Today’s is the second guest post from Ami Loizides Pruett of this summer season. Do follow her blog for more of this engaging material.
This past weekend for me was spent in the hospital (nothing serious!) and the night I got out I found myself praying and kind of apologising to God for not having spent time with Him. My prayers came to a standstill as my mind churned and I thought back to the drama and fears of the last few days…hold on a second! I realised that a) there’s grace and God totally understood that I was really ill and b) whenever I was about to undergo another scary test or have another needle stuck in me, I felt closer to God than I have in a while! In my desperation and fear I cried out to Him and He answered with His everfaithful peace and comfort – despite me not having had a ‘quiet time’ or studied that day. Something happens when we grow desperate and uncomfortable – God wraps Himself around us in a way that we perhaps don’t feel everyday. I think that if we’re in a position where we are extremely comfortable we lose our sense of desperation for God – which can hinder our faith in Him. What I mean is this: if you’ve come to a spiritual halt in your life where you’re not feeling the presence of God as you want to, the reason could be that you need to ‘get out of the boat’! Stick your neck out, take some risks! My husband and I live by the mindset that if we’re not crying out to God, if we’re getting complacent and too comfortable, something needs to change. Because at that stage the doors are wide open for pride to flood in and we think ‘Hey, we can make it on our own’ thus losing our sense of need for God. We as Christians should never want to be in a position where we think we don’t need Him – we rely on Him for our every breath and if we suddenly decide that we don’t, that can be a huge detour in our spiritual lives and the growth of our faith can be stunted. Whether you’re too comfortable in your finances, your job, your relationships or even your church – that needs to change! If it’s finances, give it away – bless someone anonymously, give extra to your church’s gift day, finance an initiative for work with the poor. If it’s your job – work as if you are working for God, ask God for fresh ideas and inspiration. In your relationships – start up a friendship with that new person in your small group, open up a bit more with your friends, share the gospel with your non Christian friends. In your church – serve more, give more, love and support more. Whatever is out of your comfort zone and forces you to cry out to God more, it’s going to grow and expand upon your faith. The whole Bible is covered with testimonies of God surrounding his people in times of trouble when they cry out to Him – let us get uncomfortable and never lose our sense of desperation to see His face!
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