waking up
I am in the process of waking up, so as I wait for my brain juice to begin flowing and for my coffee to cool a little, I thought I would blog for a minute. I need to finish up my papers that are due today, but an awake brain is necessary for that.
I had a very interesting conversation on Saturday with someone we shall call Juan...mind you a conversation that left me wanting to scream and yell and shank someone...but an interesting conversation none-the-less. Conversations about God are always interesting. Some of what was talked about was very - in my opinion - silly and a waste of my time, but there was one thing that happened that showed me something really wonderful.
We were talking about predestination. This can be a kind of touchy subject, but after hearing many other people discuss it and studying the passages and spending time in God's presence I have come to my conclusion about predestination vs. free will. I was sharing this conclusion, and then there ensued a debate about it.
Juan kept asking - no asking is too light, drilling is more like it - me questions about my decision in order to show me where I was wrong. Instead it showed me where I was right. You see we were talking about how much what happens in our life depends on the decisions we make and how much it depends on how God has orchestrated things in our lives.
Juan said that we have no choice concerning our family, our personality, when difficult seasons happen upon us, etc. I said I may not have control over those things, I may not have a choice in those things, but I do have a choice in how I act and respond to those things. He seemed skeptical, but I am personally experiencing this right now.
I am in a tough season right now - if anyone says waiting is easy, I pray that you might endure a season of it yourself. Now I didn't choose this season (although a case could be made that I did because of my past decisions regarding dating and men), but I do get to choose my reaction and my response to this season. I can choose to rebel from the Potter's wheel or I can choose to yield and allow Him to shape me for His glory. I can choose to yield and have a bad attitude and complain about it or I can choose to yield and allow God's joy and love and peace to flow through me anyway.
I have made my decision concerning my current season, and I know it is not the same decision I would have made 4 years ago.
I mentioned to Juan that the decisions I make now are nothing like the ones I would have made years ago. He wanted to know how much of that was due to the people that God had brought into my life and the circumstances that He had orchestrated around me. I fully believe that God is orchestrating things (has been orchestrating things) to bring about everything, every person, every blessing, every season I have in life. I still made a decision. God can bring people into our lives, and we can choose not to develop a friendship with them. He can bring people into our lives, and we become the best of friends because we choose to work on building a friendship.
Yes, the people I have surrounded myself with have helped to shape me and change me so that my decisions aren't the same as they would have been years ago, but they are people I chose to surround myself with. God didn't force me to join GAL. He didn't force me to start volunteering at Potter's. I made those decisions.
And as I walked away from that conversation - upset and frustrated for various reasons and wanting to shank someone - I realized something. The decisions I make now are not the ones I would have made 4 years ago...God has done so much in my life!!! I still have a long way to go, but it is kind of like being on this long mountain hike when there is suddenly a break in the trees, and you can see the valley far below and the summit far above. You can see just how far you have come, and you can see the goal far in the distance.
Well, my coffee is beginning to kick in and my papers need to be finished. Hasta luego! Safe
I had a very interesting conversation on Saturday with someone we shall call Juan...mind you a conversation that left me wanting to scream and yell and shank someone...but an interesting conversation none-the-less. Conversations about God are always interesting. Some of what was talked about was very - in my opinion - silly and a waste of my time, but there was one thing that happened that showed me something really wonderful.
We were talking about predestination. This can be a kind of touchy subject, but after hearing many other people discuss it and studying the passages and spending time in God's presence I have come to my conclusion about predestination vs. free will. I was sharing this conclusion, and then there ensued a debate about it.
Juan kept asking - no asking is too light, drilling is more like it - me questions about my decision in order to show me where I was wrong. Instead it showed me where I was right. You see we were talking about how much what happens in our life depends on the decisions we make and how much it depends on how God has orchestrated things in our lives.
Juan said that we have no choice concerning our family, our personality, when difficult seasons happen upon us, etc. I said I may not have control over those things, I may not have a choice in those things, but I do have a choice in how I act and respond to those things. He seemed skeptical, but I am personally experiencing this right now.
I am in a tough season right now - if anyone says waiting is easy, I pray that you might endure a season of it yourself. Now I didn't choose this season (although a case could be made that I did because of my past decisions regarding dating and men), but I do get to choose my reaction and my response to this season. I can choose to rebel from the Potter's wheel or I can choose to yield and allow Him to shape me for His glory. I can choose to yield and have a bad attitude and complain about it or I can choose to yield and allow God's joy and love and peace to flow through me anyway.
I have made my decision concerning my current season, and I know it is not the same decision I would have made 4 years ago.
I mentioned to Juan that the decisions I make now are nothing like the ones I would have made years ago. He wanted to know how much of that was due to the people that God had brought into my life and the circumstances that He had orchestrated around me. I fully believe that God is orchestrating things (has been orchestrating things) to bring about everything, every person, every blessing, every season I have in life. I still made a decision. God can bring people into our lives, and we can choose not to develop a friendship with them. He can bring people into our lives, and we become the best of friends because we choose to work on building a friendship.
Yes, the people I have surrounded myself with have helped to shape me and change me so that my decisions aren't the same as they would have been years ago, but they are people I chose to surround myself with. God didn't force me to join GAL. He didn't force me to start volunteering at Potter's. I made those decisions.
And as I walked away from that conversation - upset and frustrated for various reasons and wanting to shank someone - I realized something. The decisions I make now are not the ones I would have made 4 years ago...God has done so much in my life!!! I still have a long way to go, but it is kind of like being on this long mountain hike when there is suddenly a break in the trees, and you can see the valley far below and the summit far above. You can see just how far you have come, and you can see the goal far in the distance.
Well, my coffee is beginning to kick in and my papers need to be finished. Hasta luego! Safe
You are beautiful and cute and powerful and kick butt all at the same time. I just love it. The coffee I'm drinking and the paper I'm putting off don't have anything to do with that statement either :-) I love that analogy too, climbing a mountain with a break in the trees. I shall steal it for a poem later :-)
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