A Choice to Make

For faith to grow and be strengthened, it must pass through moments of choices. I am for certain that I am not the only one who has discovered that those choices always carry with them, a matter of obedience. Most of us prefer spaces of time between testing, but that is not up to us unfortunately. This is where our heart and character are revealed. The conflict that we endure does not make character; it reveals what's in the heart.
I am learning to guard my heart, and in the process I am learning the Heart of God. I notice the activity of God in the midst of the choices I make, and because I have chosen to be a servant, my choices in turn, reflect the understanding of that relationship. With God, there are no easy ways to maturity or short cuts to avoiding your real life situations. As far as I know, our lives on earth will always bring some measure of pain, conflict, sorrow, and even battle. I believe it is our perseverence through these battles that ultimately develop our character, especially our faith in Him. On a more personal level, I have battled since my family and I have entered into this new season of our lives of pastoring a community of believers. But even now, I know that regardless of my abilities, only God can give me the victory in overcoming my struggle with the change. God is looking for a heart in me, that will be loyal to Him, so He can show Himself strong on my behalf. Too many of God's people fail to relate to Him as His servants. When God is silent, they get upset or even angry, and they often jump to the conclusion that God has abandoned them. Then they begin to make demands of God, and too often forsake His words. Others just work themselves to death with good deeds using their human reasoning. They create their own vision and then proceed to ask God to bless them. It is part of God's covenant to bless us, and I believe He wants to before we even ask for it. When you want to be blessed, remember to bless someone else. I have found in my own life, that His blessings have never been late or short when He knows that He can trust me with the gifts He is giving. Love never witholds anything when it's appropriate. Love longs to give and flow forth. The more we respond to God's call through the choices that carry us farther along, this will ring true with more assurance. "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth, as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify Myself, so that they may also be sanctified by the truth." John 17:15-19.
Having knowledge of this truth should affect the choices that we make. We can choose to be obedient, even not knowing what the outcome our situation will be. The more we choose to do this, the more we see God's loving grace abound in our lives and our faith in Him is strengthened.