Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The #2 problem with Christianity

"Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life."
Psalm 139:24

This is a very special verse to me because a lot of the time I will quietly pray it to myself as a way to find out if there is anything that I may be putting in between my relationship with the Lord.  It helps me keep my relationship with God on track, by reminding myself that its completely okay to be honest with God and allow for Him to show me the areas of my walk with Him where I'm slipping up. This is something that I have to do often, because God's the teacher and I'm the student. I'm learning something new from Him everyday.

Last night, I found myself praying this prayer to God once again. It's not that I felt distance from God or anything, instead I simply felt nothing. God's presence was there with me, but the passion I have always typically felt in my relationship with Him was not. The second I tasted God's goodness, I knew I wanted more of it every day for the rest of my life. Now that I have become familiar with God's "taste," its very easy for me to recognize when it is gone or dying down.

God quietly responded to my prayer by letting me know that actually this time I hadn't replaced Him with anything. Instead, I had run away from one of the problems in my life, which had prohibited me from receiving His grace in full measure. I saw a set of risky and unfavorable circumstances in front of me that God was calling me to tackle head on, and I became scared. Instead of responding obediently to what God had called me to do, I ran in the opposite direction. 

"Jessica, how can you ever expect to really know me if you run away from the things I have called you to do, no matter how impossible they may seem?"

I then thought back to all of the times where God has been faithful in my walk with Him, even when I doubted Him a million times. I told the Lord that I was sorry, and asked Him to forgive me for running away from what He had called me to do. The truth is that it was easy to run away. It was easy for me to take the "safe and comfortable route" away from the problem placed in front of me. As I look back on my walk with Jesus though, I am reminded that the majority of the time He has placed me in uncomfortable situations.  I am able to see how much I was able to grow through these experiences, as I relied on His strength more than ever to get me through.

The truth is, if we want God to become something more to us than just a guy we visit on Sundays, then we must accept that the majority of the time He will place us in uncomfortable situations. God will become a lot more real to us in our lives if we make that first step in choosing courage over fear. Although He doesn't promise to take away circumstances in our lives that we may not be in favor of, He does promise that He is with us continuously, & God wants us to trust and believe that that promise from Him is enough. 

Has God called you to do something recently that your afraid of? Are you running away from an area of your life that God wants you to stand firm in? I know I have doubted God and ran away from Him plenty of times, but when I finally decided to pull through and trust Him even in the tough times, I was truly able to experience His love for me. 

Love always, Jess 

4 comments:

  1. Love this post, Jessica! It really encouraged me where I am with the Lord and where I believe He is leading me, even though it can be scary at times. I have to constantly remind myself that fear is not of the Lord, and that if I am feeling any kind of fear I am most likely headed in the right direction, as the enemy loves to make us feel afraid or unable to accomplish what God brings us to.

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  2. Love this Jess. Especially since I've been running myself lately. Fear has been beating courage lately. and its not major things. Its small things that later can turn into big things. God always brings us thru it and yet still I always run b/c I'm terrified of things. I enjoyed reading this. and read all of it Out Loud word for word and got lots out of it. Thanks darlin. Have a glorious day.

    pinkowl07.blogspot.com

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  3. This post was so easy to relate to! The verse at the top is one I had not read in a long time and honestly had forgotten about. Thanks for the reminder to constantly be asking God what it is he wants us to do or repent of. I prayed for you this morning that you would have a divine confidence to do what God has called you to do whether it be seemingly big or small. Sometimes God calls us to do things that are uncomfortable or could create awkward moments. I really felt God tell me this morning that even though the situation is uncomfortable, we need to trust his divine plan because he sees the past present and future and he is a good God who calls us to do good things. I'm not sure exactly what that plan looks like for each of us and it will be different for each person but we can trust him in all that he calls us to do! LOVE YOU!

    LivingThroughHisLens.blogspot.com

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  4. I relate to this post SOOOO much Jess. I'm feeling the exact same way, just sort of dry, and I believe you're right. I too am running away, but I think it's because I'm running away from the present, from being in high school, living such a structured life, and not truly being thankful for what God has for me in the present. I'm not appreciating it, and instead, running from it. Girl, I am reading through these posts of yours, and you are speaking right to me! Love you and love this blog!! I hope you're having a great week!

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