[/caption] I am finding that this new place that Jesus is taking us is a parallel journey on the inside and the out. He is teaching me to take some of the more well known scriptures very seriously, such as; “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat…..what you will wear….how you will pay your bills–OK that one is not actually in the Bible, but it might as well be. He REALLY does have it all covered. “Seek first the Kingdom and all these things will be added to you” WOW, what does that mean? How do I do that? But you know, even a little desire to do that without any real understanding is blessed and all these things are being added daily. Are times coming when we are going to need to know beyond any doubt that He will provide what we need; food, clothes, toilet paper? I think so. When, I don’t know. Security does not come in a full fridge, money in the bank, a paycheck each week, knowing that you can get it if you need it, eating organically (this is the newest thing on the chopping block). Are these things inherently bad? NO! Is my trust in them above Jesus bad? YES! Those things give a sense of safety but they fail us in the end. God is behind it all. God uses them to bless us but do we forget that it is Him handing it to us? After almost two years of “living on faith”, I think maybe I am starting to feel a little bit comfortable here. There may be beans for breakfast, but there is always breakfast. There may be non-organic food gifted to us by family, but there is always food. There might be small increments of bills paid rather than the whole thing at once, but they always get paid. Miracles are not predictable but they always are there. Waiting for you to notice–He is always there waiting for you. He has not failed me in this journey, He has tried me, broken me, smashed my boxes, showed me that there is better in Him.]]>
I can so relate to this. Matthew 6:33 tends to haunt me since I'm a guy who likes to “figure things out.” I fail miserably, like you, on a couple of hurdles and then hunker down and try to find a way over or around them. Unfortunately, that's not what He wants. Like you said, He wants us to “just run over here.” I think that once our faith gets to a point where we ignore the hurdles, He will take them away. I just wish that was as easy to do as it is to say.
Thanks for making me think about this! It's good to know that there are others on this trail!
I can so relate to this. Matthew 6:33 tends to haunt me since I'm a guy who likes to “figure things out.” I fail miserably, like you, on a couple of hurdles and then hunker down and try to find a way over or around them. Unfortunately, that's not what He wants. Like you said, He wants us to “just run over here.” I think that once our faith gets to a point where we ignore the hurdles, He will take them away. I just wish that was as easy to do as it is to say.
Thanks for making me think about this! It's good to know that there are others on this trail!
Yes! One thing at a time, right? This kind of pursuit of simplicity for the sake of not cluttering up our pursuit of Jesus is a huge part of why my husband and I decided to live with my family. Especially in Christian community, healthy relationships can easily bear the burden we so often try to put on all our stuff. Even when we make changes to let go, though, I always find something else to hold on to. It’s a constant process of sinking further into that trust that God will provide. My recent blog post about living with family kind of starts to explore this, and I’m working on fleshing it out more this week. I’ll reference this post; thanks!
http://everyplentydotorg.wordpress.com/
Melody: thanks for the reply! We have lived with Pam’s parents off and on since we have been married and now we live on a farm owned by an older Christian couple. Intentional community in the context of Christian living is heavy on our hearts as we pursue it in baby steps. I look forward to reading your blog! shalom!