We have been taught by the world that we are deep thinkers. We feel that the questions we ask and answer are truly divine. We search for God and think it's our search when it isn't. I love the line on page 31 in the second paragraph that reads, "...peole don't seek God on their own initiative. They won't ask about spiritual matters unless God is working in their lives." That mean us. We don't have it in us to seek God. That is why we have to join Him in what He is doing.
I remember writing a poem when I was a young Christian and it had this line in it, "...I lift my hands in worship and then I see that it is He praising Himself..." Even for my worship to be relevant, He has to invite me to it.
We ask to see God so that we become like Him - here's the opportunity. Listen for when people began to ask questions about God. When they have spiritual matters on their hearts -it's God at work. When you hear those things, ask God to allow you to join Him there. Ask your part in what He is doing.
I like the last paragraph on that same page, "For two years we had tried to do something for God and failed. For three days we looked to see where God was working and joined Him."
Everything I read in this study relates to and resonates within me and shakes something up inside of me. In another book that I just finished, the author asks God to unsettle her. That's what I feel is happening to me, I'm being unsettled. I feel like God has just pulled the covers off me and proclaimed, 'Come on, get up. Get out of your sleepy [Christian] bed and follow me, stop laying there saying you're a Christian with your eyes closed and your body at rest.'
ReplyDeleteSome days it seems that in becoming a Christian, all I did was climb into bed with Jesus and find comfort there - but now there's work to be done and He's [more than gently] nudging me. And those aren't slippers next to the bed for me to slip on, they're leather sandals waiting for me to break them in...
Helen, you are amazing! That post rocked me. I sing the same song. I am ready to move forward. I am willing to go the distance without His having to coax me and drag me. My flesh will be crucified. I will proclaim the Gospel and overcome! I love your spirit to press. Amen!
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