Have you ever paused and considered what you would tell your younger self? I think it’s a good practice because it forces us to stop, to take stock of how much we’ve grown. And odds are, the advice we’d give to the younger generation is advice we still need to hear now.
Let’s talk about it…
I know what my flesh wants, but my soul is resigned to your will, Father. Don’t let this turn out according to my plans. Rather, strengthen me to endure so that your perfect will may come to pass.
There’s an interesting juxtaposition in this Ephesians passage: first, God saved us through His own grace and not by anything we did or could ever do for ourselves. But also, we were created to do good works. So even though we could not save ourselves, there is still something we can do on the other side of God’s salvation.
Everything around us is planned – bus schedules, movie times, meetings with agendas, etc. all so that we can schedule our lives accordingly. Sometimes it can even feel like we are at the mercy of some master calendar that we didn’t sign off on. But if Jesus is Lord, then we are on his calendar. So why are we still bound by culture’s schedule? Let’s talk about it…
How do you know if your worship is pleasing to God? Can it be measured by how you feel? Is it counted in the number of tears you shed during the last song on a Sunday morning or by how high you lift your hands? One hand or two hands?
If God opened our eyes to all that He is, all that He is doing, how might we be changed?
What is it about the chemically manufactured, lacking in nutritional value, factory processed food that has us convinced manmade is better than farm fresh? Anyone who has spent a Saturday at the farmers market knows how much more flavorful and satisfying it is to eat the food that God gave us. Yet we are still addicted to the fare we create for ourselves. Why are we like this?
Let’s go back to God’s intention in the Garden – did people actually mess that up? God’s intention before the fall was to be in close relationship with man, for us to choose and enjoy Him. Isn’t that still His intention? So did we mess up God’s plan, or did He just accomplish it in an unexpected way?
Let me ask you a question… how much of your stress / anxiety / tension / insert-difficult-emotional-experience-here can be attributed to the boundary of time? When it comes to the timing of God, we just don’t get it.
You are only one small piece to a much larger puzzle. Before the puzzle comes together and begins to reflect the image of its Maker, the other pieces have to be gathered. If you can’t see the whole image in your own life yet, wait for the other pieces to show up. God has to make them aware that something is missing the same way He made you aware of it.