The Struggle of Conformity

What a beautiful weekend filled with fun and friends. 

Southern Belle Farm Sunset (unedited)

I am always amazed when God links what I'm reading in my own personal study time with Him with what I hear in church or life groups. It's the little things that get me ;)

So in studying the children of Israel's journeys, we find so many similarities between them and Christians today. They were to be set apart - different. They were God's chosen people, and he intended for them to live differently to be light to the unsaved nations around them. 

They failed miserably and constantly, just like Christians today. We are supposed to be different. We are supposed to be a light to the unsaved people around us and yet we are constantly conforming. The pressure to go with the flow is so hard to resist. It is a constant and daily battle. 

Romans 12: 1-2: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

We see that at every turn, at every new land the Israelites walked through, they conformed to the behaviors and beliefs of the people around them. They worshipped their gods and acted like the natives to belong or fit in. When we compare, it is so easy to say, "Well I don't worship other gods." But in reality, we are continuously worshiping other gods. We can turn just about anything into a god. 

We are a self-consumed, self-worshipping society. If it's not ourselves we are worshiping, it could be celebrities and other famous figures around us. Many people worship music or social media. Literally anything can become a god when you focus all of your time and energy into it. 

I speak from experience. For me it was a person. Even as a Christian, I lost focus of God and became too focused on one person. I based everything in my life around them. I unknowingly revolved my entire existence around a human being. It can happen so easily and so fast that you never see it coming and it takes so long before you realize what you've done. It wrecked my life. The person didn't wreck my life, I wrecked my life. My idol worship wrecked my life.

Thank God our Creator is a God of forgiveness and mercy and grace. I literally had to come to the point that my life crumbled around me and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I not only lost my idol, but I lost everything else I ever had (other than my immediate family). I put all my eggs in one basket and it was all ripped out from under me. 

His mercy, forgiveness and grace carried me through the following months, opening my eyes to what an amazing God we have. How I could have ever worshipped anyone or anything else is beyond me. Never again will I live my life for anyone but Jesus. 

I know it is easier to understand when you've "been there, done that" but I pray that none of you will have to get to that point. It is horrible. It is miserable. Many people don't recover. Many people turn to other things besides Jesus to immediately and temporarily take the pain away. If there is any take away from my story it is that God made us to worship and glorify Him. Our very existence is to glorify God and to extend his grace among the nations. 

This brings me back to missions. I firmly believe missions is our command, not a calling. I am not "called" to spread the word, I am commanded. I want to forever sing praises to our Holy God and shine the light among the nations living in darkness. I want to live every moment for Him.