We’ve all been there. We’ve all done it. We put on that cruise control and we’re just coasting.
Those moments where we’re just doing enough to get by and living off other people’s spirituality instead of making that direct line to God himself. We know that the bible is the active living Word of God but do we run to it? Are the pages nice and crisp or worn and weary from the continuous flipping? These are the hard questions I’ve been having to ask myself.
God has me in a place right now of taking spiritual inventory of my life. Where I’m at and where I need to be… It can be such a healthy thing when it’s done with humility as light is being shed on your weaknesses and with true desire to see those weaknesses be overcomed. Fighting such a strong current, without God the anchor…. It’s impossible and it’s exhausting. Thankful we don’t have to do it alone.
It’s the hard conversations that need to be had. We don’t like critique, we want to think we have it all figured out, but oh there’s still so much to learn in order to truly learn the character of God and our identity in him, I’m learning that. I’m still learning, but thank goodness he never gives up on us.
It’s about keeping God at the center of everything we do. He is the beginning, middle, and the end. With that knowledge….God has clearly been showing me areas of my life where I’m just coasting in my relationship with him… Just functioning.
He deserves more than that.
The definition of intentional means:
in·ten·tion·al
adj.
1. Done deliberately; intended: an intentional slight.
2. Having to do with intention.
The ways God has been revealing to me that I’m been giving intentionally into my relationships and other areas of my life but not giving that same intentionality in certain aspects of my walk with him…It’s been revealing and quite honestly it’s been hard revelations as he’s been peeling back the layers. It’s been ugly actually but so beautiful at the same time, if that makes any sense.
All he wants is our best, not our leftovers. He doesn’t want to be an afterthought. He wants our time, our efforts. He’s a jealous God. I’ve heard that time and time again but when I really let that sink in, I mean truly let that sink in…. I’m just like “Wow, what a thought….. God is jealous for me, Lauren.” It’s not that God is jealous because someone has something he needs or wants as jealous is usually meant in the context of being envious but he’s jealous when someone gives to another something that rightly belongs to him. It’s when we center back on him and allow all distractions, excuses, worries, hurts, idols, and ALL things…. all that fades away.
We become intentional and not functional.
I wanted to leave this here and maybe this can be your prayer today as well.
“Lord, I just need to be with you- for a long time. I know that at other times I have rushed and cut you short, but I can see there are a lot of things in me that need to change. Let this time be different, Lord. Show me what one small step I can take to fully build a life around you. Help me pay attention to your voice. By faith, I obey, trusting that even small changes will grow into powerful winds of the Holy Spirit blowing through and overtaking all of the areas of my life. Thank you. In Jesus name, Amen.”
