I did something horrible this morning. I'm serious. I don't know how to live with myself, and I'm warning you now, fair reader, that it might mar your opinion of me as well. I was doing my journaling this morning and... I... QUOTED A TWEET. There! I've said it!
You know, I think I'm going to keep Twitter due to one observation that I made - it's only as useful as the people that you follow. I mean, sure, I can follow celebrities and businesses if I'd like (and I do have a few), but most of the people that I follow are friends and church people that I look up to and are encouraged from. And I've come to the conclusion that those church leaders are in some sort of competition to come up with the most insightful ah-ha! tweet of the day. Yesterday, the winner (in my mind) went something like this: "Living on the edge doesn't mean we see how far we can push ourselves. Instead, listen to God and respond, obedience brings true adventure." And that resonated somewhere in my heart, because ever since I started an actual relationship with God - and I say actual, because I faked it for years - it HAS been an adventure. Who can say God is boring and dull and does nothing?!! Ohmigosh, He's moving EVERYWHERE! And I read in the New Testament about the zest and passion that the followers of Christ had, and the adventures they went on for Truth, and it thrills me. A life in God is anything but boring. It's exciting in every sense and tense of the word.
And so I quoted that tweet because I sometimes (read: oftentimes) fall victim to that. I want a life of adventure. I want voyages and stories and experiences that I can share in heaven when I FINALLY have all of my friends around me forever. The problem is that, well, adventures aren't exciting when you're going it alone. And, in the case of God-adventures, then if you go in headstrong by yourself, then you're not only going it alone but you're going it without a road map or really any idea of what you're supposed to be doing. Because God tends to like giving us just what we need to know and nothing more so that we HAVE to follow Him. I think He gets a kick out of it. Regardless, it's exciting! Take the church plant in Maryville. Ohmigosh, we all have such dreams and visions for it! Our hearts are all in it; there's no doubt about that. But there are so many different ways to get to those dreams that, if we take off by ourselves, we're liable to get lost, get discouraged, and get sick of it. God knows the plan - heck, He MADE the adventure in the first place! And who's to say that His dream and vision doesn't completely blow ours out of the water? It usually does. No, the only way to actually have an adventure - to live that life of experiences and uncertainty and thrill - is to follow God.
That seems to different from anything we've ever been told. People who follow rules don't have adventures. They suck. They do nothing but study and get good grades and wear clothes that match and have last year's haircut. The people who have adventures don't give a care about the rules and just go by their gut. Right? Well, in the world's eyes, yeah. But God and the world rarely meet eye to eye. With God, it's obedience that creates a popping and sizzling life. It's listening to Him, hanging on the edge until you know the next step, and then leaping with all you've got.
So... thanks, Twitter.
You know, I think I'm going to keep Twitter due to one observation that I made - it's only as useful as the people that you follow. I mean, sure, I can follow celebrities and businesses if I'd like (and I do have a few), but most of the people that I follow are friends and church people that I look up to and are encouraged from. And I've come to the conclusion that those church leaders are in some sort of competition to come up with the most insightful ah-ha! tweet of the day. Yesterday, the winner (in my mind) went something like this: "Living on the edge doesn't mean we see how far we can push ourselves. Instead, listen to God and respond, obedience brings true adventure." And that resonated somewhere in my heart, because ever since I started an actual relationship with God - and I say actual, because I faked it for years - it HAS been an adventure. Who can say God is boring and dull and does nothing?!! Ohmigosh, He's moving EVERYWHERE! And I read in the New Testament about the zest and passion that the followers of Christ had, and the adventures they went on for Truth, and it thrills me. A life in God is anything but boring. It's exciting in every sense and tense of the word.
And so I quoted that tweet because I sometimes (read: oftentimes) fall victim to that. I want a life of adventure. I want voyages and stories and experiences that I can share in heaven when I FINALLY have all of my friends around me forever. The problem is that, well, adventures aren't exciting when you're going it alone. And, in the case of God-adventures, then if you go in headstrong by yourself, then you're not only going it alone but you're going it without a road map or really any idea of what you're supposed to be doing. Because God tends to like giving us just what we need to know and nothing more so that we HAVE to follow Him. I think He gets a kick out of it. Regardless, it's exciting! Take the church plant in Maryville. Ohmigosh, we all have such dreams and visions for it! Our hearts are all in it; there's no doubt about that. But there are so many different ways to get to those dreams that, if we take off by ourselves, we're liable to get lost, get discouraged, and get sick of it. God knows the plan - heck, He MADE the adventure in the first place! And who's to say that His dream and vision doesn't completely blow ours out of the water? It usually does. No, the only way to actually have an adventure - to live that life of experiences and uncertainty and thrill - is to follow God.
That seems to different from anything we've ever been told. People who follow rules don't have adventures. They suck. They do nothing but study and get good grades and wear clothes that match and have last year's haircut. The people who have adventures don't give a care about the rules and just go by their gut. Right? Well, in the world's eyes, yeah. But God and the world rarely meet eye to eye. With God, it's obedience that creates a popping and sizzling life. It's listening to Him, hanging on the edge until you know the next step, and then leaping with all you've got.
So... thanks, Twitter.
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