Since this whole new adventure I'm on is taking longer than I thought it would, I thought I'd pop on over here and say hello to you.
You remember a few months ago (a few few months ago and a few times over) I was supposed to speak at a thingy for PHM and it would snow, or something would happen and I never really got to. Well, I'm getting ready to. This particular subject has been on my heart for a LONG time and is one of the many 'things' I like to personally use with God. It goes a little something like this:
Lord, I know you want me to go there and be that...but do you remember what I was way back then before I was this? Usually He says something like: 'Yep' or 'And?' or 'I'm sorry...you where whining again and that pitch just gets drowned out...' And sometimes I get nothing, which to me means: 'We aren't talking about this'.
Then, as I was thinking about this whole subject, my title, the dying species dropping like flies all around us (otherwise known as humans), our inability to get past our past long enough to see God's future for us, it dawned on me...what about the person that is called but still struggles with wanting to be that, back there, back then...? The idea that just doesn't happen is absurd, mind you, called or not called, we're all humans dealing with fallible emotions and actions. We set out on a course to do the right thing, but somewhere a long the way, temptation sets in and we want to be that, back there, back then... 1 Peter says Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Listen, the enemy is on the prowl, but don't miss the first part of the text 'Be self controlled..' You have to own your stuff. It's very easy for us to look at our situations of sin and point our finger at the devil and say 'he made me do it...I was just under SUCH persecution and the devil just swooped right in...' Does that happen? Yes. But sometimes...SOMETIMES we just don't take responsibility for our stuff. Sometimes we want the back then and that emotion takes hold of us and we end up making our own decision in sin...to sin. Does the enemy love it? Of course he does and he'll use every bit of it against you.
I saw a young girl who was about 20 today, pregnant, standing on a street corner holding a sign that said 'Anything helps'. I thought, how are we so much like that? We stand on the corner holding up a sign to God that states: Bail me out. Just hand it to me Lord, I don't want to do the work, I just need you to hand me the easy way out. I won't launch into how one of the problems with America is our work ethic, but seriously, when did that spill over into our Spiritual walk? When did you ever think being a Christian was all about being bailed out by the Almighty. Sometimes, we have to role up our sleeves, look at our disaster, then look up to Heaven and say: Lord, that is my disaster, I own it, but man do I need some of your muscle to help me get through this one and clean up.
So what do we do when we're faced with the growing vines of our past, sneaking up our legs, trying to pull us under? How do we gain that self control? Well, Peter talks about that too. 2 Peter 1:6 says Knowing God leads to self control. Self control leads to patient endurance. Pretty self explanatory. Know Him. Seek Him. Open your Bible and find Him. This is a never ending process. You and I will never get to a point where we know so much of God we're just done. You're not going to wake up one day and realize that God has been neatly wrapped up in a book and there isn't much more to know. I'm never going to look at you and say 'Welp, that bout sums Him up, not much else to figure out'. Seek Him.
Speaking of summing it up, that about does it for me. I'm on to find something else to obsess about. Love you all!
Sara
