I spent this last weekend once again arguing with God. Now, if doing that doesn't make me look stupid, WHAT I was arguing with Him over will without a doubt, make me look like the biggest idiot of all time. Think of Zachariah when Gabriel told him that Elizabeth was going to have a baby. They wanted and longed for one for so long yet, when the time came, he couldn't believe that their no was now a yes. Well, that was me. I got so complacent with my no that the thought of it turning to yes terrified me. Heck, it still does in some ways. Ten million reasons why it should stay no ran through my mind and I was praying for an answer. I was even going to ask for prayer until I heard the sermon on Sunday and was afraid they would think that I wasn't paying attention. Then walking home I was arguing and it all came out. I was telling God that I was comfortable and that is when it hit, right when that word went into my mind the problem became clear. I was comfortable.
When it comes to our walk with Christ, there is no standing still. And when we become comfortable, we become complacent. And when we become complacent, we stop moving forward. And that is when Satan starts sliding us ever so slowly backwards. And he does it slowly so that we don't recognize that we are moving. So God is placing me into another growth spurt. These are the areas that I pray that everyone holds me accountable at.
1. Don't tell God how it's going to be. I am on his team, not the other way around. After the last Skull Church service something was said to me that I'm not telling yet but I did tell Amanda while we were at Famous Dave's. Thinking that she would agree with me she suggested that the person was prophetic and that she could see it happen. My response was "When Hell freezes over" "Over my dead body" "When pigs fly" and so on. That was two weeks ago and I hear that Hell is preparing for a cold front to move in. Why? Because I thought that I was calling the shots. Nope! God does. I thought that I was getting better at just doing what God tells me to but evidently I still need some more work on it. I need to learn to be more submissive to God before I can be submissive to another human.
2. Stop freaking out. God isn't fazed by it and He wrote the book. If He's not worried then what gives me the right to be. It's in His hands and whatever shots He calls, I need to follow. The bible says "DO NOT BE AFRAID" 365 times. That's one for every day. If you count leap years, you are only allowed to be afraid one day every 4 years. I'm 41 which means that I'm only allowed 10 fear days and I think that I used them up ages ago. If I was to live long enough to make up my fear days, well, some would refer to me as an immortal. I really don't want to stay on this rock that long.
3. Don't be afraid to take risks. The only way to guarantee failure is to never try. I don't want to be known as a success at failing due to not taking any risks. Besides, that's what boring people do and I don't want to be boring. In some areas of my life, I am a risk taker but in others, in the ones that matter I tend to play it safe and that in itself is dangerous.
4. Stop praying for God to do the work. I need to pray that God will supply the provisions for me to do the work. In the book of Joshua, he didn't pray for God to kill his enemies, rather he prayed that God will supply the provisions for him to kill his enemies. While holding on to God's promise of victory. God is with us and He has already promised us victory in Him.
5. It's all or nothing baby. If God is going to give me His all, then I need to also give Him my all. Heart, soul, mind. I need to believe that God is giving me His best and stop trying to second guess. When He says that you can have it all, He doesn't mean everyone except me. I am included.
6. Growing pains are blessings. They may not seem like it at the time but if God is still growing me, He still has plans for me. He's not through or giving up. One of the beautiful things about being a Christian is that the best is always yet to come. And through these pains, bountiful fruit will blossom.
7. Keep Moving Forward. I know, it's like Disney's Meet the Robinsons. Seriously though, if we stop moving forward, we risk slipping backwards. Do you really want to relive your past? I know what's in mine and I am more then happy to let it stay behind me.
That's all for now. As I continue to grow there will be more. The list is probably too long to type even if I had a thousand years in which to do it in. In looking back, because there are times when it is beneficial, I see all that God has done and it amazes me that it was just the tip of the iceberg.
God Bless and remember to always be a Snakebird
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