Open, Emptied Hands

I hope to make this short but informative for all of my supporters.
As some of you know this weekend has been the Canadian National Championship regatta (NRC) for rowing in my hometown.  This regatta is the race that started this whole blog but one year later.  It is amazing to see how far I have come in just one year.  The Lord does great things for those who wait, and depend on Him (lessons I have learned along the way support this).  This year the NRC regatta as we call it, is even more important as it will be how the coaches and Rowing Canada decide who is invited to the Olympic camps which will further selection for the Olympic team which will be determined by the spring of 2012.  I am pushing for a chance to qualify some sort of sculling boat, but at this stage I need to show my speed as an individual to be considered for anything.
So, Friday I started the weekend off with the Heats.  Now it is important to note that in my race (W1x) there are not only experienced seniors like myself but also newbies as juniors and U23 athletes.  So it is not with any disrespect that I say I breezed through the heat to the quarter finals which happened this morning (Saturday).  Quarters this morning were a bit more challenging especially with increasing cross head winds, but I again was able to row comfortably across the line first.  What I knew would be challenging was the Semi final in which as it turned out, I raced the woman who has been the fastest single sculler in Canada for a while.  She is a great woman but I am determined to show my speed is faster.  With high blustery winds this afternoon I made a call early in the race to row to help protect my body and take control of the winds.  This put me in 2nd place, with a solid foot into the A Final on Sunday morning.

As it has hopefully been abundantly clear in my writing, everything I do is a gift from God, and my hope is that I can give Him even just a piece of what He has blessed me with.  By opening my hands to Him and letting His work take over I have seen great things happen for His kingdom, and I know there are greater things to come.
I have had so much wonderful support from family and friends, Christians and non believers.  God is good and I am so excited to see what tomorrow holds.  That said I am also a little scared.  Probably not something I should admit the night before a race, but my goal is to give it all up for God.  To push past the pain that I know He will be there to support me through.  I believe in what is possible and need to follow that up with courage when things get tough.  I may not go over the line first, or maybe I will (personally I think it would be a big statement if I did) but if I leave my hands open and empty them, God will do more than my mind can fathom. 

What I ask of you all, is to continue to pray, or start praying for courage, strength and that the Lord's will be done tomorrow at 8am.  I encourage you to pray fervently for the 8 mins I am racing (hopefully less), and see what God does.  Your strength in prayer will more certainly translate into my boat tomorrow, and when all is said and done God will have all the glory. 

The Full Armour of God

In the new testament, Ephesians 6:10-20 to be exact, it says to put on the full armour of God, and furthermore to stand firm after having prepared yourself in His armour.  We are up against some pretty nasty things in this world, and the being that orchestrates that evil is intent on attacking any of those who do not fall into the traps.  

The church that I have been attending here has started a series of sermons based on the book Crazy Love, by Francis Chan.  We follow up on what we have read and heard in small groups later in the week.  The idea of the book is that God has given us a crazy awesome gift and what have we offered Him as a result?(although never forget that our salvation or love cannot be bought with deeds).  What I mean is, think about breathing.  By the time you have finished reading this sentence you will have inhaled and exhaled at least once.  Why?  And do you know for sure that you will breathe past my next sentence?  Of course science can explain all the complexities of breathing and I am sure they can come up with the statical analysis of why you are more or less likely to finish reading this blog.  But can they explain the end?  Or the beginning?  So far I have not heard any convincing arguments except for God.  I don't want to stray too far but what I am getting at is, if you believe in God and His power you know that He has given us every breathe, and he can take it away as quick as it came.  Is that not amazing?  The bible tells us He knew us before we were born and knew our whole lives before we had a name yet he CHOSE to give us breath and life despite our major shortcomings.  So why do we not sit in awe of God more often?  Why do we have such a hard time lifting our hands and hearts?  Needless to say Crazy Love is that complete and utter awe and passionate love that makes us want to give our whole lives away to Him, and share that love with others.

I have been getting back on my daily devotions, mainly reading through the bible, but spending time with God, to figure out what He wants of me.  I started to feel really great about how I was getting this time and excited to see what God had in store.  I was working at focusing on my Christian walk than the things I do (row), knowing that my activities are gifts not the goal.  Monday rolled around last week and I was feeling pretty awesome.  Starting to get that fervor for God that I remembered having only a year ago.  I have no desire to be lukewarm in my walk and hence my desire to redirect myself.  But as Tuesday came I started to get rib pain and after a sleepless night following it became clear that my ribs were starting to get irritated enough to warrant some rest.  And as Wednesday bible study came around, I had been fighting a battle that I had no idea I was fighting.  Nearing the end of the night, with the nudging of the loving group they suggested I might have something to say (up to this point I had been pretty quiet).  I had no desire to talk, I knew what was going to come before words.  Nothing was "wrong" persay, I was stressed out, and as I talked I realized how confused I was.  How much I had invested in what God's Will was for me and how I had forgotten that I cannot predict God's path, I may have an idea of the end but the path is His too.  After the group prayed over me (an incredible renewing experience) and I went on my way with the armour of God written out (copied by the group leader who had been studying it with another group) I realized who was at work during the week and it was not just God.  I am always under the impression that things that happen are God's Will, and perhaps that is accurate, but I also think it is just as accurate to say that Satan has his hand in things and God can choose to stand by and let his children be tested or intervene.  I am not sure if I am describing what I mean well enough, but a good example is Job, I really felt like a piece of Job that Wednesday night, I am probably not half of the person that Job was but Satan attacked and God was there the whole time.  My point is that I am onto something big, and every time Christians are seeing the Truth, Satan comes on stronger than ever.  I have felt this.  I know God's plan is still here stronger than what can be thrown at me, but knowing what is at work helps me to continue the fight, fully armoured.

It would be lying to say that I love having to struggle and endure pain etc.  but it does excite me a little bit.  I am being prepared for something, and I am building a relationship that will never fail and if that means a minute bit of suffering I think I can handle it.  Jesus took on a whole world's suffering, how is that for Love. 

The full armour of God is what I now pray each morning.  It is a declaration of my stance and I plea for God's continued grace and mercy for myself and those I come in contact with during my day.  And a request for healing and protection from anyone that might try to take me from Him.  There is peace in the acknowledgement of the body that I prepare for God.

I may put spandex and synthetic fibres over my body for training, but what others do not see is the thick Damascus steel that beautifully protects me from the unseen evil powers in this world.

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.