If you've never read MomentsWithMelinda.blogspot.com, you have cheated yourself. I would particularly suggest reading the following three, as they were what initially sparked my thoughts recently:
http://momentswithmelinda.blogspot.com/2012/11/single-status.html
http://momentswithmelinda.blogspot.com/2012/11/somewhere-green-singlestatus2.html
http://momentswithmelinda.blogspot.com/2012/11/get-serious-like-crazy-singlestatus3.html
Go. Read. Learn. Now!
...
...
...
Done? Good!
After reading such incredible material, I began to ponder what had been said. My mind began to wander around the 'what-ifs' and the 'if-onlys'. Soon, I become lost in thought. (Though, it must be noted that it is quite easy to get lost where one is a stranger.) Moments of sadness, joy, and insecurity came flooding along as I walked that riverside pathway inside my mind
As time progressed, this chaotic flood of thought slowly unveiled it's own unique pattern and life slowly revealed itself in intricate detail. From the days of "dating" a girl and losing her number over the summer (I was in Kindergarten, yet I am still ashamed to admit this. On another note, why in the world did I have a girlfriend in Kindergarten?...), to the days of knowing with complete surety that every female was a crazy, basket-case of emotion (I wasn't far off on that one... Just kidding, just kidding... Well, sort of.).
The pattern? Every time I had been derailed from my intended path, I had been wrong. I had been wrong in my priorities, but not necessarily inconsistent in my prayer life.
I stumbled back with near instant rejection. How could this possibly be true? If you were praying consistently and reading your bible, life may not have always been perfect, but you still did everything correctly, right?
Wrong.A stone barricade cracked in the distance and a small stream slowly trickled down 'til it reached my feet. I saw times where I had inadvertently prayed my will instead of His. Times where I gave Him the options I saw and refused to see any other pathway.
These were not just memories, they were an entirely different point of view.
How could I have not seen this before? I try to be open to different and new, so how had I been blind to what was in front of me?
Your priorities.
I felt the ground rumble before I heard the noise of the barricade finally giving way. As the torrent swept me off my feet I realized that there was no going back. It would be impossible to reseal this stream of thought. I was glad.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life is not always what we think it to be. Sometimes we are thrilled, others we are scared, but we always view life through our own lens. This does not have to be a bad thing, but it is something that we must constantly concern ourselves with realizing our own bias.
It has been said that our thoughts become our words which become our deeds and eventually leads to our habits and character which determines eternity. I have found no evidence to dispel this notion, but on the contrary, I believe it is backed by the words of the biblical proverbs. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.."
Therefore, it would seem of utmost importance for us to guard our thoughts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Waves softly flow over my feet, sending the grit and sand back into it's depths. Surrounded by the unfamiliar, I still feel an uncanny sense of deja vu. Have I been here before?
Welcome back.This place..surely it's not.. Oh.
A small breeze winds its way through my hair and I walk to my wooden chair. I can see everything from here. I cast my gaze upon the remnants of my fallen barricade. Peeking up from the shallows are a few stones, but the brazen structure which had been determined to hold thought stagnant was now in shambles.
From here, on my island of hindsight, it all began to make sense.
What a fool I've been! I had focused so much on the provision, I had overlooked the desires of the provider! How could I be so stupid? What was I thi-
Stop.
But.. But I was wrong. I messed up.
I know.
What's done is done. Regain your focus and continue.
But, I wasn't perfect. I wasn't like You.
Agreed. However, you are forgiven. I have more for you.
You will be wrong again. Don't worry about that, just listen.
Yes, of course. Whatever your will. That will I follow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul said, "Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible."
So being temperate (balanced, moderate) is necessary, not just in somethings, but in all things.
So when God blesses you with a gift, no matter what it is, if we lose our temperance, we lose our way. That is the special gift of mankind, to take what is perfect and corrupt it with our usage.
This is how we are led to places that we should not be. We see God's perfect gift and we think, "It's perfect! I could never go wrong with this ever!" (well, maybe not in quite so many words). So we accept it, cherish it, and worship it. We spend our prayer thanking him for our gift and never listening to our further purpose. Everything has a season and sometimes gifts are not permanent. Sometimes we're only to use them for a specific purpose or time, and then give them back to His hands.
Everything has a season. His path is not the only thing necessary. His timing is necessary as well.
Edit/Addendum:
I found this in A.W. Tozer's book, "The Pursuit of God" and I felt like he had described one of the key elements of our ultimate problem when it comes to gifts and priorities.
Before the Lord God made man upon the earth He first prepared for him by creating a world of useful and pleasant things for his sustenance and delight. In the Genesis account of the creation these are called simply "things." They were made for man's uses, but they were meant always to be external to the man and subservient to him. In the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come. Within him was God; without, a thousand gifts which God had showered upon him.
But sin has introduced complications and has made those very gifts of God a potential source of ruin to the soul.
Our woes began when God was forced out of His central shrine and "things" were allowed to enter. Within the human heart "things" have taken over. Men have now by nature no peace within their hearts, for God is crowned there no longer, but there in the moral dusk stubborn and aggressive usurpers fight among themselves for first place on the throne.
We are made perfect when we are subject to His will and prioritize our life based on His design.
