Promises

I've had a lot of good conversations this week with some women whose opinions and wisdom I truly respect and appreciate.

I came to the realization earlier this week that my life has been really good lately. I haven't had a lot of issues (minor setbacks here and there), I'm really happy with my marriage and my job and my social life, and I'm getting to do a lot of fun stuff. But, then something else hit me...a thought I was not prepared for...

Am I happy because I'm living my life the way I want to, or am I happy because I'm living a life worthy of my God?

And the answer to that was definitely not one that I was happy to admit.

I am getting too comfortable in life. I have things under control right now. Things are going good. I am having a lot of fun...but where does God fit into all of that?

He's been getting my leftovers lately...and I'm really not ok with that.

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

(John 16:33b, NIV)

It's a verse that kept coming to my mind this week. We are not promised a cushy, cozy life full of beautiful and wonderful things. We are pretty much promised we will go through crap...and that we will endure persecution and hard times (though that doesn't mean that God won't turn the crud into something beautiful...because He does say He will work for the good of those who love Him - check out Romans 8:28).

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

(2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NIV)

So when my life starts to feel too cushy, too comfortable...I start to wonder if I'm really living life the right way. Because Christ calls us out of our comfort zones and into a life of dependency on Him...a life that isn't always going to feel good to us...but a life that truly glorifies Him.

I would much rather live that kind of life than live a life that only calls attention to myself and what I can do...because I can't do very much at all on my own strength without Christ...and that's the way it's supposed to be.