Being a Cheerleader

For the past few months , I have been in prayer asking God to show me how I can love Matthew more. The responses I have heard from God have been incredible , things so unexpected. 

The main thing I have come to learn is that I am to love others the way I love Matthew. I want my love and devotion to Matthew to be an example of Christ in us to others. 

But recently, I have learned something else. 

I need to be a cheerleader for Matt. Unfortunately, that was the best term I could come up with. Which is ironic because I have never liked the thought of being a "cheerleader" for anything. Nothing against girls (and guys) who are cheerleaders, I just don't have that personality. 

This week was tough. Matthew moved in with a friend and spent the last week moving and packing and stressing. Meanwhile, there's little old me sitting over here thinking, 
"Pay attention to me!" 

I found myself getting upset and jealous whenever Matt told me he was hanging out with his roommate. Which is hilarious because 

a) his roommate is a guy and happens to be his best friend
b) there is absolutely NO REASON for me to be jealous

Sometimes, I don't get girls. Heaven help Matthew, he has to marry this bucket of emotions! 

Anyways, I had this feeling the past week that Matthew just wasn't himself. I have this view of Matt in my head and these are the things that come to mind when I think about him:

•  Leader
• Strong
• My rock
• Active
• Sturdy
• Tough

• Energetic 

All the traits of a strong, dependable leader. I get this view of Matthew in my head that since he is the leader of our relationship , nothing ever fazes him. I always see Matthew as someone who never gets tired, stresses out; I view him as someone who always has it together. 

So when Matthew does have a bad week and gets stressed out, I do what any normal woman would do. I nag. I feel like there is some genetic code that is scripted  in every woman do nag a man when they are stressed out. But then again , I never took biology. Or chemistry , whatever. 

This week, I have been praying and asking God how I can encourage Matthew when he comes home defeated and tired. It came to me this morning as I was studying the life of Abraham. 

It started out with this simple verse: 

Genesis 15:1- "Do not be afraid. 

I am your shield,

your very great reward."

        ~ When you fear what lies ahead, remember that God will stay with you through difficult times and that he has promised you great blessings.~

 It was with that simple verse that I was reminded that I need to encourage Matthew. My first thought when I read that verse was to run and grab my phone and send that to him. So I did. In that moment, I knew that's how I was supposed to be encouraging him.  Yes, he is a strong leader, but he still gets beat down. I need to be there to pick him back up again. 

This is better explained by a excerpt of a story I read. 

  "Well, it looks like Billy and I are supposed to get married someday." 

"Yes, I know." Marilyn took Bonnie's hand and clasped it tightly. "And I can't imagine a more wonderful girl for him."

A surge of warmth flooded Bonnie's cheeks. "Thank you. Um, do you think I am a distraction for him? I mean, am I getting in the way of him doing what he's supposed to be doing?"

"A distraction? If you mean, does he notice how pretty you are? He'd be blind  not to notice." Marilyn responded. 

Bonnie smiled. The compliment was sweet, pleasant, but she didn't want to focus on her looks. 

"What I mean is, if Billy has a job to do, and I'm with him, he might be thinking about taking care of me, you know, protecting me instead of himself. That kind of distraction."       

Marilyn folded her hands over her knees and nodded slowly.

"I see what you mean. I think the best thing you can do is to let him decide if you're a distraction. I think you can trust him to keep his thoughts straight. He's gone through so much. It's like each victory added a piece of armor that protects him from temptations that might come his way." She wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled them closer. " Trials change a man, you know. They make a godly man stronger, wiser, a better leader, and believe it or not, more humble."

Marilyn nodded toward Billy, who was sleeping.

"Whatever you do, Bonnie , give him room to be a leader. Give him time to fill out his masculine frame, always supporting him with love and encouragement. If he drags himself home from a defeat, impatient nagging will just cut his legs from under him, but an encouraging word will puff his chest out and make him charge back in. He needs a woman to inject him with power and purpose, because a good man draws his sword for only one reason, to protect his wife and children."

  I don't even have any words after that. That last paragraph speaks for itself. 

