Word
I'm a huge advocate for being in the Word, but not for the reasons you'd probably expect. I think a lot of people believe that you just need to be in the Word because as a Christian you're "supposed" to, or because it will somehow make you live better, or because you need a list of rules, etc.
And I used to be one of those types of people.
As a result, I lived in constant failure. I wasn't looking to the Word to give me life, I just did it because it was the "right thing" to do. Eventually, doing something out of obligation will cause you more guilt than you want to deal with or it will become so dull that you will stop.
But now, ever since God revealed some of what it means to have Him as my First Love, being in God's Word means so much more to me. It's God speaking to me! Showing me what He's like, letting me in on His ways, sharing things about Himself. I think we all want that, but we tend to look for it in people. People are great, and people can complete part of us. I believe that God has wonderful purpose in relationships between people. But they will always disappoint. Perfect satisfaction and intimacy comes from God.
Do you believe that?
Like, really believe it?
What if we actually got that?
What if we understood that the God of the universe, who created us, who created the world, who raised Jesus to life, wants us to know Him intimately, and to be completely and intimately known by Him?
Like, what if the reason we got in the Word wasn't just to improve ourselves, but to find out about this awesome God who we claim to have a relationship with?
I can tell you this much, when I'm not in His Word, my relationship with Him suffers greatly. No, it's not that I have this feeling of guilt and so the relationship suffers. It's not because I haven't been "getting my fix" that I've become used to.
It's because I forget. I forget what He's like. I forget how much He loves and cares for me. I forget what He does. I forget to know Him.
I like to think about it in terms of human relationships, because it's easier to grasp that way. I know everyone uses that example, but just go with me there for a minute.
What if you claimed to be in a relationship with someone, but you rarely spoke to them, you rarely set aside time during the week to spend with them, you didn't really think of them throughout the day, you didn't really try to get to know them? You just assumed you already knew everything there was to know and that's it, or you waited until it would be more convenient to make the effort. What type of relationship would that be? It wouldn't be one at all. It would be one in name only, which in my opinion, is totally useless, even more useless than doing away with the thing altogether.
I see our faith the same way. What good is this relationship with Jesus if we don't make the effort? What good is it if we claim to be in love with Him, yet we don't even know Him? Don't even try to find out what He's like by reading about Him, don't even spend quality, uninterrupted time to just soak in His presence and all He has done for us? Can we even, with a clear conscience, say that we have a relationship with Him? I guess maybe we could...but that sounds to me like the loneliest, saddest, most disappointing relationship you could be in. It sucks to be in a relationship like that. And we weren't made for that.
We were made to know and be known. Completely.
If you claim Jesus, find out about Him. See what He's like. Read about His Father. Ask Him to open your eyes to the wonder of His great love. Ask Him to show you what this is all about.
It's one thing to know about God. It's another thing entirely to know God. We won't know everything about Him until we reach eternity. But we can know Him here. We can experience Him here. And trust me when I tell you, even though it's difficult, it's the most rewarding thing ever to love Him. It's what we were made to do...
Audacious Faith
You want me to let you in on a little secret? I've started like, 3 blog posts over the past 3 weeks, yet I couldn't seem to organize any of them in a concise way. This one included. So this will probably be pretty random and not very well structured.So anyways, I like that word-audacious. It's the type of faith I really, really want, but don't seem to possess. Yet. The faith I do have, the faith that usually feels even smaller than that of a mustard seed, gives me hope that maybe one day I'll have faith that is completely unexplainable. I can tell that God is working on me though and it's pretty awesome to see. Let me tell you a little bit about it.
For probably the past year, my recurring prayer has been that God would build my faith. It's always been really lacking and I got so tired of it, so I kept asking (and keep asking) Him to do whatever it takes to build it up. I knew if I asked this that God wouldn't just zap me and say, "Have ye faith!" and I would have faith. I knew that if I asked Him this thing, that He would probably give me opportunities to exercise faith. I guess it's kind of like a muscle. The less you use it, the more useless it becomes. But the more you use it, the stronger it becomes, the more you are able to do with it. So I've had various opportunities to have faith in God. Some opportunities I failed, some I succeeded. But I had somewhat of a revelation last week.
