Recap
In part one of this series, which you can
read here, I talked about the need to hand over
control to a God who sees the bigger picture.
New Question
The question then becomes, "How do I do
that?" If you're like me, you're saying, "Give me something practical
to work on!" Well, here it is (along with another picture of
Edgar...apparently I am that dog parent).
The first two nights we had Edgar were awful. We
slept less than three hours both nights. (All of you parents right now are
probably grinning and thinking about the future blog posts where I tell you
about how I am getting no sleep with our child!)
Edgar would just sit in his crate and whine! High
pitched. Constant. Echoing throughout the house! Our neighbors even told us
that they could hear him from their living room. Annoying!
Thoughts
I realized in the days after that I whine to God...a
lot. Most of the time it's indirectly. I don't even take the time to whine to
His face, I whine to those around me about the frustration and anger in my
life. Thankfully, God is so loving and patient that He doesn't respond to my
whining by grabbing the back of my neck and saying, "No! Bad
Human!"
God asks this of us:
Truth
"So
here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary
life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place
it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the
best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture
that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention
on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize
what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture
around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the
best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." - Romans
12:1-2 The Message
Edgar has learned that his crate is a safe and
peaceful place. He is even rewarded when he heads in there without having to be
picked up.
Living in God's will is safe and peaceful. Not
safe in a physical, mental, or economical way, but safe in the only way that
really matters long-term, spiritually. Peaceful because when you're living for
God, you know you're living for God. His Word gives us that confidence. It
grants us the permission and presents us with the challenge to be who God made
us to be. Which is ultimately what is best for us.
So, (name goes here), quit your whining...and give to God.
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