Obsessed with God... or something else?

Have you ever felt like life's many troubles, pains, challenges and pressures line up at your bed to greet you the moment you wake up? 

This has been me the last couple weeks...

I wake up in the morning, and there they are clamoring for my attention. I think through one and come to a conclusion about it, and then the next one takes its turn.

And then, when I have thought through them all, the first one comes around again with another side to the issue to get me thinking again.

Fix it mode is a very real thing, and not just for men. We want control, we want to see wrongs made right, we want our world to be put back in order, we just want peace.

And before long, we become consumed. 

Have you ever been here?

It comes in many different forms...

You could call it worry.

You could call it fear.

You could call it anxiety.

You could call it control.

You could call it a search for stability.

You could call it a desire for things to be fixed.

You could call it a pity party.

You could call it anything you want to call it...

...But whatever it is, it is an obsession that consumes our thoughts and drives us to try everything we can to fix whatever the problem may be.

And boy, have I been here lately. My mind has been constantly wandering to those places, turning the same thing over to see if maybe this time it will look different to me and somehow improve by doing so. 

But God has also been bringing me back to a simple truth this week, and this morning, I think it finally sunk in that this same truth that I apply to other seasons of life applies to this one too.

Wanna know what it is? Then keep reading. ;)

...

"The one thing I ask of the Lord," said David in Psalm 27, "-the thing I seek most-"

Oh, wow... what could it be? 

Maybe he is about to ask God to fix his problems... 

Or maybe he is going to ask God for better circumstances...

Or maybe he is going to ask God for wisdom... 

Or maybe he is going to ask God to make him a better father or a better husband...

Or maybe he is going to ask God to fix the people in his life that give him so much trouble...

Or maybe he is going to ask God to use him even more to reach people who don't know him... 

Or maybe he is going to ask God to show him who to serve and love... 

I mean, what a good decision to turn his desires into prayer! Maybe his one desire is not going to be the same as mine, but hey, the fact that he is asking God for it is pretty incredible and such a good choice.

But wait... what was it that he was going to ask?

I mean, if YOU had only one thing to ask God for, what would it be? 

"The thing I seek most-" he said, "is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in His temple." (Psalm 27:4)

Um, David... why do you want to be in the house of the Lord all the days of your life? ...I mean, don't you have a life? 

I will get into that a little farther down, but first, let's clarify what it was he was asking for...

The house of the Lord was the place where God's presence was in the Old Testament. 

It is God's presence that he was after. His "one thing" was an absolute obsession with God. 

"Delighting in the Lord's perfections," as in, HE is all I need in order to be happy.

"Meditating in His temple," as in, I can't get HIM and HIS word off my mind. 

You see, the only way to stop being consumed with something of this earth is to start being consumed with the Heavenly One. 

Are you struggling with being obsessed? As in, do you find every spare moment being spent in thought over things going on in your life? 

Let Jesus become your obsession.

Let Him consume you.

Let Him be the One who fills your thoughts.

Let His word, which is living and active, become what is living and active in you.

You see, you can either be obsessed with Jesus or you'll be obsessed with your own life, the people around you, and all the circumstances that surround you. 

There is not enough room in our hearts for both. 

We must choose. What will our obsession be? 

...

Oh, my soul, what are you seeking for? Relief? Do you think you see it in the distant lands of the future when you are no longer in this season? 

You hope in that day when this all will be a distant memory, but have you forgotten that as long as you are on this earth, you are in enemy territory? 

Safety and solace are not to be found in better circumstances, because your enemy can still find you there. This world can still crumble around you then. You will still ache as long as you are subject to your circumstances. 

But what if you reached higher, my soul? 

What if God were the fortress in which you hid? 

What if you hinged all your joy, peace, and hope on the One who cannot change or fail? 

...

So... what happens when God is my obsession? 

Let's take a quick trip through Psalm 27 and see... 

-I do not fear (vs 1-3)

-I am confident (v 3)

-I am concealed in His presence when troubles come (v 5)

-The enemy can't get at me (vs 5-6)

-I can still praise God (v 6)

-I turn everything into prayer (v 7)

-I look to God for mercy (v 7)

-I know I can talk to Him about everything (v 8)

-I turn to God for companionship (v 9)

-I turn to God for help (v 9)

-I know that even when everyone else abandons me, God will hold me close (v 10)

-God teaches me how to live (v 11)

-God leads me along the right path (v 11)

-God protects me from my enemies (v 11-12)

-God doesn't let the enemy's accusations stand (v 12)

-I am confident I will see His goodness here in the land of the living (v 13)

-I wait patiently for God to work (v 14)

-I am brave and courageous (v 14)

-I am expectant that God will come (v 14)

...

You see, pretty much everything we seek for in our troubles and challenges is found in God, so why not make Him our all-consuming passion? 

Why not be obsessed with Him? 

He promises that when we do, He will handle our life. 

Can we trust Him? 

And if you don't know how, ask Him to teach you. He is the best teacher there is on the subject, for He is the One who invented it.

He wants it for you more than you do. 

And He is always ready to help you the moment you ask, for He is the One stirring up that desire in you for Him in the first place. 

Look up, child of God... He is right there.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When my emotions are out of control...

Image
Often in the shadows I sit, surrounded by piles and piles of emotions that hold my attention and overwhelm me. Often they arrive in a sandstorm of confusion, walling me in and leaving me full of fear.  They're dirty emotions. Many of them don't make any sense to me. And the more I try to bring order to the piles around me, the more of a mess it all becomes.  One addition to my piles of emotions came through a friend who didn't fulfill my expectations. The one before that came through a sibling who hurt me. Another whirlwind arrived in the form of broken dreams. And yet another came in the quiet of my bedroom, looking in the mirror at a failure -myself- a girl who could never be good enough; a girl who'd never measure up.
Read more

He gives MORE grace

Image
Seasons of great need - how easily we shun them like the plague.   The past several weeks have been drenched in many challenges and needs for me and my family.  Need that has had me crying out to God, “how long?”  I beg him for a time limit, some light at the end of the tunnel, but when I look for it, I just see more tunnel.  What is the purpose of a season like this?  This is the question I have found myself asking God on a near daily basis.  I won’t say I’ve found out the fullness of the answer yet, but pressing the question so much has yielded some light for me.  After all, He promises that those who seek will find.  And one thing He keeps pressing into my soul is this:  My need is my opportunity to test the limits I think God has on the amount of grace He will give me.  And oh, if I could recount to you all the ways He has already poured so much grace, you would think me a spoiled daughter of the King.  But if you saw how each day, I awaken to fresh new needs that have me stumbling
Read more

Every Girl's Battle

Image
I walked all alone down the leaf-strewn sidewalk, my hands in my pockets. A dark figure came out of the shadows and walked towards me. I could not make out who it was, but I sensed an evil about him -an evil that threatened my beautiful surroundings. And then he spoke in a forceful tone. "You had better face it. You are alone, and it will always be that way. Nobody really loves you. You just think they do. Really, though, you are alone." I tried to fight back the tears as the reality of his words sank in. Was it really true? People seemed to like me, but really, did they? It seemed true enough. I was all alone in this world. Nobody really wanted to know what I had to say or think. It was just me, and that was it. Deep in thought, I failed to notice that the dark figure had left me to think about his lies alone.
Read more