Sunday, April 29, 2012

Just Do Something

Christmas of 2009 I received a book as a thank you for working with Huntington University's campus ministries. As far as I know, this book has never won any awards, it doesn't have a recognizable author and it won't be coming out as a major motion picture anytime soon. It has no "boy meets girl" moments and no death defying stunts. By all accounts, this book is plain.

To me, however, this book is perhaps the single greatest motivation I have to stop making excuses.

"Just Do Something" is the name of this crazy book and I would highly suggest it to anyone who finds themselves overly concerned with doing God's will. It sounds crazy, but this book discusses what exactly God's will is and how we have made the mistake of "searching" for something that is beyond our human ability to find.

What I've gathered from this book is that God wants us to stop going through life with a fine tooth comb, SEARCHING for the thing that is His perfect and ultimate will for our lives, and therefore missing out on the everyday opportunity to DO His will.

 I do not want to ruin the book for you, so I am not going to really talk about its contents too much more. Instead I'd like to talk about my thoughts concerning God's will.

As a young girl and, if I'm honest, up until about a year ago, I had a very strong opinion about God's will. He has a plan for my life, so therefore He has a firm and distinct way that things have to go....right? And if you choose the wrong way, well you have to deal with the consequences of messing up your own life and how God can use you, right? I guess those things might be right if decide to put God in a shoe box.....or even a refrigerator box (and those things are huge!).

What I've learned, however, is that God just wants us to make a decision and let Him be present in whatever that decision might be. I could easily be happy living in Saline, MI. I could also be happy living in Nappanee, IN, or Huntington, IN, or Wyoming, or Florida, or Ireland, or Antarctica (ok so probably not there because I detest being cold....but you get my point!). The same goes with the man I will marry. For the longest time I freaked out that I had to find "THE ONE". How terrifying is that?!? The idea that there is only ONE man out there for me in this whole wide world and if I want to be in God's will, well then I need to find him. Again, that is false! I know that God knows who I will marry, but he also knows that I could be happy with the friendly guy at the gas station, one who is already a good friend, the guy who brings the mail, or a man in Asia who I've yet to meet.

The God who I choose to serve is bigger than a shoebox, a refrigerator box, or even the biggest cardboard box ever built....see: http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com/_The-largest-cardboard-moving-box/blog/632176/7691.html !!!!!!

The God I serve doesn't want me to waste precious time and energy searching for the perfect combination of life events to make me happy and successful. He doesn't want me to sit in church every Sunday and discuss how to be effective and then go home to "pray about it". He doesn't want anymore excuses of why it wont work.

The God I serve wants faith, trust, and an unwavering love of Him. He wants my heart. He knows that when I set aside all my pickiness and my human desires, and instead choose Him....that is when real ministry happens. That is when His success bubbles forth. That is when my cup runneth over with blessings from Him. Not because He has given me the secret formula of happiness but because I have chosen Him, the ultimate source of Joy.

Stop weighing out every decision and making your pro/con list.
Just Do Something.....Now .... Go.... Do it!!

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