About a month ago, I had a revelation about my life. Now, it may not seem like a significant revelation or even a revelation at all. Really, it’s quite simple and obvious, but I often don’t live or act or think like it. Well, here it is: “It’s not about me.” That’s my revelation. Not profound, I know. But, have you really thought about this? This life is not about me. At all. Period.
When I think about the way I pray or the things I worry about or the things I think about, I realize that my life is so self-centered. What is my purpose? What am I good at? What do I want my life to look like 5 years from now? Even my seemingly good questions are not focused on God; they’re focused on making me happy or making me feel good about myself.
We weren’t created to be happy and content and self-fulfilled. We weren’t created to be comfortable and successful and to make the most of ourselves. God created us to make much of Him, to glorify Him, to serve Him, to love Him. This world, this life, is not at all about me. So, how can I live otherwise?
Lord, help me to take my focus off of myself and turn it to You. Help me to remember that I am nothing without You. I know that you want the best for your children, and I thank you for your unfathomable love, but help me to remember that I’m not just here to receive from you. Help me to live in response to your love; to live a life of sacrifice and service to you and to others. Turn my questions into ‘How can I bring glory to You?’ ‘How can I live out Your will?’ ‘How can I love You more?’
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Looking for God
I often have a hard time ‘seeing’ God at work in and around me. Then I’ll hear other people tell stories about ways that God has been working in their lives and realize that the same types of things happen to me, but I don’t always connect them to God. Maybe I’m just not looking for the right things or in the right places.
As I was putting together a jigsaw puzzle the other day, I had this thought – I would choose a part of the picture to work on and then look through the big pile of pieces to find a certain color or pattern for that part. I found that when I was looking for a specific part, my eyes were automatically drawn to those pieces even if I hadn’t noticed them before. The same thing would happen each time I moved on to a different part of the picture. When I knew what I was looking for and focused on it, I had no trouble seeing the pieces I needed.
In the middle of all this, I thought – maybe that’s how it is with God in our lives. Maybe I just need to be more deliberate in looking for and focusing on Him and I’ll find Him right there in front of me amidst the things that have been there all along. I think I just make simple things too hard sometimes.
This seemed to make a lot more sense in my head before I wrote it down, but hopefully you get the point.
I don’t doubt that God is there. I just need to keep looking and start noticing the small things, rather than expecting some big revelation.
As I was putting together a jigsaw puzzle the other day, I had this thought – I would choose a part of the picture to work on and then look through the big pile of pieces to find a certain color or pattern for that part. I found that when I was looking for a specific part, my eyes were automatically drawn to those pieces even if I hadn’t noticed them before. The same thing would happen each time I moved on to a different part of the picture. When I knew what I was looking for and focused on it, I had no trouble seeing the pieces I needed.
In the middle of all this, I thought – maybe that’s how it is with God in our lives. Maybe I just need to be more deliberate in looking for and focusing on Him and I’ll find Him right there in front of me amidst the things that have been there all along. I think I just make simple things too hard sometimes.
This seemed to make a lot more sense in my head before I wrote it down, but hopefully you get the point.
I don’t doubt that God is there. I just need to keep looking and start noticing the small things, rather than expecting some big revelation.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Random Thoughts
It's amazing how a little bit of sunshine & some warmer weather can change your entire perspective. It's almost 50 degrees today & it feels amazing! I feel like it's almost a tease, making me long for spring even more, but I will just try to enjoy it while I can. I sat on the porch & read my Bible this morning, which was so refreshing. I miss the porch sitting days!
Last night one of my roommates & I stayed up til 2:30 just talking about life and faith and memories and the future. It was so good to process things together and to know that someone else feels the same way about things. It's scary sometimes to admit your doubts or fears or questions, but it's such a relief when you do and someone else admits to feeling the same way. Why are we always so afraid of being the only one?
One thing I read recently that has got me thinking is that our lives as Christians shouldn't make sense to non-believers. Is my life different enough from the world? How do I stop just blending in & be a better witness?
Last night one of my roommates & I stayed up til 2:30 just talking about life and faith and memories and the future. It was so good to process things together and to know that someone else feels the same way about things. It's scary sometimes to admit your doubts or fears or questions, but it's such a relief when you do and someone else admits to feeling the same way. Why are we always so afraid of being the only one?
One thing I read recently that has got me thinking is that our lives as Christians shouldn't make sense to non-believers. Is my life different enough from the world? How do I stop just blending in & be a better witness?
Friday, February 6, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)