1 Peter 1:7 New Living Translation (NLT)
7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
Who in the World Are You?
“I am so sorry but I can’t.”
“I am just too busy right now.”
“I have such a full schedule that I can’t possibly add one more thing.”
If you are a typical woman in the United States, you have doubtless used one of these lines as an excuse to not do something. We are all so busy with activities, meetings and doing Pinterest worthy events, that there is little room for anything more. Life happens and we tend to spend the most of our time doing all that we deem as most important to us and our loved ones. There is nothing wrong with allowing our life to revolve around ourselves and family – or is there?
When we fill our calendars to the brim, we miss out on truly seeing and experiencing the Savior’s work in our lives and the lives of those around us. I recently confessed to my Bible Study group that I have been guilty of living a large portion of my life in this type of mindset. I had so much to do and in order to get it all accomplished I had to put developing my relationship with Jesus on the bottom of the list. I realize that most of my time was spent operating from my own strength and faith in my own abilities. That attitude is definitely wrong and it does not bring Glory to Jesus but to ourselves.
I have always believed that faith had to do with my relationship with God…and it does.
I also believe that faith is a gift from God… and it is.
I believe faith is God doing what He says …and that’s a definite.
I now believe that faith is believing what Jesus did can change me …and I am working on this daily.
We are God’s creation and our soul desires to be filled. Our Lord made us to desire Him but we have replaced that with the desire to find fulfillment through all the “stuff” we have to do. We have allowed Satan to trick us into believing that if we are really busy and have a large demand on our time that we must be very important in this life. I know this is one of the greatest lies that Satan whispers in our ears.
I believe that a letter from God would read like this:
“My precious child,
I love you and desire for you to be the best for Me. There are a few things I want you to know.
When I look at you I see you as who I want you to be. My primary goal is to help you grow from where you are now to where I know you can be.
Sometimes you are already challenging yourself and pushing yourself to become that person that I created you to become. I watch you and gently guide you in that direction. I orchestrate the events and experiences of your day-to-day life to ensure you achieve this goal.
Other times, I have to present you with trials and tribulations in order to change your heart and mind. I know that those moments are often painful, but If I don’t test you then you will never realize your potential. Please remember that I am closer to you during those times.
I want your life to be marked by a confident trust in Me and a pursuit of spiritual excellence. I want you to develop a lifestyle of learning to test things. I want you to have the wisdom to distinguish between better and best. I want you to learn to think Biblically and focusing your time and energy on what really counts or has Eternal Significance.
Don’t let your schedule rule your life. Turn off your phone, computer, iPad and all your other gadgets and use your time (quiet time) to celebrate your most important relationship – your relationship with Me.”
Rebekah Marsh
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#rebekahmarshblogs
