The Satelite Dish

Recently I've been struggling with staying on task, spiritually speaking. Either I am completely lazy and sleep in and so have a wrestling match to deal with the rest of the day or I wake up on time and have a great God time but find that I get lost halfway through the day. I'm not straying far from the mark, or off the beaten path. I'm not out doing things totally out of character or forsaking my faith. But my mindset is wrong. Which is still sin. Because with the wrong mindset, I am in the way of what the Lord is doing and a hindrance to the things of the kingdom.

So I've been praying about it, asking God for guidance, to help me. Because if I get off track, even by a fraction of an inch, I don't want to talk to God anymore. Doesn't that sound horrible? But it's true. I have become very sensitive to when I start to fade off because all of a sudden I won't want to seek God's will on anything and instead will want to make my own decisions.

Yesterday my pastor, Paul Mints, talked about getting off track. He said it's like we're a satelite dish and have to be positioned just right to get the full, perfect signal from God. As soon as we angle to just a little bit the wrong way, we lose that signal. And he said the number 1 reason we angle off is because of a grumbling or complaining attitude.

This rings true to my heart. I know that a complaining spirit is being selfish and so can't be used of God. I also know that it can't hear God's voice or direction either. And I'm sure this is what has hindered me of late. I wasn't aware of it until yesterday, but I have had a complaining spirit. A spirit that felt slighted, felt hurt, felt that everyone was out to get them, and that concessions should be made on my behalf. Basically, I reverted to a 3 year old.

Rejoice always;

^B)">pray without ceasing;

in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

^D)">Do not quench the Spirit;

do not despise ^E)">prophetic ^a]">utterances.

But ^F)">examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;

abstain from every form of evil.

- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

Paul challenged everyone to a 14 day "No Grumble" challenge. Absolutely no verbal or mental complaining, arguing, or grumbling. He used the above passage to show that if we begin our day rejoicing in the Lord, and continue our day as such then we will find it easier to be thankful in everything, to pray continuously, to hold what is good close, and to keep away from evil.

It'll be hard. But I know this is true. Already, in several different points and from several different sources God has taught me to begin my day rejoicing and praising Him, to have a thankful heart. I just didn't pick up on the "no grumbling" part of that and so had to wait to have Him tell me it directly. Laugh out loud.

It's a short blog, I know. I would expound more, since I haven't even touched on my studies the past couple of days. But this morning I prayed with a friend and so didn't find the time to blog before work and as of now I may be late from my break because I've taken the time to write this. We shall try again tomorrow!