Fwd: Eye Opener

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Arthur Nicewander
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Subject: Eye Opener
To: Mike Galusha <Mike.Galusha@delta.com>, Ryan Westafer <ryan.westafer@gmail.com>, "Mike &amp, Mary Galusha" <mjgalusha@comcast.net>, Mary Lynn Kirby <mlk1112002@yahoo.com>, Hugh Kirby <hughk@newhopebc.org>, Michelle Bonner <michellebonnermk@bellsouth.net>, Axal Plangeogoe <axalplangeogoe@yahoo.com>, Hunter Gillam <huntergillam@comcast.net>, Beth Gillam <bethgillam@gmail.com>


So I'm having my QT, when this tiny paragraph out of Paul's letter to the Galatian church decides to reach out and smack me upside my head:

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." (1:10 TNIV)

Did you catch that last sentence?  What motivates us to worship God? A sense of gratitude or a sense of guilt? A desire to respond to God's grace or a desire to earn it? It's just a humbling thing to have the Spirit lead me to a word that serves to reinforce what I shared with ya'll Sunday.  The deeper I delve into the things of God, the more I'm learning to surrender.  Not just what I'm comfortable with giving up. ALL of it. My frustration about my job. My worries about providing for my family.   My danger of letting my reason drown out my faith.

Saint John of the Cross, a monk from the 14th century, says it better than I can:

"The children of Israel did not find in the manna all the sweetness and strength they might have found in it; not because the manna did not contain them, but because they longed for other meat."

Father, I want to live a life that pleases You.  I want to walk through each day depending on Your power, looking for Your hand, listening for the still, small voice of Your guidance.  Use me for Your kingdom's purposes.  Nudge me into greater acts of faith.  Call me to a deeper level of trust.  God, soften my heart so that I can live worthy of Your calling and fulfill Your highest purpose for my life.