I've done a lot of complaining over the years about what God has not done for me and how my prayers haven't been answered [the way I want them to be which generally allows only the "yes" option of response].
Chilidhoods are never perfect and we take on a lot of wrong belief systems and we "buy into a lot of lies" as my husband, Randal, says. The devil whispers something in our ear when life isn't quite what it should be .. and before we know it, we are believing that God just doesn't care about us.
Most of us would never say those words ... after all, we do know what the Bible says and Christians don't really believe that God doesn't care.
Not too long ago I dug deep inside some of my belief systems and realized that I just didn't really trust God. I grew up pretty independent and seemed to like being that way ... and I was often told, "Don't ask anybody for anything," so I kinda "made my own way" and felt like I could accomplish anything I truly wanted to do.
Like Frank Sinatra, I really liked living life MY WAY. I actually felt like I was "letting go and letting God" in many areas of my life, but in reality, I hadn't let go of anything unless I just couldn't find an answer .. and then I only let go until I came up with another idea to try harder.
The world is full of challenges, trials and tribulations and God is here for us. That's why we ask Jesus into our hearts ..... that's why we give our lives to Him. But do we really? I've found that I wanted a bit of a compromise situation. Kinda like the couple that gets married but signs a prenuptial agreement. Commitment?
Most of us can look back at many stubborn choices we've made in life and many times that we insisted we deserved to have our rights. Living sacrifice? Is that for real?
We have a "sign" hanging in our kitchen that says:
A Servant's Heart - The true test of a servant is if I act like one when I'm treated like one.
Hmmm.... in a world of advertising that promotes "what's in it for me" and television sitcoms bombarding us with anything but images of living the Christian life, it's hard to go back to what the Bible says about how we are to live. It almost seems impossible.
We've been deceived. God hasn't changed. Society has. We need to get over the past mistakes and imperfections of childhood and get to the roots of our belief systems and move onward. Change behaviors. Build character without digging your heels in.
I present my case that God isn't at fault. We are! If we gave our life to Jesus, we have no rights. He died for us to have victory over sin. Align yourself with the Word and begin tomorrow with a different outlook.
There's plenty to grumble about, but there's plenty to be joyful about also. I feel I have an obligation to smile and think happy thoughts ... after all Jesus died so that I could. We often are not as bad off as the world tells us we are if we just sink ourselves into Papa God's lap and trust Him to make us more Christlike. That's all we're left here for! So, we may as well get about the business of doing it.
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