The women's Bible study that I'm involved in has been studying about believing God. Not just believing in Him, but believing Him. So two weeks ago the session that we had was somewhat random but the thing that I took from it was that I was going to start asking God for big things. I'm sure you're thinking, "BFD, everyone asks for stuff from God", and you would be right. But whenever I ask God for big things, and they don't happen immediately, I assume God is irritated that I dared ask that and I had better stop. But our Bible study teacher presented it in the light of a little child asking something really crazy and big of parent. Something so ridiculous and audacious, that the parent gets so tickled about it that they can't stop laughing. They get a kick out of the kid, that he thinks his parent could do something so outrageous. And the Bible study teacher suggested that God could very well be like that. When we ask for something outrageous, instead of being irritated, He may be thinking, "You know, I can't give you that because it wouldn't turn out the best way, but that's pretty awesome that you think enough of Me to ask for something like that." And it just really gave me the courage to start praying for big things and expecting God to answer. He won't always give me the big things I ask for, but it's better to ask and get a no, then to live my whole life afraid to ask anything of Him and therefore not seeing any results.
So, through a series of events that led me to some pretty exciting prospects about the future, I started asking God for big things last week. And the cool thing is that He keeps affirming to me over and over again that He can do it. He might not, but then again, He might! And just because He may not give me the specific thing I asked for, that doesn't mean that He doesn't have something just as big, just different. But how will I know if I don't ask? "For without faith it is impossible to believe God, for anyone who comes to Him must believe that HE IS and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him". I want to be rewarded for my faith, but this verse has caused me all kinds of inner turmoil throughout my life. Wanna know why? Because most times, I have many, many doubts. And I used to think (and by 'used to', I mean since like last week) that if I had doubts, I didn't have faith. But God revealed to me that faith is not the absence of doubt! It's the pressing on despite the doubts and keeping the faith. This realization has opened up so much of God to me, because I realized I don't have to feel like I believe 100% in order to still believe! Like the centurion, I can say "I do believe! But please God, help my unbelief." I can still please God by my faith, even though doubt is still present. And as He reveals more about Himself, I'm hoping that less and less unbelief will be present, and more and more faith will grow. Incidentally, I would be a very happy camper if God took away my doubts. But even if He doesn't, I'll still believe. I want to be able to say at the end of my life, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
So, I say all of that to say, God is building my faith! Just like I asked Him too! It's hard, it's not glamorous by any means at all, and if I weren't paying attention it would be so easy to miss! I'm sure there are parts of it that I do miss. But it's so awesome to see God keep His word and stay faithful. He's really awesome.
"DO NOT fear, for I AM WITH YOU. DO NOT anxiously look about you, for I AM YOUR GOD. I WILL strengthen you, SURELY I WILL help you, SURELY I WILL uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
My Sentiments Exactly
A million miles away from anything familiarA thousand places I would rather be
So I choke back the tears and try to find the bright side
Though I find it hard to see beyond my suffering
In my heart I know Your plan is so much bigger
But this small part is all that I can see
And I believe you haven't left me here to wander
Still I can't help but ponder where You're leading me
And I ask why this road?
Why this way and this load?
Tell me how far I must go
'Til I see
'Til I know why this road
A million miles away from anything familliar
What was it like to be so far from home
And though You came in love the world misunderstood You
There must have been some days when You felt so alone
But You endured 'cause there was joy before You
Joy that came because You sacrificed
Since You gave yourself just to spend forever with me
Surely I can trust You'll lead me through my darkest times
When I ask why this road?
Why this way and this load?
Tell me how far must I go
'Til I see
'Til I know why this road
From here I cannot see why You'd choose this path for me
But I don't have to understand to believe that You know why
You know why this road
Why this way and this load
You know how far I must go
'Til I see
'Til I know why this road
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
2 comments :
Post a Comment