It's All About Me
Yeah, you heard the title right - but let me explain...I've started getting honest with myself and have realized that my approach to life has been very selfish. I'm not looking for sympathy comments or self-esteem boosters, and this isn't a competition to see how critical I can be on myelf...no, this is a realistic evaluation. I've been pressing deeper in my relationship with God over the past couple of months, and as I've been doing so, the question that bogs my heart is what has been keeping me so distant? Why can't I give over areas in my life? Why am I not experiencing "oneness" with the One who created me?
And the simple answer is a fatty arrow pointing back at me. How many times haven't you heard someone say "God is distant right now", as if He's taken the the first flight to the other side of the world! "Why can't I feel God's presence? Why can't I hear Him? Why isn't He telling me where my life should be going?" Um...have you tried turning off the noise of this world and actually putting some EFFORT into your relationship (again...big fat arrow pointing at me!) We've turned into obese children, wondering why we can't keep off the pounds while we stuff our face full of calorie pie, and even saying the word "exercise" leaves us breathless! WHY IS IT SO HARD????
Well, simply put, because we are the problem...and just to humour you - also the solution! As you look at your life, your decisions, why you do things...I challenge you to ask yourself what your motivations are. If you're doing things for God, chances are you are a cheerful kingdom worker who can't wait for the next time to serve, or spend spare time reading your Bible and praying. People walking all over you and taking advantage of your giving nature doesn't bother you because you're not doing it for them...your doing it for God!
However, if you're doing it for yourself (to feel good, to look good, to score some extra brownie points or to remain under the radar!) chances are there's a twang of self-pity somewhere - "I always get stuck with this job", or "nobody ever thanks me". Maybe it's a king-sized portion of bitterness - "Why am I the only one doing this?", "Why aren't others pulling their weight". Or maybe, just maybe, you're hung up on a bit of self-appointed martyrdom - "Nobody will do it, so I have to do it!". Did I mention anything about a fatty arrow?!!! You can masquerade behind a smile and doing lots of things FOR God, but the attitude definitely needs to be checked!
I'm taken back to the OT where Elijah is hiding out on a mountain from Jezebel. "I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your alters, and killed Your prophets with the sword...I ALONE AM LEFT!" Talk about pity party. His mistake was that he invited God!
God's response is amazing really...He had the opportunity to show Elijah that He was standing beside him all along, and that there were others as well. Elijah couldn't "see" God because his vision was limited to his own wisdom.
God took him to the side of the mountain and brought a wicked wind, an earthquake and fire before Him...but HE wasn't in those "powerful"things. And after those had passed, a still small voice...and in that voice, God was present. (You can read it for yourself in I Kings 19 if you want a more indepth version!)
Basically what this passage is portraying is two things...1)God does not always work (or speak) in the ways that we expect Him to...and 2)silence does not equate to inactivity. Sometimes we are the ones talking all the time, that God can't even get a word in edgewise! There needs to come a point in our lives where we just LISTEN. Did you hear that? LISTEN!!! That means not finishing off God's sentances with what we assume to know, or trying to put words in His mouth, or analyzing the dead horse adnausium just to be the sharpest tool in the shed...We need to humble ourselves before our God and hear what He has to say. Let Him speak to us - how He chooses and when He chooses.
I've noticed that most BIG TALKERS will chat on and on and on just to cover up what is lacking...as if telling themselves over and over there is no problem, or pretending there is no problem will make it disappear. Christians can be the same way. We keep talking and talking to cover up a lack of a solid relationship with God...as if speaking (and doing things for Him) will make the emptiness disappear. I hate to tell ya folks...it ain't going anywhere until you learn to listen with BOTH ears and your heart to what He has to say, and work on building your relationship on communication BEFORE drowning yourself in service and diverting conversation. Spend QUALITY time with God, and your life (and service) will be transformed...that I can PROMISE! Let Him be your motivation - your starting point. Don't forget, it's really not about you...but it does start with you!
And the simple answer is a fatty arrow pointing back at me. How many times haven't you heard someone say "God is distant right now", as if He's taken the the first flight to the other side of the world! "Why can't I feel God's presence? Why can't I hear Him? Why isn't He telling me where my life should be going?" Um...have you tried turning off the noise of this world and actually putting some EFFORT into your relationship (again...big fat arrow pointing at me!) We've turned into obese children, wondering why we can't keep off the pounds while we stuff our face full of calorie pie, and even saying the word "exercise" leaves us breathless! WHY IS IT SO HARD????
Well, simply put, because we are the problem...and just to humour you - also the solution! As you look at your life, your decisions, why you do things...I challenge you to ask yourself what your motivations are. If you're doing things for God, chances are you are a cheerful kingdom worker who can't wait for the next time to serve, or spend spare time reading your Bible and praying. People walking all over you and taking advantage of your giving nature doesn't bother you because you're not doing it for them...your doing it for God!
However, if you're doing it for yourself (to feel good, to look good, to score some extra brownie points or to remain under the radar!) chances are there's a twang of self-pity somewhere - "I always get stuck with this job", or "nobody ever thanks me". Maybe it's a king-sized portion of bitterness - "Why am I the only one doing this?", "Why aren't others pulling their weight". Or maybe, just maybe, you're hung up on a bit of self-appointed martyrdom - "Nobody will do it, so I have to do it!". Did I mention anything about a fatty arrow?!!! You can masquerade behind a smile and doing lots of things FOR God, but the attitude definitely needs to be checked!
I'm taken back to the OT where Elijah is hiding out on a mountain from Jezebel. "I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your alters, and killed Your prophets with the sword...I ALONE AM LEFT!" Talk about pity party. His mistake was that he invited God!
God's response is amazing really...He had the opportunity to show Elijah that He was standing beside him all along, and that there were others as well. Elijah couldn't "see" God because his vision was limited to his own wisdom.
God took him to the side of the mountain and brought a wicked wind, an earthquake and fire before Him...but HE wasn't in those "powerful"things. And after those had passed, a still small voice...and in that voice, God was present. (You can read it for yourself in I Kings 19 if you want a more indepth version!)
Basically what this passage is portraying is two things...1)God does not always work (or speak) in the ways that we expect Him to...and 2)silence does not equate to inactivity. Sometimes we are the ones talking all the time, that God can't even get a word in edgewise! There needs to come a point in our lives where we just LISTEN. Did you hear that? LISTEN!!! That means not finishing off God's sentances with what we assume to know, or trying to put words in His mouth, or analyzing the dead horse adnausium just to be the sharpest tool in the shed...We need to humble ourselves before our God and hear what He has to say. Let Him speak to us - how He chooses and when He chooses.
I've noticed that most BIG TALKERS will chat on and on and on just to cover up what is lacking...as if telling themselves over and over there is no problem, or pretending there is no problem will make it disappear. Christians can be the same way. We keep talking and talking to cover up a lack of a solid relationship with God...as if speaking (and doing things for Him) will make the emptiness disappear. I hate to tell ya folks...it ain't going anywhere until you learn to listen with BOTH ears and your heart to what He has to say, and work on building your relationship on communication BEFORE drowning yourself in service and diverting conversation. Spend QUALITY time with God, and your life (and service) will be transformed...that I can PROMISE! Let Him be your motivation - your starting point. Don't forget, it's really not about you...but it does start with you!
posted by The Bean Bag Chair at 5:42 PM
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