For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
I’m not sure why, at least yet, but God really has me going through some changes. It is not that I do not want to change, because quite frankly any change away from what I was or have been, can only be good as long as the leading is of God. But I see things differently. Compassion is more real. As funny as it may seem, reality is more real. Simple decisions are not just being brought to God, but being weighed to determine if they are really even legitimate questions I should be asking, or directions I should be going. In other words, if you should not be going in that direction, why do you have to worry about a decision that takes you that way?
I know that some get to this point and really hit a cross roads in their faith. I guess in the end you have to. What happens is that something awakens in you by the hands of God working in your Spirit. In the process, He places glasses on you that cause you to see things a little more through His heart, which is of course a desirable thing – unless of course you do not want to change.
Funny thing is, can we really be sure that God has not tried to put these glasses over our eyes earlier? I mean, think about that. If He had, would we really know it anyway? Or would that attempt have been forgotten by us, buried deeply in a subconscious fallen, human, sinful mind? Would our own fleshly agendas and desires buried God’s attempt at sanctification and increased righteous thinking in our hearts and minds simply because we had already decided to take the path of our choice anyway? If one does not desire to change, any simply reason becomes a worthy enough excuse to deny the calling of the Holy Spirit into a righteous lifestyle, simply because we want to keep our fleshly lifestyle all the more.
God is changing my heart. Things that used to anger me, now simply make me weep with the thought of the lost soul, the fallen societal morals that are behind it, or the simple thought of how this situation/incident/decision might look if “God” were infused into it. I ache for a more simple life, as God is not complicated, but desires us to be like children so that He can minister to us in more useful ways. Important things become less important. Other things, things that were things of God all along anyway - but were overlooked by the business of life, or the indifference of our flesh-driven world, are coming more into a Christly focus. More clear to His vision, and more convicting to mine.
There are things in my life that, after having put years of labor and focus into, not to mention a level of importance in my life that maybe they should not have been, I’m perfectly willing to walk away from now, if in fact that is what god calls me to do. Knowing that God could call us to go anywhere, do anything or say any word at any time has always been a no brainer to me. Seeing Christians who refuse to consider that God might use them outside of their own little comfortable box refuse to act, or even pray about a calling that God might have for them used in a way they did not want to be used, used to infuriate me. How can you call yourself a Christian at all, and sit there in your chair, all snug as a bug in the rug, and throw your hands up at the very idea that god might call you to do something uncomfortable to you, is beyond my comprehension, and just made me want to grab people by the shoulders and exclaim, “Do you understand you’re telling God NO!?” Now I just want to cry for them, and pray for them, and thanks God that He has given ME the grace and strength to change. Something about horses being lead to water comes to mind…
More than anything, this work in me has shown me more clearly than ever that everything belongs to Him. All that IS, is His. All that I desire is His to give or keep. All that I need is His to provide. Any change in my life that is for the better, begins with Him, and ends with me. All things that are good are His to give, and He desires to do so.
But this is the biggest change of all: I have understanding that everything He chooses to give me IS good, or He would not give it to me.
Be it victory, or trial. If it’s from God, it is good for me. Be it a new path to travel, or a new burden to bear, it’s good for me. If it is a new direction in life, a new job, or a new hair-style – if it is a call from God, shame on me for not believing that it is good.
To get to this point one thing must happen in our relationship with God. We simply get to the point where we say, “God, I give up. EVERYTHING is about you now”, and then release our flesh so that the Spirit leads. So that all we see is the look of our lives, and our witness through the lenses of God’s righteousness. It is easy to confess that as we do things we must do them all for the Glory of God. We can all agree on that I’m fairly certain.
But first, we have to do them.
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