We are moving buildings again at church. I'm glad. When I started going to this body of believers, we met at a Rec center. It was nice, no overbearing feeling of "Church-e-ness" that has a tendency to make me slightly nauseous while making me put on my Happy Church Face. The meeting felt...organic. Real people hanging out, journeying together because they like each other. We often sat at round tables and had discussions, we drank wine, we laughed. I loved it.
Then we moved and it sucked. We sat in pews facing an alter. It was the same people but a totally different dynamic. It felt "churchy" which is not what we wanted so we quit. Some people dig church in its traditional dress, its just not our bag.
The church felt the same way, to stay true to its original intent, it is moving again. Hugh talked about what it means to be the church, how the church was called to "go". So often going is hard because it means to leave something else.
I have a friend who recently said she fears God's will because she is afraid it might not be what she has planned for her life. I totally get that and think if we were all honest, most of us feel this way. Here is what we forget: God made me. He created me to be different than any other person in the world, with different talents, likes and dislikes and with a different influence than any one else has.
God isn't a bully, he doesn't shove me into his will kicking and screaming, He just asks me to "go". I have free will, but God has a plan that would fulfill the darkest corners of my hearts desire that I didn't even know I had. I am not saying it is God's desire to make me happy, it isn't. It is God's desire to make me whole in areas I didn't know were broken. He wants to show me Himself in areas it wouldn't occur to me to look. Life in God's will isn't easy, it isn't happy, it is a joy that runs soul deep and that can't be defined. God is my loving father, I can trust Him with my heart and every thing I feel that is anything of worth, my dreams, my love, my children. God may take these from me, he may ask me to go. He wants me to leave the gutter that I believe is every thing I want, and he wants to show me the ocean of real worth, real dreams, real love, to show me things only God can.
Then we moved and it sucked. We sat in pews facing an alter. It was the same people but a totally different dynamic. It felt "churchy" which is not what we wanted so we quit. Some people dig church in its traditional dress, its just not our bag.
The church felt the same way, to stay true to its original intent, it is moving again. Hugh talked about what it means to be the church, how the church was called to "go". So often going is hard because it means to leave something else.
I have a friend who recently said she fears God's will because she is afraid it might not be what she has planned for her life. I totally get that and think if we were all honest, most of us feel this way. Here is what we forget: God made me. He created me to be different than any other person in the world, with different talents, likes and dislikes and with a different influence than any one else has.
God isn't a bully, he doesn't shove me into his will kicking and screaming, He just asks me to "go". I have free will, but God has a plan that would fulfill the darkest corners of my hearts desire that I didn't even know I had. I am not saying it is God's desire to make me happy, it isn't. It is God's desire to make me whole in areas I didn't know were broken. He wants to show me Himself in areas it wouldn't occur to me to look. Life in God's will isn't easy, it isn't happy, it is a joy that runs soul deep and that can't be defined. God is my loving father, I can trust Him with my heart and every thing I feel that is anything of worth, my dreams, my love, my children. God may take these from me, he may ask me to go. He wants me to leave the gutter that I believe is every thing I want, and he wants to show me the ocean of real worth, real dreams, real love, to show me things only God can.
Comments
And I like how you explained God's will. You're right...he's not going to force us into something that breaks our spirit. He might lead us down scary paths, but we have to trust that the end is better than what we could have imagined.
Um, if you have a moment, could you ask God if he wills me to be married someday? I'd sure like that... :-)
I am loving the atmosphere of where I am at, because it is a community of people encouraged to passionately pursue the passions God has placed in their heart in order to further His kingdom. There isn't some sort of structure to when we worship. It usually happens every day, but in an unplanned way. Someone whips out a guitar, someone shares something God has showed them or put something on their heart...It's been way too cool. :)