I recently stumbled upon a blog that realllllly got my attention.
I havent even gotten to read more than five or six of her posts, but its about a girl that moved away from home for what she thought was going to be a year. well, its much more than that. She moved to uganda. Apparently she has adopted a lot of children and has had to sacrifice a "normal" life in order to pursue God's will. I love her words, she said in a round about way, forgive me if I misquote, but "there is no sacrifice in Christ but instead there is eternal gain" woa.
How quickly life can "happen" and I find myself trying to live a "normal" life. Wanting a big house, a nice car, lots of money, some kind of status in society. Her blog caused me to ask myself, where did THAT Heather go? The Heather that wanted nothing more than to be set-apart, sold out, if you will for Christ. How could I so easily forget the power of Christ. The calling.
I went to china once. As I sat there and read this amazing woman's blog, I felt an inner pull so strong that it literally brought tears to my eyes. A pull, a magnet as I described it to jacob, pulling me towards missions. Towards leaving this "normal" life behind and serving God in China. The reality of God's will is that comfort is not a priority. Of course, God loves us and rejoices when we are happy, but our purpose is NOT to be happy. I believe that our purpose is to glorify God.
I am so moved by this woman, sooo inspired. I long to have that devotion. My oh my, so much work to be done on myself.
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"Bring me joy, bring me peace, bring the chance to be free, bring me anything that brings you glory. I know there will be days when this life brings me pain, but if thats what it takes to praise You, Jesus bring rain"
2 comments:
I love this, Heather! You're so right- our purpose isn't to be happy, but to glorify God, and what I've learned is that when we're pursuing God's glory (which is what He's about anyway), we find ourselves happier and filled with more joy than we ever could be chasing our own agenda.
Colossians says, "All things were created BY HIM and FOR HIM. He is before all things, and IN HIM all things hold together." Basically everything apart from him (sin and our sin nature) falls apart. Cool.
How can I help you pursue God's calling in your life??
"The reality of God's will is that comfort is not a priority."
WOW. Your words really struck a chord (or is it cord?) with me this morning.
I think we find it way too easy to slip into that "normal" life mentality in the states. I don't know if it's because so many generations have been living the American dream or they (i.e. - we) just feel entitled to the "good life," but it's so easy to lose sight of the Lord while pursuing the comforts we have available to us. And I don't mean just material things. I don't think it's necessarily wrong to have nice things or a big house or a nice car (I have them, minus the big house; but I have a house and it's nice) - the problem comes when we covet those things and focus on them instead of living for the Lord and His glory.
But I'm also thinking of how we long to stay in our comfort zones and we don't have to risk much as we walk with the Lord. Yes, our country is drifting away from even claiming Christ, but we are still safe and will likely never see the kind of persecution that believers face every day in other countries. I've been re-reading (again!) the Mark of the Lion series and just thinking about how the early church faced some unbelievable difficulties.
The struggle lately for me is to live for Him and not settle into mediocrity in my faith. But I have no idea what that looks like. I work in ministry, but I'm not risking much, and it's gotten really, really comfortable in the "camp bubble" where we are clueless about so much of what is going on in the US, much less what is happening in the world. How do I balance the calling on my life - to minister through Christian camping - with the sometimes overwhelming desire to risk everything for the glory of God?
I am praying for you, Heather - that you seek the Lord's will with confidence, knowing that though His will might not always be comfortable or make you happy, God longs for your life to bring Him glory and honor!
Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica a list of 15 instructions (commands) of how to have Christian conduct in life:
"Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
At the end of the instructions, he leaves them with this:
"Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."
Our God calls us and is FAITHFUL!
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