No Comparison

This blog is designed to give people an inner look at a devotional life. Taking time each day to spend time with the Lord. The hope is if you travel on this journey with Rev. Jacob Shaw, you may be more inclined to spend time with the Lord as well. I encourage the use of a devotional, a scripture reading and prayer, then finally a song, hymn or selection of poetry to tie it all together. 

Today's devotional is taken from: Vujicic, Nick. Limitless Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2013. pp 36-38.

Opening Thought: Today’s reading touches on darker thoughts, Nick in his youth began to compare himself to peers, what they could do and what he couldn’t. These thoughts shifted him from his faith, because the darker-side tells people what they can’t do, and blinds them from what they can do, what God has made them to do. When people hit these darker times, it can even bring them to the extremes of self-harm or suicide. I am lucky to have never experienced a true desire to harm myself. Desire isn’t even the right word there, but I don’t know what would be. Hang on folks, today’s devotion is going to be a ride.  

The devotional begins with: 
John 10:10

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.   

Second Thought: I do believe there is darkness in the world. It is found in humanity, in the natural world, and I believe in the spiritual world. Sometimes the darkness can be so overwhelming, we begin to believe the false truth that the only solution is to try to end it all. As a young adult I have spent much of my life on the internet; chat sites, forums and apps and I have always been blown away how often I would come across people saying they had had enough, that they couldn’t take it anymore and thinking about killing themselves. Being anonymous strangers online there was not much to do but encourage them not to. It is a difficult challenge, (and a part of my plea is to encourage them to seek psychological and emotional support from a doctor and/or professional as I am not qualified to be more than lay support), but also because I have never really had those thoughts, not to that degree. In times of extreme stress, I get the sensation that “I want it all to stop,” but it is more of a feeling of wanting a giant pause button, allowing me to stop time or something. So how to you help people in a situation so heavy - well my strength is my faith so I will do what I can by sharing that.

I do believe that a belief in God or a faith in God, an enlightenment with God, however you want to potion it, can help. If you open yourself up to a God, a God who wants you to love God, neighbor and yourself - you always have something to live for. It is not an easy fix either; believing in God takes communication, dedication, education, community, and a dive into faith, but it creates a network of hope and connection like no other. It becomes apart of you.

I hope that anyone who ever might read this hears my belief, that God cares about everyone, no matter where you are, who you are, or where you’re coming from. Nick Vujicic adds, “What will save your life in these situations is to shift your perspective from yourself to those you love, from the pain of right now to the greater possibilities of the future.” God calls you forward, the darkness will try to pull you down into nothing, don’t follow the darkness – stay in the light.     

Continual Work: “I recommend putting faith in action…” when we are feeling the faith, the darkness is like a shadow underfoot, you wouldn’t likely even notice it if you didn’t look for it. However, when you’re not feeling the faith, darkness can become very overwhelming. That is why a lifetime of faith practice, adherence and devotion – keep the faith alive and burning, that will help to keep the darkness at bay.

What Rev. Jacob is Working On: I want to keep eyes open for those suffering from the darkness of life, those who may need some light and love in their day. That means I must listen, watch and be patient to welcome that invitation to help other come my way.  

Scripture time: John 10:7 

Jesus compares Himself to the gate for the sheep. We preached on this recently and I love this metaphor. Shepherds would bring the sheep into a rock enclosure to protect the sheep. Jesus by saying this means that we must move threw him to find the protection. The hope that Nick speaks of in his entire series so far rings out with this idea of protection, God has called Nick through Jesus to safety. I feel this too, no matter what situation I am in, I feel Christ with me, I try to move through Christ in all the things I do. The more I do this, the happier I feel. This feeling of happiness is completely experiential, I don’t believe anyone could truly appreciate the peaceful calm of this happiness unless they experienced it for themselves. So what are you waiting for, dive into the faith – walk through the gate and I know you will find it too.

Prayer Time: Creator of the day and the night. Darkness is not the blinding of the eyes but the blinding of the soul. Illuminate my heart so it may have eyes to see. Let me see beyond the whims of society, trends, and pressures of the day – into your will, into your strength, into the gate and threshold which you call me to cross. By Christ name I pray, Amen.   

Closing Words: I hope you enjoyed and were lifted by this devotional time; it is truly important to take time for God each day. By doing so, you welcome God into your life, and in turn you will be able to better see the world through the eyes of God, rather than God through the world's eyes.

Artistic Close:  This is a painting I did to try to better understand the feelings of depression and hell.