Happy New Year, everyone!
I know we are at the end of our first week of this brand new year and so I might be just a tad late with my wishes for this upcoming year, but it doesn't matter because I want to wish you all the best for this next season.
I've just recently started my new journal and one of the thoughts that struck me when I texted a friend recently is that there is no point returning to old ground when you are meant to travel on new ground...
I heard a message some time ago saying that "in order to make the ground work, sometimes you have to do the groundwork" and I could not agree more with that sentiment right now. Unless I am willing to affect whatever environment that I can in as positive a manner as possible right where I am, there is really no point in hoping that I'll be able to move into new seasons with new mindsets and ideals.
Why?
When I am trying to drag old ideals and mindsets into new seasons then there will be no new results because every decision made, every choice faced will always be predicated on ideals and morals that used to work in the old season, but sadly will not in this one.
For me, the decision to leave !Audacious in actual fact came last August when it became really awkward and uncomfortable for me to continue attending due to circumstances I've covered enough on here before my mid-season blogging break. It came easy to me really because I realised that I wanted to abandon anything that I saw could become a distraction and potentially get in the way of my walk with God.
I don't blame anyone for me feeling forced to move out of a church I'd been at for the last seven years, in fact, I put it clearly when I told someone that I would rather focus on my walk with Jesus than play the blame game because He knew that it all would happen the way that it did.
Yeah, but you are no doubt wondering just what exactly I am getting at because this seems to be taking a very scenic route to get to a point. I'm saying that I realised that the more time I spent observing my actions to events that were transpiring outside of my control, there were in effect split loyalties between beholding my Saviour's face and beholding anything else. This allowed me to see that there was all the more potential for danger and harm should I continue in split-beholding mode thus forcing me to make a choice.
What it all comes down to, in my opinion, is our willingness to change what we can change, accept what we can't and go on to acquire the wisdom so that we will know the difference.
I can talk all day long about a problem situation that I am in, but if I am showing no desire to change said situation then, sadly, I am lacking the moxie to do something about it and thus prevent the potential for different possible outcomes. The thing is, this has caused me some difficult encounters with friends over the last few months as they simply do not see the path that I am on so it has forced me to decide between compromising and sticking to my guns. This leads to a swift realisation that I would rather lose all the friends that I have than ever, ever lose my Saviour!
I don't blame anyone for me feeling forced to move out of a church I'd been at for the last seven years, in fact, I put it clearly when I told someone that I would rather focus on my walk with Jesus than play the blame game because He knew that it all would happen the way that it did.
Yeah, but you are no doubt wondering just what exactly I am getting at because this seems to be taking a very scenic route to get to a point. I'm saying that I realised that the more time I spent observing my actions to events that were transpiring outside of my control, there were in effect split loyalties between beholding my Saviour's face and beholding anything else. This allowed me to see that there was all the more potential for danger and harm should I continue in split-beholding mode thus forcing me to make a choice.
Know the Difference
What it all comes down to, in my opinion, is our willingness to change what we can change, accept what we can't and go on to acquire the wisdom so that we will know the difference.
I can talk all day long about a problem situation that I am in, but if I am showing no desire to change said situation then, sadly, I am lacking the moxie to do something about it and thus prevent the potential for different possible outcomes. The thing is, this has caused me some difficult encounters with friends over the last few months as they simply do not see the path that I am on so it has forced me to decide between compromising and sticking to my guns. This leads to a swift realisation that I would rather lose all the friends that I have than ever, ever lose my Saviour!
Jesus sticks closer to me than a brother (Prov 18:24) so, unless I am willing to "abandon every distraction" so that "my attention is set on You" (referring to God of course!) to quote Planetshakers' song "Made for Worship" then I am, in effect, beholding something other than my Saviour's face.
Anything beheld and capturing our attention that is not Jesus is an idol plain and simple, folks!
Final Thought
I can't finish this all in one go, dudes, so I'll have to revisit this another time soon.
Remember, the more you stay the same, the more you stagnate so get out there this 2018, embrace the change and let the good times roll!
Peace... and duct-tape!
===TLP===
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