Not what you want, but what He says

I'm still reeling from the wisdom and challenges shared at church today. So much rolling through my mind, and I'm overwhelmed with the reminder of what the Christian life, the Christian walk is.

I can guarantee you one thing, this life is not easy. And you know what, it shouldn't be! God never said that we would walk this earth with ease and comfort, no, he over and over challenges us to daily pick up our crosses and walk on.

WALK ON!

When the going gets tough, that's not when we walk away from God. No, it's the time that we take up our crosses - meaning our broken hearts, our disappointments, our hurts, our fears, our losses - whatever we hold dear, we count it ALL as lost. The stripping away of something can and should be used for our refining, if we allow it to.

The Christian life is a privilege. It's a gift. It's a tender, sweet relationship with the One and Only. Just like we care for and tend to our closest relationships, so we should care and tend to our relationship with Jesus. Just as we put our boyfriends/girlfriends/families/friends in a position of importance, so should our relationship with our Savior look. It's DYING to our self and UNITING with Him.

And what does that look like? Most often, it means not doing what we "feel" like. It means not getting what we "want". It means a heck of a lot of waiting. It means a heck of a lot of patience and persisitence being born. It means trusting in the visions and promises of the Lord. It means believing the unseen wonders when the seen world says everything but. It means holding onto hope while letting go of personal expectations. It means laying down our dreams and desires for a season or forever, so that His glorious good and grace can shine through.

It means SACRIFICE.
It means DILIGENCE.

It means speaking up for those who cannot speak up for themselves. It means standing in the gap for other's when they know not what they're doing. It means interceding for the lives of others when they have no words. It means loving, caring, carrying, encouraging, building up, discipling others. It means placing our own sinful selves in the refiner's fire and allowing him to strip us of all we hold dear.

And in the process of DOING these things, as we take action, He speaks. As we live our lives, He moves. As we press on towards the prize, as it says in Hebrews 12, He gives us the endurance, the strength, the drive to make it to the end of the race, victorious. And what we must never forget is that VICTORY is ours. Period. End of story. God gives us the victory, whether we see it this side of heaven or not. We can rest assured knowing that He holds it all in His hands and uses every scrape, bump, bruise, pain for His everlasting good.

He is working, my friends.
He is moving.

He's moving mountains we cannot see in deeply hidden souls. He's mighty to save. He's a God of the impossible. He makes ALL things new. He takes what man says "never" and says "always". He takes the broken promises of man and restores them with His everlasting promises. He takes the broken and gives them rest. He gives voice to the fatherless and widows. He speaks. He Works. And oh how He LOVES!

He is working in our waiting.

But what we must remember as followers of Christ is the Commission given to each of us, found in Matthew 28: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you ALWAYS to the very end of the age."

Friends, if you call yourself a follower of Christ, your life should look different! It should be a light to other's who don't know the Lord. We are the walking examples, the living, breathing, in the flesh beings Christ uses to bring others to Him. And if we're living our lives the same as everyone around us, doing whatever we want, whenever we want without ANY regard for what the outsiders looking in see, we are NOT living our lives as He has called us to.

How are we to make disciples and teach them everything Christ commands, if we don't even take His calling and commands seriously? How are we to  be a light when our life is filled with darkness? How are we to be Christ's ambassadors if we're living inside the enemy camp?

And again I go back to - IT IS NOT EASY! It's not easy. It's not fun sometimes. We may very well get ridiculed for the very things we hold dear. But we must, I implore you, we MUST choose daily to follow and lead as Christ would have us do. There is NO room for lukewarm. There is no gray. There is no wishy-washy about it. You're either in fully or your not. You either choose diligence and sacrifice, love and encouragement, or you don't.

Diligence and sacrifice may be getting up earlier just to spend a few moments with Jesus before you start your day. It may be walking away from an addiction to porn or alcohol or food or whatever other vice you may have. It may be choosing joy despite the circumstances of your life. It may be facing the hidden heartaches that are buried deep within. It may be inviting the Lord into the depths of the soul in order to bring healing to the hurts and disappointments found there. And it may very well be daily choosing Christ.

Don't even try to justify ANYTHING less than what He has called you to, my friends. Justification is not the answer. No, those are called excuses. That's your human armor, your defenses rising up in you. Refiner's fire it not an enjoyable experience. I don't know about you, but the last time I checked walking through fire is not comfortable. It hurts, it burns, but it's necessary to clear out the dross of our souls and make us more like Him, His image bearers!

He has a plan. He is working. He is waiting for those who will rise up and stand in the gap for His plans. So, what's it going to be? What life will you choose? Which path will you follow?

I can leave you with is that everything of this life is worth it. Everything He leads us through, every struggle, tear, pain, hurt, disappointment - everything will be worth it....