What went wrong?

Earlier today I heard the sad news, that a girl (who we'll call Elizabeth) I knew back in my childhood had been found dead this morning by her mother. When I was told, my heart instantly broke. There are questions about possible drug overdoses in relation to suicide or perhaps that it was an accident - no one is sure just yet.

Before I was homeschooled, I attended a public elementary school from K-5th, and for some period of that time, she and I had been close friends. It probably has been a good six years since I've seen or spoken with her. To hear that someone I once knew had died, it made me wonder what went wrong. If it was a drug overdose, if it was suicide, what went wrong? Why was she aching so much that she went to such lengths as death? Even though I don't really know her now, I wonder what could have been done differently, so that the outcome wouldn't have been what it is now.

Honestly, hearing of what happened to her, scared me. It threw reality upon me. I mean, we all know that everyone dies, we all know that people are dying everyday. Or do we?
Do we really understand and appreciate the fact that people are constantly dying?
150,000 people die every single day... and to think that most of those people don't even know Jesus, well that makes me want to cry.

I think the reason her death was such an impact to me is because was so young, only 17. In my eyes, she really hadn't even begun life yet. She was just starting out, and to think now she's gone and probably not in Heaven, that hurts. After thinking through this a bit, there's a few things it reminded me of:

LIFE IS VALUABLE
Often, we live everyday as if we know there will be a tomorrow. We live as if it's just another day and we forget the significance that is found within each day we are given. We take each day for granted, rather than in thankfulness and gratefulness towards God. How many days do we wake up cranky and complain about SOMETHING, rather than being so thankful that God has a reason that we are still living, that His plan for us is not fulfilled yet and so we must keep working hard by serving Him? I can say that some days, when I'm getting up at 6am for work, that's definitely not my attitude... but how I wish it was! Life is valuable, and God gives it to us for a reason, for a purpose, not to squander it or waste it.

LIFE IS SHORT
We will never know what day is our last, until that day comes. Often times I think we have an attitude that in our youth, we have so long to go, and because of this, we forget that our days are numbered, that there really is an end. Consequently, we waste our days. We treat our minutes of life as nearly valueless, rather than priceless.

THE GOOD NEWS
Something that really struck me is that I wonder if Elizabeth knew the good news of Jesus. Had she heard? Did she care? Would it have made a difference? Everyone needs to hear about Jesus. How often do we slack off on sharing, or because we're too afraid and honestly, don't really trust God for the powerful and mighty God that He is, we back down and keep our mouths shut about Jesus. Who needs to hear his Gospel? How many people today are feeling hopeless, how many peoples hearts are broken and they are lonely? How many of those people could I be sharing with? How many of those people could you be sharing with? 

We only have one life, and only so much time and limited opportunity to share about Jesus.
Why are we so selfish to not share with people who desperately need to hear this truth? It makes me angry, and even angry at myself for being selfish and not sharing sometimes.
Who could you share with today? Who needs to hear the good news of Jesus, about His love, about what He did for us, and why living this life for Him is more than worth it?

Be Still

I've desired to blog recently but just haven't had time or the energy! In the past two weeks I've worked a total of 67 hours and on top of that I have school everyday, including an AP Exam tomorrow morning (yay English and potential college credits) as well as church related responsibilities and activities (which I do love)!

Let me tell you, it's tiring. My weeks have been flying by. I see gaps in my spiritual life that really need worked on, but I feel so suffocated by activities and work that I don't have time. A few things that have been on my mind have been my prayer life and what I'm going to do after I graduate in a month. Life is just flying by and I'm standing here pretty clueless. "God, what are you doing!?"

I think sometimes I forget that God is... well, God!
I really have enjoyed this well known Bible verse lately:

"Be still and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:10

With a combination of work, school and my future, stepping back and remembering that God is God, is really comforting. It reminds me that God has got this whole thing called 'Rachel's life and situation' under control after all! It warms my little and weak heart that God is big, strong, powerful and in control. I just need to trust Him and remember that His love and faithfulness endure forever!

So take heart, fellow followers, no matter your situation in life, or how crazy things may be.... God's got it under control. I believe that sometimes we need crazy times to make us depend on God and realize our deep and truly desperate need for Him.

Nevertheless, I think it's time to finish up this blog post... gotta be up at 6:45am sharp for my test! Pray that I do well. :)

P.S. I think next week I'll be able to make a few blog posts, as my schedule isn't as busy. Yay for blogging! :)

Like a Boomerang

Currently, I am a student leader for my youth group. Every other week, our team, including adult leaders as well, along with my youth pastor, have a meeting. This year my youth pastor switched it up a bit and it is now more of a time of discipleship (which I absolutely love!). Right now my youth pastor is going over what it means to be a leader and also, the Gospel.

And then it hit me.

The Gospel isn't just this one time thing. Often times we think of the Gospel as a saving tool, which it is really, but from the Gospel, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, is where all things flow. It's because of this that we are free, it's because of this that we can have victory, it's because of this we can have joy. The reasons are countless!

The Gospel is the beginning point for all who come to know Christ, it's because of the Gospel and through Jesus and the work of God that a person is saved. But after that, it's almost like it's forgotten about, and in some sense, becomes an old story that we've heard countless times.

But the Gospel is incredible, and so powerful. It's life changing and encouraging. It's the reason that we are no longer slaves to sin, but free in Christ. Shouldn't it be something we know the most about?

We take the Gospel as just useful for when we first come to Christ, and then after that we move onto all sorts of other topics and issues, which is good but at the same time, the Gospel is so much more than just "Oh I learned that when I was first saved."

If it weren't for the Gospel, we wouldn't understand how truly Holy and Perfect God is. We wouldn't understand why we so desperately need Him. We wouldn't understand why man is so sinful and in need of a Savior. The better you know the Gospel, the more you understand all these things and why man is in such need of God and His mercy, grace and forgiveness. The Gospel is important every day of our lives, not just the day we come to know Christ. 

After hearing my youth pastor discuss the Gospel, I realized how much I don't know about it. Knowing the Gospel full well can be SO freeing and SO encouraging. Not only can it help you in sharing your faith, but it also is the foundation of your faith. It's the starting block, which holds it all together. It all goes back to the Gospel. I know now, that I definitely need to put in more studying time, which I look forward to! Nothing is more encouraging than knowing what Jesus did for me. :) 

By studying the Gospel, the greater your appreciation will be for what Jesus did for you, the greater your understanding will be of how Holy God is, and the greater your understanding will be of the freedom you are able to have through Christ's conquering of the grave.

So how well do you know the Gospel? I mean, how well do you really know it? 

Random, not related side note: I reached over 1,000 views. :) Thanks to all my wonderful viewers, if only I knew who you all are! I hope my posts have been encouraging and a blessing to you. :)