To be honest, I have been a bit on autopilot lately. Do you know what the definition of "autopilot" is? It's "an airborne electronic control system that automatically maintains a preset heading and attitude." Yep, that is precisely what I have been...automatically on a one-way mind plane. Surprising to you, however, may be the fact this autopilot mode of mine has not been like ones in my past where I have found myself doing my own thing and not really including God in my life. Instead it has been one of being in love with how good God is and how much I love what He is doing in my life. It has been an autopilot mode where my preset heading and attitude has been one of awe in my Creator and Lover and King. I have been noticing and soaking up so much of God's presence during the little moments of my day-to-day life, allowing worship songs to penetrate my heart, trusting Him with things I never have before, deeply caring for others who are sharing their wounded selves with me, and even finding myself simply thanking God for His Goodness in so many areas of my life. It has been a GOOD autopilot mode, but nonetheless, it has been autopilot.
When I get in autopilot mode (whether it is good like it has been, or bad where I forget to acknowledge God's presence at all because I'm so "me" focused) my tendency, unfortunately, is to not pick up my Bible much. Even though my faith has been growing and my trust of God has been thriving, I still lack the discipline of opening His Word to hear even more invaluable Truths He has for me. This is not good and not what God desires. By not regularly going back to His Word for more, it's like I'm saying to this amazingly good God in my life, "What I have for now is enough for me--I don't really need anything new from You. Thank You for what you have already given me and taught me because it has changed my life, but I'm not sure my life really needs any more changing right now--it's actually quite good! I'll just come back again when I feel a bit sluggish and need a good pick-me-up, thanks." Or, "I'm full, God. I'm content. I'm satisfied. You've given me a meal that has left me nourished! I don't really need more of You right now because I'm pretty happy and content with life." Ouch.
When I read those lines, I know that God's red flags must be going off. He's got to be saying, "Nooooooo! This is not what I had in store for you...I want you to be finding Truth and living a life in freedom, but I never wanted the Truths you have recently discovered to be the only Truths that sustain you for all your days to follow! There is more! So. Much. More. My Truth is never-ending and always ready to bring yet another freedom into your heart of hearts if you just come back for more!" I believe He wants me to be "ever hungry for more of Him in this life". That's part of my life's mission statement I developed about a year ago (written in the right-hand column of this blog), and I believe God had me put it in there for a reason. I need to be reminded to get into God's Word because He will always have more for me to chew on and find sustenance in.
This is why I believe God only allows us to go, go, go in autopilot mode...even GOOD autopilot mode...for a short period of time before He begins the whispers of wooing us back to His Word. He loves us so much He wants us to have even more of Him. Without continual feedings, we can not go for long before we burn out...even on "good" fumes. So, yesterday, I answered those whispers I had been hearing in my heart and mind for a few days at least. I made a point of cracking open my Bible and reading some more exciting Truths God had for me. I walked away from that time in His Word questioning why I ever let myself stop reading this Book in the first place...it's so rich and good and life-giving!
I came across a passage beautifully spoken in II Thessalonians that spoke right to my heart in light of this adoption. It's always awesome to see God's Word active and alive in my situations today. A text written most like by Paul for a Thessalonian church in the early A.D. 50's impacted my day yesterday. How cool is that! Here is the passage (in the NIV version and then in The Message version).
"With this in mind, we constantly pray
for you, that our God may count you worthy of His calling, and that by
His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act
prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus
may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our
God and the Lord Jesus Christ." ~ II Thessalonians 1: 11-12 (NIV)
OR
OR
"Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for
you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he's
called you to be, pray that he'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith
with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life
honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through
all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ,
giving himself freely." ~ II Thessalonians 1: 11-12 (The Message)
It is certainly my hope that others are praying for me/us in this adoption. That their prayers would be for us to be worthy of God's call on our lives to adopt. That only through HIM and His power would this adoption be fulfilled. We know our purpose for adopting Nora is good and an act of faith for us. This was not in our "plan" for our lives. It was not something we have always deeply desired to do. We feel God has called us to open our hearts and home to another human being who deserves a loving family and we are being faithful to act on that calling. It is an act prompted by faith. It is something we desperately want prayers for God's power to be shown through. We are adopting with the prayer that Jesus' Name may be glorified by the actions of our lives and that our lives will be touched by the glory of our God's grace in the process. It has been so awesome to watch Him working through the details, fighting for Nora to be home with us, and changing our hearts along the way to be even more compassionate for what God's Will is.
It is passages like these that slow me down, bring me out of autopilot mode, and make me savor yet another Truth He had for me today. A Truth I would have never found if I would have continued in my autopilot mode of even just praising God for His goodness. A Truth I would have never found if I would have never opened His Word. It is tempting, friends, to bask in this new Truth for a few days and return to the GOOD autopilot mode I keep finding myself in, but again, I know there is more in His Word for me to find. More spiritual food to partake in. I have to choose today to be living in my mission instead of autopilot mode. I have to be ever hungry for more of God in my life because there is always more of God to discover when I open up that Good Book of His.
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