Image by Denis Collette...!!! via FlickrWell, how do you keep anything fresh? Do you lock it way in a cabinet away from light and air? No. Do you put it in a safe place where you will be able to find it when you need it, but never remember that you need it? No. Do you forget all about it in your mad dash to get your to do list done? No. In fact, those are the best ways of letting it go bad. I let my faith go bad. I let it get stale.
Faith, life in Christ, should be a living vibrant thing. With prayer and fellowship and searching the Scriptures. I know this. I've been told more than once. So it should have been fairly obvious when things started to go wrong. Unfortunately, I have this tendency to not see things that I don't want to see. Does that make sense? For example, I can ignore how messy my apartment is until I invite my friends over for dinner, then I wonder how I looked that the mess everyday without doing something about it. I just didn't look at, I didn't see it even though it was right there in front of my face.
So there it was going bad, day by day. Like that Casting Crowns song, Slow Fade. And I let it. So here I am worrying about money, about having my dearest friends over for dinner tomorrow, about how much I take and how little I give. At the same time, I am praying that God not only speak to me but clear away all the obstructions that block His message. Open my ears to hear, my eyes to see, my mind to understand and my heart. And He did.
The problem came when I did not prepare myself for an answer to my prayer. I opened myself up to the message but I have not had time to consider what He is telling me. As a result, I feel bombarded with wisdom and truth, but I can't use it. I can't make it a part of my life. Like the seed that fell on rocky soil, my Father's message (which I asked for) cannot take root within me.
I haven't sought my Lord in the morning or the evening, or worked in my Bible studies. I miss Him and I feel overwhelmed by life and my current situation. Instead of seeking Him and pouring out my heart, I have worried and fretted. So things went stale. Even writing this post - I've been trying all day. I have been consumed with the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
And so when this day began to fill up with disappointments and setbacks, I did not seek Him first. Instead, I tried to work through it. Until it became too much. But when you are out of practice taking your burdens to Him, with pouring out your heart, it is awkward and minimally effective.
Like any living thing, be it flower or plant, person or relationship, you have to work at faith everyday. Or it goes bad.
More thoughts on keeping faith fresh on Faith Barista this week.
Kristine, you are exercising your faith by expressing your need. Exressing our need is anti-self and so, this simple act of typing out your need has already brought you closer to God and the movement of His Spirit. I hope you enjoyed a great time of fellowship with your friend and allowed yourself to receive, as friendship is God's grace to us. This too is faith - receiving. Thank you for adding this to the jam. It's moves my heart to have this fellowship.
ReplyDeleteKristine, you are exercising your faith by expressing your need. Exressing our need is anti-self and so, this simple act of typing out your need has already brought you closer to God and the movement of His Spirit. I hope you enjoyed a great time of fellowship with your friend and allowed yourself to receive, as friendship is God's grace to us. This too is faith - receiving. Thank you for adding this to the jam. It's moves my heart to have this fellowship.
ReplyDelete