I can't sleep tonight...this seems to be the case a lot here lately. Not sure if it is from working night shift or just things on my mind but nonetheless it allows for sweet times with the Lord! So I guess I won't complain :)
Lately the Lord has been showing me that my heart has been elsewhere for quite some time and not fully devoted to Him. In showing me this, he has been teaching me the importance of pursuing Him with all that I am-even when I don't want to. Maybe some you always want to pursue God with all that you are, but not me...honestly, it can be a struggle to give God all of my heart. I'm finding, however, that it is completely worth it to give God all of my heart; he tends to handle it a whole better than I ever could.
Tonight I ended up in the book of Hosea. Hosea 6:3 says "Let us strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land." God has brought me back to the place of abundance...which is that place of knowing him. But what God is showing me is that it takes effort. I must strive to know him!
It's funny, though, Israel was not truly repentant in this verse...they did not truly strive to know the Lord. They continued their idol worship. I cannot fully know God and continue to have idols in my life. My heart must be fully His. Nothing else is worthy of my effort or my energy! Only Christ!
Webster defines "strive" as devoting serious effort or energy. Am I devoting my effort or energy to knowing Him? Ha actually here lately I have been devoting my effort and energy into work. Im picking up extra shifts to help out at the hospital and the Lord is convicting me that in order to strive to know Him I have to have energy to do that. After 36 hours on night shift and a 12 hour day shift...there is not a whole lot of energy left to know Him.
When I strive to know Him, I WILL know him because He has promised me that I will. James 4:8, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people."
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Must I Move Forward??
This post was written a couple of weeks ago and I never got around to posting it (probably because I still wasn't ready to move forward...) but I think it is pertinent to my life right now more than ever!
So I'm in a rut...a place that I can't get out of...well that's not entirely true; it's a place that I don't really want to get out of. It is a place of comfort but NOT a place of abundance. Sometimes it is easier to be in a place of comfort. I find myself wondering why I can't get out of this particular place I am in; then, it dawns on me-I don't want to. I want to sulk and feel sorry for myself because it is easier than moving on and moving forward.
Why am I scared of moving forward? Because I do not know what that place ahead will hold. I only know that God is telling me to move forward. Does God have ill intentions for my life...NO! Would I ever dare say that he has ill intentions towards me...nope! But that is exactly what I am saying when I refuse to move forward. I am saying I do not trust that the place ahead is better than this place of comfort. Another fear I have of moving forward is that I will forget what is in the past. But why? Doesn't God's word command us to do just that: "Forget the former things...see I am doing a new thing" If I want to move forward, I must stop looking backwards.
Okay awesome, I have figured out my diagnosis but what in the world is the cure for my predicament. Well, that is where God's word speaks truth into my life. I was talking to friend today about the book of Joshua and just could not stop thinking about it, so that is where I immediately went to when I opened my Bible (side note: I love how the Lord works through other believers in order to teach us!) In Joshua 1:6-9 the Lord is addressing Joshua after Moses' death. I could imagine there was a sense of hesitancy among the Israelites about going into the Promised Land after becoming comfortable in the Wilderness for 40 years. I could imagine some of them were feeling the same way I feel tonight. As the Lord addresses Joshua, three things jump out from the Scriptures:
1. Be strong and courageous
2. Be very careful to follow the Lord's commands
3. Meditate on his scripture.
So this is what I must do...I must seek the Lord. I must be intentional about moving forward. It won't be easy but it is NECESSARY. Meditating on God's scripture and following his commands take intentional decisions to do so. So here I go...I am deciding tonight to move forward, even though I don't want to. I am trusting that God will once again bring me to a place of abundance...that place of knowing Him more intimately.
So I'm in a rut...a place that I can't get out of...well that's not entirely true; it's a place that I don't really want to get out of. It is a place of comfort but NOT a place of abundance. Sometimes it is easier to be in a place of comfort. I find myself wondering why I can't get out of this particular place I am in; then, it dawns on me-I don't want to. I want to sulk and feel sorry for myself because it is easier than moving on and moving forward.
Why am I scared of moving forward? Because I do not know what that place ahead will hold. I only know that God is telling me to move forward. Does God have ill intentions for my life...NO! Would I ever dare say that he has ill intentions towards me...nope! But that is exactly what I am saying when I refuse to move forward. I am saying I do not trust that the place ahead is better than this place of comfort. Another fear I have of moving forward is that I will forget what is in the past. But why? Doesn't God's word command us to do just that: "Forget the former things...see I am doing a new thing" If I want to move forward, I must stop looking backwards.
Okay awesome, I have figured out my diagnosis but what in the world is the cure for my predicament. Well, that is where God's word speaks truth into my life. I was talking to friend today about the book of Joshua and just could not stop thinking about it, so that is where I immediately went to when I opened my Bible (side note: I love how the Lord works through other believers in order to teach us!) In Joshua 1:6-9 the Lord is addressing Joshua after Moses' death. I could imagine there was a sense of hesitancy among the Israelites about going into the Promised Land after becoming comfortable in the Wilderness for 40 years. I could imagine some of them were feeling the same way I feel tonight. As the Lord addresses Joshua, three things jump out from the Scriptures:
1. Be strong and courageous
2. Be very careful to follow the Lord's commands
3. Meditate on his scripture.
So this is what I must do...I must seek the Lord. I must be intentional about moving forward. It won't be easy but it is NECESSARY. Meditating on God's scripture and following his commands take intentional decisions to do so. So here I go...I am deciding tonight to move forward, even though I don't want to. I am trusting that God will once again bring me to a place of abundance...that place of knowing Him more intimately.
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