What do you desire most at this time in your life? Affection? Sex? Beauty? Friends to spend time with on the weekends? A new car? Extra money for new clothes or items for around the house? A new job? A new life...?
What is hindering you from achieving these goals? What stops you from moving forward in meeting someone to get to know and within time be married? Low self esteem? Laziness? Lack of pursuit? Being shy? Not knowing where to begin or where to go? Weighing guilt? Confusion? Feeling unattractive? Not having the "skills" to consider a higher paying job?
It is good that we all have longings and desires. That is normal. But sometimes our desires become strongholds to where we think, "I have to have this NOW." Sometimes our desires become idols in our hearts that actually take the place of the important tasks we have in front of us (finishing school, taking care of aging parents, being there for our siblings or being a mentor for a teenager we know, doing our best where we currently work as we pursue getting our degree within time, being responsible, making time for the things of God and seeking to invest, build, and maintain our walk with Him...)
Sex. Beauty. Affection. Relationship. Fun times.
We may crave all of this intensely and dismiss the fact that we should be making the most of our time and lives as they are during the waiting process. Let's wait on the Lord's timing and pray daily that He would prepare us for our future spouse and prepare our future spouse for us. Let us rejoice in this season of life; knowing that once this season in our lives passes, we may look back and think, "I wish I would have enjoyed that time in my life more and have chosen to be grateful for even the smallest reasons in life. Why did I find so many reasons to complain and took so little time to be content and thankful for all the blessings clearly in front of me (no matter how small or insignificant they may seem). Why didn't I fully enjoy the time I had with my mom the years she was a stay at home mom? Why didn't I rejoice and thank God for providing a job for me, which even though it didn't afford me the luxury of buying all I wanted, still enabled me to pay the bills and rent on time? Why didn't I compliment my friends and family more when we had all those nice times together around the holidays (now they went back home and I might not see them for a while)? Why didn't I treasure the times my kid asked me a million questions instead of just wanting him to go play elsewhere while I worked on other tasks? Why didn't I choose to really seek after the Lord since I wasn't working and now I can't fully since I am in school full time and volunteering during my free hours?"
Dear ones, let us treasure each season of our lives, each person God brings along our path, each winter day and summer night (even though such weather might not be our preference!), and purposefully recall all we have to be thankful for in life. We have our eyesight and hearing, yes? A heater at home and air conditioning in the car, right? We have food to eat, water to drink, soap and hot water for showers, God's word available to purchase at stores or read and listen to free of charge online, clothes, shoes, a computer, ...and the list goes on. Your list of reasons to be thankful might look totally different than mine; nevertheless, we ALL have reason to be grateful. Even for the small things.
I love the quotes, "Someone else is content with less than you have" and "The things you take for granted someone else is praying for."
While we wait, let's seek to keep a grateful perspective. For every negative in our lives, let us think of a positive and be thankful that we don't have less or our situation isn't worse.
0 comments:
Post a Comment