I love gathering shells. I love the sounds of the ocean, the gentle woosh of receding waters tethered with the crash of the waves rushing to meet them.
There is minimal rhyme or reason for the shells I choose, and I think that’s part of what I enjoy about the search. There’s no pressure to choose the right shells. I just pick up the ones that feel right.
It is very similar to the feeling I have when I’m making choices according to God’s wisdom and not my own understanding. That’s not to say I make my choices all willy-nilly. I am very prayerful and have begun to recognize the peace of God’s nudging in one direction over another.
People often encourage others to “follow their heart,” but that can be a dangerous choice. For me, it often feels like my heart and God’s will are at odds. Then I realize that my heart isn’t in line with God’s will. I encounter road blocks and challenges and frustration as a result of the misalignment.
We must be very careful about the disposition and mindset with which we are making choices. Often times our hearts will drive us down a much harder road than we might have followed if we’d been willing to wait on God.
It’s life in a “have it your way right now” style that convinces us it’s how all things in life are supposed to be. But that’s what our human hearts want…to have what we want when we want it. Few people seem to willingly and gracefully do without what they desire anymore. Not even temporarily.
We get lost in the business and busyness of day to day life in this new millennium. We hide behind social graces and obligations. We worry more about completing our worldly tasks, reaching our worldly accomplishments, and judging others for not doing what we believe they should, than we do about making God’s will our primary focus.
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.””
Luke 10:38-42 NIV
For the first time I can recall, my thought life has started shifting from what I want for myself, to how I can consistently work to draw others closer to God. For the first time I can recall, I truly worry more for the state of faith in those I love, than I do for my own.
Our pastor recently talked with us about our responsibility to help those we profess to care about when we see questionable actions from them. The kind that lead us to believe they are in spiritual danger.
It is hard to know when and how to tell someone such a thing. There is a spiritual and moral responsibility to speak truth into the lives of those we love. However, we should never do so out of judgement.
I have learned, though, that you cannot force someone to want to hear the truth. Sometimes people need to believe what they want because they’re not ready for the sacrifice of their own will. Sticking within the confines of one’s own perspective helps keep those actions justified in the human heart.
Even still, our instruction is to love, to forgive seventy times seven, and to be the friend, spouse, sibling, parent, or what have you, God made us to be.
When we understand that we are all connected through the body of Christ, we understand how taking care of one another IS taking care of ourselves… all the while serving the kingdom of Christ.
“…so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
1 Corinthians 12:25-27 NIV
Love the Hand of God 