"How do we find that abundant heroic life for which we were made? How do we enter in to God's kingdom now and experience the authentic power and presence of God?
We do it in weakness, and we are comfortable with (and even boasting in) our weakness because we actually believe that our heavenly Father is both all-loving and all-powerful - and that all is well as long as we are with the One who neither leaves us nor forsakes us.
Accordingly, I can take my gifts and passions and training and strengths beyond the places of safety and control, and into the sphere of the kingdom where I actually need God.
Perhaps the first indicator that I am approaching such a place will be seen in my life of prayer. Mother Theresa said that she couldn't imagine doing her work for more than thirty minutes without prayer. Do you and I have work that we can't imagine doing for thirty minutes without prayer?
If not, perhaps we need a new life's work. Or perhaps we need to do an old life's work in a new way.
I won't need to be in prayer every thirty minutes in my work if I don't really need God's power to get it done, or if it's work that God doesn't really need done because it has nothing to do with his kingdom."
As I prepare to re-enter the "real world" I'm treading cautiously...hoping that I don't resort to my comfortable, frenzied, I-don't-need-You-because-I-can-do-it-all-if-I-hold-the-reigns-tightly enough ways. It sure would be nice if I could slow down enough to remember - on a daily basis - where and in Whom abundant life is found. I can only imagine how exciting that abundant life would be and where it would lead. I know it would be marked by courage, perseverence, fighting for justice and the cause of the oppressed, filled with love and mercy for those who are different from me, and yet completely peace-filled because of its humble submission to the One who can use me mightily despite my weaknesses.
1 comment:
Dear Kacie--what a tremendous challenge in the passage you shared--what what a tremendous vision for living that you wrote! Getting away from 'real life' does allow us to be reflective and more intentional about how we want to live each day. You've been given such a gift this summer--your DC retreat/vacation. I hope and pray it has been a time of refreshing for you. Those same challenges you left behind in Sac will be waiting for you when you get home. But,your perspective and desire to live each day as you wrote in your post will take you a long ways. I so agree with you--it is in the remembering, the purposing, the not being distracted or caught up in the details. I pray that each of us will keep our eyes on Jesus. Thank you for your heart to live this way--what an adventure you are on!!!
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