I stole this off of someone else's blog, but I loved the premise.
Proverbs 12:3
A man cannot be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
Once I establish myself, once I get my feet on the ground and have a solid foundation and a stable career, then I'll really have the resources I need to give to God. Imagine how much God will be able to do once I've established myself.
No one ever says that out loud, but sometimes it's easy to live. To make God a "later god." I'll live for you later. I'll give to you later. I'll worship you later. First let me take care of this thing called my life.
You won't be established that way. God is a God of now, as in "I want right now. Not later, not someday. I want to love you right now, right here." And when He does, when that's our foundation, we cannot be uprooted.
Have you ever tried to make God a later god?
1 month ago
3 comments:
I wonder if God finds it funny how often we decide what is best for ourselves ignoring the voice in the backs of our minds. Career is the biggest one for me, I suppose. It would be real easy for me to go back out on the "rigs" for 120 hrs a week and make 120,000/year. But if I do that, who teaches my son the values a man must know, who changes a light bulb for my wife? I don't make as much as I used to, which is sometimes difficult for me, but the Lord makes sure we always have enough, and the time with my family, well, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I firmly believe that if you allow Him to have your "right now", God will push you where you need to be, even if you are too blind to see his wisdom at that moment. A "Later God", well, we're getting better. Who else is guilty of "I'm gonna read my bible as soon as This Old House is over?"....Norm Abram is my hero.
I seem to spend most of my life lately asking God to be a later God. I can always think of something that needs to change in my life that will make me better able to love God.
The biggest thing for me is my career as well, but not for the same reason as Josh. I spent several years arguing with God about giving up my dreams for fame and fortune. He has changed my heart so that I am ok with working for beans. But, now He doesn't seem to be following through with His part of the bargain.
I thought by now I would have my dream job and be serving Him daily through my career. I thought I would be serving Him better because of my satisfaction on the career front. But, the "right thing" hasn't worked out yet.
Thanks for the humbling reminder, Josh. I will work on giving him my right now. I know that He will push me to where I need to be even though I am obviously too blind to see His wisdom at the moment.
You wanna hear something weird? I make Him a "Later God" because I have to get godly work done. Isn't that stupid?! It's even easy to lose God in service.
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