It occurred to me today - God wants more for me than I want for myself. Have you ever stopped to think about that? One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 3:20 which tells us God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. But it is even more than that, more than His ability. He is certainly able to do more than we can imagine but He also desires to do more than we can imagine. Isaiah 60:17 says, "Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron." The problem is, sometimes, in our eyes, this looks like unanswered prayers.
My sister-in-law brought the Isaiah verse up to me yesterday and it really challenged my thinking. As part of this contentment project, I must be willing to let go of my hopes and dreams in favor of God's perfect plan for my life. Sometimes, that means letting go of the things I think I want or need in favor of what God says is best. That is hard for the control freak in me. It's also hard for the child in me who wants what I want when I want it. But when I read these verses, I realize how silly my thinking is. I am asking for bronze when God wants to give me GOLD. Who would want bronze instead of gold?
Instead of looking at my prayers as unanswered I need to rest in the truth. God has something better for me. That will probably look like something entirely different than I expect but that is the amazing thing about God - He is so much bigger than our expectations.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
get well
I was reading today in John Chapter 5, when Jesus comes across a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. "When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, 'Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6) My first reaction was, "Why would Jesus ask that? And then my second reaction was to really think about that question. Why would Jesus ask that? It seems incomprehensible to me that the man would not want to get well but, truthfully, there are times we become comfortable in our "illness". Now I am not necessarily talking about a physical illness but a spiritual one.
Is there something you need healing from, a change you know needs to occur in your life? Are you resisting that healing for some reason? Are you blocking the work of the Holy Spirit in your life?
Why do we do this? One reason I think we do this is we fear change. We know what to expect in our current state. We may not like it, but we know it and it's comfortable. Another reason may be we actually like the drama our situation creates. It puts the focus exactly where we love it to be, on ourselves. Or maybe we just don't want to do the hard work we know is involved in making change happen.
So I have a question for you today - "Do you want to get well?" Whatever it is, whatever is going on in your life right now. Take some time to think about that before I tell you the rest of the story.
So the man gave a reply that in my life might sound something like this - But I don't have anyone to help me and everytime I try I get knocked back down again. But Jesus told the man, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." (John 5:8b) Now those of you who know me or have heard me speak may know how much I love these stories in the Bible when Jesus tells people who have been incapacitated for a long time to get up and walk. This took no small effort on the part of the man. He had to trust Jesus had healed him. He had to listen to his words, take them into his heart and put them into practice by standing up and walking.
Will you do the same today? Will I do the same? Do we want to get well? TRULY??? What if that means coming out of your comfort zone? What if that means no more complaining? What if that means you have to rescind all the invitations to your pity party? What if it means you have some hard work to do? What if it means you have to trust Jesus and get up and walk?
I will be completely honest with you - part of the reason I have not been writing this blog consistently is some part of me has not wanted to get well. My life has been a series of changes the past 3 years as we moved from the west coast to the east coast and back to the west coast again. My relationship with God has not been what it was 3 years ago when I had a strong force of women friends backing me up and encouraging me daily. Writing this blog makes me confront my part in that relationship and I have not been wanting to do that. It takes hard work and frankly, I have been quite comfortable taking the easy road. But this question really spoke to me today and I DO want to get well. I want that same intimacy with my savior I had then and I think I am finally ready to get up and walk!!!!
Do you want to get well?
Is there something you need healing from, a change you know needs to occur in your life? Are you resisting that healing for some reason? Are you blocking the work of the Holy Spirit in your life?
Why do we do this? One reason I think we do this is we fear change. We know what to expect in our current state. We may not like it, but we know it and it's comfortable. Another reason may be we actually like the drama our situation creates. It puts the focus exactly where we love it to be, on ourselves. Or maybe we just don't want to do the hard work we know is involved in making change happen.
So I have a question for you today - "Do you want to get well?" Whatever it is, whatever is going on in your life right now. Take some time to think about that before I tell you the rest of the story.
So the man gave a reply that in my life might sound something like this - But I don't have anyone to help me and everytime I try I get knocked back down again. But Jesus told the man, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." (John 5:8b) Now those of you who know me or have heard me speak may know how much I love these stories in the Bible when Jesus tells people who have been incapacitated for a long time to get up and walk. This took no small effort on the part of the man. He had to trust Jesus had healed him. He had to listen to his words, take them into his heart and put them into practice by standing up and walking.
Will you do the same today? Will I do the same? Do we want to get well? TRULY??? What if that means coming out of your comfort zone? What if that means no more complaining? What if that means you have to rescind all the invitations to your pity party? What if it means you have some hard work to do? What if it means you have to trust Jesus and get up and walk?
I will be completely honest with you - part of the reason I have not been writing this blog consistently is some part of me has not wanted to get well. My life has been a series of changes the past 3 years as we moved from the west coast to the east coast and back to the west coast again. My relationship with God has not been what it was 3 years ago when I had a strong force of women friends backing me up and encouraging me daily. Writing this blog makes me confront my part in that relationship and I have not been wanting to do that. It takes hard work and frankly, I have been quite comfortable taking the easy road. But this question really spoke to me today and I DO want to get well. I want that same intimacy with my savior I had then and I think I am finally ready to get up and walk!!!!
Do you want to get well?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)