I trust you had a very good Thanksgiving long weekend, and that you have had your fill of turkey until Christmas! (Except of course for the leftovers you will be eating all week ...)
It seems every time I feel I have gained any level of maturity in my "Christian walk" that God shows me the next level, and how truly far it is I have to go. That was my experience this weekend. I felt rather like the believers in Corinth must have felt when Paul wrote to them: "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready" (1 Corinthians 3:2). This has happened in the past, and has been accompanied by a certain level of frustration. But not this time. This time I find it rather exciting.
One of the things he has shown me is that I have not truly surrendered my life to Him. Whereas I have been thinking that there are perhaps just a few small areas left for me to give up, what He has told me is that I have not really given Him anything. But I have shown them to Him - saying "look - here is what I have to offer" without actually giving it to Him. But it does not feel like chiding or criticism, but rather encouragement. He is showing me the life that is available to me as I truly give Him control of my marriage, finances, schedule, morality, ethics. And my pride. Any of you who have been a reader of these messages for any length of time may have recognized how self-focussed they have been. Indeed this one is no different. But perhaps sharing my own journey is part of His will for me - that I will have to work out.
I am seeking His will for my life. And His answer is to abide in Christ and to try to be constantly aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. Baby steps. (Or perhaps baby food would be a better analogy.) But it is a new stage, and I am excited by it. I pray that God reveals the next step in your journey - that He lights your path.
Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you today,
Bruce
Lord, teach me to be patient - with life, with people,and with myself.
I sometimes try to hurry things along too much, and I push for answers before the time is right.
Teach me to trust Your sense of timing rather than my own and to surrender my will to Your greater and wiser plan.
Help me let life unfold slowly, like the small rosebud whose petals unravel bit by bit, and remind me that in hurrying the bloom along, I destroy the bud and much of the beauty therein.
Instead, let me wait for all to unfold in its own time.
Each moment and state of growth contains a loveliness.
Teach me to slow down enough to appreciate life and all it holds. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment