Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Seek God, know God, love God....

It’s 10:41 at night. And the sun set with rain and has now given way to a storm. The dawn of the day has ushered in the darkness of the night. The day has transition to one of hot humidity (well as humid as Colorado can get), to the sound the wind in the trees, the steady hush of the rain, the drops I can hear hitting the porch, the power of the thunder that follows the brilliance of a lightening strike. I have been long pondering transitions in life. The transition into parenthood (no I’m not pregnant, nor will I become a mother anytime soon…..that I know of); transitioning from old self to new self, the transition of friendships, the roles of relationships, how I view myself, how I view others, how I view God, how I serve, how I love, how interact with the world around me from day to day. My life is in a state of transition lately, so much is changing, and I knew it was coming because "2010 is my year of change". Not just my hairstyle, or wardrobe, but of God shaping me more into what He longs for me to be than I've ever allowed him to do so before. And with it, has come some really hard changes...the type of change that hurts the heart most....the change of relationships. I have moments of peace and many moments of ache over it....all in all I trust and know that I am doing what God longs for me....but it aches nonetheless. I love the new relationships He has ushered in (they have been a blessing beyond words), but I still miss the comfort and ease of relationship with those that have known me for years. Relationships with people I know and love and have invested in.....man, transition just has a way of making the soul ache even when the change is good.

Part of me wishes and wants to believe that transitions begin to fade with age. That, however, as I have reached a mere 28 years of age, is not truth. We are constantly growing, constantly changing, constantly adapting, AND, if we are not….then we are ceasing to exist as God has called us to exist.

Allow me to clarify. The Biblical goal of life is: to seek God, to know God, to love God, to become more like Christ. And we are called to do these things through these commandments: To love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all our strength AND to love our neighbor as you love yourself (Luke 10:27) Now that last one is a bit messy because we as a human race tend to love ourselves poorly and as a result we love our neighbors poorly….true fact, I promise. We think we love ourselves well, because we “look out for #1, we take care of ourselves, we essentially, are selfish. I would like to bring up the point that if we TRULY loved God with our entire beings, we would then love ourselves as God created us to be, and in turn we would love others as though they were precious creatures of God, no matter who they are. Anyways, the last way we are called to seek God, know God, love God, and become more like Christ is this: to follow TRUE religion which is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress (James 1:27)

We are called to love mercy, act justly, and walk humbly with the Lord (Micah 6:8)
Onto how this links to transitions. If we really are trying to seek God, know God, love God, and be more like Christ, then we will NEVER stop transitioning. Because until I am on my face before the throne of God with my face bowed to the ground for the sight of him in inconceivable, until I meet my maker….I will not have arrived. I will not, should not, can not stop moving forward in the transition of life. Without growth of life, of self, then we (I believe), are ceasing to seek God, know God, love God, and become more like Christ.
So maybe I’m asking myself: Rachel, WHAT are you doing? HOW are you trying seek God, know God, love God, and become more like Christ?

_________________________________________

On another note….I’m leaving Colorado for the first time since Christmas ’09. I leave on a red eye Saturday morning at 1:10 a.m. I arrive in MI at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and leave MI the next day (Sunday) at 4:30 a.m. to travel to West Virginia with a group of great middle school and high schoolers for a week long missions trip and we will be joining up with about 130 other high school and middle schoolers from around the U.S. I get the blessing and privilege to lead the worship for the entire group for the week and I. am. Nervous. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely excited and can’t wait for the opportunity, but there is a big piece of me that is really nervous. I love love LOVE being a part of worship, of participating in it, in having the opportunity to facilitate and lead part of the body of Christ in a state of worship. But nonetheless….I am nervous.

If you could, please keep us in your prayers:
For safe travels
For cohesiveness amongst the group
For hearts to be soft and open to the Lord and what He longs to show and teach each of us
For me to not get in the way as I lead worship, that it would not be about me, and that there would not be any distractions or hiccups.
For the group to have a fun time
For my body not to give out from exhaustion. ☺


I covet your prayers. I'll hopefully have a chance when I get back to fill y'all in about the trip and share some pics.

love the least.....