side of the tracks. So many people continue to wear these labels into adulthood. Today, I encourage you to take those labels off. Trash them. You are more than a label. You were created by a loving God to live an incredible life. To Dream. To Succeed. To Thrive.
Courage. It will take courage to start feeling Worthy. It will take courage to step out of your Comfort Zone. It will take courage to take off the Labels you have been wearing for years. But I promise you it will be worth it.
Today, I encourage each of us to think about these four points. To start living the incredible life, God has created us to live. Will you make a commitment to living wholeheartedly? ~OC
The Blessed Overcomer 