God will never settle for anything but the best for us. Our human nature is to latch on to something good and predictable and ride it as long as we can: a great worship experience, an intimate small group, a safe and easy Christian life.
But God is on the move and if we want to ride with him, we must move as well. As C.S. Lewis wrote, "He is no tame lion". In the story The Last Battle, King Tirian makes the statement, "Let us push ahead and see what adventure awaits us." That should be every Christian's attitude!
I really believe that God sometimes gives us a "holy discontent" with our current situation in order to lift our eyes to the next adventure in His kingdom. My wife and I recently became unenthused with our church. It had grown from 500 to almost 2,000 in a few years. We had always been enthusiastic about church and all its activities. But somewhere along the way, it lost something. Or maybe we changed.
A few days ago I was praying about what to do about it. I'm not the type to church hop and it would be hard on my kids if we choose to make a change. But as I was praying and listening, God gave me the Scripture in James 1 that says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
In other words, God was telling me "it's not so much about your Sunday morning experience as your Monday to Saturday experience serving others and living holy." God will not allow our hearts to be filled with anything but Himself. And if we try, he loves us enough to send us a "holy discontent" until he get us where he wants us.
Where is there discontentment in your life or ministry? Could God be trying to get you to lift up your head to see the next adventure?
Oh my, how well timed is this blog message! I have been faithfully attending & serving the same church since I came to Christ over the past 11 years but as of recent I have fallen out of love with the body there. Not that they have changed. I laid in bed last night thinking about why suddenly have I seemed to have lost my enthusiasm to be involved. I'm not burned out, just lost the drive or vision for my local body.
I always looked down on church hopping and I really don't think another church has the answers. Must be something the devil is trying to steal from me.
Your post helped me realize I'm not the only one. And I need to hold on to the place He called me.
Thank you for this.
Posted by: Tweena | April 22, 2009 at 10:50 PM