31 Days of Fear{less}: Sparkle

Sparkle. 

It's my word of the year (even though you haven't seen it in awhile). 

Even though I stopped my "Sunday Sparkle" when I got busy and I haven't talked about it in recent months, that doesn't mean that I haven't been dwelling on it. At the beginning of the year, I made some New Year's goals. Am I doing great on all of them? Not really. But, I have finished 1 of the 5 and I'm working towards a 2nd- AND we still have two more months left in the year. I got this. :) But, back to Sparkle. In that post way back in January, I described "sparkle" as follows:

Sparkle reminds me of so many things, and that's why I'm picking it. It comes from Philippians 2:14-15 where Paul tells the Phillipians to "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe." Sparkle just sounds prettier than shine. 

I want to sparkle this year. I want to be that princess (the child of God) that I talk about becoming and I want to dwell in the presence of the King. I want to sparkle this year and let my personality shine through. I want to sparkle and show people the love of Jesus.

So, I think that the idea of "sparkle" goes quite nicely with the idea of living fear{less}. When we live sparkly lives, we are living fear{less} lives. After all, one of the goals of living fear{less} is living as a light to the world. When we stand in opposition to a world full of fear and worry, we show an example of what life "could be like" when we have the hope of the Kingdom of God within us. When we live Kingdom lives, when we live like this world doesn't matter and the world that is yet to come is the ultimate priority- this changes things. This makes us "sparkly". This makes us "light". This requires us to live fear{less}. 

Another thing from January was that I adopted a "verse of the year". It's a verse that is so-very close to my heart this year. It comforts me in times of worry- which I have a lot of. It gives me a hope for the future and helps me to live fear{less}. Jeremiah 29:11-14 reads,

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

In him, we have a HOPE and a FUTURE.

Wow. Let that sink in for a moment. When we seek Him, when we call out to Him, when we pray to Him, he will listen to us. When we seek Him, we will find Him. Even in the midst of really bad times, he will bring us back. He will come and gather his people and bring us into the "land" that he has promised! I love the amount of hope in these verses. Even though I don't know the plans that God has for me, I know that he knows them. I know that these plans are good plans. These plans are plans that will bring glory to his name. I can live fear{less}, because I know that he's got it. I don't have to spend my time in fear and worry about what might happen, I can leave the details to God- because he is GOOD and he is in control.

When we live live in this radical, crazy, giving-it-all-up-to-Him sort of way- we can sparkle. We are uniquely positioned to show the world around us just how great God is. We can make people's days brighter by bringing a happy spirit- a little sparkle- with us wherever we go. Think about how much happier you tend to be when you aren't spending your days worrying. Think about the kind of light, the kind of example, you can be to the world around you. So, don't let life get you down. Don't let anyone ever dull your sparkle. You were made to dwell in the presence of the King of Kings. You were made for so much more than you could ever dream of...than you could ever ask or imagine. Don't spend precious time worrying...let God handle it. And you? Just keep sparkling and being a light to the world. :)