Promises

"Sometimes it's hard to keep believing
In what you can't see
That everything happens for a reason
Even the worst life brings
If you're reaching for an answer
And you don't know what to pray
Just open up the pages
Let His word be your strength
And hold on to the promises"

I find myself constantly forgetting all that God has done for me, especially in times when it is hard to trust Him. When things are tough, when life is busy and stressful, I find myself feeling like I am drowning. Overwhelmed with the world, I want to give up. 

Which is why I challenged myself to start looking at the promises that God has made known in His amazing Book. 

Abraham was the first that came to mind. Originally I planned on studying the chapter in Abraham's life where he almost had to sacrifice his son, Issac, but I began reading in Genesis 12 and realized that Abraham's whole life was a story of faith in itself. Which is where this blog begins.

The Story of Abraham- A Life of Faith

God appears to Abram one day and promised to make his descendants into a great nation. All that Abram had to do was agree and obey God.

"Leave everything you know behind and go somewhere I will show you." 

So Abram left.

What? 

God didn't even tell Abram where he was going!  Something I read in the New Testament came to mind when I read this.

Luke 9:3- When Jesus sent out His twelve disciples, He told them to "take nothing for the journey- no staff, no bag, no extra tunic, no food, no money."

Why this reoccurring theme? 

Jesus was forcing His disciples to trust Him. Just like He was forcing Abram to trust Him. God would have to come through for Abram because Abram had nothing else to fall back on. 

-----This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be; in fact, it flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning. We like finding refuge in what we already have than in what we hope God will provide------

God promised to bless Abram and make him great, as long as Abram trusted Him even if he couldn't see the next step. 

So Abram goes on his way, stopping every once in a while and "calling on the name of the Lord" (verse 8). At one stop, God appeared to Abram and told him that  the "land would be given to his kids, keep moving." I feel as though Abram probably felt like a big idiot dragging his wife around these random places and asking God, "Here? How 'bout here? This looks nice, here God?" 
Though each time he stopped, he would build an altar. Why? For God's people, altars symbolized communion with God and commemorated notable encounters with him. Altars remained in place for years as continual reminders of God's protection and promises. 
Abram was reminding himself that God was still faithful.

Remember that; we'll come back to it! 

But suddenly, Abram gets tired. He gets tired of waiting around and wandering from place to place hoping that God will finally show him where to stay. Frustration arises, anger builds, and I'm sure his faith in God's promise was lost.
So Abram set out toward a place called Negev. When he got there, a bad famine hit the land and he and Sarai set out for Egypt. Abram, acting out of fear, asked Sarai to lie to the Egyptians and tell them she was his sister so that he wouldn't die and so that he would be given a place of honor for having such a beautiful, desired "sister." 
Weird, right?
Well, because of his deception and greed, Abram grew very rich and wealthy. He was able to watch his wealth grow and multiply daily. 

Good old God steps in and inflicts a serious disease on Pharaoh and the Egyptians and they get mad at Abram for it and give him back his wife/sister and for lying. They get kicked out of Egypt, and head back to Negev and the famine they tried to escape.

I love this part.

"From Negev, Abram went from place to place until he came back to the place where he had first build his altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord. "

Abram went back to the place where he felt God the most. He went back to the place that would remind him of what God had promised. Abram lost faith in God's protection, even after all God had promised him. 
But he went back. He went back to the place of prayer and worship and renewed his love and loyalty to God. He was reminded that God was at the center of his life. 

So why is this relative to my life?

•  It reminded me that a life of faith isn't always perfect. And it reminded me that even the people we idolize in the Bible messed up and didn't trust God. I mean, they had God walking with them for heaven's sake! You'd think that would keep them on track and ever- faithful. 
• It reminded me that regular worship helps me remember what God desires.
• It reminded me that God is at the center of my life
• It reminded me that I can always go back to God, always.
• It reminded me that God hasn't forgotten about me and my "little" situations I have going on.

God promised Abram a blessed life. But He didn't promise that getting there would be easy. He just required one thing of Abram- faith. 

He just requires one thing of me- faith.