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Thursday February 22, 2007 1:59 pm
In The Lukewarm…Part 3
Posted by Monica Edwards Categories: Personal, Religious
The only obstacle standing in my way is me. I am too comfortable where I am. It takes such effort to change. I am stuck in the rut of being comfortable and that scares me. I look around and see so many people in the same place I am in because we are afraid of change. In my heart I know that I would be happier and more fulfilled if I could just remember what it was like to be basking in the HOT, I loved it then. I was so excited, felt so weightless, wanted to share my joy with everyone. What happened to that? Now I make excuses for myself. I went to sleep too late—I can’t get up early to have a moment with my Father, the kids were driving me crazy today—I need a night to veg out in front of the T.V., I can’t talk to my friends, let alone my neighbors about God—they will think I am weird.
I can only thank God for his merciful grace, because I am imperfect and He knows that. But I know that I need to change, do my part; my dream was an awakening for me. It showed me that I cannot wait till tomorrow for the things that I keep putting off. How do I know that there will be a tomorrow for me? I don’t want to come out of the Lukewarm because I am afraid of what will happen to me when I die. I want to come out of it because I have a love for God and I know that His will for my life is so much more than what I am doing. He is the one who has always believed in me, always had hope for me. He knows that I am capable of more, I am the one letting myself down.
I have an ear, and I will listen. I will fight the temptation to live an indifferent life. I know that it would be easier not to fight, but I am worth it. We all are. Be convicted of something and have passion. Either love something with all your might, or despise something and turn from it, but don’t get caught in the web of the Lukewarm for long because you will learn to dwell in it and begin to convince yourself that you are happy, that you don’t deserve any better—and you do. ( Note to self )
- Related Tags:
- faith, god, grace, religion, temptation
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Comments:
Greetings Monica!
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. You are certainly not alone in the realization of spiritual lukewarm-ness. Many of us have a desire to be more “of fire” with Jesus. A couple of things come to mind about this:
1) We are spiritually flame retardant. What I mean by this is that we, in and of ourselves, are unable to be on fire. It is only by abiding in His presence (John 15:4,5) that we can have the appearance of being on fire. The reality is, however, that it is really the fire of God that we are abiding in (much like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego [Dan 3:19-26]) that makes us look like we are on fire. Take us out and we will just be smoking.
2) We are too preoccupied for God. Much of what you described about your present situation in life is what many are facing in this day and age. We are not consumed with Jesus, rather the demands of this world. The beauty is that God is working on you where you are.
I just heard Brennan Manning speak a couple of weeks ago and he kept reminding us that, “God loves you as you are, not as you should be.” All of that is great, but we still need to be connected with our Abba, Father. So what do we do in our preoccupied state?
Jesus, through the Psalmist, provides for us a prescription that you can pick up in the comforts of your own home, at a coffee shop, in a book store, in a church sanctuary, in nature, wherever you are… it’s simply “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). In our hectic pace, Jesus simply gives us an invitation to sit a be still and know that He is God… that He is Lord… that He is our Savior and our Best Friend! Maybe this occurs moments before you hit the on button on the remote when you pause just to be still. Or maybe it is when you wake up in the morning or before you go to bed. Or maybe this starts occurring throughout the course of the day.
Another thing that I picked up from author Brennan Manning was an exercise that I practice throughout the day. He had us meditate on the phrase “Abba” while breathing in and then saying in our minds or verbally, “I am yours” as we exhale. While I am walking my dog I am saying this. Sometimes when sitting in my office, I stop just to say, “Abba, I am yours.” What a beautiful reality!
Blessings to you Monica!
Matthew Gamble
Teaching Pastor
24-Seven Ministry Center
Seattle, WA
matthew@24-Seven.org
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So heres the solution. Open your work book form Leo Schreven and begin working your way through it. bring it along in the morning when you drop off your son at school. When he gets out of the car find a spot to park and read/fill in a section of it. You will set spiritual goals, motherly goals, financial goals etc. I find that when Im doing a regular errand if I just plan for getting back a little later than I need to that it gives me time to do some personal work like this. its a good time for devotionals as well.
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Monica,
Reading that post is so inspiring. I am at a stage in my life where I find myself so preoccupied with all my normal daily activities of working and being mom that I sometimes feel I lose focus on my faith. Your words were exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you.
God bless you and your family.
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Jeesely,
I am glad that you received a blessing from my post because I believe that we all have a responsibility to each other to lift one another up, and sometimes it takes sharing your own struggles with others so that we can have a sense of connection, a sense that we are NOT alone because we all battle with our faith, we are imperfect creatures and to try to hide that from each other
takes too much energy. God loves me for who I am, so I am not ashamed of my struggles with my faith…especially, as you said, with family and work and life being preoccupations it is hard to focus.
Hang in there girl, and God Bless you all too.
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