God is Now!

I once heard a non-believer say that he couldn't accept Christ because he might become famous. My college pastor had just shared the Gospel with him, told him all about the amazing cross and how freedom and salvation could only be found in Christ, and he said, "Well, I'll have to think about it. I might become famous soon, and that's going to be huge." I was flabbergasted. As though following God was going to thwart his musical career-He could only make it more fruitful; as though being saved by the grace of the Lord was going to keep anything exciting from happening to him-life with God is beyond exciting; as though being famous would be anything compared to knowing true forgiveness for a life of sin. Obviously, it was one of the silliest excuses I've ever heard, while simultaneously a polite way of saying, "I'm hearing you, but no thanks."

A young gal from the high school ministry I work with told me that she needs to be able to accept herself before she can accept God. I told her that the only way she would find the strength to accept herself was with the strength of God, and that God doesn't need her to accept herself. He has already accepted her, just as she is. All the sins and flaws, along with the beautiful young lady she is, God knows and has loved her as is.

With that, this walk sometimes feels overwhelmed with 'becoming.' It is hard to not get caught up in your own flaws, the places that God is working in your life. It is hard to see other people's gifts and wish that you were more like them. The important thing to remember, as stated previously, is that God knows every part of you, every beat of your heart, and knows every thought before you think it. "You see the depths of my heart and you love me the same; You are amazing God!" as the lyrics of Chris Tomlin's "Indescribable" say. The point is that if God can love even the sometimes twisted depths of our hearts, we can take comfort in knowing that He does not see failure in our flaws, only places for His glory to be shown (shone).

(There is no 'becoming,' there is only now when sin is involved. Slight tangent: I was listening to Mornings with Brant on Way FM about a couple weeks ago, and Brant was talking about how we can make all these boundaries and plans and goals and pledges to not sin, to not fall into temptation, but when the situation comes along, there is this psychological phenomenon that kicks in and we're basically powerless. I think we can safely replace "psychological phenomenon" with the name of a certain enemy and say it makes perfect sense. I believe it was Billy Graham that had a naked woman hiding in his car when he came out from a speaking engagement, took one look at her and screamed, "FLEE!" and ran off down the street. In response to a question about temptation, he wisely wrote, "The best way to avoid giving in to temptation is to flee from it the moment it appears." )

It's not so much that you aren't the person God wants you to be right now-in fact, you probably are. It's not that you're not "there yet," where ever "there" is. The fact of the matter is that you are here, in this place and time, around these people for a reason. It's because this is the moment God has placed you to live in, and while I believe wholeheartedly God gives us free will He just happens to know what choice we're going to make, and so He's pulled His all-knowing strings to formulate your life to best fit His will. It's more that you are God's woman now and becoming more like Christ every moment after 'now'. (When will THEN become NOW? ... Soon!) It's more that you are God's woman and becoming more like Christ every day. Maybe some days are huge leaps ahead, and some are even regressive... Some days it feels like I am so unlike You; where you are gracious, I am unforgiving and cold; where You are selfless and humble, all I can see is myself; where you are hopeful, I feel lethargic and despondent; where you are eterntally patient, I am quick-tempered and irritable. You move with a holy grace, and I trip over my own feet thrice a day.

Becoming is daily; becoming is now. It is also often referred to as "walking with Christ." Walking is daily. Walking is now. It takes clinging to Jesus' hand for balance, listening to His words for inspiration, and giving up ourselves to make room for a strength that is all God's own. It means slowing down, breathing, and realizing in your very being that you were only able to take that breath because God provides, graciously and generously.

How do we walk the line of daily and divine? It is common for Christians of a younger generation to say, "Jesus is my best friend," or "Jesus is my boyfriend," when I know many 'older' men and women of God that balk at drum-sets in worship and who would balk at such a statement. There are debates going as to whether the Bible should be read in the bathroom, if you should pray while in the shower. It seems to be a question of respect towards God. Is it respect or is it hiding? Is it respect or is it being real? God knows every inch of our bodies, every atom, every quark and beyond. He knows how our bodies work because He thought it up that way. We are also only clean by his grace and forgiveness, so in His presence we are holy. If we are in alignment with His will-and why wouldn't reading the Bible or praying be out of line?-what we are doing is good. I think it comes down to love. It is written that all things are permissible, but if it causes a brother to stumble, it is not permissible. We have to be real with God, because who exactly do you think you're hiding from if you're not? He knows our hearts and knows what we are thinking, going to speak before it comes out of our mouths. If you're praying while doing bathroom business though, let me just say I don't need to know about it. That's between you and God, my friend.

The point is, as wisely stated by one Becky Zerlentes, "Life is now." When you find yourself saying, "I'll pray tomorrow morning; I'll pray after work..." Pray now! "I'll worship God later; I'll spend time with Him later," do it now! There is no better way to strengthen your walk with Christ than to be with Him, always. "Pray continually," says Paul in 1 Thessalonians. "Rejoice always," he says. "I will say it again: rejoice!"

A guest lecturer here at Ravencrest, Jason Morrison, is an active duty Marine. We were discussing in class what it meant to be constantly following Jesus and doing all things for the glory of God. He said something along the lines of, "If I'm out patrolling on top of a tank, I can't be thinking about Jesus. I have to be thinking about how I'm going to get rid of the bad guys out to kill me. Does this mean I'm not following Jesus? Heck no!" He then went on to say, "Dirt biking is my favorite thing in the world. But if I'm not thinking about God when I'm dirt biking, does that mean I'm not doing it for His glory? No." What Jason means is that just because God isn't at the forefront of our minds (we can, after all, only have so many things in our active conscious mind), doesn't mean we aren't walking with Him daily. It means that we just have to remember God created this moment, this life, these things that we like to do specifically for our enjoyment. He created Creation not only as a place to put us, but so that we could see its beauty and in turn, see His beauty. He created dirt biking for Jason and the written Word for me and your favorite hobby or favorite place specifically for us to enjoy it! It says in the Psalms that God wills us to see the things we see. Samantha Dalton once saw a shooting star that no one else in the group she was with saw-she knew that God flicked that little speck of light across the atmosphere just for her.

So what can we take from this? God is NOW. And He loves you in this moment, no matter where your heart is or where it's been, and He only wants to love you more. So it's my prayer for you that you'll let Him do what He does best: Love.