Romans 1:17
"For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.""
I love it when I have great seasons with God of worship, prayer & service. It's like I feel Him everywhere I go. There is a sense of Godly satisfaction that lifts up my soul, giving me courage, persistence and joy.
But then suddenly, I don't feel that satisfaction. I feel like the floor has been ripped from underneath me. Before I felt like I could climb any mountain, but now I'm looking to hide in the nearest cave!
God spoke to me this morning & reminded me that the righteous ones live by faith. I suppose I define "faith" as: living in obedience to God's word even when I don't feel it. I think God often allows us to feel the excitement & exuberance of being connected to Him at times, and that elation often makes obedience seemingly easier. But he also calls us to obedience, especially when the "feeling" is gone, to see if we are serious about obtaining righteousness. Because righteousness only comes through this strange mental & spiritual resolve: FAITH.
So if your spiritual life is bland right now, you will for sure be tempted to do something else to spice it up. God is calling you to be consistent. To follow Him. To obey even though there might be a "shortcut to happiness" that just "happens" to fall in your lap. If you want to see the righteousness of God, hang on, because it really is revealed from "faith to faith".
I wonder if our Christian preoccupation with “discovering God’s unique will for my life” isn’t code for “just tell me what to do.” We don’t like to fail. We also intuitively know that the work of finding our place in God’s story is going to cost us more than we really want to give. So we ask God to just reveal our lives to us like its a paint-by-numbers project.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I imagine God looking for innovators, risk takers, and lovers. People who are willing to buy into the vision of his order. I wondering if God doesn’t leave his will somewhat vague to increase our emotional investment in his kingdom. He offers us a story and a community of people who are all trying to figure out the same thing: How do we improvise our lives in a way that’s consistent with the story arc of the Bible.