Am I Ready? Am I Willing?

I am reading a book written by Anne Graham Lotz called The Magnificent Obsession.  The first chapter is about Genesis 12:1 - 13:4 and covers Abraham's choice to leave what is familiar to him and follow God to where He wanted to take him. Would you take a moment to read this passage and consider the decision that Abraham made so quickly to follow God to a place he had never been before! 
What is familiar to me is having people around me that extend grace to me, people who love me and have time for me, people who want to challenge me and help me learn more about God and desire to see me grow in my relationship with Christ.  I enjoy choosing the foods that I eat, I don't have to encounter animals I fear, I am comfortable in my home and my husband and I are able to pay our bills each month.  This all sounds nice, but where should I be?  I should be at a place that what I instead would describe as familiar to me is that I am 100% emotionally and physically dependent on God.  I should not rely on what I think is right, or what I have been taught is right....I should have a first impulse to read scripture - to look to the word of God that we have been given as a gift when seeking direction and answers!  I am surrounded by a quiet, careful, convenient culture; not a culture that would give everything away and leave family and friends easily.  My mind feels the pressure of the expectations to succeed; an expectation that I have assumed for myself or felt others had of me.  I push myself for success out of pride and an ingrained need to perform and I look for the same dedication in others toward what is valuable to them in their lives.  I would like to say that I desire any success I am allowed in life to be with God, BUT, really what I need to work on is pushing for God to reign successfully in my life.  Then possibly, if I am allowed any success in my life, I may not even realize it because my focus would be on Christ and Him receiving the glory!
Lord, help me to learn this well!

Growing up the impression I had of Christians was that we were to be good, be kind, participate in church activities and no one will question you.  I think this is a very dangerous place to be!

Shane Claiborne once said this bit in a video interview I watched of him. "And then I met Jesus and He wrecked my life..."

Do you feel like following what you know God is asking you to do will wreck your life?

When I ponder this thought I realize that I am stopping halfway with my desire to follow Christ.  Am I willing to respond to God's direction in my life as Abraham did?  Currently I am compromising my relationship with my Savior due to my chosen schedule, my desire for more sleep and my desire to keep my house clean and in order - but do these things have any eternal significance?  Am I willing and am I ready to let God "wreck" the life that I am building for myself in exchange for a life of following Christ?  Am I ready to surrender my schedule and trust God with my time, with my need for rest, and can I be okay with a house that isn't always clean and orderly?  Am I ready to experience the freedom that Abraham enjoyed in his obedient following of God to leave what was familiar to him and trust God with everything?

Lord, please stretch my faith and teach me to no longer compromise my relationship with You!

Are you ready?  Are you willing?

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The Graceful Melody

My life is full, my time is shared among many people, things and responsibilities.  Sometimes I feel blessed to be a part of so many things, sometimes I feel overwhelmed and stressed that I have chosen to commit to so many things, and sometimes I even feel bothered by my full schedule and it frustrates me that I feel helpless to empty it some, to eliminate something from it.  So I sit down and look at my upcoming weeks, or the things that fill my time regularly with the hope of finding something I can remove from my schedule to create more open time..... and I find myself rationalizing why I should keep each item again and again.

Lately I have been in the overwhelmed category.  I am craving time for quite reflection, time to pray, time to tell God how I am feeling, what I am thinking and ask Him questions.  Time to study the message He has shared with us so that I may learn more about Him.  How do I find time for this relationship that is most important to me?  How do I make this regular so that I am able to minister with joy and with Christ's unconditional and seeking love, rather than my own limited and categorical love?

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

In this passage Christ was offering something different than what the Pharisees were offering those who came to the temple.  Christ was offering Himself as a gift rather than the rules and lists that the Pharisees burdened people with and that they themselves hid behind.

1. God is asking me to enjoy this gift and spend more time with Him.  

By making time for Christ in my life, I am finding that I am experiencing more natural time for the other things in my life that are honorable priorities....and the things that are unnecessary seem to become more obvious and easier to remove from my schedule.

2. God is asking me to accept and truly believe His perspective of life and trust His plan! 

Seeing things through Christ's perspective has given me the ability to recognize purpose in many of the things I am a part of and to recognize what things do not contain purpose in my life that I either need to change or eliminate.

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." 

God's peace isn't temporary or a quick "happy time" fix.  God offers lasting and eternal peace!

3. In spending time with God, He leaves me with His peace but I have to recognize it and accept it!

I am reminded so often that God is there ready and waiting with all that His love has to offer me, but I get caught up in life and have to go back and refresh myself with what Christ is offering me on a daily basis and to accept it and believe that it is real!

4. Trust is required! 

God can accomplish so much with a life that is willing to trust Him with the plans that He has for them!

I am reminded often that I need to lay the burden's that I try to carry alone a Christ's feet, making sure that I am no longer attached to them in any way.  I need to choose Christ's perspective on life and I need to choose to carry that yoke instead of the one that I fashioned for myself.  Each day will be much easier to bear because I will be bearing it with Christ!  I need to accept His peace in my life that each day will work out as it should.  He will provide me with the strength and endurance to get through each day with JOY as long as I am choosing to view life through Christ rather than my own eyes.  Lastly, I need to then TRUST Christ with my schedule, my commitments, and my responsibilities and TRUST that if I keep my focus on Him,...He will be able to accomplish much through me! 

Is there anything that is overwhelming, or stressful to you in your life right now?

How are you handling it?  

In what ways are you trying to manage it with your own strength, and how might you be able to give more of it to God?

Do you believe in the rest and peace and ease that Christ is offering you?  

As I pray about my own choices and circumstance; may I invite you to set aside some time to talk to God about what you answered to the above questions?

May God's rest and peace be a part of the main melody of your every day and not just the occasional harmony!