I want to go

I want to go
I want to see this ball of dirt
that the geologists call earth
I want to leave this daily schedule
and move like the wind

My feet are tired of these American roads,
these money greedy streets
Houses that are lined up like they have been produced
out of a duplicating machine
shiny new cars sitting outside

This place is so superficial, so far from the reality of the rest of the world.

I want to go to the hungry
in the streets of Serbia
I want to run in the dust
with the beautiful children of Guatemala
I want to hold the AIDS affected babies
of Rwanda
and talk to college students
in the universities of Greece

I was not meant to sit here
If God made this earth as beautiful as it is
and the people in it as amazing as they are
Why not go?
Why would I want to just sit here?

My limbs are aching to leave
To go see
To go experience
To go live

----
God, teach me so I can go
Prepare my heart so I can love
Callous my feet so I will have no excuses to turn back around

Inspiration

Inspiration is a beautiful thing. It’s like a fresh drink of water to a parched throat. I love to write, I do, but sadly I do not do it as much as I use to. When I use to write it would come out like water from a spring, it simply flowed. Maybe it still does the spring has just being clogged up for a time. When I see other people who are passionate about writing and are good at it, I am inspired. It makes me want to write something extraordinary.
It’s funny though because inspiration can come, not just from other people, but from within too. I will bring up some of my old work and surprise myself. This is not me being prideful, I believe at times we can slip from our highest standard and we need to be reminded of what we really are capable of. This is how I am often. I will set my standard high and then live strictly by that bar for a while, but after getting away with slipping a few times I forget what it is I can really do. It’s strange but I can kind of relate this to love and men. I know what I want in a man; strength, leadership, most importantly Godliness, and someone who will cherish me for the rest of my life. That is my bar; the ultimate standard. But let’s face it, sometimes it seems like that dream man will never be out there, so I may let my standard slip a little. I may let a few guys get close to me who have one of the few qualities I desire, but lack the rest. Why? Why would I do this when I can look back and see what I really desire? Then I am inspired to hold out for that perfect man. That may be kind of a far out metaphor but it makes sense in my head. When I see what I really am capable of, I set myself back up to reaching that bar. It’s all about inspiration.
Another thing about inspiration is that it is completely true that sometimes you need to see someone else love something before you can truly love it yourself. You need to see a song sung by an artist from the depths of their soul. You need to see a mother love on her son, a pastor on his knees with his hands help high in pure adoration. For me I need to see someone else passionately love putting words on a page and telling a story. I am inspired and reminded of what words are. Words are an expression and a joy. Words are a simple, but powerful ember that can burn bright. Words are a passion, and a passion is inspired. Inspiration is a beautiful thing.

Sometimes we just miss the point <---

When we look at the Bible, often times we just see a bunch of rules and expectations. We strive to meet those expectations, but the cold hard truth is that we cannot and then we feel like failures. We seek advice, pray harder, do more charity work, read an extra chapter in the Bible, and throw an extra 20 in the plate at church, but we still feel empty. We never feel like we will ever be able to reach the goal God has for us. The truth of the matter is that most times we thing we understand what God wants us to be, yet in reality it is only a standard that we have set for ourselves. We have taken the authority away from God and make ourselves our own disciplinarians. God does not want us to be perfect, He never says this, He only wants us to aim towards it. We need to stop thinking about only ourselves, for that is what we are doing when we consume ourselves with making sure our actions are meeting standard, and we need to focus on the most important thing God wants for us. This thing is not perfection, but rather the simplicity of a relationship with Him. He wants to interact with us, grow us, teach us, but he cannot do that when we are so consumed with ourselves. If we would stop working so hard to fill a requirement or to try and have a “successful Christian life,” we could simply rest in God and we would find more peace, joy, and victory than we ever could trying to play “Mr. Holy.”

I've heard of a Wedding planner, but why have I never heard of a Life planner?

Why is it that we so desperately try to plan out our own lives? We think we actually have the power to make our own destiny. Yes, we have the power to make choices in our life, choices that could change our lives significantly, but there are things that will happen in our life that we cannot help. Things will happen that we cannot control or manipulate or direct into our own scheme. Life will always be uncertain. You may steer the boat but it is that power of the waves that you must summit to when the storm hits. While we must come to the realization that we cannot be in power over our own lives we must also come to the apprehension that something or someone has to indeed be in control of our existence. This world has too much scientific evidence that to know that we were not just randomly evolved into being, but we were created by some intelligent force. As a Christian I believe that man was created by God and God alone. He is the intelligent force of every living thing and has complete power over this world.
There is only one decision that we have on this earth that we have complete freedom to make and that will alter our lives for all of eternity and that is what we do with God. Whether we put him in control of our lives or we try to blindly stumble around groping in the darkness looking for the light they have already walked away from. C.S. Lewis says it this way, “There are only two kinds of people in the end; those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell choose it.” We must realize that this decision is ours but we are still not the planners of our life, whether or not we choose to take up the offer from God of eternal life, God still has control over all things and over our lives.
If you have chosen to believe that God does indeed have complete control and oversees your life then this is now the place where you have to believe that everything happens for a reason and ultimately God has a divine plan for you. When we grasp this fact we stop trying to plan out our own lives but instead seek to do what God has planned for us. Isn’t it a relief to know that we don’t have to worry day to day about what is going to happen or what is planned for us? We cannot control life because life was not meant to be controlled by human hands. Things will happen that we do not understand and have no grasp of power over, but when we are satisfied that God does know what is happening and does have a hand on things we do not have to be scared or anxious because our destiny lies in the hands of the person who created us and if he created us than I believe He has the power to take care of my life.

