Well, after hearing a couple of pastoral “confessions” yesterday1 🙂 how do you respond to the challenge to be “fully engaged” in your Christian spirituality? Do you see following God as a sacrifice or as something pleasing?
In my experience, it seems that when my focus is on myself (my skills, my family, my interests, my goals, my career, etc), being a fully devoted follower of God can become a struggle and I tend to live the Christian life through willpower alone. That is not much fun. However, when I let my eyes be open to the big picture (informed by the Biblical viewpoint of life), then I catch the vision and passion of a mission that is much greater than I am, and I am inspired to follow God relentlessly and with a whole lot more passion and excitement!
What has been your experience? Where are you at now?
- assuming you attend Westwood Church in Prince George! ↩
As I was driving to work this morning I “heard” something like this, ” Marg, Whose Blood, Sweat, and Tears were you referring to?” I don’t car pool! That is a phrase I no longer want to take lightly.
That sounds like a message from last month – “Get off the couch, and you’ll begin to experience transformation”! 🙂
That is my experience exactly. My problem was I didn’t seem to know how to get the focus off myself. I often told God I wanted to be used by Him, but I still wanted to be in charge of how and when I wanted Him to use me. I now realize that was because I didn’t completely trust Him. I thought I trusted Him, but my actions betrayed me. I lived with fear, worry, condemnation……the list goes on. I did not simply wake up one morning deciding I could trust God completely. It continues to be a journey. However, for the past year I have actively pursued God and have been looking at what part of God’s character I have a hard time trusting. i did this in a small group setting(sometimes very small) with people I first had to learn to trust. We worked through several biblically based workbooks and learned that no topic was off limits with God. It was through blood, sweat and tears-lots and lots of tears and God’s AMAZING GRACE that I have come to know I can trust my God with every aspect of my life. I can not describe the exhilerating freedom this has given me!!! I am excited every day to see how He will use me. I’m open to anything He has planned for me. What ever You want to do,God,that’s my new prayer.. I am having the time of my life! After all I was” born for a time such as this !!!”