So as I ponder the events of the past week I sit here in a cafe, sipping my dark roast coffee and eating my banana bread wondering..."Have I missed something?" I'm not sure what I've learned this week. Or what God has taught me. Maybe nothing, but I find it hard to believe that I haven't learned anything when God is always teaching us if we are willing. And I am willing. When I pray I ask God to teach me because I am willing. I want to be taught and lead by the Spirit in everything that I do and say. Especially what I say. I find that most often the times when God uses me the most is when I speak. He has slowly started to help me with my actions towards people, and not just my friends but even people on the bus and in the mall and at work. But when it comes to my close friends, it seems as if I always gets these thoughts in my head - that I know come from God - and I say them.
For example, this morning I was speaking to a friend and she commented about the comfort level at two different churches. (To clarify, she didn't call them comfort levels, but that's what I'm calling it.) She said that she felt more comfortable at this one church because they liked to turn the lights in the audience way down for the service, and at this other church it seemed like the lights were always on way bright. Now, this is valid. I guess it is important how we feel when we worship God...but! and that's a big BUT...isn't worship supposed to be about God and not us? David ran through the streets naked in the Old Testament, praising God. He didn't care. So why should we? Why should we conform to a specific environment when it comes to worshipping together, whether in a church service setting or in a small group. I guess I fall short of believing even what I'm writing about right now. Sometimes I worry about, "what will my baptist church think if I raise my hands?" or "what will the people beside me think if I start praising God in the spaces in between worship sets?" I think those things. Why? Because I'm human and we grow up worrying about what people think about us or the way we look. Society tries to instill in us a "what if they think I'm weird" or "what will they think" type of attitude. It's wrong. But the only thing we can do is...conform? NO! Change it so that it fits with what God says in His word.
I challenge you, the reader, to search your heart and ask God to help you not care about what the people around you may think about you. And it doesn't matter what it is. I know for me right now, I'm asking God to help me to not care about what people think when I mention "God" or "prayer". Or even the fact that I'm going to church. It's hard. It's not easy...especially if you haven't been used to sharing stuff like that in the past - like me. But more and more I'm finding that it's becoming easier. I want people to think "Now I know why she's always radiating with joy". God's love makes me happy. God's grace is so amazing that I don't want to hide that. I want to show the world that Jesus is the only answer and that He can be that answer in anyones life. No matter what you've been through or what you're going through.
A song that has been in my mind all week is the song by Paul Baloche called "Jesus You Are".
For those who don't know the song, the chorus says:
"Jesus, You are, You are. Everything I'm not and everything that I want to be."
That's my prayer this week. That I can grab those words and believe them with all of my heart. I hope that today's entry can somehow motivate you, no matter what it is you're going through or where you find yourself today as you go about your day.
Blessings,
Hilda
No comments:
Post a Comment