Day 2645 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Colossians 1:10 NIV

Yesterday we talked about giving thanks in all circumstances. Yes, that really does mean even days when life is miserable, nothing is going our way, and our dreams seem to be drifting further and further away from where reality is taking us. Hard thing to do. What has sadly made it even more difficult is this wacky world in which we live that tells people to follow their hearts and chase their dreams no matter what and to never let anything or anyone hold you back or keep you from doing what makes you happy.

Now when all of that hogwash meets face to face with the often more narrow and controlled reality of God's will overriding our own, we're often left upset and aggravated. Being thankful in all circumstances has become a near impossibility for some, if not most, in this place because we've grown to think that the only road to happiness is paved with the fulfillment of our every desire and has us in the driver's seat deciding where we selfishly want to go next.

So when it starts raining a little bit or one of our glorious dreams goes unfulfilled, we're left wondering why. And as we begin questioning why God doesn't want us to get our way or have that thing that we've long idolized, we quickly find ourselves in this miserable and darkened mindset where being thankful is the very last thing that comes to mind. Instead, we allow ourselves to focus on everything that's going wrong and every way in which our lives have turned out contrary to our grand illusions.

But the whole point of these lives isn't to fill them with dreams and desires and goals that only matter to us. That is very clearly the normal way that our world seems to operate. But it's a far cry from how we're called to operate. Our mission with these lives is to lay them down. To surrender them to the higher will of our Father. To forfeit following our hearts toward their deceitful wishes and instead pour ourselves into serving God's will in this place. But we'll never even come close to considering those big picture kinds of things if we're lost in this place of being angry and upset because God's being a meany head and we can't have our lollipop for being good for an hour.

As this verse is reminding us, our goal in life shouldn't be to reach every star that we think shines brightest. Our goal in life should be to live lives that are worthy of what Christ has done for us. Are our lives worthy of His loving sacrifice when we spend them complaining about not having some material possession or experiencing some selfish dream? Do our lives seem worthy of His gift of salvation when we use them to suit our own wants and wishes? Do we express our thankfulness and gratitude to God when we also spend a large amount of time expressing our disdain and displeasure in His will varying from our own?

Not even close!

When we spend our time angry and upset over petty and foolish things, then we're only saying that we're not very pleased with what God's doing and we wish He would get His act together and do what we're wanting Him to do instead. How is that worthy of the Lord? How are we pleasing or glorifying Him when we walk around like our dog just ran away because those goals we've spent so much time worshipping never come to pass? Do we bring Him glory and honor and express our respectful fear of His divinity when we remain adamant in getting our way and throwing tantrums whenever we don't?

Friends, it’s time to grow up! Time to leave the bratty, childish, and plain stupid ways of living behind and get to living these lives in a manner worthy of the glory of our God. We are here as His representatives with the express mission of furthering the work He began on the cross by telling others about the gift of salvation and the importance of sanctification. We only detract from that message and ruin that mission when people hear more of our complaints than our praise. If we only have bad things to say about a life that isn't unfolding according to our plans, then is anyone who hears that going to be in a hurry to give God a chance in their lives? Or are we not pushing people away from Him and tainting the Gospel when we push our own agendas in voicing our displeasure in His will?

Guys, the time for self-serving is done. It has no room in the lives of faithful people of Christ. We are here to bear good fruit, to do good works, to grow in Christ and in the knowledge of His Gospel so that we can better share that life-altering and eternity-saving message with the world around us. We have to stop letting our childishness get in the way. We have to stop living as if what we want matters in the grand scheme of eternity. IT DOESN'T!!! What we want doesn't matter. Our goals do not matter. Our desires do not matter. In fact, the heart is deceitful above all things, so we probably should put to bed this worldly ideal of following your heart.

Perhaps we should strip it all back down to the basics of our faith and the calling we have in Christ. To love Him and love others. To lay down our lives and live for more than us. To put Him and His calling to share the Gospel above trying to write our own where we get to be the heroes surrounded by all the fame and fortune our earthly hearts have learned to crave. Folks, we have to be willing to let go. To be thankful for whatever we have and wherever we are because it's all a part of God's perfect plan for us. Might not be our plan. May not make any sense. But it's all for Him because it's all from Him.

Let us live lives worthy of Christ. Let's stop wasting so much time complaining about how hard or how empty or how lonely these lives may feel at times. Let's stop bearing worthless fruit in the form of gossip or anger or idolatry or greed or any other vile practice. Let's grow toward Him in faith, not away from Him in selfishness or vanity. We have a chance to be a part of something enormous. And for that we should be thankful. We have every reason we'll ever need to be happy and thankful in His gift of salvation and mercy and the opportunity to help others find them as well.

At the end of the day, our lives are our gift to give back to the Lord. They're all that we can offer Him in return for His merciful forgiveness. We should spend every waking moment we have left trying to please Him rather than seeking our own pleasure. He deserves far more than our angry words and darkened hearts that lash out every time life gets bumpy and we fail to find the appreciation for His daily provision and kindness. He deserves our very best, not our absolute worst.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold