Muddy Hands and Holidays

I get so many wonderful devotions every day and I love being able to share them. A couple of days ago I read this: "Caught up in trying to figure out God, we often settle for how He has worked in someone else’s life. We cling to their faith walk in exchange for exercising our own. We see a pattern for how God worked and expect Him to respond in the exact same way in our situation. While God’s character is unchanging, He has created a unique faith walk tailored just for us...Authentic faith is trusting God for our lives without putting Him in a box of limitations. By laying our preconceived patterns down, we will experience a phenomenal faith walk that far surpasses our wildest dreams" (Janet Martin).

Not only do I cling to ways God has worked in the past, I cling to life as I have imagined it will be. God's thoughts are so much higher than mine, however (Is. 55:9), and His creativity is limitless. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." Why do I get so upset when I don't get my way? I am reminded again of a quote from C.S. Lewis: I am "like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. [I am] far too easily pleased."

Leaving my mud pies behind and trusting that God is going to take me to the sea takes faith. After all, there will be a period of time when I have neither mud pies nor the sea. Can I really relinquish all I hold dear and leave my hands open and outstretched, waiting for God to fill them? I'm not sure. But I hope to be able to, for "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Heb. 11:1) and "without faith, it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6).

Like the devotion pointed out, God does not work in everyone's life in the same way. What may be a mud pie to me (something God has called me to let go of or leave behind) may be the very thing that to someone else is a holiday at the sea. But I have not been called to live someone else's life. I am to "run with endurance the race that is set before ME, fixing [my] eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith" (Heb. 12:1-2). Eyes focused on Jesus aren't roving around, comparing themselves to others. They are purposely fixed on "the joy set before them" (Heb. 12:2). Faith is a choice and, like running a race, is not easy. But I choose it anyway. A holiday at the sea sounds pretty nice.