It's not always exciting
Life is oftentimes boring. Very boring. Bland. Normal. Not Facebook post worthy. I like to think of myself as average and somewhat normal, so I don't think I'm the only one that has to live in the mundane.
One of the battles I constantly fight with my kids is the reminder that life is not always exciting and that they need to have "normal expectations" for each activity they take part in. Sometimes I think they go into a playdate thinking a unicorn is going to show up and whisk them off to Neverland! Having those down-to-earth conversations are never fun, because the last thing I want to do is squash all hope and dreaming in their life, but I do want them to live within reason and have reasonable expectations.
Spiritually, this plays out time and time again as well, but not just with kids. Why does service to the Mighty God sometimes seem boring and mundane? Because it is. A better question is "will I still serve Him even though fireworks don't go off every time I do?"
In my own personal Bible Study I have been challenged by the great lengths of time that many who followed God endured. Scripture records all sorts of people from all sorts of walks of life who had to walk by faith and keep walking in obedience to the last thing that God had showed them.
Consider Noah, who received the command to build an Ark and then was faithful to obey that command for over 100 years. Have you ever considered how many times he thought about giving up and wondered if maybe he had not really heard the voice of God?
Consider Abram and the first time YHWH appeared to him in Genesis 12, giving him the command to leave Ur and dwell in tents in the land he would receive as an inheritance. Do you realize that the next recorded interaction we have between God and Abraham is 10 years? For 10 years, Abraham had been traveling and tabernacling and showing obedience based on an interaction he had.
Consider Moses. For 40 years he was the shepherd of a flock of sheep that weren't even his. Exodus 3:1 tells us that Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father in law, when God met him. 40 years is a long time people!
Elijah, we don't know much about his life, but he prophesied for a bit of time and really is known for 1 thing-proclaiming a drought which lead to the throw down on Mt. Carmel. It amazes me that within 2 months after that miracle, he is told to call Elisha the prophet to follow him. Ouch.
Hebrews 11 records these men and others who walked by faith. Real normal people who had the same daily choice to make-will I trust God and live according to His ways even though I have not seen Him do anything noteworthy in a long time? If the accounts of great faith seen in Hebrews 11 were added to, could our names appear there? Would our willingness to live in this mess, bringing Jesus into it daily, be a testimony to those who followed after us?
Yes, real life is not always exciting, but bringing the Lord into it and choosing to practice His presence can and does bring joy and reason to the drudgery. How can you practice that today?
One of the battles I constantly fight with my kids is the reminder that life is not always exciting and that they need to have "normal expectations" for each activity they take part in. Sometimes I think they go into a playdate thinking a unicorn is going to show up and whisk them off to Neverland! Having those down-to-earth conversations are never fun, because the last thing I want to do is squash all hope and dreaming in their life, but I do want them to live within reason and have reasonable expectations.
Spiritually, this plays out time and time again as well, but not just with kids. Why does service to the Mighty God sometimes seem boring and mundane? Because it is. A better question is "will I still serve Him even though fireworks don't go off every time I do?"
In my own personal Bible Study I have been challenged by the great lengths of time that many who followed God endured. Scripture records all sorts of people from all sorts of walks of life who had to walk by faith and keep walking in obedience to the last thing that God had showed them.
Consider Noah, who received the command to build an Ark and then was faithful to obey that command for over 100 years. Have you ever considered how many times he thought about giving up and wondered if maybe he had not really heard the voice of God?
Consider Abram and the first time YHWH appeared to him in Genesis 12, giving him the command to leave Ur and dwell in tents in the land he would receive as an inheritance. Do you realize that the next recorded interaction we have between God and Abraham is 10 years? For 10 years, Abraham had been traveling and tabernacling and showing obedience based on an interaction he had.
Consider Moses. For 40 years he was the shepherd of a flock of sheep that weren't even his. Exodus 3:1 tells us that Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father in law, when God met him. 40 years is a long time people!
Elijah, we don't know much about his life, but he prophesied for a bit of time and really is known for 1 thing-proclaiming a drought which lead to the throw down on Mt. Carmel. It amazes me that within 2 months after that miracle, he is told to call Elisha the prophet to follow him. Ouch.
Hebrews 11 records these men and others who walked by faith. Real normal people who had the same daily choice to make-will I trust God and live according to His ways even though I have not seen Him do anything noteworthy in a long time? If the accounts of great faith seen in Hebrews 11 were added to, could our names appear there? Would our willingness to live in this mess, bringing Jesus into it daily, be a testimony to those who followed after us?
Yes, real life is not always exciting, but bringing the Lord into it and choosing to practice His presence can and does bring joy and reason to the drudgery. How can you practice that today?