Take This Job and Love It Chikamu

DAY THREE 

I DESERVE... 

"It’s not fair!  I should be doing what I’m gifted at, not this... It’s so mundane and unfulfilling.  I deserve to be.... "

STOP!  The second I catch myself believing that I deserve something (whatever it is) is the very second, I need to ask myself:  Do I really want what I truly deserve?!   

But for the blood of Jesus, my Lord, and my Savior, thankfully, I don’t get what I deserve. 

I love this quote by Francis Chan:  The world says love yourself, grab all you can, follow your heart.  Jesus says deny yourself, grab your cross and follow me.   

Believing I deserve what I want in the world—and from the world—is nothing short of idolatry.  Remember the first of the ten commandments:  Thou shalt have no other God before Me.  My desire to want and have something in which I place my happiness and identity outside of God is just as wrong as, well, bowing down to a golden calf.  

But I am human, and this battle with the world does rage within me, and when it does, I remember this:  God is in absolute control, and He loves me more than I could possibly imagine.  I am in this day, this moment for a reason.  And it’s my choice what I do with it.  I can be bitter, or I can be better. 

I’ve learned I can’t be better on my own, for I’m not my own... I’m His.  And when the enemy tells me I’m not enough, I need God’s strength in my weakness.    

Each time I rest in Him, He shows me just how shallow and small my thinking is.  He always reveals to me how His ways are so much higher than mine. 

He also reminds me that my identity is not in what I do, but it’s in Him, and when I live this out, it’s funny how I don’t look to tomorrow or off in the distant future where I think I might find happiness.  I’m reminded that today is the day the Lord has made, and I want to rejoice and be glad in it.  I sense my purpose isn’t anywhere but the here and now.    

PRAYER FOR THE DAY: 

God, thank you for giving me another day to make a difference in your Kingdom!  I have so many things for which to be thankful.  In all my ways, I will acknowledge You.  Thank You, Lord, for leading me to divine appointments today.  Help me to keep my eyes and ears open for these ordained opportunities.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen