It's Personal

As much as I love how technology and social media help me to share my life and share in the lives of so many friends and family, if I am being perfectly honest with myself, I hate it sometimes also.  As is the nature of a lot of women, and some men, I find myself falling into the trap of comparing myself and my life to others, and sadly not measuring up.  It's so easy to fall into the trap of being disatisfied with myself or my life.  What's amazing is how God speaks to you about things as you need to hear them.  Just this morning, thinking about this, I was reading out of Love and War by John and Stasi Eldridge.  They address this very issue in regards to our marriages, but it applies to every aspect of our lives. 

He quotes C.S. Lewis from Mere Christianity, "A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else.  Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself.  He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to run on.  There is no other.  That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way...God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there.  There is no such thing."

He refers to human beings as leaky cups.  Each day, we strive to find that which will satisfy us, make us happy and give us peace, then the next day we wake up and need it all over again.  Only in a deep personal relationship with Christ can we find enough to make us truly fulfilled every day.  No one or nothing else has enough to provide that which we need every single day, especially since others are needing their portions as well.  "We cannot trade empty for empty, we need to go to the waterfall." 

This is not just merely knowing where the "waterfall" is or that it exists, but it's a complete dependency on it, visiting it daily.  In other words, it isn't enough to just believe in God or Jesus, it's a personal relationship.  It's not about anyone else, being a "good person", or doing the "right" things. 

He is also the only one who can fill us completely and make us satisfied.  It is too much pressure to put on others or on ourselves to do what only God can do.  And I need to always remind myself, that though my life may look different than others, my journey is meant to be different, personal, and strengthen me in my weak areas.

We have been talking in our community group about sharing the Gospel with others and more specifically, this past week, about the barriers that keep us from doing so.  I find that, for me, it is easier to share the Gospel in a third world country than it is here.  The reason for this is that majority of people in this country know the name Jesus.  I struggle with how to communicate the Gospel to people who believe in God and Jesus.  How do you effectively convey to someone that it's not about just believing, it's about the PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP?  James 2:19 says that "even the demons believe in God and shudder."  Don't get me wrong, belief is important, but it's only the first step. 

Relationship is defined as :

The way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.

2. The state of being connected by blood or marriage.

How am I connected to God personally?  How are you "connected" to God in your own personal lives?