Hey friends!!!
As you can probably tell from all the things I post, and as you would expect, life on the race is very different than life at home. This is something I wrote thinking about the difference between the culture at home and the culture here.
Here on the race, we take everything to the Lord before we talk about it, gossip about it or even do it. Our heart is to live a life completely surrendered to the Lord. Its about taking a step back from every situation to see what the Lords purpose in it is. When you take time to pray and hear the Lords guidance in every situation, life starts to look a lot different. It looks like ACTUALLY living out what we are told in the bible. No gossip, no lying, no putting each other down. Its looks like a lot of talking things out when you would rather not talk to that person for a week until you both forget about it. It looks a lot like finding the deeper cause of surface tension and fights. It’s a constant cycle of calling each other higher in the Lord.
It looks like waking up early every day to spend time with the Lord. It looks like saying “can i pray with you right now” instead of “Ill keep you in my prayers”. Its about knowing that when your full life is surrendered to the Lord, every season you go through, big or small, is working for your good. When I say good, I say that in terms of Gods Kingdom. Good in the world looks different than good in Gods Kingdom.
It looks like learning Gods character. I still don’t know the fullness of God, but the glimpse I have gotten of his character is outstanding. When you really dig deep into your relationship the God, you cannot help but look at life different. You start to see the difference between worldly battles and eternal battles. Worldly things like possessions, boyfriends and high school start to look pathetic compared to the eternal glory of God. How could those things ever hold such importance in our lives when we have the ability to have an intimate relationship with our creator.
These things sound dramatic, but if you call yourself a christain, these are the things that you signed up to believe.
The problem is, just believing in its self is pointless if you don’t know the creator. You cannot expect to go to church once a month and call yourself a Christain. No change in your life is going to come from just sitting in church. You have to be intentional with the Lord. God asks to be part of EVERY SINGLE SECOND of your life. Not just one day a week or month. He wants every decision you make to be made according to his will.
This takes faith. While the bible says that even faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, we still have a faith problem. It is rare to find a person who truly lives out how God actually calls us to live. Of course we are going to slip up here and there – but most of the time its rare to find someone who is even trying. People don’t realize whats waiting for them if they were to just give God a chance. Giving God a change still doesn’t look like simply going to church on Sunday. God is so much more than church. He is everywhere and everything. He knows your inner being more than anyone – more than you know yourself. He wants relationship with us. Not just a normal relationship but an intimate one.
Get up early in the morning and read your bible. Take notes. Write down prayers. Sing. Worship. Pray. Listen. Yes, I said listen. God wants to talk to you. Most of the time, its not an audible voice. Its a thought, word, verse or phrase placed in your head at a time when you know you would never think of that on your own. He wants to hear your every struggle and praise.
Do you feel stuck in your situation? Get to know the God who will make that situation look miniscule. He gives perspective, purpose and meaning. What more could we want? God is the best thing in my life. I don’t have to wander around searching for jobs, people, boyfriends, sports, money and other things to fulfill me. I am walking in the light of my Creator who lives in me. It can’t get better than that.
Its about joy. Joy is different than happiness, Happiness is here and gone. It is dependent upon your outside circumstances that are subject to change and fail you at any time. But joy, joy is eternal. Joy is knowing the bigger picture of why you were created. We were created by God and for God. We are promised eternal life with him and promised that if we surrender our life to him everything starts to work for our own good. Joy comes from that. Those promises are written in stone and will never change. We have this hope in Christ that is the source of our constant joy.
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Alssooooo,
IM FULLY FUNDED!!!!!!
Thank you so much to everyone who helped me out, I am so thankful for you.
For my next blog, I am going to do a question and answer. COMMENT ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE SO I CAN ANSWER THEM!!! They can be funny, deep, creative or whatever you please.
– Ashley
