God Pays for What He Orders

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 131-133.

Opening Thought: Well it has been a little while since I published my devotional time. I was taking some vacation in January and February following the intensity of the Christmas time period, trying to refresh myself. I didn’t stop my devotional time while I was on vacation, but I did take a break from Nick Vujicic's book, that way we could complete it together. So, it is good to get back to his work and I hope your still enjoying following along. While I was on my vacation, I decided to focus on classical literature to inspire my devotional time and began to read two books and then reflecting with some scripture to follow. I looked at Crime and Punishment, and Brave New World, two very different works but both with profound reflections on humanity and faith. Anyways back to the work at hand. 

Today’s chapter focuses on God equipping you with what you need to follow your passions. I’m open to this idea, but sometimes I do think God calls people away what we think we want to something more Godly, if you will. So as much as, yes, God wants us to be happy and find a calling that fulfills us, the calling may not be what we think it is, and it may be a painful road to get to where God know we need to be.  

The devotional begins with: Hebrews 13: 20-21

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Second Thought:

There is a challenge in differentiating what our calling from God is verse what we merely think we want. When we are children, we often dream of growing up into a career or lifestyles which is often glamourous. I remember at one time I wished to be an NBA star, yet despite my love of basketball, I more wanted the fame and fortune. As we grow up, we begin to appreciate more realistic goal and more humble pursuits. Well, most of us anyways. In these pursuits we tend to realize the true values of life: family, friends, community, love, kindness, and hard work. Our perception change and we can hopefully find contentment and happiness in a more modest life. So be mindful when trying to reconcile where God is calling you verse where you are calling yourself, sometime we are still lost in infantile pursuits.         

Continual Work: Ask yourself are the things I long for in life “worldly” or “Godly”? There will always be some cross over, but if you are going after things that are more worldly than Godly, it might not be where you are being called.  

What Rev. Jacob is Working On: My personality is routed in achievement. Somewhere along my childhood development I internalized a particular focus on achievement. My impulse towards this can sometimes be counterproductive, oddly enough. For example, I have trouble resting as I feel I always must be accomplishing something, plus I can become invested in things that give me false or fickle senses of achievement. And lastly this impulse can something sacrifice the personal for the achievable. So this is something I try to be mindful of, my personal disposition can sometimes call me towards God, but sometimes away.  

Scripture time: Roman 5:3-5 - More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us

More often than not, I believe God calls us toward spiritual reward rather than material reward. We can feel called to be an NBA star, but maybe the true calling at the times is to experience a loss of a false dream so that we can move towards a more valuable pursuit. The bible tells us that we will suffer, and in that we in faith can become strengthen. A big fear is that people will often mistake God for a “fairy godmother” who just grants wishes. Rather God is a real and honorable parent, who teaches us all the lesson we need, including the hard ones, so we can be forged strong and durable.

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: We need to remember God is refining us, sometimes through His direct action and call, sometimes through our engagement with others. But unlike  the axe in this picture we can resist God’s help and more to things that will cause us to rust and dull. Be mindful in your faith and keep up the good pursuits.