There was a guy I knew once, he was homeless and struggling with addiction. My hubby and I, by the leading of the Holy Spirit took him in. Of course the guy had his story, we all have a story. When you work in the type of ministry as we do, you hear many of them. The trick is getting to the TRUE story. It is our human nature to tell our story from a place of victimization. Somehow we are masters at leaving out our part that caused us to be in the situations we find ourselves in. Knowing this, my hubby and I are very prayerful and try our best to be as welcoming to the Holy Spirit as humanly and spiritually possible. Letting Him know we need Him desperately at all times. After-all, helping people is a dirty job, but someone has to do it! As Christ followers, we are called to get dirty, in the mud and even suffer a bit with the spiritually, emotionally, mentally and even physically lost and suffering. Well without going into all of this particular guy’s personal struggle. It became obvious that he wanted all the benefits of help (roof, money, food, etc…), but did not want to own his part or change the way he “did life”.
I remember when I went through a trial years ago where many things in my life that were sinful and superficial were stripped from me and left me and my children living in a home for women. Although, I gave up my apartment at the time and went there voluntarily, it was still one of the hardest times in my life. This place was one step up from a shelter. They gave you a roof, 3 meals a day, life skill classes (which I hated) and helped you get training and/or find employment. I just went there to start from scratch and have my life built on God’s foundation and not my own. I could tell you much more, that would singe your eyelashes, but for the sake of this post, let’s just say I suffered greatly. It was horrible, painful, and many times I wanted to just close my eyes and not wake up. God was redefining my life. He had to tear down and rebuild, but it was a very painful process. A necessary and key ingredient of this process was, I was ready to just surrender. Even though I did not understand every little thing that was happening at the time, I knew it had to be God. Certain things were not making any sense. People I had helped for years were suddenly unable to return the favor. I was completely left on my own, it was me and God. He was showing me He was my provider, my protector and my deliverer.
Many times we want the blessings and all the promises of Christ, but are not willing to surrender or change. We want to profess we are believers without a true transformational journey in Him. We want all the gain with no pain (sorry I couldn’t resist
). It’s like a child who is told to clean his room and then he’ll go fishing with Dad, so he stuffs all the mess under the bed and in the closet and gives his room the impression of being clean, when actually there are loads of hidden clutter that has not been properly dealt with. The child gets angry with Dad when his mess is discovered and is told, “No Fishing!” The child then pouts, protests as if he deserves a reward for his disobedience. Does this sound familiar?
I always say, adults are no more than big children running around the earth pouting and protesting when we can’t get our way, but refuse to do things God’s way. You can pout, protest and shout, but is it getting you anywhere? Why do we expect to still receive the promises of God when we will not truly allow Him to be Lord in our lives? I would say it’s easier to just surrender to God and His process in your life. It may be inconvenient, you may feel a little pain, but it is Sooooooo worth it in the end. He will transform you from the inside out and your life will be a more precious and pleasant experience to live each day. Is your life or mind a messy room? What areas of yourself are you still holding that you need to surrender to Christ? Start with praying and repentance, being honest with yourself and deciding to give up laziness, that should be a great start to allow God to work in you for His good. #SomethingToThinkAbout
Inspirational Pink 