On this trip, we came equipped with a little fellow by the name Tom Tom, our trusty GPS who kept the way straight, if narrow at times. That being said when I made it back home, a thought entered my mind about the will of God.
So many times we can struggle with the lack of belief for what we think God wants from us. So many times we break down and burn out because we force ourselves on a path we believe righteous in His eyes which only leads to dead ends. Lately I have been discovering that God doesn't want us to incessantly do do do!
He just wants us to be.
Us and Him alone, returning to our first loves. Our love and our passion cannot be ministry, it can't be to bring in the lost or to heal the sick. As corny as it is, it remains true; we are human beings, not human doings. I often laugh when I hear it come up in a church service, but if only I grasped what it actually meant.
Got created us just to be.
He created us to be with us. There's nothing we can do to make Him love us more! No mistakes we can make that will lessen His admiration for us. Not only does He love us, he likes us and calls us beautiful. There's nothing we can do to change the way He sees us. No matter how many wrong turns we make, God always shows us the way to get back onto the straight and narrow, just like our friend Tom. How easy it is to trust in Tom, why can't we trust God? Sometimes we may question what the road looks like.
On our trip to Cornerstone, Tom had us turn off of a main highway down a tiny back street. The road was very narrow, with steep inclines on either side. Up and down and up and down the tiny gravel road took us, but we stayed on it because we knew it would lead us to our destination. We questioned it, we strongly considered turning around, but we kept going. It lead us through a river, yes literally, we drove our faithful minivan through a river. This was an incredibly abscure road that did not feel like it would lead us anywhere we wanted to be, but it did. We came out on the other side, back onto the highway, just a few miles from Cornerstone.
In life we come to so many intersections. Sometimes we feel like we're on the right road, the pavement is fresh and glistening in the sun. It's smooth as luxury under our wheels, ideal for keeping any spirits high on a long trip. Then we round the bend and see exactly why it is the way it is. Coming into view is the very unwelcoming sight of construction signs. The road isn't finished, the workers are still working, it's all torn up and every vehicle is getting turned around. Now Tom doesn't even know what to do, he has it registered as a working road. It's these times we wish we didn't question God's will. No matter what it looks like, it will take us to His destination.
When we slow down and get back to the place of being in love with God, maturing in our relationship with Him is when He's going to trust us with His ministry. He knows there are lost, hurting people, oh how He knows!, and it breaks His heart when we work ourselves to exhaustion to save them. We will be able to do so much more for His kingdom when we find our strength daily in the shadow of His wing. There is no offering that is going to make God love us more. He just wants us! When God can trust us to trust Him, He'll show us the path. By His grace and loving kindness He'll always lead us back to His will, but are we willing to take the gravel, or are we going to pretend we know better?
When discussing with friends "being" in relation to our walk with God, I have often shared the story I once read by Elisabeth Elliot in which she relates a conversation with her daughter. You wrote "God created us just to be.", which reminded me once again of this.
ReplyDelete"When you were small you used to at times say "some people" when you were really referring to yourself. One night when we were on board ship you were tucked into the upper berth and just finished your evening prayers.
"God made everything in the world". you then said to me, "but some people don't know why He made jellyfish and tigers." You had been stung once by a jellyfish and "tigers" were waht you called the ocelots and jaguars that lived inthe jungle where we were living. Indians were afraid of them and so of course, were you. But you were not asking specifically WHY God made them. You did not understand it, but you were not admitting that you did not understand it. You were only observing philosophically that there were those who did not, and, tactfully, you were suggesting that your mother might be amongst them. Your three-year-old mind could hardly have grapsed the implications ofhte mystery you had touched on,. For an answer would have to include, from a human standoint, an ecplanation of human suffering.Yet, the jellyfish and the tiger "know" what they were made for. They, with all the sea monsters and all the deeps, fire nad hail, snow and frost, mountains and hills, beasts and all cattle, praise the Lord. BY BEING A JELLYFISH THE JELLYFISH GLORIFIES ITS CREATOR, FOR BY BEING A JELLYFISH IT FULFILLS ITS CREATOR'S COMMAND."
Just being who God created us to be is obedience and glorifies him. What a thought!