Stop sitting.
What do you think happens when you sit for too long? That’s right. Your joints ache. You are slow to move. You even feel tired. Then you sit down some more. Now, what do you think happens when you sit for too long in your complacency? Weeks turn to months and another year has crept into your existence. You wonder why you feel bored. You wonder why you aren’t growing. You wonder why others constantly correct you when you talk in faithless sentences. You wonder why that dream/assignment God poured into you 3 years ago is still but a dream. You begin to allow the acceptance of lies to enter the ears of your heart, that it is too late to start. You begin to accept the mediocrity of sameness as normal. Any nudging by God or others you make excuses that it is just too hard or too late. You long ago decided that since half your life is over, why to bother. You sit down some more and wait for another year of complacent sameness to tread on by. Twiddling thumbs and looking back in sameness gets you nowhere.
Stop sitting. Then rise.
What do you think happens when the realization of your normal (what lie you have believed to be your normal) causes you to rise? Why do you rise? You realize that you are tired of mediocre sameness. You realize this really is not normal! You realize God wants more for you than what you are/you have been doing all this time. You rise and you look around. You see your life as not half over, but just beginning. You realize the Kingdom is bigger than where you are. That it is not tied into a label, a title, or a place of worship. You realize there is much to do and it starts with you/yourself. Rising gives way to a search that finds life, that finds truth. Rising causes the heart to flutter toward right-thinking.
You rise. Now you are standing. What are you doing? As you stand, you start to confess your sin of complacency and sentimentality. You offer shouts of praise right where you are, even though you do not see it. You remind yourself of what God has done and this brings about a sense of wonder, remembrance, and awe. You realize He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is amazing in your present. That if He has done it then, He will do it now. That He is no respecter of time. You stand in the realization that you have been oppressed, nudged, and tricked by the enemy, and decide to come out of that agreement by taking back your voice and listening to the Voice of the One who gave it to you.
Stop sitting. And walk.
You stand. You move. Now you are walking! You are in a place of knowing, of wisdom. That’s what happens when you ask for understanding. You have begun to see that as you set out to know God all over again, his grace toward you, his purpose for you, and your identity in Christ, you connect with the invisible and put shape to it with your faith. You decide to recommit your life to Christ, for He is your Lord. You put shape to it with your faith! How amazing is that? This bears repeating: You put shape to it with your faith. How? Faith comes by hearing the Word. And what is heard comes through a word declared about Christ.
So, stop sitting in mediocrity and complacency. Rise, stand, and walk toward something far greater than what you are currently seeing. You will not see if you keep on sitting. You have to rise to get a glimpse. Then you have to stand tall to seize it. Walking affords you the benefits of life, victory, and no more achy joints! Put shape to your faith as you begin to stand.
#faithfulmelodies
#riseupandraday
#standrascalflatts