I was a “Christian” minister for many years. It was a great experience but like so many things in life it was not without meaningful challenge and even peril. Initially, my walk with God as a young christian was exciting and my growth curve was a straight line upwards…so it seemed. I was learning, changing and growing with passion. Over time the once powerful trans-formative work of God I was experiencing seemed to erode.
Jesus said, “Come to me…and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” I believe this to be true but my “religion” and the church I love were in the way of connecting to “easy” and “light” and even to God, Himself. I don’t pretend to have this “all figured out”. In fact, I have spent way too much time trying to understand it and, frankly, that’s just not important to me anymore. However, there are a few things I have discovered on the way back to inspired.
Here’s a couple:
- God and His power to change my life were covered with layers of politic, dogma, human demand and unbelief. Busy-ness and activity in the name of “obedience” will never be a substitute for the “peace that passes understanding”. Connection to God is everything.
- The message is not good news to you unless your cup is overflowing. I spent 2 years asking people, “is your cup overflowing?” The number one response was: “It depends on what you mean by overflowing.” My response always was, “Define it anyway you would like. Is your cup overflowing?” 95% then answered “no”.