"Spiritual problems demand spiritual answers."
Now you want to talk about a topic that is hard to get thru my thick
head. And that would be it. I am so the type of person who wants to
still fix all the problems that are in front of me. And the interesting
thing is this past week it wasn't even about things wrong in my life
that I wanted to fix. And yet all I could do is pray. Pray for healing...
Pray for understanding... Pray for clarity... And then before I even
actually have acted on all the information that I want to... I have
sought counsel and gone back to the quote.
We live in a
fallen world. And yet we seem to think that the world should not invade
our "perfect" Christian lives. Despite this thought the world is
knocking on our lives, and even our churches. The world effects the way
we think, and sometimes even how we act. We all so much want to fit in
and belong. And yet we don't want to see that the world is not only
hurting us, but those around us. And we react out of emotions and the
fact that we are all so far from perfect... And people do get hurt.
So what are we to do...
First off the advice I have been given is to seek God. Pray, Bask in His word, and do not abandon the Body of Christ...
Second... Ask ourselves what lessons we might need to learn about
ourselves given the events. And then head to step one and seek God to
seek His assistance in overcoming these issues and taking another step
towards becoming Christ-like.
Third off... Ask ourselves if we can
see how with grace and compassion we can help others learn the lessons
they might need to learn from the given events. And I am finding that
is hard. It is easy to see the problems and the events that have lead
to the problems and point the finger. And to be reminded to look at God
first helps to change the view point that you are seeing it thru.
Finally... I am going to add to this... Might it also be a teachable
moment in the church and world to help others understand how mistakes
can happen. How communication can fall apart... And better yet how we
can unite as the Body of Christ to help heal the wounds that the world
is adding to our lives.
At this point... What have I done?
I
have ranted to a few close friends... And been very frustrated with
many events over the past week. And yet it took a phone conversation
today with my own pastor to bring me back to something he said to me
just before I left...
"Spiritual problems demand spiritual answers."
Which brings me to the question I now have for you to ponder....
How are you addressing the fact that 'Spiritual problems demand
spiritual answers.'? How are you working to belong to the Body of
Christ? Or are you reacting like I have been and running away from an
imperfect church seeking perfection? And yet doing so while knowing
that perfection in the church will never be seen on this side of
heaven... And we need to seek Spiritual guidance for how we are to work
together as the Body of Christ and stop taking for granted that the
focus should be on how we were wronged. And to take the step forward to
question how our belonging might help others to grow in faith... And
that we might need to learn so hard lessons that we should have learned
in Kindergarten...
Play together nice and work together to make
all things possible in Christ... Stop worrying about how our pride is
damaged and things didn't go the way we wanted them to... And to focus
on what God accomplished in the lives of those around us. And that the
growth might have never happened without the testing. Yet understand
that without our willingness to step out in faith... No growth is
possible!!! We need to be in fellowship with others to learn and
grow... And yes it is going to never be the way we picture it being...
But each small step is a victory towards our perfection that we will
see in heaven at the feet of God. And I will take my small victory of
this past week and wear it will a badge of honor!!! I have managed to
get rid of a habit that was instilled in me by my husband. I have
managed to take a step away from his hold on my life thru abuse and stop
smoking. And at the same time I have taken another step closer to
God... And that process started with another quote that was shared with
me... "When we dwell on our fears they grow bigger and bigger, but when
we dwell on God we discover He's bigger than any fears we have." And
with that quote in my mind and heart... I stepped out and worked on
focusing on God and not my own fears. I walked out the door and took my
child to a Christian Musical Festival for the week. And trusted in
faith that my steps were what God wanted me to do.
In the
end... A part of me was sad and a bigger part was glad. I learned so
much. Not just about music, but about myself and others. And have come
home to the peace and quiet of the nights to begin to process the
information and as I like to say download it all so that it isn't just
all in my mind, but it becomes something that will take root in my soul
and help me grow and help me learn more to not focus on myself and to
learn to focus on the whole Body of Christ....
AND GOD IS REALLY AMAZING!!!
