We have a wrestling that we can't easily reconcile. We have an angst that we can't quite settle. We have an inconsistency that haunts us all, but we can't imagine how to walk more true and earnest that we currently do.
On one hand, life is hard, painful, and robustly challenging. Whether you follow the Way of Jesus or not, struggle in this world is a certainty, an inevitable law from which we can't ever escape no matter our efforts, earnings, or planning. The hardships come, and we find ways to face them and live through them, whether those ways are healthy or not.
On the other hand, we have all been made in the image of God himself. We are not afterthoughts or earthly matter to which he is indifferent; he has formed us with intention and heart, to walk in the glory of the purpose he has given to each of us. Whether we trust God or not doesn't change the design with which we are lovingly shaped. This Heavenly Father desires that all his creation walk in light of his deep, abiding affection; for his glory, but most certainly for our assured joy as well.
Where these two realities meet, all of us have a choice to make, in and out of the church. One choice: we can find and implement our own ways to face life in a hard place, a hard season, or a hard existence. We can concede to get through, we can numb out, we can ascend the hills of pride, we can fill our days with whatever we feel gives us the approval, purpose, and security our hearts long for. This is the way of the world.
Conversely, we have another option: we can embrace our identity, our calling, and the life that God has paved and planned for each of us. We can allow him to shape us, fill us, redeem us, and send us forth to stand, resilient and ready, in the face of any and all hardship. We can find our place, in the truest sense, in our life, our community, and the world as we walk in his grace, living in light of his calling on each of our lives.
The diverged road comes to each of us, continually.
The questions is: will we choose the one that gives the truest life?
Series starts this Sunday, May 1, 2022.
On one hand, life is hard, painful, and robustly challenging. Whether you follow the Way of Jesus or not, struggle in this world is a certainty, an inevitable law from which we can't ever escape no matter our efforts, earnings, or planning. The hardships come, and we find ways to face them and live through them, whether those ways are healthy or not.
On the other hand, we have all been made in the image of God himself. We are not afterthoughts or earthly matter to which he is indifferent; he has formed us with intention and heart, to walk in the glory of the purpose he has given to each of us. Whether we trust God or not doesn't change the design with which we are lovingly shaped. This Heavenly Father desires that all his creation walk in light of his deep, abiding affection; for his glory, but most certainly for our assured joy as well.
Where these two realities meet, all of us have a choice to make, in and out of the church. One choice: we can find and implement our own ways to face life in a hard place, a hard season, or a hard existence. We can concede to get through, we can numb out, we can ascend the hills of pride, we can fill our days with whatever we feel gives us the approval, purpose, and security our hearts long for. This is the way of the world.
Conversely, we have another option: we can embrace our identity, our calling, and the life that God has paved and planned for each of us. We can allow him to shape us, fill us, redeem us, and send us forth to stand, resilient and ready, in the face of any and all hardship. We can find our place, in the truest sense, in our life, our community, and the world as we walk in his grace, living in light of his calling on each of our lives.
The diverged road comes to each of us, continually.
The questions is: will we choose the one that gives the truest life?
Series starts this Sunday, May 1, 2022.
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