Moving On

An early morning conversation with my son;

Me- "Matt, it's time to get up"

Him- "Not yet, in a second"

Me- "In a second? why not now?"

Him- "Because I am comfortable. I have heard it said that sometimes it seems like God is in the business of comforting the afflicted, but other times it seems His cheif purpose is to Afflict the Comfortable.

I have also heard it said that we will not change until it becomes too painful to stay the same.

As I think any of you who read this on a regular basis can tell from my posts the last couple of weeks- life has been hard. There has been waiting and dissappointment and regret- Plenty of discomfort.

The central question in all of it has been,

"Where is God in all this?"

or maybe,

"Why hasn't He given me what I wanted?"

I will tell you He has been present.

He has shown Himself in Clouds and Streetsigns-

In conversations with friends-

In His Word-

In other books I am reading-

In time with my wife-

In time alone-

In bike rides and I am sure a million other ways that I have not even recognized.

In all of it the choice has been clear-

He has driven me to a place of discomfort-

A place where I must take hold of the reality of His Love and Care for me-

Really- Deeply- In my heart of hearts -

Or I must deny Him-

Lose faith and go my own way.

My own struggles have been real, but He has been so merciful to strengthen my faith through what really are trivial struggles compared to things I know others are going through.

It really is a shame that my transformations have to come through discomfort-

Maybe it is the only way my heart will take hold of what is in my head and own it.

It is time for me to move on from old dreams.

I have done all that I could to make them come to pass.

God has shut them down.

It is time to move on- to move on into what He has for me.

Romans 8:32 God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all- how will He not also with the gift of His Son- Graciously give us all things.

Lord God Almighty I will trust You- That what You have in mind for me is Good and the Life I long for will be right there in it. Give me clarity day by day to see and walk the path You have laid out for me.

Amen

Now come on Matt- It's time to get up!