HAVE WE LOST OUR CHRISTIAN PRIORITIES?
Getting caught up in all the world says, is not important and is probably the biggest hindrance to keeping our Christian priorities at the top of our list. It's so easy to go about our business every day, look out for our own interests, and if someone else is having problems, well, "thank goodness it's not me".
Most of the time we can't see anything important enough to make us stop moving long enough to evaluate where we are, let alone where we're going. And of course, as long as we don't feel an immediate, pressing problem preventing us from moving forward, there's no reason to stop. At least, that's what the world says.
Most of the time it takes some kind of tragedy to stop us in our tracks. Then we look around and wonder why it happened...why me? And that's when the struggle really starts. Sound familiar?
I Can't Look...
There they all are; our priorities all laid out, Christian or not. When we're forced to look at where we are, sometimes we're faced with some really difficult truths. Often it isn't hard to see why we're in the situation we're in, and that is pretty tough to swallow. And yet, our next step is to do absolutely everything we can to reason our way out of our mess. There has to be someone to blame, there has to be something to do; there has to be some way out of this mess.
And so the mess continues until we've absolutely exhausted every remedy we can think of. And, after all else fails, we FINALLY throw up our hands and ask God for help.
God... You Want Me to Do What?
It isn't until we stop trying and start relying that God has a chance to work. Being the perfect gentleman, God won't interfere with what we're trying to do until we stop, step aside, and let God into the situation.
But of course, we expect God to straighten out our mess today. Right now would even be better. It may have taken us weeks, months, or even years to create the mess, but we expect God to clean it up in a day. And when it appears that He's not moving fast enough, we get frustrated. We start whining, complaining, grumbling; and of course, we might even try to take control again, and of course, it just prolongs the answers from coming.
When God does come on the scene, we'll know it. His Word says we will experience peace and the knowledge that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
And let's face it, when we're in the middle of a bad situation, peace can be a very good thing.
We'll be able to rest assured, knowing God is working and no matter what, we're going to be OK.
Get REAL...
But, when God enters the picture, He does expect us to...
* Get honest. That means taking responsibility for the choices we've made that have caused us to be in our current situation. It means stopping the blame game. It's not easy to get real.
* Forgive everyone who's hurt us. OUCH. This is one of the hardest things to do, especially if we're still in the middle of it all, and things are still pretty awful.
* Be open to whatever He wants us to do. Sometimes that can mean doing nothing. Sometimes it can mean apologizing, walking away, or even just accepting things as they are until God has a chance to change things.
God never promised the ride wouldn't be bumpy, but He did promise that He'll sit right beside us the entire way. Things may not get better today or tomorrow, but slowly, little by little, God will make sense out of it all and set us back on the right path. The trick is to stay focused on the right priorities....the ones that lead to peace. Those would be our Christian priorities.
To read my other articles, please scroll up and click on the relevant topic on the right.
Most of the time we can't see anything important enough to make us stop moving long enough to evaluate where we are, let alone where we're going. And of course, as long as we don't feel an immediate, pressing problem preventing us from moving forward, there's no reason to stop. At least, that's what the world says.
Most of the time it takes some kind of tragedy to stop us in our tracks. Then we look around and wonder why it happened...why me? And that's when the struggle really starts. Sound familiar?
I Can't Look...
There they all are; our priorities all laid out, Christian or not. When we're forced to look at where we are, sometimes we're faced with some really difficult truths. Often it isn't hard to see why we're in the situation we're in, and that is pretty tough to swallow. And yet, our next step is to do absolutely everything we can to reason our way out of our mess. There has to be someone to blame, there has to be something to do; there has to be some way out of this mess.
And so the mess continues until we've absolutely exhausted every remedy we can think of. And, after all else fails, we FINALLY throw up our hands and ask God for help.
God... You Want Me to Do What?
It isn't until we stop trying and start relying that God has a chance to work. Being the perfect gentleman, God won't interfere with what we're trying to do until we stop, step aside, and let God into the situation.
But of course, we expect God to straighten out our mess today. Right now would even be better. It may have taken us weeks, months, or even years to create the mess, but we expect God to clean it up in a day. And when it appears that He's not moving fast enough, we get frustrated. We start whining, complaining, grumbling; and of course, we might even try to take control again, and of course, it just prolongs the answers from coming.
When God does come on the scene, we'll know it. His Word says we will experience peace and the knowledge that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
And let's face it, when we're in the middle of a bad situation, peace can be a very good thing.
We'll be able to rest assured, knowing God is working and no matter what, we're going to be OK.
Get REAL...
But, when God enters the picture, He does expect us to...
* Get honest. That means taking responsibility for the choices we've made that have caused us to be in our current situation. It means stopping the blame game. It's not easy to get real.
* Forgive everyone who's hurt us. OUCH. This is one of the hardest things to do, especially if we're still in the middle of it all, and things are still pretty awful.
* Be open to whatever He wants us to do. Sometimes that can mean doing nothing. Sometimes it can mean apologizing, walking away, or even just accepting things as they are until God has a chance to change things.
God never promised the ride wouldn't be bumpy, but He did promise that He'll sit right beside us the entire way. Things may not get better today or tomorrow, but slowly, little by little, God will make sense out of it all and set us back on the right path. The trick is to stay focused on the right priorities....the ones that lead to peace. Those would be our Christian priorities.
To read my other articles, please scroll up and click on the relevant topic on the right.
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