GIT UP, GIT OUT

I wasn’t going to write today, I reasoned that I just have too much on my plate. However, I felt in my spirit that I needed to.

I’m certain that I’m no different from anyone else. Like, we feel busy with so much, but yet it’s like nothing really seems to get accomplished…or am I alone in this? Almost everyday, in my mental checklist (and physical), I critique what was done…and usually I sigh. Because there is ALWAYS something more important I could have done or even should have done.

So I sulk. Sometimes physically but usually, it’s silent. By myself, in my head and in my emotions. I beat myself up, increasingly overwhelmed by the pressures of life, I cry out, “God, where are you?!?!?” “I need help!!!” “This is too much for me!”

Cue sin/issue number 2:

APATHY

Apathy’s best friends are passivity and entitlement. Together, they’re a vicious threesome.

There’s nothing mediocre or normal about God. His power is beyond comprehension. His beauty is beyond description. His love is beyond measure. The same God who created the universe and formed stars desires a relationship with you.

Yet, the attitude is often, “Okay, God loves me. That’s great. What’s for lunch?” No. You don’t get it, bro. God loves you. And you’re content with, “That’s great.”

What?!

Our apathetic approach to God explains a lot about why people in America aren’t lining up to become Christians.

I mean, think about it. How many Christians have you met that left you thinking, “Wow, I want to be like them?” But this should be the norm, right? Am I way off here? Shouldn’t you be so transformed by God that people want to ask about your life, even if they hate God?

In Scripture, when men and women truly experience God, everything changes. Everything. So, that begs the question, “Have you experienced God?”

Hear me out here. What if the reason we feel so worn out and burdened by life is because we’ve forgotten how AWEsome God is? What if his magnificence has gone missing but was replaced by gaudy counterfeits? I know it sounds bad, especially for mature believers, but what if this is a root cause for our wavering faith, mood swings and cynical dispositions?

We’ve rationalized that THIS is all we can expect out of our walk with Christ. We can’t be too hopeful because God isn’t a genie. But can’t be too realistic because then, “where is your faith?”. UGH!!! Where is the balance?!?!? I don’t know honestly, I’m still trying to figure it out.

But what I do know is, GOD NEVER CHANGES. So if he never changes, why do we expect less of him in our lives? Why do we let the everyday mundane cloud our faith? What has happened to make us forget the encounter we had with Him? Why is it a fading memory instead of a constant reminder?

Because our eyes wandered. My eyes still do most days. I get so distracted and it becomes that much harder to get back focused on Christ. But the thirsting and hunger is still there, it’s just blocked. Apathy is just ONE of those stumbling blocks.

What happens if we stay blocked? We dehydrate. We starve. We die. I don’t want to die. I want to live. So, what’s the solution? MOVE! Don’t just declare action with words, follow up on it by how you LIVE!

So APATHY, I no longer will tolerate:

• Indecisiveness – barely wanting to make decisions that may/can hurt others feelings OR make me seem bossy and arrogant.
• Entitlement- feeling like things should just go my way (with little to no effort) because I’m talented and likable AND because good things were prophesied over me.
• Passiveness – deciding that “It’s not MY problem, someone else can fix it.” Ignoring the truth in situations to avoid “creating drama”.
• Judgment – feeling as if I deserve or others deserve repercussions for actions.
• False empathy –  Portraying sympathy and understanding..but don’t. Probably because I stopped listening to get full comprehension. The like button makes this so easy.
• False Humility – wanting recognition without asking/acting like it, but hoping I get it. After all, I AM a chosen child of God.
• White Lies – Because the truth really makes me look extremely cold and bad and that little lie doesn’t matter to God anyway. “It’s better this way…”
• and other things I can’t think of…right now.

If I want God to move in my life and in yours as well, then I MUST change how I view God. This is the key to change in a Christians life! He has to not just be bigger than these problems and concerns, but able to blow them like sand. He has to radically shift my everyday thought process by asking me to remember who He is. He has to build my faith…by testing me with life. Apathetic faith just isn’t faith and sadly, many Christians are stuck living by the nonexistent.

Apathy is counteracted by ACTION. And we all know that faith without works is dead. So, sorry but apathetic works is dead too. We serve a living and ACTIVE God. Let’s not forget that. If the goal is to be more like him, then we should be becoming more like him… you get it? Get to the source of your strength. How can we be apathetic about an all powerful God? How he must smirk when we demand to see his strength but tremble during a storm.

Whew, people, I feel better. I needed to remember WHO I believed in (reading Genesis helps). It’s bad enough that the weather is getting cold and dreary and the world just keeps acting like the world, so how about we warm things up a bit? Let’s fan our flames and burn even harder in the midst of all this chaos..and kick apathy’s butt!!!

It’s time to GIT UP and GIT OUT into this dying world!

They are waiting…God is waiting.

Action > Apathy.