Wow, God! (An Advent Journey)Shembull

WOW, GOD. YOU DON’T PLACE IMPOSSIBLE DEMANDS ON US.

Experience

I am going to do this until the season ends. I’ll put the check in all the boxes because I always see things to completion. That’s commitment, and I’m committed to spending time reading the Bible and praying until Christmas. Then the 25th gets here and what happens? Will I want even more from life? More from God? I don’t want my life to move backward. But what if moving forward means God wanting more from me? What if He asks me to keep reading the Bible and talking to Him daily? And what if He eventually asks me to do even bigger things?

Maybe that’s how it works for change to be permanent. I’ll grow more as I learn more. And my life won’t really be changed if it hasn’t changed for the long haul. Otherwise, the effort I’m putting into these 25 days is the same as a fad diet that lasts 2 months and then is over. That’s not changing my life. That’s completing a task. I guess I’m wondering if I have what it takes to be the person God is changing me to be. But I’ve done this every day so far, and it hasn’t been an impossible task. I’ve been doing my part, listening for God’s next step, and discovering a new me. That’s how a real change will stick, so I’ll keep going...doing my part and listening for God’s next step.

Wow, God. You don’t place impossible demands on us.

Respond

Do you ever feel like God is going to require too much from you? In Matthew 11:29-30, Jesus says “You will find rest for your souls...For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” This certainly doesn’t sound like a God who wants to weigh you down with tasks. He will always give you what you need to get wherever He asks you to go. God doesn’t want you to perform for Him by simply checking off the to-do boxes of daily Bible reflection and prayer. That’s not what He’s after. God wants a growing relationship with you. That’s why we read His Word when we want to hear from Him, and that’s why we talk to Him when we pray.

Pray

God be with me. Help me to see this Advent season through to the end, as You grow my relationship with You and make change possible. Amen.