Monday, August 15, 2005

Adjustments

You can't stay where you are, and go with God.

That's the big idea from this morning's Experiencing God. When God shows us where He's working and invites us to join him, it brings us to kind of a crisis point where we have to decide what we're going to do. Either we're going to continue doing our own thing, or we're going to go with God. The thing is, going with God always requires an adjustment.

I've been asking God what adjustments I need to be making in my life in order to be obedient and be where He wants me to be.....I remember the first time I became aware of this crisis point as a college student, when I clearly understood God to be saying that if I wanted to continue on with Him, I had to get out of an ungodly dating relationship. It was the hardest summer of my life, away from home doing an internship in Springfield, not knowing anyone, ending the dating relationship...but also an amazing summer with a "randomly" assigned roommate who was a Christian, and who helped hold me accountable to the choice I had made. That was also the summer I decided that following God meant being in the Word every day, and I have sweet memories of getting up early before work to read my Bible.

When we felt like God was leading us into campus ministry, we had to make other adjustments....trusting God and Todd quitting his job to do ministry was a big one....then later both of us leaving outside employment to do ministry....we adjusted our budget, but more importantly, we adjusted who we depended on for meeting our needs.

More often, though, I feel like God calls me to make smaller (though not always easier) adjustments.....getting up earlier, loving hard to love people, changing bad habits, giving up things I enjoy, like my personal/lazy time at home, or going out of my way to care more about others than myself.

I heard something in the sermon yesterday that keeps rumbling around in my mind...."People love to be around humble people". People who are humble are interested in talking about others instead of themselves....they aren't in a competition to "one-up" the other person or impress them with their knowledge or wit...we all enjoy being around people who are interested in us and who don't make us feel like we have to compete in every conversation. I want to be that person. Maybe that's an adjustment God's wanting me to make....I don't know....I'm gonna keep asking, though, because those adjustments are the things that allow me to do what God wants me to do and go with Him. And I don't wanna miss that boat!

3 comments:

Hannah Jo said...

Thanks for this post Gretchen. I always need a reminder that adjusting is a good thing, especially right now. :)

Jonathan said...

Golly my sis impresses me a ton sometimes. Just what I needed to read after an especially challenging day.

Steph H. said...

I remember several years ago ( I don't want to sound too old) Todd did the preachin' at an EIU Fall Retreat and I specifically remember him teaching about "you can't stay where you are and go with God . . ." I still remember that talk quite clearly. After that talk Josh and I called from the lodge at Little Galilee to accept a full-time ministry position out of state. Funny.

 This quote was part of my Lectio365 Sabbath devotion this morning, and as I considered what this day should look like, I began considering ...