A Small Pin Hole

It's like a heavy fog,
Thick like a blanket,
Dense like a chocolate cake,
Smothering.
Suffocating.

My voice is lost in the black,
Insignificantly hanging in the air.
There is no hope in this place,
No room for a spring flower to grow.
It is dark, cold, and lonely.

My only chance of redemption,
A small pin hole of light.
A glimmer of some sanity.
A road once covered in vines,
Now trimmed and inviting.

My feet resist,
but my heart soars.
Closer it gets,
Warmer and brighter.
A soft blanket of lilies.
A new breeze against my face.

But here I am stuck.
Like a chained guard dog.
Like a frightened heart.
Like someone in love,
confined to solitude.
Longing.
Yearning.

Let The Winds Blow.

Have you ever seen a tornado? I’m guessing most people have, whether on TV or in person. The strength and power that these massive twisters display overwhelm me. When I was little, a tornado tore through a town close to where I lived and my mom took me down to see what the damage was. It was horrifying as I drove by houses that were now piles of rubble, trees deformed and ripped apart like string cheese, and families cleaning up the place that they use to call home. After that day, the tornado siren would send my heart into quick little flutters and I would hide either under my bed, or in the closet. Thankfully and by the grace of God I am over my fear of storms and love to listen to the thunder roll and the rain pitter-pat upon my window.

Sunday, I got the privilege to attend one of my best friend’s church, Living Stone Fellowship. We sang a song during worship that read these words:

Awake, awake o north wind,
Awake awake o south wind
Blow over me
Come o winds of testing
Come winds of refreshing
Blow over me
Fling wide the door to my soul
Open up the door to my heart
Have your way, have your way
Have your way yeah
I won’t be afraid
I will face the wind
I won’t be afraid
I'll embrace the flame
Take me through the fire
Take me through the rain
Take me through the testing
I’ll do anything
Test me try me prove me refine me
Like to gold, like to gold

My friend’s mom got up and used the illustration of a tornado as some of the stuff that we may have going on in our life. And you know what, she was right. Sometimes it does feel like there is a giant tornado above my head tearing at my life. The thing however that God showed me was that it is like the song says, there will be winds of testing and they may be hard but God uses them for his refining of our life.

Right now I have a huge tornado in my life and some days I feel like I could be completely blown away by it. We can not get rid of this hovering heaviness of a storm out of our lives by ourselves. We can try all we want to hide it, ignore it, or tame it, but all these acts will end with no results. Matthew 19: 26 says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” You want to know how to get rid of this ever pressing tornado? Open up your arms wide and give it to God. This sounds absolutely mad when you think about someone standing in front of an actual tornado with their arms flung wide open, but this is what we have to do because we simply can’t do it on our own. This is exactly the place where it becomes hardest for me and this is the thing I need to pray for God’s help in doing.

I read something this morning in Mark 9 and it was when the father of the demon possessed son was asking Jesus to heal his child. He says, “But if you can do anything, take pity of us and help us.” How often do we say those words? ‘Lord if you’re really there…’ or ‘If you can help me Lord…’ Listen to Jesus’ response, “If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes.” Wow I would say that Jesus caught him. At this point the man immediately exclaims, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
There are so many times that we might pray only half heartedly and say things such as this man ‘If you can do anything’ but God is all powerful and can do all so why do we even ask these kinds of questions? “Everything is possible for him who believes” that is a promise from God. I do feel like I’m stuck in a swallowing tornado, but if I believe in Him, throw my hand out wide and become vulnerable, God will do the rest. Please pray for my unbelief and that God will give me the strength to let the winds blow and give the glory to Him.

Following my Obbession,
Lacey

Well hello there.

My name is Lacey Platner and I am finally joining the world of blogging! I love to write and what better way to exercise that love than to use the resources that are available. I titled this blog An Unseen Obsession because, caught red handed, I have an obsession... I am a Christ follower and I have a wonderful and invigorating relationship with my Lord. He is my obsession. The thing though is that we can’t see him and so our belief can only be by faith alone not by what we see. Therefore, I am fixed in a magnificent unseen obsession and I want to live my life that way. I am far from perfect and fail on more than one occasion but my Lord will take care of me and guide me through this crazy thing called life. This is where I will be able to tell you about all the ways He is doing that in my life and where I will share my good times and bad. I hope you get to see God’s glory in my life and I pray that He becomes your Unseen Obsession as well.