Maybe We've Missed the Point...

I think that sometimes Christians get so caught up in action. We get so caught up in doing and going and serving, and we rarely take the time to build our relationship with Christ. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love serving. I would die if I wasn’t allowed to help people, that’s just the way God made me. I love going on mission’s trips, youth group events, retreats...I love going. I love doing...because when I’m doing, life is easier in so many ways. And action, action is good. It is just plain wonderful. We're called to move this world fpr Christ. We're called to shake it to its core. We're called to be Christ, and that means doing something. 

So don't get me wrong, I am not against serving. But sometimes I wonder if we've missed the point.

 But I think that so often we get caught up our actions and, all of a sudden, the things we do is what we reduce our Christianity to.  I think we forget that God is all about relationships. He wants to talk to you. He wants to spend time with you. He loves hearing you laugh, He wants to comfort you when you cry, and He wants to simply do life with us. And sometimes communication means talking. Sometimes it means listening. Sometimes it means silence. Sometimes it means just being. 

And that’s okay.

It’s okay to sit there and be quiet for a while. To read your Bible and then soak in the fact that God wrote something just for His children...that means you. To sit there and be in awe of a God who created the universe, and yet wants so badly to have a relationship with y.o.u. One of my favorite things to do is just sit with Jesus and just breathe, just be, and know that there is someone that will always be with me. Becuase when I see Him around me, and I feel Him within me, it awakens me to the beauty of life in a whole new way. And it is a beautiful thing when you look inside yourself and know that you’re alive.

Somewhere Between Fiction and Reality

She didn’t know where she was going. All she knew was she had to get out of the house...now. So she did what seemed to be her escape too often these days.  She ran to the garage, the thought of freedom almost more than she could take. Her steps slowed though, when she came to the corner where what she sought was hidden...literally. Under a heap of tangled bikes...ten, fifteen, who knows?...was the bicycle that would propel her to...well, anywhere but here. Spying the one she was after, she heaved a sigh, ready to do battle with a mass of petals, gears, and handlebars, all of them intent on keeping her prize locked beneath them.

Just one more thing I’m fighting,

she thought as she tugged, pulled, and pushed her bike to freedom. Finally, with a mighty yank, her treasure came out of the pile...and old, red bicycle. Heart beating hard from the exertion, she surveyed her old friend to make sure it still ran properly. Air in tires, check. Gears, check...she ran through the mental checklist though she was already climbing on the bike. Her body knew what to do without her asking it. She coasted down the driveway breathing a sigh of relief, releasing not enough tension from her soul. But it was enough for now. She glanced both ways before crossing the street, as she’d done countless times before. She was on automatic pilot now, and her mind was free to wander into the places she didn’t want it to go .Back through the emptiness and pain of the past months, when she wasn’t quite sure if she’d make it. Back through the lonely days and tear filled nights. Back through victory and defeat, love and hate, not enough gain but too much loss.

So much loss.

Even now, the thought of those lost ones who meant much to her was like a knife in her heart. She didn’t like to admit it, but the people she loved defined her so much more than they should. She held on, and held on, and right when she thought they’d be there forever, she was forced to let go, a little piece of her identity going with every single one of them. She was ready to stop that. Stop finding herself in others. Stop caring so much if they cared. And start finding herself in Christ, like she'd always thought she was good at. Now, she saw that when everything that makes you comfortable is stripped away, you find what your faith is made of. And hers was there, not as strong as it should have been, but there all the same. But life was wearing on her. She felt a older, a little worse for the wear, and so, so tired.  Tired of fighting, and ready for a little peace from the war raging within her soul, as everything she knew to be true battled against everything she felt in her heart. Though she hated to admit it, she was doing more running than fighting lately, and neither one had brought her one step closer to this peace she so deaperately wanted. And suddenly, she heard a voice in her sould, the whisper that she had come to know so well. And she was reminded, in the most loving, firm, I’m-always-here-even-when-you-don’t-see-Me tone of voice:

Child, when you’re ready to stop chasing the wind, let Me know.

Why didn't it surprise her that He knew how to articulate her entire life these past few months into a single sentence. She'd never been any good at saying what she felt, and it was a strange relief to have someone put it into words for her.

Chasing the wind...yes, that's exactly what it was.

Chasing everything she thought would make her world turn right side up again, but blind to the Savior that was so patiently wating for her to open up her eyes. And, truth be told, she didn’t know if she was ready to stop chasing, stop pretending, stop running. But she did know that He was peace, and that was something she hadn’t felt for far too long. So, with what was, perhaps, the beginning of a sunrise in her heart, she slowed her bicycle and turned toward home. He had always been enough for her before, and He would be again. She knew it. And it was enough for now.