august 6, 2014
why do i have to be stretched? and why does it take work to be stretched and to grow?
why can't God mold and shape me while i'm sitting on the couch or [better yet]....sleeping?
that'd sure be nice...but i've found that that is not how it works.
the last while God has been taking us on a journey. a journey of learning and seeking what God's heart is for us.
there's been tears, pain, and lots of prayers.
sometimes it seems that God doesn't hear or that he isn't paying attention. sometimes the journey is lonely. but the longer we go on this journey, the more we find that God does care and how much he does want to take care of us.
i always look at growing and stretching times as BAD times. i don't want to hurt. i don't want to get out of my comfort zone.
i think so often we live life how we want to. we decide what convictions we want to have; what we are going to stand up for or against; who we want to like or don't want to like; what we want to or don't want to do every minute of every day. we make those decisions based on what we want and on what makes us FEEL good....then we have the audacity to look to God and ask him to BLESS what WE WANT.
how does this make sense??
shouldn't it be the other way around??
i think what i've been learning so much is that it's not about what i want. it's not about what we want. it's not about what you want.
the world doesn't revolve around us.
it's about sitting down every day and asking GOD what HE wants for every single little part of our lives. from what we choose to do that day to what we stand for in life and the convictions HE wants us to have.
and guess what....
it's going to make us...UNCOMFORTABLE!! it's going to be hard. it's going to go against what our culture and the world are telling us. it's going to hurt our little pride bubbles. it might even make us mad at times.
but if we never do the WORK of growing and being stretched; if we continue choosing to make our own decisions because we want to be comfortable...then why are we here??
i find myself getting so caught up in this little tiny spec of what we call life.
but it doesn't mean ANYTHING compared to eternity. all God cares about is if we are allowing him to work in our hearts and lives; if we are continuing [day after day; minute after minute] to strive to be like HIM.
that's what matters in the end. that's what life is about. that's why we are here.
i don't know guys, my heart is just burdened for our generations; for my generation.
are we missing it??
let's not get comfortable.
