By Do you ever feel like God is sending you a message? There have been several moments this week when I sensed He was trying to tell me something. Often these thoughts are followed by cynical moments when I say ‘why would God take time out of his busy day to reach out to me, 1 of a billion gazillion people.’. But God isn’t like you and me. He can and does reach out all the time.
The first nudge occurred this past Sunday, when Reverend Tom spoke in his sermon about Choices. You can find the entire service here (at the 5:10 mark is the choir introit, 24:55 is the anthem and 30:12 is the sermon). His 3 key points were:
- Choose to fight the battle on the inside
- Choose to fight the battle on the outside
- Choose to trust God for the results
So each morning this week when I woke up, rather than thinking ‘Ugh I’m so tired’, I said to myself ‘Isn’t today a great day to be alive?’. I was choosing joy and gratitude, regardless of how cold or rainy it was outside or how early it was that day.
Fast forward to Thursday and an online bible study I joined and was attending for the first time. We bounced around through several bible verses. And the facilitator almost out of the blue said ‘God wants you to choose Him.’
And that was my a ha moment of the week. It’s easy to praise God when good things happen in your life. It is MUCH harder when something bad happens. By the time you’re my age (recent birthday, so it is on my mind), life has come at you hard. It is decidedly easier for me to play the victim, sulk, be cynical and close my heart off.
The message I picked up is I have a choice each and every day, from the moment I wake up until the evening when I lay back down to go to bed. I have a choice on what I do, how I interact with others, how I live my life. I need to choose to follow Him each and every day.
I can put my faith in material things or I can put my faith and trust in God.
I can put my light under a barrel or I can let my light shine for all the world to see.
I may stumble and I may stray but I make the choice to follow God. I choose to pray. I choose to listen closely to Him. I choose to share my faith with others.
And a quick prayer
Dear God, Thank you for all the blessings you give me every day. Help me to make the choice each day to follow you and your teachings. Guide me in how I may serve you today and bring others to Christ. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
