My Pursuit of God - Rather His of Me...
I must confess, looking back on my life, I can see that God was always there, always knocking, always present, always rescuing me or protecting me from my own stupidity, yet I turned away from Him. I rejected Him. I didn't care to know Him, and for a while didn't have the influence in my life to teach me about Him, but honestly, even when the godly influences did come into my life, I rejected those too. I was mad at Him for my mom's death and it took me pretty much until last year to realize that He wasn't to blame, but to thank for getting me and my family through the loss... She died in 1988, so that's a LONG time to hold a grudge against God!
Last year, my circumstances left me little choice but to run to God. If I hadn't run to Him, I probably wouldn't be here today. So when Di mentioned that He won't knock the door down, He may not, but it seems like He did knock my door down! Rather maybe Satan did, but God was right there, cause He'd been knocking! When I finally realized how much I needed God, and saw how He had always been there, I could not get enough of His Word. I was reading, praying, and journaling every morning and every night! I was SO hungry! Then, just as the Israelites did, when things started to get better, my hunger and pursuit died down. This saddened me and I wondered what the problem was. Then I realized that, as Di used the soccer analogy, I was stuck with my cleats in the grass! I wasn't going forward in His call for my life, I got stuck in a new comfort zone and I got distracted by things that I needed to leave in His hands. Now I see that this new comfort zone isn't where He wants me... So, in getting out of that comfort zone, and moving forward with what He's calling me to do, I feel the need to pursue Him, the need to trust Him... not forced by Him but called by Him...
What this is teaching me is that God wants us to trust Him. He doesn't want us to be complacent. He doesn't want us to live stagnant lives. He wants us to continually pursue Him and be a mirror of His image. People should be able to see Him in us always and that requires continually getting to know Him, pursuing a relationship with him. Just like married couples who start to look like one another as they get older, or their personalities start to mesh, it's because they are continually putting work into their relationship, so we should continually put work into our relationship with God so we start to look like Him, and our personality would mesh into His.
It is my continued prayer that, as Pastor Brandon talked about, our church would keep its edge and each of us would be that person who, when someone asks how we're doing, instead of just saying "good" or "fine" we would be excited to share what God is doing!
I'm excited! God is doing great things in Washington and all around the globe! And WE are blessed enough to be called to be a part of it!
I hope you are all having a great week!
In Him,
Mari
Last year, my circumstances left me little choice but to run to God. If I hadn't run to Him, I probably wouldn't be here today. So when Di mentioned that He won't knock the door down, He may not, but it seems like He did knock my door down! Rather maybe Satan did, but God was right there, cause He'd been knocking! When I finally realized how much I needed God, and saw how He had always been there, I could not get enough of His Word. I was reading, praying, and journaling every morning and every night! I was SO hungry! Then, just as the Israelites did, when things started to get better, my hunger and pursuit died down. This saddened me and I wondered what the problem was. Then I realized that, as Di used the soccer analogy, I was stuck with my cleats in the grass! I wasn't going forward in His call for my life, I got stuck in a new comfort zone and I got distracted by things that I needed to leave in His hands. Now I see that this new comfort zone isn't where He wants me... So, in getting out of that comfort zone, and moving forward with what He's calling me to do, I feel the need to pursue Him, the need to trust Him... not forced by Him but called by Him...
What this is teaching me is that God wants us to trust Him. He doesn't want us to be complacent. He doesn't want us to live stagnant lives. He wants us to continually pursue Him and be a mirror of His image. People should be able to see Him in us always and that requires continually getting to know Him, pursuing a relationship with him. Just like married couples who start to look like one another as they get older, or their personalities start to mesh, it's because they are continually putting work into their relationship, so we should continually put work into our relationship with God so we start to look like Him, and our personality would mesh into His.
It is my continued prayer that, as Pastor Brandon talked about, our church would keep its edge and each of us would be that person who, when someone asks how we're doing, instead of just saying "good" or "fine" we would be excited to share what God is doing!
I'm excited! God is doing great things in Washington and all around the globe! And WE are blessed enough to be called to be a part of it!
I hope you are all having a great week!
In Him,
Mari
posted by Mari | 2:24 PM
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