Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Awakening: Adapt
Thursday
It has recently come to my attention that I live a very safe life. Truth be told, I have done everything I could think of to create a safe life. The suburban house wife, the mini van and the all important, if not physical, symbolic picket fence.
I didn't have a lot of safety as a child. As an adult most of the decisions I have made have been to make my life "better" then what I had. Sometimes I treat my Christianity as a stepping stone for the "better" life. Isn't that what it is? A place for good morals, happy children and good marriages.
What I didn't realize is that my picket fence isn't keeping out all of the bad. Instead it has kept me in a very safe "better" life than what I had. It isn't the "best" life that God has called me to live. How does my picket fence life show the power of my God?
God has been calling me to change. Change radically. To fall in love with Him dramatically. To respond with a faith that trusts Him with my life. I love my life. I love my husband, my kids, my home and all the treasure I have stored up in it. There isn't anything wrong with safety and security. I am scared of every step that calls me out of my safe place. Stronger than the fear, I have a desire to know what is outside this fence of mine. I am curious to see what God has beyond this "better" life of mine. I want to grasp the thing called "Christianity" that brings me first to my knees and second into following His plan.
How are you responding when God calls you to change?
Vision: Life Change
Wednesday
Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect? I am not talking about the movie but the theory that when and where a butterfly flaps its wings it could essentially effect when/where/and if there will be a tornado. I have always appreciated this theory and I believe it is in essence the idea that no matter how small, everything effects something.
There always seems to be a lot of talk about change when the new year comes. It is a time for self-reflection. Maybe the only time of year we re-evaluate where we have been, where we are and where we want to be. It is a good time to start new habits and try and get rid of the old ones. Try and follow my thought process here...what if I believed that one small thing that I change in my life, would have an effect as grand as the flapping of the wings of a butterfly? What if I believed for a moment that by living my life according to His Word that He will take that beyond anything I could conceive or imagine.
When I first started thinking about the idea of changing someones life, I thought that it was a little crazy and far fetched. Okay, maybe possible if you give me a year to build a real relationship with someone so that I can feel comfortable actually trying to "save" them. I have a tendency to only see what I am capable of and not what God is capable of doing with my obedience. If God can use the flapping of a butterfly's wings to change the direction of a tornado, is He not also capable of using my desire to change someones life for something beyond my foresight?
1 Corinthians 3:7-9 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is
anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are
one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are
God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
I don't know why God set it up so that He can use my life for His purpose. But, what an amazing thought to know that I am in partnership with Him. Whatever I choose to do today in response to His grace will be taken and used in a plan much bigger and greater then I will ever know.