Chasing Ideals

I'm still here staying outside of Koln (Cologne for auslanders) and probably will be until this weekend. At Church on Sunday I was reminded of how important it is to put our trust in God and step out when we know we need to make a change in our lives. My last year in Phoenix was so full with the relationships God has given me but throughout that time I knew that I needed to leave Phoenix. I could see that if I remained in that environment I would become complacent and be chasing after comfort rather than the purpose which God has created me for.

I think sometimes that to others it seemed as though my decision to move was an easy one but the reality is that at each step of the way in preparing to leave I found myself fighting it. Near the end I started thinking I must be crazy to be leaving behind so much and I resented the fact that I knew I needed to do this. In my mind there were many other people better suited to this who preferred to be alone and did not have so many relationships in their lives to lose. These moments reminded me of how indeed God's ways and thoughts are so different from ours. When I was able to stop thinking this way (didn't happen often during the last week or two in Phoenix) and look inside my heart I was reminded that my decision has so much more to do with the future than with happy feelings in the present. So often when I want to make a change I forget that in between where I am and where I want to be there may be hardship, confusion, and loss. The life that I wish to have in the future for my family and for what God is preparing in me required that I make this decision. Throughout my life I must be ready to make these decisions or I will miss out on much of what my life in Christ has to offer. I will be crippled by my desire to lead a comfortable life.

In my life I know that God has been teaching me to see with his eyes. Societies everywhere now teach their young people that comfort and "not rocking the boat" are the most important elements of life. Those ideas go so against the plans of God for our lives. He has created us for a life full of purpose and we will never be content chasing after a comfortable existence. How can a creation of God ever begin to know the fulness of their gifts and abilities when he or she follows those societal ideas? I would challenge any of you that read this to ask yourself "Where is my life going?" and "For what purpose have I been created?" Many would say that they know the answers to these questions and that may be but many people have answered by looking simply through their own eyes or through what they believe they are capable of. That is worlds apart from asking God to show you what he sees and what he believes you are capable of. A comfortable life is just as it says "comfortable" but will never allow for true contentment or knowledge of who you have been created to become.

To those of you who might think this sounded like I was preaching I apologize for that but this issue is too important to God and too important for our lives for it to be ignored. Don't read it and think that you have waited too long to start asking God these questions because none of us has any clue what may still be ahead for us.