Is our spiritual life so different? We tend to read our bibles as if we are checking it off our list. Yep, got that done for today. We go to church on Sunday and again, check. Wednesday night? Um, let me see what my schedule is calling for. Yes, I see it listed. My favorite show in on at 7pm. Sorry. Guilty, guilty and guilty.
"Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will." A.W Tozer
Ever hear that God won't ask us to do the big stuff if we can't even do the little things? Oh, has He been speaking to my heart lately. I tend to do the easy things, but when He asks something big of me I tend to turn the other direction. Isn't there someone else more qualified? Maybe, but He is calling me. Would it be easier if someone else did it? Possibly, but He isn't asking, Sue, He is asking you.
Why do we do this? Should we really be putting off God? I mean, when we call upon Him, don't we expect Him to answer? Oh, and of course we want our answer in our way. Goodness, just who do we think we are? For me, I know many times it is fear. Yes, fear of what if I fail? What if I say something wrong? What if...If we live with what if's are we ever going to accomplish anything for God? Isn't that what it's all about? Him?
"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations." Chuck Swindoll
A few days ago I found myself thinking and I am just gonna be totally transparent. I thought, "Wow, I wish I could have more time for me." Now before you begin thinking, well now, that is selfish. There's more. I thought, ya know I have lived almost twenty-four years dedicated to my children, almost twenty-one dedicated to my husband and now I find myself dedicated to caring for my mother. The list goes on and on. Now, these are dedications I love. I couldn't imagine my life not being dedicated to those I love, but do you ever just wish you had time for you? When do we get to live just for me? When do we just wake up and think, "Well now, what is it I want to do?" As my selfish heart was pondering thoughts the Lord spoke. I don't think He was very happy with His child. This child that is very blessed. This child that is not wanting of anything. I hear His voice say, "Daughter, is it your life your living for or Me?" Talk about a heart check. My life belongs to God. I am to be totally, 100% sold out to Him. It's not my life 89% and give Him the other 11%. Life is about giving. The more we humbly and honestly give the more blessings we will find along the way. Just where is my treasure?
He has called me to a higher purpose. He has set before me things I cannot do alone. The more I have set before me, the more I am calling upon Him to accomplish them. Ever think about it that way? When life is easy, do we really call upon Him as we should? Could that be why trial after trial comes into my life? I believe so. We are not to be without trial.
"The disappointment has come - not because God desires to hurt you or make you miserable or to demoralize you or ruin your life or keep you from ever knowing happiness. He wants you to be perfect and complete in every aspect, lacking nothing. It's not the easy times that make you more like Jesus, but the hard times." Kay Arthur
He has called us to do the hard things so we can clearly see, it's not us, but Him accomplishing them. He calls us to the harder things so we can grow in faith. He didn't create us just to settle for the small things, those easy things in life. He calls us to be set apart and to make a difference in this world. Will we build a legacy for Him by sitting on the sidelines or by being in the trenches knee deep?
"Let's be diligent in giving, careful in our living, and faithful in our praying." Jack Hyles
We gotta put one foot in front of the other. I recently started running. Well, more like a walk/run. I have tried to do at least 1-3 miles. A few days ago as I was running I came in just spent. I thought, "Why am I doing this? It is so hard." I found painful blisters all over my feet. So, for me, it will be flip flops for a while. Now, this doesn't mean I stop running. It means I take a rest and I get back out there. I put on better shoes and I increase my stamina daily. It would be so easy just to give up, wouldn't it? God calls us to higher standards. He have a high calling because He is our Savior. He didn't take the easy route. He didn't have to crawl upon that cross and give His life for us. He didn't have to have a ministry where most turned away. He was in for the long haul. He was going all the way and doing the hard stuff first. How did He do it? He called upon His Father for strength and courage.
"No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquillity, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it. " Alexander MacLaren
Do you have hard things before you? Don't keep putting them off. Dive in and you will find treasures beyond anything you expected. God is the God who gives the unexpected and gives strength for those times in which we find ourselves looking for a way out. Instead of looking for a way out, look for a way in. God is always opening a door for us to step through in faith.
