Complacency

 Complacency is like a gray blanket that covers us, and though it seems warm and comfortable, it keeps the joy and passion out of our lives. We get so caught up in the day-to-day, that we don't even realize when we have wrapped ourselves in this blanket. It comes into our lives like a blanket of fog, covering the landscaping and hiding the beauty.

A few years ago, I recognized how I had allowed myself to be wrapped up, and I threw off the blanket. I told myself I would not allow myself to be wrapped up in it again. However, just like you can't walk in the mud without getting muddy, you can't constantly be around complacent people without becoming complacent. I recognize, yet again, I have allowed the complacency blanket into my life. It is a daily struggle to keep it off and at times, I grow weary. I know God has us where we are supposed to be for this season, but there is a strong longing for something more. More of God and His Glory to be manifested in and through our lives.

There are so many times I want to go up to people, grab them by the shoulders, shake them, and say, "Don't you realize there is more than this!" I have written before about tasting and hungering for more and I feel as if there is a famine happening. Not that God is withholding- quite the contrary, He desires more than anything for His people to step out of the way and say,"whatever You want to do, do it."

In reality, they are covered with the blanket of complacency that deceives them into believing that this is all there is. They don't even know what they are missing. To experience God's presence so thick in a room that you can't even stand. To feel joy so overwhelming that your stomach muscles hurt for days from laughing so hard. To witness His will being carried out when people are set free, restored to health and sound mind, and relationships are restored. To rest in a "peace which surpasses all understanding". I thank God that He has given me a taste of these things and I will continue to hold on to the promises He has given and throw off the blanket of complacency. I will long for the day when these things become an everyday occurrence, not just a scattered moment.

I am convicted that it is part my responsibility. Am I walking out my daily life for the Kingdom? These things can only happen when lives are lived fully surrendered to Him. How am I doing? How are you doing? Are we allowing ourselves to be wrapped in the blanket of complacency, or are we living every moment in full surrender to Him?

Doors

God has been leading me down a new path and often times as one door opens another closes. That was what 2016 was for me; it was a season of change and challenges. 

Sometimes, it is painful when a door is shut. Doors are a lot like the obstacles in our lives;sometimes they are there because God wants them there and sometimes they are there to hinder us on our journey. Whether God has shut the door or not, He can use the circumstance to help us see in a new light. When a door is open it illuminates certain things and when that door is shut, the light shifts to illuminate other things for us to focus on. So it is with the doors in our lives.The patterns of light shifts and change around us lighting the new areas that need exploring. Would we dare venture to explore those areas if they were not illuminated for us? When a door is closed to us we no longer see the path we were on; we must move on to the new adventure and a new path. 

There are times when one door is shut, but a new one opens. There may even be more than one open and sometimes there are none at all; we are left standing in an empty room - waiting. I have learned, over the years to not rush into the next door. There are times of growth in the hallway and in the waiting that prepares us for the journey through the next door. It is also in the waiting, when there is more than one door open, that we can seek Gods will in which door to walk through. Not every door is opened by God. We must wait on Him to illuminate the way for us. 

What ever the situation, it's never easy to do new things, but it is in the challenge that we discover our strengths. It is in our weaknesses that we lean on God's strength. As I walk through these new doors I may not see the path in front of me, but I hold to the promises that God has given me and I take the next step in obedience. As I do this I get closer to the promises and closer to God.